![]() On the leaf’s other side, thirty-two seals have been drawn in red ink. This letter, invoking the divine names of God, was purportedly sent by Pope Leo III to Charlemagne in order to protect him in battle. One such leaf, now bound into Add MS 36674, contains on one side a so-called ‘Heavenly Letter’. Magical seals were also copied onto separate parchment leaves that could be worn as amulets. For example, one 15th-century English medical manuscript ( Royal MS 17 B XLVIII) contains a seal for thunderstorms: ‘Quando audieris tonitruum respice hoc signum et liberaberis In nomine patris’ (‘When you hear thunder, look at this seal and you will be freed – In the name of the Father’).Ī seal against lightning (England, 15th century): Royal MS 17 B XLVIII, f. ![]() Instead, they circulated in medical and magical manuscripts. Magical seals were not usually copied into prayer books. The inscription on the first seal reads: ‘Hoc signum fer cum contra omnes inimicos’ (‘Carry this seal with you against all enemies’). The owner of Stowe MS 16 also added incantations against ‘seven sisters’ (‘septem sorores’), fever demons who are named after seven types of fever, followed by three more magical seals that offered protection against enemies, water and fire, and evil. The inscription that accompanies the seal in Stowe MS 16 instructs the reader to use it as an amulet in battle: ‘Hoc signum Salamonis qui super se portaverit nec manu in bello erit captus’ (‘Whosoever will carry the seal of Solomon on themselves will not be captured in battle’). It formed the basis for a tradition of pseudo-Solomonic seals that flourished during the later Middle Ages. The first is referred to as the ‘Seal of Solomon’, alluding to an ancient legend according to which the biblical King Solomon owned a seal ring with an engraved hexagram or pentagram, that enabled him to command demons. 9rīut another remarkable feature of Stowe MS 16 has so far gone unnoticed: a 15th-century owner - perhaps ‘George Rotherham’, who inscribed his name on a flyleaf - added four circular diagrams that, as their accompanying inscriptions explain, represent ‘seals’ that offered supernatural protection. 1422), a Flemish or German illuminator who was one of the most influential artists in early 15th-century England. This manuscript is mainly known to scholars because it includes a miniature of the Annunciation that has been attributed to Herman Scheerre (fl. Stowe MS 16, a Book of Hours produced in London shortly before 1410, is an interesting example. In addition to containing the daily cycle of prayer, Books of Hours sometimes include magical spells or incantations, reflecting their lay owners' concerns over physical and spiritual dangers. ![]()
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