https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/templates/general_wide/img/logo.png https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges.html https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-souvenir-59156.html Thu, 26 Feb 2026 19:33:25 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A circular cast lead or lead-alloy pilgrim's souvenir of the late medieval period. The front of the object depicts the sacred monogram, IhC, in black letter style on a field of leafy fronds. The abbreviation mark through the h has been worked into a crown, and the whole design is encircled by an ornate beaded border. The back of the object has a mould-joint ridge and the stump of a central shank. Interestingly, the stone mould referenced below was used to produce roundels of identical design to the present type. It was found at King Manor, Clarendon in 1887. The author in describing the roundels comments: "Surviving roundels of this kind appear not to have been designed as pilgrim badges, however. Examples with the Ihs monogram have turned up at London, Coventry and Bristol, as well as Salisbury, and these are fitted with a long rivet, not a pin. One of the London finds was riveted to a piece of wood and not to a complete paten, as stated in Mitchiner 1986, p 194. Other examples with central rivets are decorated with figures of saints, the Five Wounds, the vernicle, rose, crown and sunburst. Clearly they cannot be called paten centres, but they may perhaps have been made for the thick bases of wooden drinking-bowls, the cheap equivalent of prints from mazer bowls, like the copper alloy print 'enamelled' with a crowned heart containing the sacred monogram on a late fourteenth-century maplewood mazer belonging to St John's Hospital, Canterbury." See also UKDFD 26680.
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-badge-59087.html Sun, 28 Dec 2025 13:55:40 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A lead or lead-alloy pilgrim's badge, cast in the form of a front-facing bearded male head. The head is that of Christ, as 'a man of sorrows'1, and is depicted with teardrops - represented by vertical lines - descending from the lower eyelids. The back of the badge retains the stub of its integral pin and catchplate, but the pin is missing. See also UKDFD 58368, PAS: LVPL-F6D514, WAW-4DE1A2 and DENO-B7F1D4. 1. Isaiah 53, 3 "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not."
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-badge-58549.html Sun, 30 Mar 2025 13:28:08 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A cast lead (or lead-alloy) pilgrim's badge of the late medieval period. The badge depicts a bearded male face with relief-moulded eyes, nose, cheeks and lips. The face is bordered with pellets that extend down both sides of a very wide 'neck' and into a transverse band of multiple pellets that could be regarded as decorated 'shoulders'. It seems more likely, however, that the badge is incomplete, and that the 'shoulders' are part of a missing element, possibly a circular framework that went around the head. The back of the badge retains its integrally cast pin. The identity of the face represented is uncertain, but in the absence of any specific ecclesiastical, religious or royal attributes, it might depict St John the Baptist, whose cult is associated with Amiens in northern France. The badge is stylistically similar to PAS: LEIC-215FD5.
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-badge-58368.html Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:13:48 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A lead or lead-alloy pilgrim's badge, cast in the form of a front-facing bearded male head. The head is that of Christ, as 'a man of sorrows'1, and is depicted with teardrops - represented by vertical lines - descending from the lower eyelids. The back of the badge retains its integral pin. Cf. PAS: LVPL-F6D514, WAW-4DE1A2 and DENO-B7F1D4. 1. Isaiah 53, 3 "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not."
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-badge-58366.html Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:20:11 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A lead or lead-alloy pilgrim's pin badge of the medieval period. The badge depicts the face of Christ in a form known as the 'Vernicle' or 'Veronica' (see below).  A distinctive feature of some badges of this type, including the present one, is that the nimbus surrounding the face incorporates a cross, the floriated ends of which are present above and at either side of the head. The back of the badge has lost its integrally cast pin, and the edge has sustained some damage. The name, Vernicle or Veronica, arises from the legend that the face of Christ was miraculously impressed on the handkerchief or veil that Saint Veronica gave to him to wipe his face on the way to Calvary. The Vernicle was an emblem of the Rome pilgrimage, but veneration of the Holy Face was widespread, and many of the badges of this type found in England are likely to have been made in this country. See also PAS: DUR-072FDC.
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-badge-58182.html Thu, 29 Aug 2024 13:30:34 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A small cast lead-alloy pilgrim’s badge of the late medieval period. The badge is lozenge-shaped with a beaded border and a moulded design within, which is now unclear*. Part of the integrally cast pin for attachment to clothing survives on the back. The badge is incomplete, a large piece (approximately one third) having broken off the right-hand side. * Badges of this general form often have as their design the sacred monogram IhC in Lombardic letters, as UKDFD 41104. Others, however, depict Henry VI (see below), either seated or standing, as PAS SF-37F174 and  WILT-6305E7 respectively.  Following his execution (or alleged murder) in 1471, Henry VI was buried at Chertsey Abbey. However, in 1484, his remains were moved to St George's Chapel, Windsor. His shrine quickly became the focal point of a popular cult, fuelled by stories of visions and miraculous cures.
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-ampulla-57643.html Tue, 26 Sep 2023 20:03:07 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A flask-shaped pilgrim’s ampulla of the medieval period. One face has the outline of a voided crescent moon at the centre, and a similar motif is moulded to the opposite side, but this is uncertain due to distortion and wear. Both suspension lugs are now missing. The crescent moon is a symbol of the virgin Mary, and widely used during the medieval period. See Ampulla; UKDFD 4565, UKDFD 56785 & UKDFD 32061. Pilgrim's Badge; UKDFD 54129 & UKDFD 4434. Seal Matrix; UKDFD 9513. The symbol may be based on the association of Mary with the following passage from Revelation 12:1-2:  'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered'  Mitchiner (see References below) suggests that many ampullae were used in the annual springtime ’Blessing the Fields’ ceremony, in which the Holy Water they contained was sprinkled on the ground to give prayer for a good harvest. Having served this purpose, Mitchiner suggests that the ampullae were discarded. Others have suggested that the ampullae were buried along with their contents for a similar purpose.
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-ampulla-57454.html Fri, 14 Jul 2023 10:19:48 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A flask-shaped pilgrim's ampulla with relief moulded decoration. The front has outer hatching surrounding a double linear circle. Inside the circle is a field of cross hatching with a crowned letter ‘W’ (Walsingham) at the centre. The back appears to have the same decorative form, but with a single crown only to the centre. Two transverse lines, with hatching in between, span the neck. The flask has suffered some distortion and damage and the suspension lugs are missing. See UKDFD 100 & UKDFD 15492 as generally similar. Mitchiner (see References below) suggests that many ampullae were used in the annual springtime ’Blessing the Fields’ ceremony, in which the Holy Water they contained was sprinkled on the ground to give prayer for a good harvest. Having served this purpose, Mitchiner suggests that the ampullae were discarded. Others have suggested that the ampullae were buried along with their contents for a similar purpose.
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-badge-57154.html Sun, 05 Feb 2023 14:29:08 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A cast copper-alloy pilgrim's badge in the form of an openwork, six-spoked 'Catherine wheel'. Unusually, a separate thin strip of sheet metal has been placed through the centre of the wheel for attachment purposes. The badge relates to St. Catherine of Alexandria, who was martyred on a spiked wheel (an ancient form of torture and execution) in the 4th century AD. The tradition is that heavenly fire shattered the wheel into flaming fragments, and angels transported Catherine's body to Mount Sinai. Her shrine there was later guarded by a holy order, known as the Knights of Saint Catherine of Mount Sinai, and one of the Order's charitable foundations was the Hospital of Saint Catherine in London. Association with the Hospital is the context in which badges of the present type were produced. See also; UKDFD 16272
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/pilgrim-souvenirs-and-secular-badges/pilgrim-s-badge-56853.html Tue, 31 May 2022 14:06:17 GMT Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges  

Description:		A small cast silver-gilt crown, probably a pilgrim's badge dedicated to the shrine of St Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey and dating to the later medieval period. The crown is of open form and decorated with a large central leaf and smaller lateral leaf ornamentation. Originally having a three dimensional appearance, the rear part of the circlet to the crown is now missing and only a protruding cusp to each end survives. On the back are vertical solder marks where an attachment pin was once fitted. A very similar pewter example is recorded in the below reference material with the observations; Edward the Confessor - 'Whereas 14th century pilgrim badges had taken a number of different forms, the 15th century relics concentrated almost exclusively upon various depictions of the Royal Crown'. Regarding a crown with strawberry leaf ornamentation (No's 586-589), 'The design is derived from the form of heraldic crown used by Edward II. The actual crown of Edward the Confessor was much simpler'. Edward the Confessor was canonised in 1161, and badges dedicated to his shrine at Westminster Abbey remain fairly rare, certainly silver examples to which no other has been traced for comparison. It is believed that the shrine was popular with higher status individuals which would explain rarity and quality of metal used to make this souvenir. For this reason the artefact has been catagorised a find of special interest. See related examples; Museum of London (as seen above in image 5) & LON-19F1D6
Category:		Medieval, Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges
Category:		Pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges

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