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Bringing the Holy Land Home: The Crusades, Chertsey Abbey, and the Reconstruction of a Medieval Masterpiece

Sealing a Document with a Boulloterion

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What is this?
By Omar Afifi '24

This is a seal of King Amalric. It’s fairly small; it has a diameter of 35 mm. He ruled from 1163 until 1174 when he died of dysentery. He ruled about sixty years after the founding of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem.

The seal would travel with documents attached with a string. If we take a closer look at the seal’s top and bottom, we see indentations–more prevalent at the bottom. These indentations are the locations where the string would wrap around the seal to attach it to the documents. The string would go across the seal and wrap over both indentations multiple times. The seal was used to authenticate government documents.

The obverse side shows Amalric seated on a backless throne with a trefoil ornament in his left hand and a scepter in his right hand. At the border of the seal, there is a Latin inscription that translates to “Seal of Amalric.” If we take a look at the seals of the immediately preceding king and a successor king of Jerusalem, we can see that they followed the same design.

For example, the seal of King Baldwin III (1143-1163) and the seal of John Brienne (1210-1212) shows the respective kings seated in the same seated position as King Amalric on his seal. There is consistency among the seals of the kingdom, which makes sense because their value is driven from how widely recognized they are, similar to coins used as currency.

The reverse side has three iconic buildings: the Holy Sepulchre on the left, the Tower of David in the middle, and the Temple on the right. The pilgrimage of a crusader was not considered complete until they had prayed at the Holy Sepulchre. Many kings of Jerusalem were also crowned and buried there. It’s believed that Christ was crucified then buried, before his resurrection, at the Holy Sepulchre which gives it its significance to the crusader movement. The Tower of David served as a strategic spot for guards, and the crusaders thought that it was King David’s palace. The Temple is the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine that was transformed into a church, known as the Templum Domini (see this page to learn more about the effect of the Crusaders on the Dome of the Rock). At the edge of the seal, a Latin inscription translates to “King of Jerusalem.” The reverse of the seals of the kings mentioned previously also had the same design as King Amalric’s seal.
How was this made? By Alexandra Berardelli '25 and Omar Afifi '24

Seals during this time were made from lead, gold, bronze, or silver. The specific design we see on each side of the seal would be cast on a pair of circular dies, metal devices used to strike a seal. Then a boulloterion, a type of iron plier, would hold the two dies together.

The boulloterion, with the two dies, would be pressed onto two blank lead circles. It would then impress the design onto the lead, like pressing a design into modern playdough. The images and inscriptions would now be on the lead circles. There would be an empty channel through the center of the two pieces of lead that would allow a string to be tied to a document, connecting the seal to the document.

The two dies bearing the seal design remained with the ruler at all times, to prevent documents from being sealed without the ruler's permission. However, once a seal was made, it traveled with the documents to which it was attached.
How was the Seal of Amalric made?
By Omar Afifi '24 and Alexandra Berardelli '25

Seals during this time were made from lead, gold, bronze, or silver. The specific design we see on each side of the seal would be cast on a pair of circular dies, metal devices used to strike a seal. Then a boulloterion, a type of iron plier, would hold the two dies together.
The boulloterion, with the two dies, would be pressed onto two blank lead circles. It would then impress the design onto the lead, like pressing a design into modern playdough. The images and inscriptions would now be on the lead circles. There would be an empty channel through the center of the two pieces of lead that would allow a string to be tied to a document, connecting the seal to the document.

The two dies bearing the seal design remained with the ruler at all times, to prevent documents from being sealed without the ruler's permission. However, once a seal was made, it traveled with the documents to which it was attached.