Takács Imre: Az Árpád-házi királyok pecsétjei (Corpus sigillorum hungariae mediaevalis 1. Budapest, 2012)
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during his thirty-year reign. He used some of them concurrently: starting in 1217 at the latest, for example, he used the gold seal together with the second and third great seals.342 At the same time, Andrew II was introducing into the practice of the Hungarian chancellery the royal double seal, with its portrait of the king on one side and the coat of arms on the other, essentially following the composition of Emeric’s gold seal. From then on, no royal great seal was made with a one-sided matrix. The double seal with the coat of arms on the reverse finally displaced the large seals in the shape of a bread roll. The essential elements of the figure composition on Andrew II’s first great seal, including the position of the arms and the elements and arrangement of the costume, follow the obverse of Emeric’s gold bulla (figs. 35-36). The legitimacy formula of the inner line of the legend (TERCII BELE REGIS FILII) is also a repeat of the legend on the obverse of Emeric’s gold bulla. The construction of the throne, however, differs from the faldistorium on the seals of twelfth century Hungarian kings, and also differs somewhat from the splendid throne edifice on Iking Emeric’s gold bulla. This backless throne-bench became a distinctive feature of royal seals of the House of Árpád from then until the end of the thirteenth century. Emeric’s gold bulla, used in 1202, served as the compositional model for the traditional-shaped great seal, and also for Andrew II’s first double seal, documented in 1213 (fig. 37). The maiestas figure of the king on one side, holding the sovereign insignia in hands held in to the body, and the barry of eight and lion-figure arms emblazoned on the other side are distinguishing features from Emeric’s gold seal that appear consistently on both of Andrew IPs double seals. Having been mentioned as early as 1213, the double seal was still in use in 1231, but we learn of changes to it in 1235, the year of his death.343 It is not just the precursor which allows it to be dated to before 1213. The renovated version of the royal seal which disappeared at the time of Queen Gertrude’s assassination features a representation of the king which - unlike that on the double seal - betrays a much more modern, Gothic conception of the figure, and the stylising of the drapery follows the classical Muldenfaltenstil. The seal clause of a 1216 charter tells 342 For a thirteenth century description of a gold seal hanging front a 1217 Andrew II charter, see Kropf 1896, p. 134. 343 ...ad universorum noticiant volumus pervenire, quod cum de adulteratione duplicis sigilli nostri antiqui nobis liquido constiterit, propter quod ipsum in medium secari fecimus corant nobis; fratres Capituli Strigoniensis nobis litteras, sub eodem sigillo continentes, exhibuerunt, humiliter supplicando, ut ipsas auctoritate renovati sigilli nostri dignaremur renovare. MonStrig I, p. 310. us of the connection between the 1213 events and the renovation of the great seal.344 One striking monographic feature of the second great seal is unknown in previous Hungarian seals. The universe-symbols accompanying the figure of the monarch, the compact depiction of the sun and the moon, is an attribute usually paired with medieval representations of Christ (e.g. for Calvary pictures), a reference to the lines of the books of Psalms (Ps. 148:3) and Daniel (Dan. 3:62), where the celestial bodies bow down to God. This formula on royal seals appears towards the end of the twelfth century, first of all on the seals of Richard the Lionheart of England (1189-1199) (fig. 44).34S The immediate precursors to the symbols on Andrew II’s seal compositions, however, are almost certainly the great seal and gold seal of Emperor Otto IV (1209-1218), regarded as having been made in England (fig. 45 ).346 The universal symbol-pair also found its way on to the seal of Otto IV’s wife Empress Mary.347 The elegant composition of Andrew II’s gold seal, including the use of the universe symbols (sun and moon), is repeated in his second royal seal. This is almost certainly because they are the work of the same craftsman (figs 49-50). There are documents showing that the use of the two seals was approximately concurrent.348 * * * * * The heraldic shield on the reverse of the gold seal has, with some modification, the barry- of-eight coat of arms introduced on Emeric’s gold seal. 344 Verum quia presentis privilegii series prioris sigilli nostri munimine, quod in occisione regine Gertrudis nostre dilectissime coniugis fuit deperditum, consignata fuerat, presentem paginam renovandam fore dignum duximus ct alio sigillo, quod contra false canillacionis dolositates, quae possent accidere, parari fecimus, ... in perpetuum roboravimus... OL DL 80, Edition:.Wenzel XI, p. 134. 345 Star-like, radiating representations of the sun with the crescent moon underneath (estoiles) are mentioned as curios on Richard’s seals: English Romanesque Art, p. 304, Nr. 334. 346 Zeit der Staufer I, pp. 27-28, Nr. 39. 347 Ibid. p. 28-29, Nr. 41. 348 King Andrew was definitely using the gold seal in the 1210s. Evidence for this comes from a very unusual document: the imperial notary Aliottus, when copying a 1217 Hungarian royal charter in 1266, made a detailed description of the seal: Istud authenticum sacrum privilégium ... bullatum cum serico rubeo et penderíti bulla aurea, in qua ex una parte apparebat Imago Regis coronati sedentis, et tenentis in una manu virgam cum lilio desuper et in alia tenens pomum, litteris ex uno latere signa ad modum lune, et stelle, et ex altero signum ad modum solis taliter circum scripta: ANDREAS DI GRA VNGIE DAM CHOAE RAVE SV1E LODOMERIE Q REX Ex altera quidam parte patebat figura ad modi sicuti ad fascias et in tribus ex fasciis apparebat figure bini ad modum leonunculorum respiciencium unum alterum parvo scutulo mediante, in qualibus et in fascia inferiori apparebat ymago quasi parvi leonis aspicientis retro se talibus litteris circumscripta: SIGILLVM SECVUNDI ANDREE TERCII BELE REGIS FILII. Kropf 1896, p. 134. 66
