PAS ID: SUR-F666DD
Found: St Edmundsbury, Sufffolk
A bulla (Latin for “bubble, blob”) , in this case made from lead alloy, was attached to a document to authenticate and tamper-proof it.
From the 12th century these were attached to official papal documents (known as Papal Bulls, after the name of the seal). The reverse would bear the heads of St Peter and St Paul. The obverse bore the name of the pope, in this case InnO/CETIVS/PP VI, for pope Innocent IV (1352 – 1362).
As a security device, there were a specific number of pellets around the perimeter.
These bulla were on important documents which could give evidence of ongoing rights and so care would be taken to safeguard them. How they ended up in the ground could be accidental loss of personal amulets, burial in graves, or the deliberate destruction of papal documents at the Reformation.
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