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Baldwin II (1240-61)

 
 

Obverse

The emperor seated on a backless throne. He wears a crown and loros draped over the left arm and holds a labarum in the right hand and a globus cruciger in the left hand. His feet rest on a footstool. Circular inscription, between a double border of dots.

BALDVIVSDEIRATIAIMAT..RO......SE....V

Balduinus Dei gratia imp(er)at[or] Ro[maniae] se[mp(er) au]gu(stus)?

Reverse

The emperor on horseback to right, wearing armor and holding a scepter in the right hand. Partial remains of a circular inscription, between a double border of dots.

ΒΑΔΙΝΟΣ...ΤΡΑΣ

Βαλδουῖνος [δεσπότης πορφυρογέννητος Φλάν]τρας?

Obverse

The emperor seated on a backless throne. He wears a crown and loros draped over the left arm and holds a labarum in the right hand and a globus cruciger in the left hand. His feet rest on a footstool. Circular inscription, between a double border of dots.

BALDVIVSDEIRATIAIMAT..RO......SE....V

Balduinus Dei gratia imp(er)at[or] Ro[maniae] se[mp(er) au]gu(stus)?

Reverse

The emperor on horseback to right, wearing armor and holding a scepter in the right hand. Partial remains of a circular inscription, between a double border of dots.

ΒΑΔΙΝΟΣ...ΤΡΑΣ

Βαλδουῖνος [δεσπότης πορφυρογέννητος Φλάν]τρας?

Accession number BZS.1958.106.635
Diameter 43.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 99.1.

For a similar speciment found in 1962 in the central nave of a basilica at Kailuka (near Pleven), see now Gjuzelev, "Drei Bleisiegel," 42-43. Cf. Zacos-Veglery, no. 114a and Schlumberger, "Sceaux et bulles," pl. 3, no. 4, and Sig. Orient Latin, 171-72.

Translation

Balduinus Dei gratia imperator Romaniae semper augustus.  
Baldwin, by the Grace of God emperor of the Roman realm, eternal augustus.

Βαλδουῖνος δεσπότης πορφυρογέννητος Φλάντρας.  
Baldwin of Flanders, despotes and porphyrogennetos.

Commentary

This seal and BZS.1955.1.4354 are very similar and may indeed be from the same boulloterion. The inscriptions are restored with reference to this and the following specimen according to the legends appearing on the lead seal published by Schlumberger. One of the emperor’s gold bullae is preserved at the British Museum. Another is published in Schlumberger, “Sceaux et bulles,” 95–96, pl. 3, no. 3.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 6, Emperors, Patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda (Open in Zotero)
  • Drei in Bulgarien gefundene Bleisiegel lateinischer Kaiser von Konstantinopel: Historische Interpretation (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Sceaux et bulles des empereurs latins de Constantinople (Open in Zotero)
  • Sigillographie de l’Orient latin (Open in Zotero)