People of Medieval Scotland
1093 - 1371

Seal-Matrix: Alan de St Edmund, bishop of Caithness (d.1291) (privy seal)

Owner
Alan de St Edmund, bishop of Caithness (d.1291)
Matrix Shape
pointed oval
Image description (obverse)
Two canopied niches depicting, in the *dexter*, Saint Columba with mitre and his right hand raised in benediction whilst his left holds a crozier, and in the *sinister*, the Virgin holding the Child on her left arm. Under a pointed archway beneath is the bishop with mire, kneeling to *sinister* with hands uplifted.
Image description (reverse)
Legend (obverse)
SECRETV ALANI CATH…… (“Privy seal of Alan, [bishop] of Caithness”)
Legend (reverse)
Catalogue
EA/Cai/2/1C
Notes
Dimensions: 2 1/8 × 1 1/8 in. Note: catalogued by Stevenson and Wood as Alan’s seal, but in fact his personal (secretum) seal, used perhaps as a counterseal. SW I, p.134.