The First Seal of Edward the Confessor (1043-1066). Diameter 3 inches. Legend: SIGILLvm. eadvvard1 . anglorvm . bas1le1. Reverse. Walter de Grey Birch, in the order he has assigned to the three seals of Edward the Confessor, of which I have now only space to show one side of the first seal. But these seals are nearly identical, and the reverse, or counterseal, shown in No. 3, differs from the obverse only in a few de tails, —-there is here not nearly so much difference between the device on the ob verse and that on the reverse, as is to be seen on more modern seals than that of Edward the Confessor: the extreme simplic ity of these seals was characteristic of the closing days of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy. Also, it is interesting to note that on both sides of his seal the Confessor is seated peacefully, whereas in all the seals of his successors the King is shown on one side as a warrior. The legend is simply " King [Basileus] of the English," but after the Norman conquest of England, and the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland, the Royal style in the legend of the Great Seal proclaimed the connection of England with France and with Ireland. A seal of Harold's is not known : its
absence may well be explained by the brevity and the disaster of his reign. William the Conqueror had two seals: the first of these is shown in No. 4. Wyon points out that the great historical fact of the Norman conquest of England, although not directly proclaimed, is plainly borne witness to by the Great Seal of William I. The fact that William gave to his title of "Patron " or Protector of Normandy prior ity over that of King of England, notwith standing the higher rank of King and the greater extent of his English dominions, is evidenced by the legend of No. 4, the re verse of which seal contained the continua tion of the legend, " hoc . ANGUS . REGEM . SIGNO . FATEARIS . EVNDEM." At the pres ent day the title Queen of England has priority over that of Empress of India, and in both cases we are reminded of the con quest of a larger country by the people of a smaller. It is not possible to show all the Seals of England, of which Birch names no fewer than ninety-five in his " Tabular Synopsis of the Great Seals of English Sovereigns," which extends from Edward the Confessor to the second seal of Victoria. For such extensive
Ho. 4. The First Seal of William the Conqueror (1066-1087). Diameter 3X inches. Legend: hoc . normannorvm . w1lLELMVM . NOSCE . PATRONvm . SI. OHtrsC.
