- Sigillography
Sigillography (sometimes referred to under its Greek name of
Sphragistics ) is one of theauxiliary science s ofhistory . It refers to the study of seals attached todocument s as a source of historical information. It concentrates on the legal and social meaning of seals, as well as evolution of their look. As such, it is closely related toheraldry .It was first used as a separate science in the works of
Jean Mabillon in late 17th century and byJohann Michael Heineccius soon afterwards.Fact|date=February 2007 Initially thought as a branch ofdiplomatics , it gradually became an independent branch of historical studies. In second half of 19th century sigillography was further developed by German and French historians, among themHermann Grotefend ,Otto Posse ,Louis-Claude Douet d'Arcq andGermain Demay .Fact|date=February 2007Sigillography is also a subdiscipline of
Byzantine Studies, involving the study of Byzantine lead seal impressions and the text and images thereon.One of
Herge 's "The Adventures of Tintin " adventures, "King Ottokar's Sceptre " features sigillography in its plot.External links
* http://linnet.cch.kcl.ac.uk:8080/seals/ (database of Byzantine Seal impressions from "Prosopography of the Byzantine World project (PBW)
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