Seals in medieval Wales, 1200-1550 (SiMeW)

Seals have been used for authentication across different cultures and to validate documents throughout Europe and the wider world for many centuries. Medieval seals provide a special view of institutional and individual concerns and support interdisciplinary interests for today’s researchers at all levels. Seals also offer unique insight into those who used them and the context in which they were used. Yet, though a key resource, they remain an underexploited source of images and words from the past. Seals in Medieval Wales investigates seals from across Wales and the Marches to explore aspects of medieval society and economy, politics, religion and expressions of identity in new ways. While the focus is Wales and its border, SiMeW’s scale will enable this project to inform future studies of the use of seals in the UK and beyond in terms of methodology and the interpretative content of the outputs.