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Books by Elizabeth A New

Records of the Jesus Guild in St Paul's Cathedral, c.1450-1550 An Edition of Oxford, Bodleian MS Tanner 221, and Associated Material, 2022

Meeting in the crypt of Old St Paul's in the decades before the Reformation, the Jesus Guild, an ... more Meeting in the crypt of Old St Paul's in the decades before the Reformation, the Jesus Guild, an expression of "cutting-edge" orthodox devotion, not only attracted members from the top ranks of London society but also derived support from men and women of all degrees across the whole country. As well as shedding welcome light on aspects of the devotional life shared by some of London's most influential citizens, its records illustrate many facets of the City's economy, of its citizens' inter-personal relationships and can, indeed, assist in determining linguistic developments at a critical juncture.

This volume reproduces for the first time all the extant records surviving for the Guild in the early sixteenth century, giving pride of place to the twenty consecutive years of its surviving accounts. Alongside the records for the guild, the volume presents the 1552 inventory of goods in St Faith's church and the expenses incurred by that parish when it moved into the space previously occupied by the Guild. These records reveal the influences of the religious changes of the 1550s on the crypt chapel and some of the Guild's possessions. The documents are edited with accompanying notes and glossary, complemented by an introduction that places them in a broad context and by biographies of the Guild wardens identified in the text.

Medieval Londoners were a diverse group, some born in the city, and others drawn to the capital f... more Medieval Londoners were a diverse group, some born in the city, and others drawn to the capital from across the realm and from overseas. For some, London became the sole focus of their lives, while others retained or developed networks and loyalties that spread far and wide. The rich evidence for the medieval city, including archaeological and documentary evidence, means that the study of London and its inhabitants remains a vibrant field. Medieval Londoners brings together archaeologists, historians, art-historians and literary scholars whose essays provide glimpses of medieval Londoners in all their breadth, depth and variety.
This volume is offered to Caroline M. Barron, Emeritus Professor of the History of London at Royal Holloway, University of London, on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Her remarkable career – over some fifty years – has revitalized the way in which we consider London and its people. This volume is a tribute to her scholarship and her friendship and encouragement to others. It is thanks to Caroline M. Barron that the study of medieval London remains as vibrant today as it has ever been.

Seals and Sealing Practices is an introduction to a very valuable but often neglected source of e... more Seals and Sealing Practices is an introduction to a very valuable but often neglected source of evidence for historical research. Seals have been used in Britain for over a thousand years and, in addition to the objects themselves (often exquisite miniature works of art), the way in which seals were used and developments in sealing practice offer important information about administrative, legal, economic and social changes over the past millennium. This book provides an introduction to the types of seal researchers will encounter in archives, with detailed discussion of the evolution of different classes of seals and sealing practices. A glossary, appendices on the recording and care of seals and an annotated Further Reading section will enable readers to use this book both as a clear guide in its own right and as a foundation for further research.

ISBN: 978-0-900222-15-3

Papers by Elizabeth A New

The silk used for a hitherto unpublished seal bag that covered an impression of Henry III’s great... more The silk used for a hitherto unpublished seal bag that covered an impression of Henry III’s great seal,
attached to an inventory of objects related to the shrine of Edward the Confessor at Westminster
Abbey, is revealed to be a precise match to the famous ‘hare silk’ from the shrine of Charlemagne
in Aachen Cathedral. This discovery raises broader questions about the function of seal bags.

Medieval Prosopography, Apr 20, 2017

An introduction to the AHRC project Imprint and a survey of questions left by the preceding pilot... more An introduction to the AHRC project Imprint and a survey of questions left by the preceding pilot project

The forensic results from a preliminary study of hand marks found on medieval wax seals dated 115... more The forensic results from a preliminary study of hand marks found on medieval wax seals dated 1150-1350 from Hereford Cathedral

Medieval Coins and Seals: Constructing Identity, Signifying Power

Medieval Londoners were a diverse group, some born in the city, and others drawn to the capital f... more Medieval Londoners were a diverse group, some born in the city, and others drawn to the capital from across the realm and from overseas. For some, London became the sole focus of their lives, while others retained or developed networks and loyalties that spread far and wide. The rich evidence for the medieval city, including archaeological and documentary evidence, means that the study of London and its inhabitants remains a vibrant field. Medieval Londoners brings together archaeologists, historians, art-historians and literary scholars whose essays provide glimpses of medieval Londoners in all their breadth, depth and variety. This volume is offered to Caroline M. Barron, Emeritus Professor of the History of London at Royal Holloway, University of London, on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Her remarkable career – over some fifty years – has revitalized the way in which we consider London and its people. This volume is a tribute to her scholarship and her friendship and encouragement to others. It is thanks to Caroline M. Barron that the study of medieval London remains as vibrant today as it has ever been.

The Welsh History Review / Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru

RAE2008, 2006

Signs of community or marks of the exclusive? Parish and guild seals in later medieval England. X... more Signs of community or marks of the exclusive? Parish and guild seals in later medieval England. X. ...

The Antiquaries Journal, 2005

The Jesus Chapel was located beneath the New Work at the east end of St Paul's Cathedral, and... more The Jesus Chapel was located beneath the New Work at the east end of St Paul's Cathedral, and was remembered by that name long after the parish of St Faith had taken control of the space following the dissolution of the Fraternity of the Holy Name, the previous occupants of the Jesus Chapel. Although the chapel disappeared along with the rest of the medieval building following the cataclysm of 1666, archaeological investigations, pre-Fire illustrations and, most importantly, documentary evidence from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries provide invaluable evidence for the appearance of the chapel. This paper utilizes a range of evidence to suggest how the Jesus Chapel may have appeared on the eve of the Reformation; particular attention will be paid to the furnishings and fittings of the building, and to the use (and occasional abuse) of this remarkable place of worship.

The Antiquaries Journal

This paper presents the results of a case study of wax seals dated between 1225 and 1250 from St ... more This paper presents the results of a case study of wax seals dated between 1225 and 1250 from St Ethelbert’s Hospital, Hereford. When medieval matrices were impressed into soft wax, handprints were often left on the reverse of the seal. The use of modern forensic techniques to capture and compare these prints provides evidence about the process of sealing and its relationship to the individual matrix owner. Seals with the same print on the reverse could be impressed with different matrices, and impressions of the same matrix have different prints on the reverse. The impressing of the matrix was not, then, as has been claimed, the responsibility of the matrix owner as the only way to impress their identity into the wax. This evidence allows a reappraisal of administrative developments in sealing, and the separation of the process of sealing from both the performance of livery of seisin and the seal owner.

A Companion to Seals in the Middle Ages

Records of the Jesus Guild in St Paul's Cathedral, c.1450-1550 An Edition of Oxford, Bodleian MS Tanner 221, and Associated Material, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-900222-15-3

Medieval Prosopography, Apr 20, 2017

Medieval Coins and Seals: Constructing Identity, Signifying Power

Medieval Londoners were a diverse group, some born in the city, and others drawn to the capital f... more Medieval Londoners were a diverse group, some born in the city, and others drawn to the capital from across the realm and from overseas. For some, London became the sole focus of their lives, while others retained or developed networks and loyalties that spread far and wide. The rich evidence for the medieval city, including archaeological and documentary evidence, means that the study of London and its inhabitants remains a vibrant field. Medieval Londoners brings together archaeologists, historians, art-historians and literary scholars whose essays provide glimpses of medieval Londoners in all their breadth, depth and variety. This volume is offered to Caroline M. Barron, Emeritus Professor of the History of London at Royal Holloway, University of London, on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Her remarkable career – over some fifty years – has revitalized the way in which we consider London and its people. This volume is a tribute to her scholarship and her friendship and encouragement to others. It is thanks to Caroline M. Barron that the study of medieval London remains as vibrant today as it has ever been.

The Welsh History Review / Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru

RAE2008, 2006

The Antiquaries Journal, 2005

The Antiquaries Journal

A Companion to Seals in the Middle Ages

Commemoration in Medieval Cambridge

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

Page 1. Reviews Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum, 46 2003. Edited by Georg Schöllgen and oth... more Page 1. Reviews Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum, 46 2003. Edited by Georg Schöllgen and others. Pp. 209 incl. 22 ills+22 black-and-white and colour plates. Münster: Aschendorff, 2004. 74. 3 402 08137 7; 0075 2541 ...

In the High Middle Ages, between the 12th and 14th centuries, ancient gems were frequently re-set... more In the High Middle Ages, between the 12th and 14th centuries, ancient gems were frequently re-set for use in personal sealmatrices (secreta) in order to serve as signets. 1 The fashion, for the display of jewels in general, including ancient gems, was continuous throughout the Middle Ages, 2 but gem-seal usage reached its height of popularity during the second half of the 12th century. 3 Consequently, it may be seen as one small aspect of what it is still convenient to call the '12th-century Renaissance', with its intellectual ferment and enhanced interest in the literature and art of Rome and the Classical world. 4 Gem-set seals thereafter continued to be employed well-beyond the end of the century, although, in England at least, not much beyond the earlier 14th century. Earlier, during the Migration period and up to the 11th century, Roman gems, both intaglios and cameos, were worn in rings, brooches and pendants, where they would have served as amulets, and were also mounted into crosses, reliquaries, bookcovers and other Church metalwork (ars sacra), 5 but they were not in regular use as seals, at least in the British Isles. The gold ring, set with a nicolo (blue onyx) intaglio depicting the Roman god, Bonus Eventus, from the boat-burial at Snape, Suffolk is a possible exception. It is of gold-filigree and of 6th-century date and Merovingian manufacture; it is closely paralleled by a ring from Krefeld-Gellep. On the Continent the ancient and even contemporary use of the seal as a symbol of Romanitas may not have been wholly lost. 6 The later mounting of Roman and Classical-style gems into signet rings from the 15th/16th century onwards is, of course, part of the general history of the Renaissance. Gem-seals were often employed as additional 'secret' seals (secreta) by their owners, or as counter-seals (contrasigilla) by others called to witness the official seals of officials, ecclesiastic or lay, and were, of course, far more intimate and personal in nature than these. 7 They were, in addition, well adapted for such a purpose, because they had originally been cut in Roman times precisely for use in such situations, in order to witness all manner of documents including wills, deeds of gift, land indentures and loans, or simply to authenticate the signature on a letter. 8 In size, variety, colour and properties of material gemstones appealed to the 12th-and 13th-century mind as much as they had to the Roman, as is shown by the popularity of the verse lapidary written by Marbode, Bishop of Rennes who died at the very beginning of the 12th century. 9 Ancient engraved gems are mentioned in lapidaries as objets trouvés, introduced by such phrases as 'si inveneris lapidem' or, in old French, 'vus trouerez' where the amuletic power of the device and of the stone upon which it is cut has a primary significance. 10

'Seals, in the form of engraved stamps (matrices) and the impressions these make into wax, are sm... more 'Seals, in the form of engraved stamps (matrices) and the impressions these make into wax, are small packages of image and text with a great deal to offer to those interested in past societies, having both individualised resonances and legal importance. These miniature works of art were owned and used by kings and nobles, bishops and monasteries, but also by merchants and craftsmen, and indeed men and women even at the lowest levels of society. This paper will focus upon what the evidence of seals and sealing practices can tell us about those below the highest levels of society (and why such evidence has been largely ignored for so long), and will incorporate new insights gained from the current AHRC Imprint project.'

Medieval seals are miniature time-capsules, and one of the very few personal items owned by many ... more Medieval seals are miniature time-capsules, and one of the very few personal items owned by many men and women. They were the equivalent of modern-day credit cards and passports in legal and administrative terms but, unlike signatures, the combination of image and text enabled their owners to present themselves in different ways, projecting something about individual or corporate identity. By the later thirteenth century men and women across society owned and used seal matrices: some were bespoke and some were bought off the shelf, but all were necessary to validate and secure documents. The wax into which these seal matrices were pressed also often retain impressions of finger and palm prints, and new imaging and analytical techniques enable the exploration of the implications of sealing practice for revealing new evidence about networks of power, exchange and authority; the ‘performative act of sealing’, ritual and administration; sealing practice in relation to legal and administrative developments; the creation of proof and misuse of authority; and, from a forensic perspective, the viability of prints over time, technical challenges of identifying overlaid prints on uneven surface, adding to the body of evidence to support the uniqueness of prints. This lecture will include a demonstration of the cutting-edge forensic imaging techniques being used by the AHRC funded Imprint project, along with the latest findings from the project team. - See more at: https://www.sal.org.uk/events/2017/04/medieval-fingerprints-on-wax-seals/#sthash.UYoNTX51.dpuf

Antiquaries Journal, 2019

Two interactive workshops and a pop-up exhibition at Exeter Cathedral

Marie Curie LiGHTS, University of Lincoln

This volume is offered to Caroline M. Barron, Emeritus Professor of the History of London at Royal Holloway, University of London, on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Her remarkable career – over some fifty years – has revitalized the way in which we consider London and its people. This volume is a tribute to her scholarship and her friendship and encouragement to others. It is thanks to Caroline M. Barron that the study of medieval London remains as vibrant today as it has ever been.