Archaeologiai Értesítő 139 (2014) 193–237

© Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest

DOI: 10.1556/ArchErt. 139.2014.9

LATE MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN CLOTH SEALS IN THE COLLECTION

OF THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM

Maxim Mordovin*

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The small leaden, seal-like objects used to note and testify the origin, type and quality of different
sorts of cloth fabrics are almost unknown in the Hungarian scholarly literature. This paper gives
the evaluation of the 115 medieval and early modern cloth seals from the Hungarian National
Museum.

Keywords: cloth seals, international trade, textile production, heraldry

 
A kisméretű, pecsétszerű, a különböző posztótermékek eredetét, fajtáját és minőségét igazoló ólom-
plombák a magyar szakirodalomban szinte ismeretlenek. A tanulmány a Magyar Nemzeti
Múzeum gyűjteményének 115 darab középkori és kora újkori plombájával foglalkozik.

Kulcsszavak: textilplombák, nemzetközi kereskedelem, textilgyártás, heraldika

Introduction unattractive at first sight, but very soon some of

In 2011 a large scale rescue excavation took place
on the site of a medieval market place in Pápa, a
small city in Western Hungary. The excavation
has had some very significant immediate results
concerning not only local history but also the
question of developing of urban settlements in
medieval Kingdom of Hungary and – what is
more important for the present study – it has
produced an exceptional amount of new infor-
mation for the trade relations of medieval and
early modern Hungary.1
The data regarding the international trade in
this case can be obtained from small, greyish,
pebble-like lead finds, usually with strange signs
or inscriptions on them. They seemed to be quite
them were identified as lead cloth seals original-
ly being attached to textile production of differ-
ent Western-European cities.2 Actually, since the
excavations at Pápa these finds can be consid-
ered as a new “push” in the research of the textile
and trade history in Hungary.
In this paper I am not going into details con-
cerning the precise role of particular types of
cloth seals, nor the meaning of various symbols
imprinted on them. The same is valid for the
identification of the sorts of cloth, since at this
stage of the research my main goal is to at least
find out the place of origin of these finds.
Research history

 The article received: 23 May 2014.
* Mordovin Maxim. ELTE BTK Régészettudományi Intézet,
1088 Budapest, Múzeum krt. 4/b; mordovin.maxim@btk.elte.
hu
1 Mordovin 2013, 267–268.
The first cloth seals have got into the collection of
the museum already from the late 19th and early
20th century. Some additional exemplars have
2 Mordovin 2013, 275–280.
194 maxim mordovin
been found during rescue excavations after the
World War II. Two of the latter were published
by István Méri in 1954 but no detailed evaluation
was made.3 There was only two very short peri-
ods when the cloth seals received any scholarly
attention in Hungary. The earliest research was
done in 1961 by a prominent Hungarian numis-
matist, Lajos Huszár, who became interested in a
special group of seal-like (“medal-like”) items in
different collections from several museums.
These were relatively large, circular lead discs
with images impressed on one or both of their
sides. Only two types of images appeared on
these objects: a royal coat of arms of England or
a Tudor rose (the last one had different varia-
tions). In some cases there was an inscription cir-
cumscribed around the central image. The coat of
arms usually was accompanied by the official
motto of the Order of Garter: “Honi soit qui mal y
pense”. The “Tudor rose”, however, was supple-
mented with more-or-less distorted “Guilhelmus
Almandete”. Lajos Huszár collecting all such finds
known by that time in Hungary and some analo-
gies from Eastern Europe dated them to the sec-
ond half of the 16th century and interpreted as
cloth or baling seals. The relatively easily identi-
fiable coat of arms of England, however, was not
accepted by Huszár as sign for the provenance of
these finds. The significant differences in the
quality of depicting of the arms, and relatively
frequent mistakes in the motto (including even
wrongly depicted letters) made the whole group
“suspicious”. The other fact interpreted as a sign
of the non-English origin of these seals was their
distribution – there were no known similar finds
from England by that time, while this type of
cloth seals appeared not only in Hungary but
also in Russia. Also “suspicious” was the above
mentioned name on two exemplars translatable
as “William German”.4
The next prominent scholar who paid atten-
tion to cloth seals was Walter Endrei, a well
known Hungarian specialist of medieval textile
production. He closely collaborated with a very
famous British archaeologist, Geoff Egan and
they have even prepared a common study on this
topic.5 Geoff Egan, by the way, was the “father”
of cloth seal research in the United Kingdom. He
was doing this – among many other things – for
the last 30–35 years, publishing hundreds and
hundreds of such finds.6 In their work Geoff
3 Méri 1954, 149, XXXVIII/3–4.
4 Huszár 1961, 187–194.
5 Egan–Endrei 1982.
6 Egan 1978; Egan 1987, 11. For selected bibliography see:
Egan, Tribute 2011, 343–348.
Egan and Walter Endrei focused most of all on
the international textile trade, which also reached
Hungary. Since in the time of their research
hardly any other cloth seals were known except
those already published by Lajos Huszár, very
few Hungarian finds could have been included.
Walter Endrei, however, prepared some further
basic works on the history of textile production
and trade in medieval Hungary.7
The most recent attempt to collect and analyse
cloth seals from a particular region of the medie-
val Kingdom of Hungary was done by Ján Hunka,
a Slovak numismatist. He compiled a preliminary
catalogue of such finds known from Slovakian
museum collections. He managed to collect alto-
gether only 23 pieces.8 That is not only ca. 1/10 of
the number of cloth seals from Pápa, but also less
than there are at the Hungarian National Museum.
Some more cloth seals may appear in the
Slovakian museums from older excavations but
which have not been recognised yet.
Apart from the mentioned studies there are
some other archaeological publications where
we occasionally may find cloth seals but their
identification or evaluation was not done.9
Collections in the Hungarian National
Museum
The archaeological collection of the Hungarian
National Museum incorporates five larger groups
of cloth seals. The first group I indicate as “old
collection” since this includes finds discovered
and acquired by the museum during the 20th cen-
tury. Four more “groups” have been obtained by
the Museum during the last decade. These are
Lajos Sándor’s, László Korinek’s and Balázs F.
Csáti’s collections, and finds confiscated by the
police in Kaposvár. The cloth seals from the last
four come from metal detecting activity. The
largest group is the one, which was confiscated
by the police in Kaposvár. The rest was donated
to the museum by private collectors, who, at the
same time, were buying these objects – along
with many other archaeological finds – from
metal detectorists. This all means that the exam-
ined cloth seals can be interpreted almost exclu-
sively as stray finds with no data concerning the
precise locality where they have been found and
certainly, with no information on their strati-
7 Endrei 1989.
8 Hunka 1999, 305.
9 For example: Czeglédy 1988, XLVI/b; Kovács 2002, 179/206–
208; Németh 2005, 441; Hunka 2006, 49; Hancz–Varga
2013, 34.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 195
graphic context. Nevertheless, the collections of
cloth seals in the Hungarian National Museum
are very important from at least two aspects.
First, that they include some cloth seals not
known from elsewhere in Hungary and some
others are very well preserved, which helps to
identify similar, often fragmented or damaged
finds. The second aspect is that the number of
cloth seals in the Hungarian National Museum
(115 pieces) makes this the second or third larg-
est collection in the Carpathian Basin (medieval
Kingdom of Hungary) after Pápa (135 pieces)10
and Szeged. Altogether there are about 600–750
known cloth seals from medieval Hungary up to
now, not counting those in private collections.
Most of them are unpublished. Due to the un-
known source of these finds it seemed to be more
practical to analyse them together without divid-
ing according to the collections.
“Old Collection”
This first collection includes finds acquired be-
fore the year 2000. It consists only of 12 pieces
originated from different regions of Europe start-
ing with the Low Countries, through Poland and
Austria up to Italy. This collection contains
maybe the first finds of cloth seals which reached
museum in Hungary and which have been in-
ventoried in 1902 (inv. number: 62/1902.1–2).
Also the two finds from the excavations carried
out in 1948–1949 at Túrkeve‑Móric are kept here
(inv. number: 55.901.222.C and 56.5.36.C).11 The
rest eight items are, however, stray finds donated
to the Hungarian National Museum by an un-
specified person in 1991. The provenience of
these finds is unknown.
Lajos Sándor’s Collection
The collection donated to the Hungarian National
Museum by Lajos Sándor is consisted of 17 items.
According to the favourer’s information, the re-
gion of the occurrence of these finds can be
delimited within the north-western part of
Hungary, namely to the western part of Komá­
rom-Esztergom, northern part of Fejér and east-
ern part of Győr-Moson-Sopron counties (Fig. 1).
Items from this collection represent a wide chron-
ological and typological spectre. The earliest
pieces originated from Flanders and are datable
to the 14th century; the latest ones seem to have
come from England during the reign of Queen
Elisabeth I.
10 Mordovin 2013, 272.
11 Méri 1954, 149, XXXVIII/3–4.
László Korinek’s Collection
László Korinek is a well known Hungarian jurist
and criminologist from Pécs who collects archae-
ological finds originating from metal detecting
activity to save them for the public and science.
According to his testament in the future the
whole collection will get to the Hungarian Na­
tional Museum. At the moment when this study
was written 28 cloth seals were available.
However, their number may increase in the fol-
lowing years. This is the only collection of cloth
seals donated by a private collector in the muse-
um where we have at least some modern settle-
ments mentioned as find location, but even in
these cases no precise coordinates or archaeolog-
ical sites are given. Certainly, we must be very
cautious about the locations named by the sellers
of the finds, because the authenticity and the
trustiness of the information remain dubious.
Nevertheless, at least the region of the prove-
nance of this collection can be defined more pre-
cisely. These finds represent most of all the
south-western part of Hungary, namely counties
Tolna, Baranya, Somogy and in some cases Zala
(Fig. 1). Similarly to the Lajos Sándor’s collection,
László Korinek has tried to acquire whole, recog-
nisable pieces. The cloth seals of this group show
a relatively wide range of chronological and geo-
graphical variability: from the earliest pieces
made in Flemish textile centres in the late 14th
century, through the 15th–16th-century German
cloth seals, and finishing with some examples
depicting the Royal coat of arms of England.
Collection from Kaposvár
One of the very few cases, when an illegal metal
detecting activity got to the trial phase and when
the violators were prosecuted took place in
Kaposvár in 2003. However, this case was only
the end of a trespass, which was going on for
many years (if not decades) and the damage
caused to the archaeological and cultural herit-
age including the simple loss of the archaeologi-
cal material – the more representative objects
most probably were sold to private collectors in
Western Europe – is incalculable. The scale of pil-
laging of archaeological sites by this group of
criminals can be imagined simply taking account
of 33,000 items inventoried during the process.12
(Only the number of unsellable roman brooches
exceeds 9000.)
12 Mráv–Szabó 2006, 25–26.
196 maxim mordovin
In case of this collection it is evident that we
have only the “rejections”, that is what was im-
possible to sell, the “lower quality” material. Still
there are 28 pieces identified as cloth seals data-
ble to the Middle Ages and Early Modern time.
There are about the same amount of other lead
seals mainly from the 19th–20th century. Most of
them were used to seal bales of tobacco, grain,
wheat etc. This last group of finds will be ana-
lysed later in a separate study.
Since this collection is consisted almost exclu-
sively of less representative finds or those of
worse state of preservation – this is an absolute
opposition to the first two with relatively well
readable and more-or-less identifiable exem-
plars. Still, the general statistic is valid for these
finds also. The earliest among them originated
from Flanders, datable again to the 14th–15th cen-
tury; there are some late medieval pieces from
German and Austrian towns; and certainly, some
fragmented cloth seals from England also ap-
pear. This group most probably was collected in
the south-western part of Hungary, namely in
the counties Somogy, Baranya, Tolna and Zala
(Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Approximate find locations of the cloth seals from the Hungarian National Museum
1. kép. A Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum ólomplombáinak feltételezett lelőhelyei
Balázs F. Csáti’s Collection
The fourth collection is the most recent one and
was donated to the Hungarian National Museum
by Balázs F. Csáti at the beginning of 2014. The
whole collection is consisted of ca. 90 lead objects.
There are 35 medieval and early modern cloth
seals, approximately 40 modern bag seals and
some other items (fragments of ring, bullets etc.).
According to the donator, all these finds were
bought on the internet auction sites, what means
that they all come most probably from metal de-
tecting activities. Apart from this information there
is no data at all about the localities or regions of
their provenance except that they all were found in
Hungary. Even with this huge lack of data the col-
lection is important thanks to its some well pre-
served and identifiable or even unique finds.
In this case the composition of the collection is
very similar to the previous one. Most of the
items are small, usually damaged, rubbed or
heavily corroded. Sometimes it is very hard to
identify them. Their dating and provenance var-
ies from 14th-century Flanders, through some
German towns until 16th-century Bohemia.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 197
Other cloth seals in the Hungarian National
Museum
There are three more stray cloth seals in the
Hungarian National Museum. They are kept to-
gether with Lajos Sándor’s collection; however,
they are undoubtedly not part of that. The finds
are cleaned and in good state even if one of them
is just a small fragment of a cloth seal. Two of
these seals bear the coat of arms of England,
while the third one of Tulln.
Function of the cloth seals
The function of cloth seals is partly described in
their term used in the scholarly literature (e.g.
Eng.: cloth seal; Germ.: Tuchplombe; Dutch: laken-
lood; Pol.: plomba ołowiana or plomba tekstylna;
Slov.: olovená plomba; Hung.: ólomplomba or textil-
plomba). These are small, circular, leaden objects
used to note and testify the origin, type and qual-
ity of the product “from the late 14th to the early
19th century… as part of a system of industrial
regulation and taxation”.13 The question of their
usage was very well analysed in several Western
European publications, most of all in the works
of Nicolaas Wilhelmus Posthumus, Geoff Egan
and more recently of Dieter Hittinger.14 Some
similar current evaluations concerning cloth
seals were written in Poland.15
According to the medieval and early modern
sources it is obvious that to each bolt of cloth at
least two but usually even more cloth seals were
attached, up to 4–616 – depending on its type and
quality (more precisely on the number of the pro-
duction phases that had to be checked and certi-
fied by the specialised local institution set up ex-
actly to control the quality of the fabric. There are
some lucky archaeological finds, which are per-
fect examples for multiple cloth seals on a single
bolt.17
Almost all cloth seals were made of lead and
were cast.18 It seems that originally, yet in the 13th
century the cloth production was “certified” us-
ing wax seals.19 However, due their frailty, they
were soon replaced by leaden ones. The earliest
13 Egan 1987, 1.
14 Posthumus 1908–1939; Egan 1994; Hittinger 2008.
15 Kocińska–Maik 2004; Bobowski 2008.
16 Posthumus 1908, 80; Endrei 1989, 57, 59; Hittinger 2008, 90,
Abb. 34.
17 Hittinger 2008, 11, Abb. 6; 12, Abb. 7; 90, Abb. 34; Trawicka–
Ceynowa 2011, 24, Ryc. 10.
18 Egan 1994, 5; Kocińska–Maik 2004, 11.
19 Egan 1987, 18.
examples for the leaden cloth seals are known
from the Low Countries. They appeared in
Leiden in the second half of the 13th century20
and in Ypres by the end of the 13th, beginning of
the 14th century.21 By the 14th century this meth-
od to authenticate and certify the cloth fabrics be-
came exclusive in this region. In England the first
mention of the marking of the cloth in some way
known from the charters issued in 1328 and 1350.
The use of lead for sealing cloth can be traced in
London from at least 1380.22 In the 14th century
this practice gradually spread toward east –
Germany, Polish and Bohemian territories.23 The
amount of the cloth seals is very well imaginable
reading the city accounts of Ypres, where the
number of 12,500 pieces of ordered lead seals in
1304/1305 in ten years increased to 63,500.24 That
means a number of more than 5 millions in a cen-
tury only from a single town.
There are several types of lead seals. The most
widespread is the so called “riveted” type con-
sisted of two lobes (or discs) connected by a short
strip. One of the discs was perforated while the
other had a pin. The seal was folded onto the
edge of the cloth so that the rivet on one disc
could be pushed through the cloth in the corre-
sponding hole of the other disc and then pressed
using tongs. The interfacing surfaces of the tongs
bore incised marks, coats of arms or inscriptions,
which remained imprinted in the lead. The seal
might have been also hammered similarly to the
coins. The two-lobed, single riveted type is the
most common among the finds from the collec-
tions of the Hungarian National Museum: 82
pieces were made this way.
The second type differs from the first one only
in that it had two pins (rivets). This is very char-
acteristic for the cloth seals from Flanders
(Tournai) and some for examples with the coat of
arms of England.25 There are 13 such seals in the
discussed collections. According to the schol-
ars,26 there may be some chronological difference
in use of the first two types.
The third type in the represented material is
consisted of two simple discs with no perforation
or pins on them connected by a narrow, some-
times decorated strip. Altogether six finds belong
to this group, mainly larger ones with the coat of
arms of England. Some of them, however, do not
20 Egan 1994, 1, Fig. 2.
21 Endrei 1989, 57.
22 Egan 1978, 177; Egan 1987, 17–18.
23 Kocińska–Maik 2004, 13.
24 Edrei 1989, 57.
25 Egan 1987, 26, 160.
26 For example: Egan 1987, 280.
198 maxim mordovin
have even any traces of a strip. There are smaller
holes on such seals suggesting that they must
have been tied to the fabric or even to the bale.
The dating of this type is the same than for the
“English” cloth seals and will be discussed later.
The fourth type represents a completely differ-
ent solution. This is a small cylinder made of
lead, which was pressed on a thread, most prob-
ably on the bale of the fabric. This so-called “tu-
bular” type is not so rare in Hungary but at the
present stage of research it seems to be character-
istic in the medieval and early modern period
only for the cloth seals from Tournai (Doornik).
According to some western research, the cylin-
drical seals were used during the 14th century in
several western cities: along with Tournai also in
some English cities.27 In the examined collections
there are 14 finds of this type.
In addition to the mentioned four types sever-
al further variants of cloth seals exist in Western
and Central Europe.28 But since they do not ap-
pear in the present collections I skip the intro-
duction of them.
Evaluation of the cloth seals
There are several possibilities to classify the cloth
seals. The most usual solution is to create groups
according to the marks imprinted on the seals.29
The imprints of the items found in Hungary in
most of the cases depict some kind of coat of
arms or in some ways refer to that. This might
have been a whole coat of arms, a most character-
istic figure from the arms or a privy mark used
for similar purpose. The best way to identify the
provenance of particular cloth seals is to identify
these arms. In this study the classification is
made according to the topography of the prove-
nanced finds with a separate group of those,
which could not have been identified at the mo-
ment. According to this concept eight groups of
cloth seals can be distinguished (Fig. 2).
Low Countries and Northern France (Cat. 1–25)
This group is one of the richest from the collec-
tions of the Hungarian National Museum. The
best known and the most widespread type of
cloth seals is provenanced from Tournai
(Doornik). These finds actually are easily recog-
nisable as there is a stylised tower from the arms
27 Egan 1987, 112; Egan 1995, 6.
28 See for example: Kocińska–Maik 2004, 12, Ryc. 2; Egan 1994,
5–6; Rodenburg 2011, 51, Ill. 9.
29 Egan 1987; Bobowski–Ossowski 2013.
of the city on one side and the fleur-de-lis on the
other, and – to make the identification 100% sure
– usually there is a text written in majuscules
around the lily: “DE TOURNAI”. The 20 such
items can be divided in at least two groups ac-
cording to their main features. Thus 12 of them
are tubular seals (Cat. 1–12), and the remaining 8
belong to the double riveted type (Cat. 13–20).
The imprints on the seals can also differ. For ex-
ample, the lily is usually encircled by a pearled
edge, which sometimes has a quatrefoil form
(Cat. 18–20), but in four cases (Cat. 13–15, 17)
there is no circle at all. Similar situation can be
observed in connection with the imprinted tow-
ers. There are at least three different versions of
it but the available data is yet too small to draw
any chronological conclusions.
It is very hard to create an overall chronology
for these finds yet but the fact that no cloth seals
from Tournai have been found in Pápa suggests
their dating to the period prior to the late 15th
century. Similar cloth seals with well document-
ed stratigraphic context from Visegrád are data-
ble to the late 14th century.30 Two more were
found in Zvolen (Hung.: Zólyom, Slovakia), in
the Deserted Castle (Pustý hrad), also in deposits
from the second half of the 14th century.31 There
are many other similar finds from other sites in
Hungary: Solt-Tételhegy,32 Tolna, Budapest,
Szeged.33 They are predominantly unpublished
stray finds belonging mostly to the tubular type.
Outside Hungary cloth seals from Tournai have
been found so far in Sweden (Lund-Sandgatan)
– dated to the late 14th century,34 Finland,
England35 and in Russia (Novgorod).36
The only cloth seal with a fragment of the coat
of arms of Leiden is the first such find in medie-
val Hungary (Cat. 21). However, it is among the
most frequent types in the western countries,
known outside the Low Countries in Germany,37
Sweden38 and Poland.39
There are more seals, which cannot be identi-
fied undoubtedly yet but according to the details
30 Varga 2012, 14–15, Fig. 7–8.
31 Hunka 1999, 305, obr. 4/15.
32 Varga 2012, 14, footnote 40.
33 Unpublished finds. I am grateful for the information to
András K. Németh (Tolna), Judit Benda (Budapest) and
József Géza Kiss (Szeged).
34 Rodenburg 2011, Cat. 7, 26, No. 17.
35 Egan 2010, 58–59, Fig. 2/2.
36 Blankoff 1978, 5–12.
37 Hittinger 2008, 35, Taf. 15.
38 Rodenburg 2011, Cat. 2, No. 1; 10, No. 27; 11, No. 30; 14, No.
38.
39 Kocińska–Maik 2004, 60/105; Trawicka–Ceynowa 2011, 21,
Ryc. 7.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 199
Fig. 2. Provenance of the identified cloth seals from the Hungarian National Museum
2. kép. A Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum azonosított ólomplombáinak származási helye
of the arms on them may be connected to this re-
gion. One of them has arms party per cross with
four lions rampant (Cat. 20). Similar arms are well
known both for Wales and Hainaut but it seems
that their coats of arms were not used to imply
for any textile production centre. (At least there
is no such known example so far.) There is a re-
ally small Dutch city with similar coat of arms,
Krommenie, now part of Zaanstad. It was not too
famous of its cloth production but there might
have been cloth seals made here.40 I may accept
the possible identification of the find from the
Hungarian National Museum as a seal from
Krommenie.
Two more items display a clear and fine coat
of arms with a crosier on it (Cat. 23–24). The
identification is dubious. According to Geoff
Egan’s collection these arms appear on the seals
from Mechelen (Malines) most probably refer-
ring to the bishopric of Liège, the authority of
which was acknowledged by the city from 1305.41
The known English examples are quite different
from the Hungarian ones and, at the same time,
there are more other possible identification, for
example Eichstätt, Viviers42 and Basel. The cro-
40 Blazer–Roefstra 2003, 57.
41 Egan 1994, 194, Fig. 43/325–326; Egan 2010, 58.
42 Rentzmann 1876, Taf. 6/218.
sier in the arms of Basel is very different from the
one imprinted on the seal. Since from these cities
only Mechelen had significant textile industry,
this one seems to be more likely solution.
The coat of arms of the last item is very similar
to that of Troyes (France). There are even three
small fleurs-de-lis in the chief. The only difference
is the direction of bending (Cat. 25). I have found
only a single similar but much later cloth seal at-
tributed to Troyes, in France, dated to 1730.43
Germany (Cat. 26–33)
The second largest group of cloth seals was
brought to Hungary on textiles from Germany.
The number of the towns represented in this
group is surprisingly small comparing, for exam-
ple, with Pápa.44 The collection of the Hungarian
National Museum includes one cloth seal from
Mansfeld (Cat. 33), another one from Cologne
(Köln – Cat. 26) and six from Nuremberg
(Nürnberg – Cat. 27–32). Most of these seals have
good analogies in Hungary. The seal from
Cologne has fine, better preserved analogies
from Pápa datable to the late 15th, early 16th cen-
43 https://sites.google.com/site/plombdescelle/le-textile (10.
04. 2014.)
44 Mordovin 2013, 275–276.
200 maxim mordovin
tury,45 and a 15th-century one from Castle Šintava
(Sempte).46 Cloth production from Cologne got
even to England, according to a similar seal
found in London.47 The seal from Mansfeld can
be identified by the image of St George which ap-
pears in the arms of the city. Since this is a rela-
tively widespread heraldic charge, the identifica-
tion cannot be absolutely certain.
Most of the cloth seals from Germany in the
discussed collection came from Nuremberg
(Nürnberg). The six finds represent two diverse
types, which in this case seems to refer rather to
various sorts of textile (different quality) than to
any chronological difference. The smaller seal
(Cat. 27) has no known analogies; but something
similar dated to the 15th century was found in
Castle Šintava.48 The larger pieces, however, are
datable rather to the second half of 16th century
like those from Castle Bajcsa49 and early modern
layers of Diósgyőr Castle.50 The same dating is
valid for some cloth seals from Pápa.51 Some, yet
unpublished similar finds were collected in
Debrecen and Mindszentpuszta.52 Unfortunately
these are all stray finds.
Silesia (Cat. 34–39)
There are six cloth seals originated from cities of
medieval Silesia (present day Poland and Czech
Republic). The imprints of the first two display
three towers above a city wall with a gate under
the middle tower. Earlier I identified this coat of
arms with the very similar one of Hamburg.53
However, there is a whole such seal in a private
collection in Budapest with inscription and dat-
ing on the reverse saying “HAYNAU” and
“156[2?]”. This find has enabled to modify the
identification to Silesian Chojnów (Haynau). The
find from Pápa actually confirms the 16th-century
dating of the seal.
A much damaged and hardly recognisable
seal seems to have come from Opava (Troppau –
Cat. 36). The identification in this case is still a bit
dubious. Only a small hardly visible fragment of
the coat of arms serves as a base for this. Similar
arms can be seen on the cloth seal found in 2013
45 Mordovin 2013, 279.
46 Hunka 2006, 49.
47 Egan 1994, 192, Fig. 41/313.
48 Hunka 2006, 49.
49 Kovács 2002, 179/206.
50 Huszár 1972, 43–47; Czeglédy 1988, XLVI/b.
51 Mordovin 2013, 273, Fig. 3/7, 279.
52 The one at Mindszentpuszta was found during field survey.
Hereby I am grateful again for the information to István
Bacskai and László Szolnoki.
53 Mordovin 2013, 273, Fig. 3/1–2, 279.
at Castle Čabraď (Csábrág) datable to the second
half of the 16th century.54
The arms of three more cloth seals display a
double cross known from the coat of arms of sev-
eral cloth production centres (for example Ypres
and Saint Omer). However, on the basis of the
eagle and small round dot beside the cross of one
of them can be undoubtedly identified with the
Silesian Wschowa (Fraustadt – Cat. 37–39).55 The
only known two similar finds have been discov-
ered in Gdańsk (Danzig).56
Bohemia and Moravia (Cat. 35–54)
The situation with the Bohemian cloth seals is
somewhat better, especially with the one from
Nový Jičín (Neutitschein) due to its very charac-
teristic coat of arms (Cat. 40). There are some al-
most identical finds from Pápa dated to the sec-
ond half of the 16th century.57
Maybe the largest group of cloth seals from
the Hungarian National Museum has very spe-
cific and well recognisable imprints. However,
its identification is still questionable. Usually
these seals display a crown on one or both sides
and a very short text (or name?) on the other. The
inscription has not been resolved yet, thus the
only base for the identification is the crown. One
of these finds depicts a crowned letter “M” and a
rose on the reverse (Cat. 41). This most probably
corresponds to a variation of the coat of arms of
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus) which appeared
after 1483 when the city received the crowned
“W” symbolising new privileges granted to the
city by king Vladislaus. The rose, at the same
time, belongs to the earlier arms of the lords of
Jindřichův Hradec. According to this, all the rest
of the cloth seals with crowned “W” can be iden-
tified similarly. Apart from the first mentioned
such seal, there are two more variations in this
group depending on the style of the letter “W”.
On the earlier variations datable to the 15th and
early 16th century it is written in gothic minuscula
(Cat. 42–45), on the exemplars from the late 16th
and 17th centuries it appears already in antiqua
(Cat. 46–51). The letter “W” was often accompa-
nied by an inscription on the reverse written in
gothic or renaissance style – according to the
main letter. While the gothic versions are yet il-
legible, the renaissance says: “neve/stad” or
“ALDE/STAD”. The last one can be read on a seal
54 Unpublished excavation lead by Ján Beljak and myself.
55 Rentzmann 1876, Taf. 33/114.
56 Kocińska–Maik 2004, 45/40–41.
57 Mordovin 2013, 278, Fig. 6/8, 279.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 201
from Pápa.58 These may be translated as new city
(NEUE STADT) and old city (ALTE STADT) but
there is no data or explanation to what these
names could refer. The German name of the city
is Neuhaus.
The other part of the cloth seals with imprint-
ed crown but without letter “W” remains prob-
lematic. It seems to be plausible to identify it
alike but to a period prior to the year 1483, that is
before the granting of the new arms. The very
similar style of the crown and the text on the re-
verse – also illegible – support this idea (Cat. 52–
62). The written sources additionally confirm the
presence of the textile production from Jindřichův
Hradec in Hungary at least from the first half of
the 15th century.59
At the same time, the letter “W” appears on
the coat of arms of Wrocław (Breslau),60 and at
least in one case it accompanies the coat of arms
of Nuremberg.61 The style of the letter in all such
cases is antiqua. The renaissance sign “W” was
incorporated into the arms of Wrocław only in
the 1530s. Since the majority of the cloth seals
from the Hungarian National Museum display
the gothic version, the identification with
Jindřichův Hradec seems to be more likely.
There is one more weak side of this interpreta-
tion. The form alde for old indicates rather
north-western German dialects than south-east-
ern. However, no such seals have been found so
far, except the territory of medieval Kingdom of
Hungary. This last may even imply to its
Hungarian origin but there is no known city with
a coat of arms containing a crowned “W”.
This type of cloth seals is relatively well
known in Hungary. There is at least one renais-
sance type found in Pápa identified then as one
from Wrocław.62 Many others were found as
stray finds during excavations at Szombathely
and field surveys at Alsótold, Mindszentpuszta
etc.63 At the same time it is very cautionary that
there are no similar seals outside the Carpathian
Basin yet.
Austria (Cat. 63–74)
The seals from the neighbouring Austria are rep-
resented in the collections of the Hungarian
58 Mordovin 2013, 277, Fig. 5/9.
59 OSR § 424: 196–197.
60 Rentzmann 1876, Taf. 8/76, 83.
61 Unpublished collection of József Géza Kiss (Szeged).
62 Mordovin 2013, 277, Fig. 5/9.
63 Unpublished. I am grateful for the information about
Szombathely to Csaba Tóth from the Hungarian National
Museum. Mindszentpuszta and Alsótold are parts of my
own research.
National Museum relatively well – as it might
have been expected. There are two pieces from
Tulln with a characteristic letter “T” known from
its coat of arms (Cat. 63–64). There are no known
analogies for this find so far. A cloth seal similar-
ly with a letter “T” found in Castle Schrattenstein
(Austria) was identified as one from Tulln.64
However, it seems that the “reference” for the
coat of arms in this case is not this letter but rath-
er the figure on the other side of the seal, which
can be interpreted as a winged lion of Saint
Mark, the symbol of Venice. An almost identical
seal from Partizánske (Hung.: Simony, Slovakia)
was identified similarly.65 The cloth seal with
strange imprint on one side and four small flow-
ers on the other (Cat. 65) can be identified with
Linz using a similar find from József Géza Kiss’
collection in Szeged.
Most of the Austrian finds originate from
Vienna (Wien), the main textile production cen-
tre of the country (Cat. 66–74). In the discussed
collection there are seven almost identical seals
with the coat of arms of Austria on one and with
arms of City of Vienna on the other side (Cat. 67–
72, 74). Some analogies for this type of cloth seals
are known from Pápa66 and Győr.67 Certainly,
there are similar finds from Austria too (e.g.
Castle Schrattenstein).68 Two more seals depict
coat of arms of Vienna and an eagle, most likely
referring to the Habsburgs (Cat. 66, 73).
Italy (Cat. 75–78)
Italian cities – despite the known strong connec-
tions with Hungary in the Middle Ages – are rep-
resented only by four finds from Venice. All of
them are in quite bad state: rubbed and corrod-
ed. One of the depictions on them can be identi-
fied as a winged lion with the Bible. On the other
side in two cases a simple letter “B” can be seen.
Similar, better readable finds are known from
Visegrád,69 Mindszentpuszta and Partizánske
(Hung.: Simony, Slovakia).70
England (Cat. 79–88)
The cloth seals from England are usually the eas-
iest to identify. These finds with the Royal coat of
arms of England were already discussed in the
64 Kühtreiber–Marian 2000, 199, Abb. 1.
65 Hunka 1999, 303, obr. 4/12, 304.
66 Mordovin 2013, 277, Fig. 5/7.
67 Unpublished. I am very grateful for the information to Szilvia
Bíró.
68 Kühtreiber–Marian 2000, 200, Abb. 2.
69 Bárdi 2014, 124, 364, Fig. 108/13.
70 Hunka 1999, 303, obr. 4/12, 304.
202 maxim mordovin
1960s by Lajos Huszár. Before going into details
about the more frequent types, two unique ex-
amples should be mentioned. One of them de-
picts the arms of London (Cat. 79). Such seals are
well known in the western countries – England,
Germany, Sweden and even Poland, but in
Hungary this is the first. The one from London
bearing identical coat of arms and an inscription
de Londino can be dated to the 17th century.71
Similar corresponding western finds confirm this
dating.72 Another unique cloth seal is a two-
lobed single riveted piece with an imprinted text
“SEA[R]CHED” (Cat. 80). This must have been
an officials’ seal.73 Unfortunately its reverse side
is too damaged to identify the particular city of
its origin. There are finds with such inscriptions
from different English cities, for example: Suffolk,
Guildford (Surrey), Worcester, York etc.74
According to the known analogies and the style
of the letters it can be dated to the 17th century.
The rest of the “English” seals usually have
impressed arms of England on one side and a
Tudor rose on the other (Cat. 81–87). These seals
actually belong to at least two types: two-disc
with no rivets (Cat. 83–84, 86–88) and two-disc
with two rivets (Cat. 81–82, 85). There is no rea-
son to suppose any chronological difference be-
tween them, since in all known cases the imprint-
ed arms can be dated to the reign of Queen
Elisabeth I. The most striking about these seals is
the high number of the irregularities and mis-
takes in the motto of the arms. The quality of the
depiction also varies a lot from very good to
hardly recognisable. Such cloth seals are relative-
ly widespread on the territory of medieval
Hungary. Apart from those already collected by
Lajos Huszár,75 many new exemplars have been
found during the last decade. (Only some of the
localities: Szécsény,76 Pápa,77 Varjas, Eger,78
Vác,79 Bajcsa80 etc.) Also several such finds were
published from other parts of Europe. The west-
ernmost was found in Amsterdam81 and France.82
71 Patar 2008, 179, 361, Fig. 435. A good 17th-century analogy
from Hamburg: Hittinger 2008, 146, Taf. 12/5.
72 Kocińska–Maik 2004, 53–55, 79–86; Egan 1987, 165–166.
73 Egan 1978, 178, Fig. 2, top centre.
74 Egan 1987, 220, 225, 243, 256.
75 Huszár 1961.
76 Guba–Galcsik 2013, 24, 28. kép.
77 Mordovin 2013, 274, Fig. 4/3–5.
78 Unpublished. I am grateful for the information to István
Bacskai and László Szolnoki (Varjas), László Nagy (Eger).
79 Tettamanti 1994, 111, 170 (37. t. 5–6).
80 Kovács 2002, 179, 208.
81 Egan 2010, 61.
82 http://www.echange-passion.com/t3260-plombs-anglais
(20. 04. 2014.)
There is at least one from Sweden83 and Gdańsk
(Danzig),84 while the most eastern finds are
known from Vilnius,85 Kiev86 and Novgorod.87
One more type of cloth seals connectable to
this group depicts Tudor rose with surrounding
inscription “Guilhelmus Almandete”. This relative-
ly widespread type is represented in the
Hungarian National Museum only with one ex-
emplar (Cat. 88). Such seals are known from dif-
ferent parts of Continental Europe, as from
France, Sweden88 and Germany,89 via Poland up
to Moravia,90 Hungary91 and Russia.92 Some of
these are dated to the 1570s and 1580s.
The main question that concerns these cloth
seals is the place of their origin. As Lajos Huszár
has already noted, the coat of arms most proba-
bly refers to the cloth produced in England but
baled already somewhere in Germany or else-
where in Continental Europe.93 There are two
facts that confirm this idea. At first, there are no
such finds in England and the second is the ap-
pearance of grammatical mistakes in the motto of
the arms. There is a “reasonable suspicion” that
the differences in quality may actually cover the
practice of forgery. A comparative analyse of the
lead and the imprints on the cloth seals may help
in future to verify this.
Unidentified seals (Cat. 89–115)
A relatively high number of the cloth seals from
the collections of the Hungarian National Mu­
seum – 27 items – have not been identified yet. In
some cases the reason is simply their state of
preservation: much rubbed or heavily damaged
surface (Cat. 113–115). Sometimes the well read-
able coats of arms have not been solved yet, espe-
cially when it concerns heraldic lions (Cat. 90),
eagles (Cat. 91–93) and towers (Cat. 89, 94), pure-
ly because of the stylised nature of the imprints.
These charges of the arms were extremely popu-
lar in the medieval heraldry and without defined
or marked tinctures of them there are at least
83 Rodenburg 2011, Cat. 3, 23, No. 6.
84 Kocińska–Maik 2004, 55/87.
85 Kaplūnaitė–Jonaitis 2005, 84–85 (1 pav.).
86 Klimovsky 1997, 50–52.
87 Yanin 1953, 384, Рис. 13.
88 Rodenburg 2011, 64.
89 Voigt 1878, 19.
90 Čižmář 1999.
91 Huszár 1961, XXXII/11–12.
92 http://diveforum.spb.ru/viewtopic.php?t=11287&postdays
=0&postorder=asc&start=125 (14. 05. 2014.);
http://forum.kladoiskatel.ru/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=42801
(14. 05. 2014.)
93 Huszár 1961, 193–194; Egan 1994, 197, Fig. 46/348.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 203
dozens of possible identifications. The same is
applicable to such charges as Sun in his Glory
(Cat. 95–96) or fleur-de-lis (Cat. 98). The last one
may equally indicate several Flemish cities or
Florence in Italy. The identification of these coats
of arms can be confirmed when they are accom-
panied by inscriptions or additional parts refer-
ring to a region or a ruler. Some arms on the dis-
cussed seals are simply unknown yet (Cat. 107–
112). The interpreting of the privy marks seems
to be the hardest task since their variability is
nearly limitless and they have no indications for
the city or country of their origin (Cat. 99–102). In
some other cases even the inscription cannot
help, especially when they are too fragmented or
imply a particular sort of textile (Cat. 102–103).
Some cloth seals have relatively specific im-
prints, which may be helpful in their identifica-
tion. There is a seal with cloth shears accompa-
nied by two crosses (Cat. 105) similar to one
found in Hunetorp (Denmark) and probably
provenanced from Göttingen and dated to the
first quarter of the 16th century.94 Another good
example is known from Anklam.95
Two unidentified types of cloth seals have
good analogies from excavations at Bolzano
(Bozen, South-Tirol). One of them depicts porta-
ble balance scales on one side and privy mark – B
[I] A – on the other (Cat. 106). In Bolzano the
seals with similar imprints instead of privy
marks have some kind of berries. The other type
of image is the knight (Cat. 111–112). Both of
such cloth seals from the discussed collection
have imprinted privy marks on the reverse side.
The depiction of the knights is very similar to
each other, which fact refers to the possible com-
mon place of provenance. The only known coat
of arms with a knight on it belongs to Schwerin
in Germany but there is no other evidence for
such identification. The similar finds from
Bolzano have short inscription on their backside:
“oueri”, “over” or “oero”.96 Even so, the prove-
nance of the finds from Bolzano was not defined.
Historical background and the international
cloth trade in Hungary
The written sources concerning the international
trade of textile production in medieval Hungary
are known relatively well and there is a long tra-
dition of the historical research of this topic.
94 Schütte 1993, 138.
95 Hittinger 2008, 164, Taf. 22/1.
96 Terzer 2004, 153, Taf. 18/98, 104–105 (scales); 154, Taf.
19/110, 115–116 (knights).
Along with the already mentioned Walter Endrei,
György Székely and Zsigmond Pál Pach were
dealing with this topic. From the written sources
we can follow the appearance of the western tex-
tile at the Hungarian tolls and on the markets
from the late 13th century onwards.
The earliest custom registry from Esztergom
issued in 1288 mentions different types of cloth
from Vienna, Regensburg and even some sorts
from across Rhine. The last one may refer to
the Flemish cities of Ghent, Ypres and Tournai
(Door­nik).97 The earliest known imported Fle­
mish cloth came to Hungary from Ghent, and
mentioned already in the mid-13th century. Later
the ghentish cloth appears in the Hungarian
sources up to the end of the 14th century.98
Although the fabrics of Tournai (Doornik) –
called in the Hungarian charters dornetum99 – can
be traced in the charters already from the late 13th
century, they become extremely popular from
the 14th century onward.100 Their appearance de-
creases during the 15th century, and by the 16th
century they seem to have disappeared com-
pletely.101 The custom registry of Sopron men-
tions cloth production from Brussels and Leuven
at the end of the 14th century.102 From the end of
the same century we find increasing number of
charters referring to cloth from Leuven.103 In
Sopron and Bratislava the Leuven-fabrics (de
Levano) were served as a part of the yearly pres-
ent for the Queen and as Christmas gift for the
King.104 Other towns from the Low Countries
such as Bruges, Brussels, Sint Truiden (Trau­
tenau), Cambrai and Mechelen (Malinas) known
in the Hungarian documents from the end of the
14th century, are present in the 15th-century stat-
ute book of Buda and in other contemporary
charters.105
The German textile mentioned in the Hun­
garian written sources from the late 13th century
remain on the market until the end of the dis-
cussed period, namely up to the late 17th century.
The medieval documents mention fabrics from
Cologne (Köln) already in 1394.106 Later, in the
15th century, the sequence of the known cities is
 97 Székely 1968, 4–10; Pach 2003, 11.
 98 Székely 1968, 4–6.
 99 For example: Dl 96146 (15. 06. 1328), Szabolcs County.
100 Székely 1968, 7.
101 Székely 1968, 8.
102 Pach 2003, 146.
103 Székely 1968, 15; OSR § 424, 197.
104 SopOkl I. v. 2, 65 (1413), 76 (1414) etc. … 354 (1428); I. v. 3, 6
(1430), 41 (1432), 57–58 (1433), 75 (1434), 123 (1436); I. v. 4, 67
(1454); I. v. 5, 33 (1461), 56 (1463), 75; Székely 1968, 15.
105 OSR § 424, 197; Székely 1968, 10–23; Endrei 1989, 42.
106 Pach 2003, 146.
204 maxim mordovin
expanded with Cologne (Köln),107 Aachen,108
Nuremberg (Nürnberg),109 Mainz, Marburg,
Frank­furt etc.110
Austrian cloth was being sold starting from
the late 13th century111 in the whole period of the
late Middle Ages and Early Modern time. Apart
from the quite widespread Viennese cloth men-
tioned in the town statute book from the first
third of the 15th century,112 we know about textile
from Tulln,113 Hainburg and Bruck an der Leitha.
The production of the latter two cities appears in
the custom registries of Bratislava (Pozsony/
Pressburg) compiled between 1457 and 1458.114
From the 14th century onward a new region
“broke” onto the Hungarian cloth market with
its fabrics: Bohemia. The written sources from
this period do not always specify the towns115
but from the 15th century we already meet Jihlava
(Iglau),116 Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus), Brno
(Brünn)117 and probably Čáslav.118
The import of the Levantine cloth production
is also documented from the 13th century on-
ward.119 There are several sources for the 14th-cen-
tury import of Italian fabrics,120 and quite a few
from the 15th century. The charters and registers
mention Verona,121 Florence and Viterbo.122
However, surprisingly, we hardly have any ar-
chaeological evidence for this.
Although the “English” cloth – some sorts of
which are called londis, lindisch or londinisch in
the Hungarian charters123 – appears in the sourc-
es already from the beginning of the 15th centu-
ry;124 it can be traced in the archaeological finds
only half a century later. According to the con-
107 SopOkl I. v. 2, 25–26 (1410), 164 (1419); I. v. 3, 329 (1451); I. v.
4, 332 (1458); I. v. 5, 192 (1465); Dl 16939 (15. 12. 1469); Dl
16939 (Buda, 15. 12. 1469).
108 SopOkl I. v. 4, 285 (1458); I. v. 5, 60 (1463).
109 SopOkl I. v. 6, 49 (1488).
110 First half of the 15th century: OSR § 424, 197; 1436: Endrei
1989, 42.
111 Pach 2003, 11.
112 OSR § 424, 197.
113 Endrei 1989, 42 (1436).
114 Pach 2003, 147.
115 Dl 72389 (06. 05. 1378), Szatmár County; Dl 54901 (28. 11.
1434).
116 SopOkl I. v. 4, 83 (1456).
117 OSR § 424, 197 (Jindřichův Hradec, Brno, Jihlava); Endrei
1989, 42 (1436: Jihlava and Brno).
118 SopOkl I. v. 2, 164 (1419).
119 Nagy 2005, 182.
120 Pach 2003, 146.
121 Szende 2004, 160.
122 Florence and Viterbo: OSR § 424, 197; Viterbo: SopOkl I. v. 3,
329 (1451).
123 Pach 2003, 40; Kumorovicz–M. Kállai 1959, v. I, 88, 127; v.
II, 96, 170, 175 (1550–1551).
124 OSR § 424, 197; Endrei 1989, 42 (1436).
temporary documents, in the 16th century among
the cloth imported from England the larger part
consisted of the so-called kersey, which actually
was not even regarded as real cloth. Nevertheless,
this remained very popular in Hungary yet in the
first half of the 17th century. The majority of the
kersey was brought from Flanders by German
merchants, similarly to many other sorts of
cloth.125
During the Ottoman wars the situation
changed strikingly, not because of the permanent
fights and serious damages caused to the
Hungarian economy but rather due to the signif-
icant transformation of the western textile indus-
try and trade connections, including decreasing
Flemish import and increasing role of England in
this process observable from the mid-15th centu-
ry onward.126 The luckily survived custom regis-
tries from the mid-16th century outline three
main source regions of the textile import. The de-
crease of the role of the Low Countries is very
well visible as only four cities appear in this reg-
ister: Amsterdam, Bruges, Sint Truiden and
Arras.127 Similar tendency can be observed for
the Italian cloth trade.128 In 1522 among the
non-specified Italian cloth129 we find Venice,
Genoa and Florence.130 By the mid-16th century
only Bergamo, Milan and Verona remains131 with
Venetian fabrics known from the archaeological
finds. The undoubtedly dominant position in
this time was taken by the German textile pro-
ducing centres: Aachen, Butzbach, Dinkelsbühl,
Einsiedeln, Friedberg, Görlitz, Nuremberg
(Nürnberg), Oberursel, Zwickau, Cologne (Köln),
Meiningen etc.132 The increasing role of the
Silesian133 and Bohemian134 fabrics is represented
by the products from Wrocław (Breslau),
Świdnica (Schweidnitz), Brumov (Braunau),
Jihlava (Iglau), Opava (Troppau) and Svitavy
(Zwittau).135 Certainly, the registry mentions
several sorts of cloth from England136 – import of
125 Endrei 1970, 288–292.
126 Székely 1968, 24–26; Munro 2008, 97.
127 Ember 1988, 75–76, 80.
128 See also: Munro 2007, 137–138.
129 Kumorovicz–M. Kállai 1959, v. II, 175 (1552).
130 Mojzsis 1988, 227–229.
131 Ember 1988, 75–76. For Milan and Bergamo see also: Mollay
1994, 1, 3, 21, 42, 47, 56, 60, 62.
132 Mollay 1994, 12, 63 (Augsburg); 13, 23, 60 (Ulm); 5, 33, 42
(Cologne); 8, 23, 36 (Munich); Kumorovicz–M. Kállai 1959,
v. I, 88, 127, 134, 179 etc. (1544: Nuremberg).
133 SopOkl I. v. 7, 247 (1527: unspecified Silesian cloth).
134 Mollay 1994, 8, 46 (unspecified Bohemian cloth).
135 Mollay 1994, 16 (Jihlava); Kumorovicz–M. Kállai 1959, v. I,
134 (1544: Wrocław).
136 Ember 1988, 75–81.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 205
which seems to remain more-or-less on the same
level through the whole 16th century.137
The escalating fights between the Habsburg
Empire and the Ottomans required larger num-
ber of mercenaries often paid with cloth.138 This,
at the same time, resulted in an increasing textile
trade in this region, which led to intensifying
practice of imitation or clear forgery of the
English cloth.139 This practice can be traced both
in written and archaeological sources. The evi-
dence for the latter will be evaluated in a sepa-
rate, more detailed study.
As the huge territories of Kingdom of Hungary
got under the Ottoman rule, the commercial
routes and traditions changed. Nevertheless,
from the 16th-century custom registries we know
that most sorts of the cloth, which were present
on the markets of the remaining parts of Hungary,
could be also sold on the occupied territories.140
Thus we meet the names of such places of origin
as, for example, Wrocław (Breslau), Nuremberg
(Nürnberg), Bergamo and England.141
The image of the very intensive international
cloth trade reconstructable from the written
sources can be very well confirmed, what is
more, supplemented using archaeological finds.
Thus – starting from the Low Countries – the
number of the cloth seals from Tournai (Doornik)
from the 14th–15th century, more-or-less corre-
sponds to the frequency of the appearance of dor-
netum in the contemporary documents. There are
also identified cloth seals from Mechlin
(Mechelen) and Leiden in the discussed collec-
tions.
The German territories are represented by
cloth seals from Nuremberg (Nürnberg),
Mansfeld and Cologne (Köln), while from the
Austrian parts finds from Linz, Tulln and Vienna
were identifiable so far. From Bohemia we have
a huge group of seals connectable to Jindřichův
Hradec (Neuhaus) and a single piece from Nový
Jičín (Neutitschein). Actually the last one is al-
ready a new piece of information comparing to
that known from charters because the written
documents usually do not distinguish particular
towns from Bohemia mentioning Bohemian or
Moravian cloth in overall.142
Four finds can be interpreted as cloth seals
from Venice. If this identification is correct then
these are among the first and very few such finds
137 Mojzsis 1988, 227, 230.
138 Huszár 1961, 192.
139 Endrei 1970, 292.
140 Endrei 1989, 45.
141 Pach 2003, 76–77. For Bergamo see: SopOkl I. v. 7, 34 (1522).
142 Mojzsis 1988, 227.
from Hungary.143 Moreover, I have not found
any published Italian cloth seals so far even in
the West European scholarly literature (except
the one from Schrattenstein).
The appearance of the cloth seals with the coat
of arms of England in this collection was expect-
ed, since these are the largest and maybe the
most spectacular of such finds. Their dating in
this case coincides with the upsurge of the
English textile industry.
There is a surprising lack of several sorts of
cloth (seals) in the collections of the Hungarian
National Museum. One of them is the group of
seals from Poland, which, however, still may
hide among the not yet identified pieces. The
other such group is yet missing from the whole
known Hungarian material. These are the cloth
seals of the local production in medieval
Hungary. We know for sure from the written
sources that the practice of sealing of the cloth
fabrics existed in Hungary too. The earliest refer-
ence for this is a charter issued in 1444 by John
Hunyadi, in which the latter as voivode of
Transylvania ordered the wool makers of Braşov
(Brassó/Kronstadt) to use seals on their produc-
tion. The document contains no detailed descrip-
tion regarding the physical appearance of the
seals or sealing.144 More than a century later, in
the regulation written in 1556 in Cluj (Kolozsvár/
Clausenburg) the locally produced cloth was or-
dered to bear seals of the city and manufactur-
er.145 By the 17th century the use of the cloth seals
in Braşov was described more precisely. Accor­
ding to a 1651-year regulation the higher quality
sorts must had a “double coat of arms” – most
probably the expanded version of the coat of
arms of Braşov; while the lower quality was
enough to be sealed with the “simple arms”.
Very similar regulation is known also from Sibiu
(Nagyszeben/Hermannstadt) from 1697.146
It is highly possible that the larger centres of
textile production in Northern Hungary such as
Košice (Kassa/Kaschau) or Bardejov (Bártfa/
Bartfeld) also had such practice, although there
are no known or published similar documents
from these towns. In contrast to the mentioned
written sources, not even a single cloth seal has
been identified as of Hungarian origin so far.
There is a feasible explanation for this phenome-
non. Almost all main cloth production centres
are located outside the present day Hungary
(Košice and Bardejov in Slovakia; Cluj-Napoca,
143 Bárdi2014, 124, 364, Fig. 108/13.
144 Pach 2003, 22.
145 Pach 2003, 23.
146 Endrei 1989, 59.
 206 maxim mordovin

Braşov and Sibiu in Romania). According to the good, properly documented stratigraphic con-
written sources their production did not spread text an identifiable cloth seal may be used as a
too far and usually did not get to further urban dating object even better than coins because they
centres because it was supplanted by the higher could have been used only once and then they
quality and cheaper western fabrics.147 The only were either thrown away or reused as raw mate-
exemption might have been Buda, the medieval rial.
capital of Hungary where the cloth production of At the present stage of the research Geoff
Transylvania was common enough to be includ- Egan’s statement from 1978 is very well applica-
ed in the 15th-century statute book of the city.148 ble: “It is only by looking at a great number that
Thus the sealed textile from Transylvania, Košice, major trends can be determined.”149 The 115
Bardejov etc. simply was not sold on the territory cloth seals from the five collections very vividly
of the modern Hungary and so their seals could supplement the picture of the provenance of the
not get into the collections of the Hungarian imported cloth fabrics in the medieval Hungary.
National Museum. Even if the most of them only confirm the data
already known from the written sources, some
finds, however, give significant additional infor-
Conclusion mation denominating particular cloth producing
centres not mentioned in surviving other sources
Analyse of the cloth seals from the Hungarian (for example: Nový Jičín, Mansfeld, Chojnów
National Museum cannot give wholly satisfying and Wschowa). (In case of provenanced cloth
picture simply because of their stray-finds na- seals from excavations we would also get the in-
ture. Nevertheless, since this is the first such formation concerning the distribution of the im-
evaluation of this type of finds from Hungary we ported goods.)
can get at least a general overview of their main From the finds published in this study only 88
variations, places of origin and some statistical could have been identified till now. These seals
indications. Likewise, this study may turn the represent at least six regions: England, Flanders,
scholars’ attention to the cloth seals as a very im- Germany, Bohemia, Austria and Italy. Hopefully,
portant source, something between written and the evaluation of the cloth seals from other col-
archaeological, since even a single stray find may lections with documented stratigraphic context
possess unique information in reference to the will help to identify further exemplars and nar-
international cloth trade in the Middle Ages. In a row the dating.

Katalógus
Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin

Dimensions
Type
Find

Description Illustration
(in mm)

Small tubular cloth seal. One

Tournai (Doornik)

side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a

Old Collection

14th–15th C

pearled circle, with fragments

Unknown

Tubular

of text: "S *D[E [TOVRN]AI ".

1 diam.: 14,7
On the other side is a tower
accompanied by fleurs-de-lis
from the coat of arms of the
city.

147 Szende 2004, 240–241.

148 OSR § 424, 196–197. 149 Egan 1978, 1979.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 207

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
László Korinek's Collection (in mm)

Small tubular cloth seal. One

Tournai (Doornik)
side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a

14th–15th C
pearled circle, with fragments
Unknown

Tubular
diam.: of text: "DE [TOVRN]AI ". On
2
13,5–14,4 the other side is a tower
accompanied by fleurs-de-lis
from the coat of arms of the
city.
László Korinek's Collection

Small tubular cloth seal. One

Tournai (Doornik)
side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a
Baranya County

14th–15th C
pearled circle, with fragments
Tubular

of text "DE TOVR[NAI] ". On

3 diam.: 13
the other side is a tower
accompanied by fleurs-de-lis
from the coat of arms of the
city.

Well preserved tubular cloth

László Korinek's Collection

seal with fine imprints on both

Tournai (Doornik)

sides. One depicts fleur-de-lis

Baranya County

14th–15th C

in a pearled circle
Tubular

accompanied by text: "+S DE

4 diam.: 13,9
TOV[RNAI ]". The other side
shows city gate tower
surrounded by fleurs-de-lis. A
small cross is visible inside
the gate.
László Korinek's Collection

Small tubular cloth seal. One

Tournai (Doornik)

side depicts a fleur-de-lis in

Baranya County

14th–15th C

circle, accompanied by a very

Tubular

fragmented text: "[DE

5 diam.: 12,3
TOUR]NA[I] ". The other side
shows the coat of arms of the
city: a tower with fleurs-de-lis
in a pearled circle.
 208 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
László Korinek's Collection

Small tubular cloth seal. One

Tournai (Doornik)
side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a
Baranya County

14th–15th C
pearled circle, accompanied
Tubular

by text "S DE [TOUR]NAI ".

6 diam.: 13,4
The other side shows the
coat of arms of the city: a
tower with fleurs-de-lis in a
pearled circle.

Small tubular cloth seal with

"Kaposvár" Collection

Tournai (Doornik)

imprints on both sides. On

14th–15th C

one side is a fleur-de-lis in a

Unknown

Tubular

pearled circle, surrounded by

7 diam.: 13,8
illegible text (most probably
DE TOURNAI ). On the other
side is a tower, details of
which are hardly visible.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Small tubular cloth seal. On

Tournai (Doornik)

one side is a fleur-de-lis in a

14th–15th C
Unknown

pearled circle with

Tubular

diam.:
8 surrounding text: "[…] DE
12–13,5
[TOU]RNAI ". On the other
side is a stylised tower in a
pearled circle.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Small tubular cloth seal with

well visible imprints. On one
Tournai (Doornik)

side is a fleur-de-lis in a
14th–15th C
Unknown

pearled circle accompanied

Tubular

diam.:
9 by fragmented inscription
10,5–11,5
"[DE TOUR]NAI ". On the
other side is a stylised tower
from the coat of arms of the
city.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Small tubular cloth seal,

heavily rubbed, hardly
Tournai (Doornik)

readable. One side depicts a

14th–15th C
Unknown

fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle,

Tubular

10 diam.: 13,7 with fragments of a text: "D[E

TO]VRNAI ". On the other
side is a tower accompanied
by fleurs-de-lis from the coat
of arms of the city.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 209

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Small tubular cloth seal,

Tournai (Doornik)
heavily rubbed, hardly

14th–15th C
readable. One side depicts a
Unknown

diam.: Tubular fleur-de-lis in circle, with very

11
14,5–15,5 slight traces of a surrounding
text. On the other side is a
hardly visible tower from the
coat of arms of the city.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Tournai (Doornik)

Heavily damaged, hardly

14th–15th C

readable tubular seal. One

Unknown

Tubular

diam.: side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a

12
13,5–14,5 pearled circle; the other
shows slight traces of the
tower from the coat of arms.
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed double riveted

Medium size well preserved

cloth seal. The riveted side
Tournai (Doornik)

depicts a fleur-de-lis
14th–15th C
Unknown

surrounded by inscription
13 diam.: 17–19 "+DE TOVRNAI " and a
pearled circle. Some traces of
a tower are visible on the pins
on the other side. The strip is
missing.
László Korinek's Collection

Medium size well preserved

Two-lobed double riveted

cloth seal. The riveted side

Tournai (Doornik)
Baranya County

depicts a fleur-de-lis
14th–15th C

surrounded by inscription
14 diam.: 18–19 "+DE TOVRNAI " and a
pearled circle. Some traces of
a tower are visible on the pins
on the other side. The strip is
missing.
 210 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed double riveted

Medium size well preserved
cloth seal. The riveted side

Tournai (Doornik)
Baranya County

depicts a fleur-de-lis

14th–15th C
surrounded by inscription
15 diam.: 19,5 "+DE TOVRNAI " and double
pearled circle. Traces of a
tower from the coat of arms
of the city can be seen on the
pins. The strip is missing.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed double riveted

Double riveted medium size

Tournai (Doornik)

cloth seal. Only the riveted

14th–15th C
Unknown

side remained with depiction

diam.:
16 of a tower accompanied by
16,5–18,1
fleurs-de-lis from the coat of
arms of Tournai. The strip is
missing.

Double riveted medium size

Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed double riveted

cloth seal. Only the riveted

Tournai (Doornik)

side remained with depiction

14th–15th C

of a fleur-de-lis accompanied
Unknown

by text "DE TOVRNAI " in a

17 diam.: 19
pearled circle. On the other
side are slight traces of a
tower and fleurs-de-lis from
the coat of arms of Tournai.
The strip is missing.
Two-lobed double riveted

Medium size heavily rubbed

Tournai (Doornik)

cloth seal. Only the riveted

Old Collection

14th–15th C
Unknown

side remained with imprint of

18 diam.: 22,4 a fleur-de-lis in quatrefoil and
a circle, surrounded by text "‫٭‬
DE ‫ ٭‬TO[URNAI]". The strip
is missing.
Two-lobed double riveted

Medium size deformed cloth

"Kaposvár" Collection

Tournai (Doornik)

seal. Only the perforated side

14th–15th C

remained with fragmented

Unknown

imprints of a fleur-de-lis in
19 diam.: 22
quatrefoil and a pearled
circle, surrounded by text "‫٭‬
DE ‫ ٭‬TOUR[NAI]". The strip
is missing.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 211

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed double riveted

Medium size two riveted cloth

Tournai (Doornik)
seal with heavily damaged

14th–15th C
diam.: surface. Only the riveted side
Unknown

22,5–23,3; remained with imprints of a

20
strip width: fleur-de-lis in quatrefoil and
4,5 pearled circle, surrounded by
text "DE TOVRNA[I] ". Short
fragment of the strip survived.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size cloth seal with

slightly rubbed surface. The
16th–17th C
Unknown

diam.: 18,4; riveted side shows fragment

Leiden

21 strip width: of inscription "[…]AN ". On the

4,2 other side are crossed keys
from the coat of arms of the
city. The strip is broken.
Krommenie (Zaanstad, Netherlands)?
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal with

Baranya County

16th–17th C

only riveted surviving side

displaying a coat of arms
22 diam.: 19-20
party per cross with four
lions rampant. The strip is
missing.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed double riveted

Mechlin (Mechelen)
16th–17th C

Well preserved riveted side of

Unknown

a two-lobed cloth seal. The

23 diam.: 15,2
imprint is a coat of arms with
a crosier. The strip is missing
 212 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed double riveted

Mechlin (Mechelen)
Well preserved riveted side of

16th–17th C
a two-lobed cloth seal. The
Unknown

imprint is a coat of arms with

24 diam.: 17
a crosier accompanied by
letters "v " and "y ". The strip
is missing.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Small well preserved cloth

seal. Fine coat of arms of city
16th–17th C

diam.: of Troyes bendy sinister of

Unknown

Troyes

15,5–16; six potent with three fleurs-

25
strip width: de-lis in chief on the riveted
3,5 side. Hardly recognisable
mark can be observed on the
reverse.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Cologne (Köln)

Medium size cloth seal. The

15th–16th C
Unknown

only remained riveted part is

26 diam.: 21–23 very rubbed, the imprint is
hardly visible. It depicts coat
of arms of Cologne.
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Nuremberg (Nürnberg)
15th–16th C

Medium size cloth seal. Only

Unknown

diam.: 19,5;
the riveted side remained.
27 strip width:
Depicts the small coat of
4,5
arms of the city.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 213

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Nuremberg (Nürnberg)
Very fine example of a large
cloth seal with the coat of

16th–17th C
diam.:
Unknown

arms of Nuremberg on both

33,5–34;
28 sides. On the riveted side the
strip width:
coat of arms is in a pearled
8,6
circle; on the other in simple
circle.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Nuremberg (Nürnberg)
Baranya County

Medium size well preserved

16th–17th C

diam.:
cloth seal with fine imprints of
20,2–21,7;
29 small coat of arms of
strip width:
Nuremberg in a pearled circle
4,3
on both sides.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Nuremberg (Nürnberg)
16th–17th C

diam.: Large cloth seal. Only the

Unknown

33,4–34,7; riveted side remained with

30
strip width: imprinted coat of arms of
8,3 Nuremberg in a pearled circle.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Nuremberg (Nürnberg)

Large cloth seal, heavily

damaged and fragmented.
16th–17th C

On the riveted side is a large

Unknown

Antiqua-style letter "N" in a

31 diam.: 33,5
pearled circle. The reverse
side depicts fragment of an
elaborated, fine coat of arms
of Nuremberg.
 214 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Nuremberg (Nürnberg)
Large cloth seal, heavily

16th–17th C
Unknown

damaged and fragmented.

32 diam.: 32,6 On both sides fragments of
elaborated coat of arms of
Nuremberg in a pearled circle.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal with

fine imprints on both sides,
Baranya County

15th–16th C

inside pearled circle. One

Mansfeld

diam.: 20; side displays Saint George

33
strip width: 4 and the dragon, the other is
illegible. Saint George seems
to refer to the coat of arms of
Mansfeld.

Medium size cloth seal. On

Two-lobed single riveted

the riveted size well

Chojnów (Haynau)

preserved depiction of the

Old Collection

Unknown

coat of arms of Chojnów

16th C

34 diam.: 21,4 (Haynau). Some traces of a

possible inscription can be
seen on the reverse. The strip
is missing. Inv. number
93.1.2.C.
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal. On

Chojnów (Haynau)

the riveted size well

preserved depiction of the
Unknown

diam.:
16th C

coat of arms of Chojnów

35 21–22; strip
(Haynau). Some traces on
width: 5,5
the reverse refer to that the
same imprint must have been
there too.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 215

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal, very

Opava (Troppau)
much damaged and rubbed.

16th–17th C
On the riveted side are some
Unknown

fragments of illegible text in a

36 diam.: 18–19
pearled circle. On the reverse
fragments of the coat of arms
can be seen identifiable with
Opava. The strip is missing.

Only the rivet remained with

László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

the imprints of both sides.

Wschowa (Fraustadt)?
One side depicts an one-
Baranya County

14th–15th C

headed eagle looking right.

diam.: –; The eagle may refer to
37
length 16,2 Silesia. On the other is a
double cross with fleur-de-lis
ends accompanied by a dot.
The strip is missing. The
identification is still dubious.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Wschowa (Fraustadt)

Heavily damaged cloth seal

16th–17th C

with a double cross

Unknown

diam.: 17,9
accompanied by at least one
38 strip width:
small dot on the riveted side.
5,7
The imprint of the reverse
side cannot be recognised.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size two-lobed seal

Wschowa (Fraustadt)?

with damaged strip. The disc

15th–16th C

is rubbed, the image within

Unknown

diam.: 16;
the pearled circle is
39 strip width:
damaged. Reminds traces of
4,3
a double cross accompanied
by dots or flowers. May refer
to Wschowa (Fraustadt).
 216 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Nový Jičín (Neutitschein)

Two-lobed single riveted Large size cloth seal with the

16th–17th C
coat of arms of Nový Jičín on
Unknown

diam.: 34;
one side and with very
40 strip width:
rubbed marks on the other.
6,1
Beside the coat of arms an
incised inscription, illegible.

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?

Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal. On

15th–16th C

the riveted side a rose

Unknown

diam.: 20; accompanied by an illegible

41
strip width: – text which follows a pearled
circle. On the reverse side a
crowned "M".
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal. On

Baranya County

15th–16th C

the riveted side a crowned

gothic "W". On the reverse
42 diam.: 17
illegible fragments of a
shorter text. The strip is
missing.
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Baranya County

15th–16th C

Medium size cloth seal. Only

one side survived, this one
43 diam.: 18,3
displays a crowned gothic
"W". The strip is missing.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 217

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)

Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size heavily
damaged cloth seal. On one

15th–16th C
Unknown

side is crowned minuscule

44 diam.: 20 letter "W". On the reverse are
fragments of gothic minuscule
text within a pearled circle.
The strip is missing.

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)

Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size cloth seal. On

the riveted side is illegible
15th–16th C
Unknown

gothic minuscule text. On the

45 diam.: 19–21 other side is fragment of a
crown. No traces of a letter
"W" are visible. The strip is
missing.
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)
Two-lobed single riveted

A well preserved cloth seal.

On one side is a crowned
Old Collection

16th–17th C

letter "W" written in Antiqua

Unknown

diam.: 23,6;
style surrounded by an
46 strip width:
illegible text. On the reverse
4,7
is a text written also in
Antiqua "ALD[E]/STAT" . Inv.
number 93.1.5.C.
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal, the

reverse part is missing. On
16th–17th C

the riveted side is a crowned

Unknown

diam.:
letter "W" written in Antiqua
47 19–20; strip
style, in a pearled circle. The
width: 3,2
imprint shifted and
overlapped the original
image. The strip is broken.
 218 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)

Two-lobed single riveted

A well preserved cloth seal.

"Kaposvár" Collection

On one side is a crowned

16th–17th C
letter "W" written in Antiqua
Unknown

diam.: 19,3;
style with a small flower left of
48 strip width:
the crown. On the reverse is
3,6
a text written also in Antiqua
"NEVE/[S]TAT" . A small sign
is visible on the strip.

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)

Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

A well preserved cloth seal.

16th–17th C

On one side is a crowned

Unknown

diam.: 20;
letter "W" written in Antiqua
49 strip width:
style. On the reverse is a text
4,8
written also in Antiqua
"NE[V]E/STA[T]" .
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)

Medium size heavily

Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

damaged cloth seal. On one

side is a crowned letter "W"
16th–17th C
Unknown

diam.: 18,6; written in Antiqua style. On

50 strip width: the right side of the crown a
3,3 small flower can be seen.
May refer to the arms of the
family of Hradec. The strip is
broken.
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

A well preserved cloth seal.

On one side is a crowned
16th–17th C

letter "W" written in Antiqua

Unknown

diam.: 17;
style. The letter is heavily
51 strip width:
rubbed, hardly visible. On the
4,1
reverse side is text, also
written in Antiqua
"[N]EV[E]/[S]TAT ".
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 219

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?

Two-lobed single riveted
Medium size cloth seal. On
Old Collection

15th–16th C
Unknown

one side are some fragments

52 diam.: 18,3 of a stylised crown. On the
reverse is an illegible gothic
text. The strip is missing.

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?

Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal. The

riveted disc displays a
Unknown

diam.: 18,4;
15th C

fragment of a crown. On the

53 strip width:
reverse side only a small
4,1
detail of another crown is
visible. The strip is broken.
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal, the

surface is heavily rubbed. On
Unknown

15th C

diam.: 20; one side is a stylised crown.

54
strip width: 3 The reverse displays imprints
of a coat of arms (?), which
cannot be identified.
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size well preserved

16th–17th C
Unknown

diam.: 20; cloth seal with stylised crown

55 strip width: on both sides. On the reverse
5,3 the crown is surrounded by
pearled circle.
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size cloth seal. The

riveted disc displays
Unknown

15th C

fragments of a crown. Some

56 diam.: 14
details of illegible text can be
seen on the reverse side. The
strip is missing.
 220 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?

Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Unknown

diam.: Medium size cloth seal. Both

15th C
57 19–20; strip sides display stylised crown in
width: 3,9 a pearled circle.

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?

Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

15th–16th C
Unknown

diam.: Medium size cloth seal. On

58 21,25; strip both sides is stylised gothic
width: 5,1 crown in a circle.
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

diam.:
Unknown

Small cloth seal with very

15th C

19,2–20,6;
59 rubbed, hardly visible gothic
strip width:
crown on both sides.
4,5
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal. One

side displays a stylised
Unknown

15th C

crown. The other side is

60 diam.: 20
empty. The whole surface is
very much rubbed and slightly
damaged. The strip is missing.
Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Small cloth seal with fine

Unknown

diam.: imprints. On the riveted side

15th C

61 19,7–21,5; is a crown in a pearled circle.

strip width: 3 On the perforated side are
illegible fragments of a text.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 221

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus)?

Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal, very
much damaged and rubbed.
Unknown

15th C
The small fragments may be
62 diam.: 23
reconstructed as details of a
gothic crown on both sides.
The strip is missing.
Two-lobed single riveted
Old Collection

15th–16th C

Medium size cloth seal with

Unknown

identical letter "T" on both

Tulln

63 diam.: 19,8
sides referring for Austrian
Tulln. The strip is missing.
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

15th–16th C

Small cloth seal with identical

Unknown

diam.: 14,7;
letter "T" on both sides
Tulln

64 strip width:
referring for Austrian Tulln. In
3,9
good condition.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Baranya County

diam.: Well preserved small cloth

17th C

12,8–13,2; seal. The riveted side depicts

Linz

65
strip width: four flowers (fleurs-de-lis ?),
3,3 the other is illegible.
 222 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal with

Vienna (Wien)
Old Collection

15th–16th C
Unknown

imprinted coat of arms of

66 diam.: 18,3 Vienna on one side and a
heraldic one-headed eagle on
the other. The strip is missing.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Baranya County

Medium size cloth seal with

Vienna (Wien)
15th–16th C

diam.: 17,8; imprinted coat of arms of

67 strip width: Vienna on one side and coat
3,7 of arms of Austria on the
other. In fine condition.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size heavily rubbed

Vienna (Wien)
15th–16th C

cloth seal with imprinted coat

Unknown

of arms of Vienna on one

68 diam.: 18,1
side and coat of arms of
Austria in a pearled circle on
the other. The strip is broken.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size heavily rubbed

Vienna (Wien)
15th–16th C
Unknown

diam.: 15; cloth seal with imprinted coat

69 strip width: of arms of Vienna on one
5,3 side and coat of arms of
Austria on the other.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 223

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Two-lobed single riveted

"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size cloth seal with

Vienna (Wien)
15th–16th C
Unknown

coat of arms of Austria on

70 diam.: 16 one side and fragmented
arms of Vienna on the other.
The strip is missing.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size cloth seal with

Vienna (Wien)
15th–16th C

coat of arms of Austria in a

Unknown

diam.: 16; pearled circle on one side

71
strip width: 4 and fragmented arms of
Vienna on the other. The strip
is damaged.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Vienna (Wien)?

Medium size cloth seal with

15th–16th C
Unknown

diam.: 19,4; imprinted coat of arms of

72 strip width: Vienna (?) on one side and
4,4 coat of arms of Austria (?) on
the other. The strip is broken.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size cloth seal with

Vienna (Wien)?
15th–16th C

imprinted coat of arms of

Unknown

diam.: 16;
Vienna (?) on one side and
73 strip width:
fragments of heraldic eagle
4,3
on the other. The strip is
broken.
 224 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal with
imprinted coat of arms of

Vienna (Wien)
15th–16th C
Unknown

diam.: 15; Vienna on one side and coat

74 strip width: of arms of Austria on the
4,4 other. The perforated side is
damaged. The whole seal is
very rubbed, hardly visible.
Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal with

fine imprints. The riveted side
Old Collection

15th–16th C

diam.:
Unknown

depicts a winged lion with a

Venice

16,8–23,3;
75 Bible, the reverse shows
strip width:
some fragments of a crown.
2,9
The strip is broken. Inv.
number: 62/1902.2.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size cloth seal with

15th–16th C

hardly visible imprints. The

Unknown

diam.:
Venice

riveted side depicts a winged

76 16,8–18,1;
lion with a Bible, the reverse
strip width: 5
shows large Antiqua-style
letter "B".
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal with

15th–16th C

diam.: hardly visible imprints. The

Unknown

Venice

15,7–16,6; riveted side depicts a winged

77
strip width: lion with a Bible, the reverse
4,5 shows large Antiqua-style
letter "B".
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 225

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted Medium size cloth seal with

15th–16th C
hardly visible imprints. The
Unknown

diam.:

Venice
riveted side depicts a winged
78 16,8–18,1;
lion with a Bible, the reverse
strip width: 5
shows large Antiqua-style
letter "B".
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Medium size, two-lobed cloth

Two-lobed, no rivets

seal with no pins. The only

available side depicts a fine
15th–16th C
Unknown

version of the coat of arms of

London

diam.:
79 London. Slight traces of the
25,4–26,7
strip can be seen on the
upper part of the disc. The
upper left side is perforated,
most probably secondarily.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal. The

riveted disc has imprinted text
Unknown

England
17th C

"SEA[R] / CHED ". There are

80 diam.: 19–21
unreadable fragments of
another inscription on the
reverse. The strip is missing.

Large, double riveted cloth

seal. The riveted side depicts
Two-lobed double riveted

a stylised version of the Royal

coat of arms of England
Túrkeve-Móric
Old Collection

inside a circle, without the

England
16th C

motto. A small fragment of

81 diam.: 35,8
the Tudor rose can be seen
on the reverse. The quality of
the imprint is very poor. The
strip is missing, small part of it
is visible on the top of the
seal. Inv. number: 56.5.36.C.
 226 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed double riveted

Well preserved, large, double
riveted cloth seal, with fine
imprints on both sides. The
Unknown

diam.: riveted side depicts a stylised

England
16th C
82 32–34; strip version of the Royal coat of
width: 5 arms of England inside a
pearled circle, without the
motto. The reverse depicts
the Tudor rose.

Large two-lobed cloth seal

Lajos Sándor's Collection

with no rivets. The upper part

Two-lobed, no rivets

with the strip is missing. The

surviving side depicts the
Unknown

England
16th C

Royal coat of arms of

83 diam.: 26,7
England from the reign of
Queen Elizabeth I
accompanied by fragment of
the motto: "[HONI SOEIT] ¤
QVI ¤ MAL ¤ V ¤ [PENSE] ".

Large, two-lobed cloth seal

with no rivets. The surviving
Lajos Sándor's Collection

side depicts a fine version of

Two-lobed, no rivets

the Royal coat of arms of

England from the reign of
England
16th C

Queen Elizabeth I
Győr

84 diam.: 30,8
accompanied by the motto:
"HONI ¤ SOEIT ¤ QV ¤ MAL
¤ V ¤ PENSE ". The strip is
missing, was attached to the
top of the seal. The surface
of the seal is gilded.

Well preserved, large, double

László Korinek's Collection

Tamási (Somogy County)

Two-lobed double riveted

riveted cloth seal, with fine

imprints on both sides. The
riveted side depicts a stylised
version of the Royal coat of
England
16th C

85 diam.: 31,2 arms of England inside

pearled circle, without the
motto. The reverse depicts
the Tudor rose. The strip is
missing, must have been on
the right of the coat of arms.

Well preserved disc of a two-

László Korinek's Collection

lobed, large cloth seal with no

Two-lobed, no rivets

rivets. Depicts fine version of

the Royal coat of arms of
Unknown

England
16th C

England with supporters and

86 diam.: 33,1
motto. The motto contains
some misspellings: "HONI ¤
SOET ¤ CV ¤ MAL ¤ VC ¤
9PE ¤ ". The strip is missing,
was at the top of the seal.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 227

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Large, two-lobed cloth seal

with no rivets. The surviving
"Kaposvár" Collection

Two-lobed, no rivets
side depicts a fragment of the
Royal coat of arms of
Unknown

England from the reign of

England
16th C
87 diam.: 30 Queen Elizabeth I
accompanied by the motto:
"*HONI * [SOEIT ... PENS]E ".
The strip is folded on the
back, decorated with shells
and bears letter "H ".
"Kaposvár" Collection

Two-lobed, no rivets

Large, two-lobed cloth seal

with no rivets. The surviving
Unknown

side depicts Tudor rose with

England
88 diam.: 32,7 surrounding inscription "+ 16th C
GVILHELM[VS ×
A]LMA[N]DETE ". The strip is
missing.

Large two-lobed cloth seal.

Two-lobed single riveted

The riveted side displays a

figure of Justice with sword
Old Collection

16th–17th C

and scales in her hands in a

Unknown

diam.: 47,2;
pearled circle surrounded by
89 strip width:
no

an illegible text. On the

5,4
perforated side a city is
depicted also surrounded by
pearled circle and an illegible
text. Inv. number: 93.1.1.C.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Baranya County

Well preserved medium size

16th–17th C

diam.:
cloth seal. The riveted side
17,6–18,2;
90 depicts a lion rampant in a
no

strip width:
pearled circle. The perforated
4,1
side is illegible.
 228 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Medium size two-lobed seal

Two-lobed single riveted
with a small trunk of the strip.
The reverse side is missing.

16th–17th C
Unknown

The main side has a fine

91 diam.: 25 imprint of an one-headed

no
eagle with a large letter "G"
above its left shoulder in a
pearled circle. It may refer to
Göttingen.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Well preserved medium size

Baranya County

cloth seal with very short

16th–17th C

diam.: 24; strip. The riveted side depicts

92 strip width: a heraldic one-headed eagle
no

4,6 looking right, in a pearled

circle. On the reverse there is
a stylised palm tree (?).

Medium size two-lobed seal

Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

with fine coat of arms on one

side and almost completely
16th–17th C

diam.:
Unknown

Frisia (?)

missing other. The half-eagle

18,8–19,5;
93 may refer to one of the cities
strip width:
of Frisia. Some hardly visible
3,8
letters can be observed on
the reverse. The strip is partly
preserved.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal. Only

Baranya County

16th–17th C

the riveted side remained,

which depicts city ramparts
94 diam.: 22,8
no

with three towers. May refer

to a coat of arms not yet
identified. The strip is missing.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

16th–17th C

Well preserved medium size

Unknown

diam.: 22,5; seal with imprinted Sun in his

95
no

strip width: 5 Glory image on its both

sides. Has short strip.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 229

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
László Korinek's Collection

Relatively large, irregular, two-

Two-lobed single riveted

lobed seal with no traces of a
strip. The riveted lobe has an

16th–17th C
Unknown

impressed Sun in his Glory

diam.:
96 most probably referring to a

no
25,5–30
coat of arms. The reverse
side cannot be read. The
upper part is perforated most
likely secondarily.
"Kaposvár" Collection

Slightly deformed medium

18th–19th C
Unknown

size cloth seal. Both sides

Tubular

diam.:
97 depict some kind of a flower,
no

22,6–26
may be an imitation of the
Tudor rose in a pearled circle.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Well preserved, small cloth

seal with a fine imprint of a
Baranya County

15th–16th C

fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle

Flanders?

diam.:
on the reverse side. The
98 15–16; strip
riveted side is very rubbed,
width: 5
the imprint is hardly readable.
May show a coat of arms or a
ship.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size two-lobed seal.

Unknown

diam.: 20,5;
18th C

The perforated side displays

99 strip width:
no

a privy mark. On the other

4,7
side is a number "12".
 230 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Two-lobed single riveted

"Kaposvár" Collection

Medium size two-lobed seal.

The upper part with the strip
Unknown

18th C
diam.: was cut down. The reverse
100

no
16,6–18 side displays unidentifiable
privy mark. The other side is
empty.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

A well preserved medium

17–18th C
Unknown

size, two-lobed seal with fine

diam.: 22;
101 but not identifiable privy mark
no

strip width: 5
on the reverse and incised
marks on the riveted side.
Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size two-lobed seal

"Kaposvár" Collection

with remaining fragment of

the strip. The surviving side of
Unknown

diam.:
17th C

the seal has no marks on it,

102 17–19; strip
no

the reverse side is heavily

width: 4,8
damaged, some traces of a
privy (?) mark are visible but
not recognisable.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 231

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Opened small cloth seal. The

riveted side contains a
diam.:
Unknown

fragmented inscription, not

17th C
15–16,5;
103 solved yet: "[…]OL? / HOEF ".

no
strip width:
The reverse perforated side
3,15
depicts an abbreviation or a
privy mark.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Heavily rubbed cloth seal with

traces of an illegible
Unknown

16th C

inscription on one and

104 diam.: 16
no

probably a heraldic one-

headed eagle on the other
side. The strip is very short.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Small cloth seal, with

16th–17th C

diam.: imprinted shears

Göttingen?
Unknown

13,3–14,7; accompanied by a cross on

105
strip width: the riveted side. Fragments of
4,5 a possible privy mark can be
seen on the reverse.
 232 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Baranya County

16th–17th C
Medium size cloth seal with
diam.: scales on one side and
106

no
19,8–20,6 combined B-I (?)-A letters on
the other. The strip is broken.
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Medium size tubular seal with

clearly visible imprints on both
17–18th C
Unknown

side. On one side is a coat of

Tubular

diam.:
107 arms a bend, not identified
no

17,6–19,8
yet. The other side bears late
gothic manuscule letters
"MM".
Lajos Sándor's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size two-lobed seal

with partly remaining strip. A
16th–17th C

fine coat of arms is imprinted

Unknown

diam.: 18;
on one side. Rubbed traces
108 strip width:
no

of some letters can be seen

3,6
on the heavily damaged
reverse side. The coat of
arms cannot be identified.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size cloth seal. The

Baranya County

riveted side shows a coat-of-

16th–17th C

diam.: arms-like mark similar to that

109 19–21; strip of Vienna. The reverse is
no

width: 5,5 rubbed and slightly damaged.

Most probably depicts a privy
mark.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 233

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size two-lobed seal.
On one side is a minuscule
Old Collection

15th–16th C
Unknown

diam.: 17,4; letter "M" in a pearled circle.

110 strip width: On the reverse two

no
3,8 bellflowers in a pearled circle
probably indicating a coat of
arms. Inv. number: 62/1902.
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size heavily

16th–17th C

damaged cloth seal. On one

Unknown

side is a riding knight. On the

111 diam.: 15,1
no

reverse are some fragments

of a privy mark. The strip is
missing.
László Korinek's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted

Medium size heavily

16th–17th C

diam.: damaged cloth seal. On one

Unknown

15,9–16,5; side is a riding knight. On the

112
no

strip width: reverse are some fragments

3,8 of a privy mark. The strip is
broken.
Two-lobed single riveted
"Kaposvár" Collection

Small cloth seal, heavily

16th–17th C
Unknown

diam.: 17; rubbed with no visible traces

113 strip width: of imprints. Some incised
no

5,5 marks can be seen on both

sides.
Two-lobed single riveted

Large two-lobed, single

Túrkeve-Móric
Old Collection

riveted seal with broken strip,

imprinted only on the reverse
114 diam.: 33
no
?

side. The image is heavily

damaged and cannot be
recognised.
 234 maxim mordovin

Collection
Number

location

Dating

Origin
Dimensions

Type
Find
Description Illustration
(in mm)
Balázs F. Csáti's Collection

Two-lobed single riveted Medium size two-lobed,

single riveted seal with
Unknown

missing strip, imprinted only

115 diam.: 18–19

no
?
on the reverse side. The
image is heavily damaged
and cannot be recognised.

LITERATURE
Bárdi, B.
2014 14. századi városi leletanyag Visegrádról. Visegrád, Duna-parti út 1. lelőhely kerámiaanyagának feldol-
gozása. Diplomamunka, MA, ELTE BTK. Kézirat/Manuscript. Budapest.
Blankoff, J.
1978 À propos d’un plomb de Tournai trouvé à Novgorod. Bulletin d’information de la Société royale
d’histoire et d’archéologie de Tournai 2, 5–12.
Blazer, W.–Roefstra, J.
2003 Archeologische kroniek Noord-Holland 2002. Holland. Archeologische kroniek 35, 5–59.
Bobowski, B.
2008 Plomby tekstylne z wykopalisk na terenie Dolnego Miasta w Gdańsku. Łódź.
Bobowski, B.–Ossowski, W.
2013 Gdańskie plomby tekstylne z wyobrażeniem statków – nowe znaleziska (Danziger Stoffplomben mit
Schiffsdarstellungen – neue Funde). In: Paner, H.–Fudziński, M. (eds): XVII sesja pomorzoznawcza. Vol.
2. Od późnego średniowiecza do czasów nowożytnych. Gdańsk, 263–270.
Čižmář, Z.
1999 Prostějov – Koželuhova ulice.
http://www.phil.muni.cz/archeo/webmaster%20peppe/stara_mura/morarch/Vyzkumy/
prurezovky/pvkozeluhova/pvkozeluh.html (14. 05. 2014.)
Czeglédy, I.
1988 A diósgyőri vár. Budapest.
Egan, G.
1978 Cloth Seals. London Archaeology 3, 177–179.
1987 Provenanced Leaden Cloth Seals. London.
1994 Lead cloth seals and related items in the British Museum. London.
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KÉSŐ KÖZÉPKORI ÉS KORA ÚJKORI TEXTILPLOMBÁK

A MAGYAR NEMZETI MÚZEUM GYŰJTEMÉNYÉBEN

Mordovin Maxim

2011 nyarán és őszén a pápai Fő téren nagy felületű meg-
előző feltárást végeztünk. Számos különleges és fontos
lelet mellett kiemelkedő helyet foglalnak el az addigi ma-
gyar szakirodalomban szinte ismeretlen ólomtárgyak:
kisméretű, két félből összehajtott kerek plombák. A ta-
nulmány egy teljes körű feldolgozás első részeként a Ma­
gyar Nemzeti Múzeum gyűjteményének 115 db közép-
kori és kora újkori plombájával foglalkozik.
Magyarországon mindezidáig csak Huszár Lajos és
Endrei Walter foglalkoztak részletesebben a témával, il-
letve néhány publikációban fordult elő egy-egy darab.
A lelettípus hiánya miatt átfogóbb feldolgozásra azonban
nem nyílt lehetőség.
A nyugati kutatás már évtizedek óta nagyobb figyel-
met szentel a textilplombáknak. Elsősorban a nemrég
elhunyt Geoff Egan neve említendő meg. A tárgytípus
a 13. század végén jelent meg Németalföldön, és a 14.
század folyamán már viszonylag széles körben elterjedt.
A 15. században Németországon át, Lengyel- és Cseh­
ország érintésével eljutott Magyarországra is.
A plombák alapvető funkciója a minőség-ellenőrzés
folyamatának kézzelfogható igazolása volt. A plombát a
vég szélére rögzítették, jelezve a készítő személyét, a ké-
szítés helyét, valamint azt a tényt, hogy az adott vég
megfelelt a város szabályzatában rögzített minőségnek,
sűrűségnek és méreteknek.
A Magyar Nemzeti Múzeumba – a korábbról már
meglévő 12 db mellé – az elmúlt egy-másfél évtized
során összesen négy olyan gyűjtemény került be, ame-
lyek ólomplombákat is tartalmaztak. Ebből kettő, Korinek
László és Sándor Lajos gyűjtése tervszerű, épebb, repre-
zentatívabb darabokra koncentrált. A harmadik, Csáti F.
 late medieval and early modern cloth seals 237
Balázs más irányú gyűjtés során jutott hozzá különböző
középkori ólomtárgyakhoz, többek között plombákhoz
is; ezek gyengébb megtartásúak, töredékesebbek. A ne-
gyedik „gyűjtemény” több évtizedes illegális fémkeresős
tevékenység és régészeti leletekkel való kereskedés során
keletkezett. A 2003-ban Kaposváron lefoglalt hatalmas
mennyiségű tárgy között csak néhány tucat középkori és
kora újkori plomba volt. Ezek eladhatatlan „selejtnek”
tűnnek az anyagon belül: többségük erősen kopott, töre-
dékes, sokszor felismerhetetlen. Mind a négy gyűjte-
ményről kijelenthető, hogy darabjaik alapvetően kincske-
resés során kerültek elő, a lelőhelyek és pontos előkerülé-
si körülmények nem ismertek. A négy gyűjteményből
három esetben tudjuk, hogy a leletek a Dunántúlról
származnak. Így Sándor Lajos gyűjtőterülete elsősorban
Komárom-Esztergom megye nyugati, Győr-Moson-
Sopron megye keleti és Fejér megye északi része volt.
A Korinek László által vásárolt tárgyak túlnyomó része
Baranya megyéből származik, kisebb arányban azonban
somogyi és tolnai, de akár délkelet-zalai leletekkel is szá-
molnunk kell. A Kaposváron lefoglalt tárgyak zömét
Somogyban és Tolnában találták, de valószínűleg nem
zárható ki Zala és Baranya megye sem.
Annak ellenére, hogy a darabok pontos lelőhelye nem
ismert, a gyűjtemény jelentősnek mondható, feldolgozá-
sa fontos. A Kárpát-medencében ugyanis ez az egyik
legnagyobb darabszámú plombagyűjtemény, ráadásul
számos olyan leletet tartalmaz, amelyek máshonnan
eddig nem ismertek. Az itt lévő darabok még konkrét
lelőhelyek nélkül is egyértelműen jelzik a középkori,
kora újkori Magyar Királyság kereskedelmi kapcsolatait,
illetve a behozott posztó származási helyét.
A 115 darabból 88-at lehetett több-kevesebb bizton-
sággal azonosítani, leginkább a rajtuk lévő címerek vagy
feliratok alapján. Származási hely alapján nyolc csoportot
lehetett elkülöníteni. A legkorábbi darabok Német­alföld­
ről származnak – elsősorban Tournai városából. Az írott
források és a régészeti leletek alapján ezek már a 14. szá-
zadtól kezdve biztosan jelen vannak Magyar­orszá­gon.
Jelenleg egyedülállóak a magyarországi anyagban Leiden
és Troyes plombái. A krommenie-i és a mecheleni dara-
bok azonosítása még bizonytalan.
A következő legnagyobb csoportot a németországi
eredetű leletek alkotják, bár a Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum
gyűjteményében ezek kevesebb helyszínről származnak,
mint például a pápai darabok. Biztosan jelenleg Mansfeld,
Köln és Nürnberg plombái azonosíthatók. Nürnberget
legalább két plombatípus képviseli, ezek azonban inkább
eltérő posztófajtát jeleznek, mint kronológiai különbséget.
Hat plomba köthető Sziléziához: három Wschowa,
kettő Chojnów, egy pedig Opava városához. Mivel az
azonosítás a rajtuk látható, igen töredékes címerrészletek
alapján történt, nem zárható ki az attribúció későbbi mó-
dosítása. A három származási hely közül az egyik
chojnówi és a wschowai látszik biztosabbnak.
A mai Csehország területén található Nový Jičín
plombájának azonosítása különleges címerének köszön-
hetően vitán felül áll. Ezzel szemben bizonytalanabb egy
sorozat olyan posztóbárca származási helyének megálla-
pítása, amelyeken koronás „W” betű látható. A több,
szóba jöhető város közül (pl. Boroszló vagy Nürnberg)
jelenleg Jindřichův Hradec tűnik elfogadhatónak. A be­
tűk stílusának ebben az esetben kronológiai jelentősége
van. A Jindřichův Hradecből származó posztó magyaror-
szági jelenlétéről a késő középkori források egyértelműen
beszámolnak.
Viszonylag sok az ausztriai lelet: egy-egy tullni, illetve
linzi és kilenc bécsi darab szerepel a gyűjteményekben.
Jóval szórványosabbak az olasz posztó jelenlétének régé-
szeti nyomai: egyelőre csak négy velencei plomba van a
Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum birtokában. Annál feltűnőbb
ezek után a viszonylag nagyszámú angliai darab megje-
lenése. Az egyszerűbb – a Kárpát-medencében egyelőre
egyedülálló – londoni és a hasonlóan unikális
„SEARCHED” feliratú plomba mellett nyolc nagyobb,
angol címeres vagy Tudor-rózsás ólom zárjeggyel talál-
kozhatunk a feldolgozott anyagban. Ezek a nagyobb
plombák már régóta ismertek a magyarországi szakiro-
dalomban. Huszár Lajos éppen ezeket emelte ki feldolgo-
zásában, és néhány darab esetében már akkor felmerült,
hogy nem feltétlenül ténylegesen angliai posztóval ér-
kezhettek a Kárpát-medencébe, hanem a 16. századtól
fellendülő utánzás és hamisítás bizonyítékai is lehetnek.
A 88 azonosítható darabon túl számos plomba szár-
mazási helyét egyelőre nem sikerült meghatározni.
A „kudarcnak” ebben az esetben több oka is van.
Leggyakrabban a leletek állapota akadályozza azonosítá-
sukat: a rajtuk lévő jelzések annyira kopottak vagy töre-
dékesek, hogy épebb analógia felbukkanásáig származá-
si helyük ismeretlen marad. Több más esetben a túl gya-
kori címertípusok (sas, oroszlán, városkapu) miatt nem
lehet egyértelműen megnevezni a gyártás helyét. Emellett
ugyanakkor egy sor olyan plomba is készült, amelyeken
csak mesterjegyek szerepelnek. Ezek összegyűjtése még
nyugaton sem történt meg, így egyes városokhoz köté-
sük – egyéb támpontok hiányában – egyelőre lehetetlen.
Összegezve az eredményeket, kijelenthetjük, hogy a
régészeti leletek még szórványként és a feldolgozás kez-
deti lépcsőfokán is nagyon látványosan kiegészítik a kö-
zépkori textilkereskedelemre vonatkozó, ismert adato-
kat, jelezve a kereskedelem intenzitását, több olyan
helyszínt is megjelölve, amely az írott forrásokból nem
volt ismert (pl. Nový Jičín vagy Wschowa). Ráadásul
a 16. századi konjunktúra árnyoldalaira – például a posz-
tóhamisításra – is rávilágítanak. Csak a lelettípus orszá-
gos szintű összegyűjtése és elemzése, illetve az ismert
lelőhelyek feltérképezése nyújthat hiteles képet nem csak
az egyes posztófélék behozataláról, hanem az országon
belüli, időben tagolódó elterjedésükre vonatkozóan is.