Task 5
5.This document with many seals is an agreement between the men of two Lincolnshire villages and the earl of Chester and Lincoln, where they all agree to exchange lands in West Fen in Lincolnshire for other common lands and pasture in the early 13th century. Catalogue ref: DL 27/270.
- How many seals can you see?
- Why do you think there are so many seals attached to the document?
- Why do you think it was important to have as many people as possible to agree to this exchange of lands?
- Are the seals individual enough to be identified?
- Do you think what matters is that the document has many seals which represent many people?
- Are there any designs that you particularly like?
- What insight does this document give about medieval times?
Look at these seals again: number 1: Nicolaa de la Haye, a noblewoman; number 3: John de Warenne, a nobleman, number 4: Desiree, daughter of Ernulf from London.
- Which is the smallest seal?
- Which is the most complicated?
- Do these seals have anything in common?
- Can we tell anything about the importance of these 3 people from their seals?
- How do you think each seal is related to its owner’s position in society?
- Write 10 lines which sum up the value of using medieval seals to find out about this early period of history. Use examples from this lesson to explain your ideas.