Takács Imre: Az Árpád-házi királyok pecsétjei (Corpus sigillorum hungariae mediaevalis 1. Budapest, 2012)
Introduction
INTRODUCTION The Latin word for seal, sigillum, is a term that is rich in meaning. As the eighteenth century Hungarian historian György Pray noted in connection with medieval charter texts, both the negatively-carved prototype of the seal, the typarium, and the large number of impressions produced from it, were referred to as sigillum.2{)7 The word also has many synonyms. The multiplicity of terminology and meaning also applied to the seals formal devices, materials, colour, and mode of use. Then there are the words imago and figura as used in contemporary descriptions, which indicate that medieval seals were not merely practical instruments of authentication for the feudal legal order, guaranteeing the credibility of the charter “in perpetuity”. Those used by monarchs particularly were also deliberately composed assemblages of figurái representations, signs and royal insignia, designed to convey a meaning. This, together with the standard of execution and the sophistication of their stylistic features, make medieval seals a suitable object of art- historical study - art objects, indeed. The concepts of medieval representational doctrine afford a specific function to the human figure as it appears on medieval seals. What the image represents is not the person himself or his deeds (memoria rerum gestarum), but - by means of similitudo - the singular power invested in that person. The maiestas image of the king on the seals, seated on the throne and bearing his royal insignia, is an official portrait conveying the power of similitudo, a portrayal of the monarch’s special presence, a representatio spéciéi,208 In essence, the seal portrait is more than a heraldic abstraction; in Hans Belting’s words, it is not a “sign of the body” but an “image of the body”.209 Medieval common law recognised the special relationship that exists between the image and the subject. Thus the royal power inherent in the imago transmitted to the artistic medium of the seal the reverence due to the monarch and the associated form of ceremonial 21,7 In regum nostrorum chartis haec fere usurpata reperi: charaeter, titulus, signum, privilégium, imago, figura, item bulla, ut in operis decursum patebit. Annuli rarior est mentio. Saepe etiam ipsum typarium, sen instrumentum, pro signando adhiberi solitum, nomen sigilli obtinet. Pray, p. 2. 2os por an interpretation of the scholastic expression: Bauch 1960, P. 23. 2<w Belting 2003, p. 133. conduct.210 It is interesting that the thirteenth century philosopher Robert Grosseteste used the simile of the seal and its impression to illuminate, in a theological context, the relationship of an art form to the artistic idea it embodies.211 Towards the end of the period, the ideal official medieval portrait, interpreted and identified by means of attributes, insignia and inscriptions, became - on the similitudo principle - an individual portrait representation, “taken from life” (visage contrefait au vif), as the scribe drawing up a 1412 treasury inventory saw fit to note in connection with the gold seal of Prince of Berry.212 The symbolic presence and vicarious power of the person represented on the seal came across most palpably when the seal of summons was presented.213 For its bearer, the royal seal was a symbol enabling him to transmit the will of the sender, an embodiment of his lord’s authority and power.214 The seal with its image of the king was thus a medium of transmission. In Hungary, starting with St Ladislaus’ code of laws, reverence for the royal seal was a bounden duty, and disrespect for it was punished ( sigillum spernere) by a fine.215 A synonym for the royal seal in the wording of Hungarian charters from the first half of the twelfth century was “the image ofthc king” {regalis imago).216 217 * * During the reign of Géza II, the king’s seal was referred to as his majesty’s seal (sigillum regie maicstatis)21 210 On cases of blessing, kissing and ceremonially receiving medieval royal seals in Hungary: Kolosvári - Óvári, 11/2, 84; Kumorovitz 1944, p. 361. 211 De unica forma omnium. Relevant passages published in: Assunto 1963, 173. Placing of text used to interpret medieval seals: Marosi 1982, p. 19. 212 Item un signet d’or ou est le visage de Monseigneur contrefait au vif. Quoted: Ewald 1914, p. 185. 212 On the use of seals of summons by persons other than kings, and the pertinent sources, see Hajnik 1899, 7; Jakubovich 1933; Kumorovitz 1993, pp. 16-20. 214 Beumann 1973, pp. 204-205; Cf. Kubinyi 1999, p. 325. 215 Si quis autem regis sigillum super aliquem proiciens et ipse in curiam venire neglexerit, rationcm perdat et quinque pensas persolvat... Závodszky 1904, p. 165. 216 In the 1137 charter consecrating the church of Pannonhalma: impressionem regalis imaginis. CAH, p. 48 [actually p. 51]. In the charter issued in the matter of Pannonhalma Abbey’s lands in Sala one year later: ...nostre regalis ymaginis impressionem. MonStrig I, p. 99. 217 1152: ...hac sigillo regie maicstatis muniuit. Veszprémi kápt. M. It. Heel, et Capit. 3. (DF 200613.); CAH, p. 57 I actually 61 ]. 51
