SIGILOGRAPHY: ETYMOLOGY AND WHAT IT STUDIES - SCIENCE - 2025

The sphragistics is the auxiliary science of dating, reading and interpretation of the seals of the Byzantine era. However, by extension it can be applied to the study of stamps used or attached to documents of a historical nature, such as royal letters and decrees.

The study of stamps was also called spragistics; it was a branch of diplomacy used to determine the authenticity of a document. Sigilography has a technical and archaeological focus, and has been used since the Middle Ages to study the seals or stamps of people and institutions, as well as the signs of scribes.

This auxiliary discipline served to prevent the falsification of documents, which were already practiced in the 12th century. Through stealth, forensic studies of historical documents can determine tastes, customs, political aspects and other elements of their owners and society.

Stealth was developed in the 19th century as a discipline that served as a source of information and scientific support for historical studies. It seeks to carry out an in-depth analysis of both the physical element of the seal and the meaning it has, considering the symbolism that its structure houses.

Etymology

The word sigilography comes from a Greco-Latin word that is composed of two terms: sigillum, a Latin word that means "seal"; and graphia, a Greek word that means "description", "representation", "science".

That is, sigilography is the study or treatise of the seal in terms of its physical-material aspect and its formal symbolic and representative expression.

What do you study?

Sigilography is dedicated to analyzing the seals from the physical point of view and in their symbolic-representative aspect. However, it does not study just any seal, but rather those that were applied to historical documents such as letters, decrees, treaties, papal bulls, administrative orders, etc.

Originally it was considered a branch of diplomacy because it was used only by diplomacy, but later other sciences or areas of scientific knowledge incorporated it into their studies. Among these sciences archeology, history, heraldry, law and genealogy stand out.

The purpose of stealth is to critically study the different types of seals that have historically been used. The stamps were used to validate or authorize state or private documents; These instruments served to authenticate the validity of the documents.

For example, in the early Middle Ages in southern Europe, documents were drawn up and signed by notaries, but in northern Europe the use of the seal to authenticate documents was never dispensed with.

Forgeries

The use of the seal became very important due to the forgeries that began to circulate in the 12th century. Since then, stamps were a commonly used resource to close folded documents and protect their secrecy. They were also used to affirm the assent (for example, of a jury).

Thus, the object or field of study of sigilography is the seal as an object and the impressions obtained from it when pressed on a surface. Stamps can be made of wax, sealing wax, lead, paper, metal, cloth, and any other material that allows a sign to be stamped.

Importance of stealth

Through the stealth study of the stamps used in historical documents, it is possible to determine various social and individual aspects of their owners, such as customs, art, tastes, politics, clothing, and other aspects.

The stamps provide evidence about the changes in fashion of each era, both in ecclesiastical and monarchical costumes.

Heraldic symbols are contained in the seals and are a very important source for determining the type of armor. Likewise, it allows genealogy to trace links or distinctions between families.

Historical and cultural value

Besides the legal value, the stamps have historical and cultural value; These are the elements that stealth studies. Likewise, the stamps show other elements of great importance for historiographic studies.

For example, the stamps of the artisans show tools used by the trade of the time. In others towns, castles or churches are described, which can help the historian to discover architectural elements, as well as details of ships or weapons of war.

Many times, the main difficulty in studying the different existing stamp designs is their conservative nature. The seals were often replaced leaving the design similar to the previous one, even if they were from different times.

Stealth, as it is understood today, developed in the 19th century from the study of historians and anthropologists. It was born as a necessary method to learn about the past and be used as a source of historical information.

Origin of sealing

The authentication of written documents through stamping has been practiced since ancient times. The period of greatest relevance of the seal in Western Europe was between the 12th and 15th centuries, before it began to be validated by signature.

During this period the owners of stamps were distributed in all the higher levels of society, but the decisions of the monarchs or the most important commercial transactions, although they always carried a stamp, could require signatures and other elements to authenticate the documents..

The stamp matrix was usually metal and made of latten, an alloy of brass. The richest ones ordered their stamps with precious metals and engraved gems; others were made of ivory, bone, or wood.

The medieval seal

This is one of the types of seals most studied by experts in stealth. It was in the Middle Ages that monarchs, the secular curia, and wealthy merchants resorted to its use. In this way they certified the authenticity of the document and its authorship, given the importance of the content.

Monarchs and popes used to make wax seals using signet rings, made of metal or hard stone. Conical seals made with similar materials were also used.

Mediterranean popes and chancelleries used ball-shaped stamps or impressions. Hence comes the name of the famous papal bulls (bulla in Latin). This type of document carried lead stamps, which took the shape of a flattened ball.

Instead, most medieval seals were generally composed of two-thirds of beeswax and one-thirds of resin. Chalk or ash was added to this compound to harden it and avoid heat.

Among the most important sigilographers throughout history are Otto Posse, Douet d´Arcq, Germain Demay and Hermann Grotefend, among others.

References

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2. Sigillography. Consulted of oxfordhandbooks.com
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6. Sigillography. Consulted from dictionary.com