Ring brooch, gold, inscribed in Lombardic letters, English or French, 1200-1300

Ring brooch, gold, one side with a concave profile, the other with an engraved inscription in French in Lombardic letters '+ IESVI : CI : ENLIV : DAMI:' ('I am here in place of a friend'). The pin with a granulated cluster at the head.

Given by Dame Joan Evans

Sumptuary Laws

From the 13th century jewellery was worn by all members of society as a symbol of wealth and status. In the 14th and 15th centuries however, sumptuary laws were introduced to regulate and reduce the amount and type of jewellery worn by the public. In France in 1285 laws sought to forbid townspeople and their ladies from wearing precious stones, belts of gold and gold coronets. In 1363, English law attempted to limit the wearing of gold and silver to richer noblemen. There is little evidence to suggest that these laws were heeded, although the survival of base metal jewellery suggests that the less wealthy tried to find alternatives to silver and gold to display their status.

This gold brooch was made in England in the 13th century before the introduction of sumptuary laws. This suugests that it was worn as a symbol of status and wealth. Gold jewellery was expensive, yet popular with all those who could afford it. It remained a strong symbol of status throughout the medieval period.

Historical significance: This brooch is a typical example of 13th century design. Gold brooches carrying inscriptions were the most common form of brooch in the medieval period. The ambiguous message upon the brooch makes it difficult to determine whether it was worn as a sign of loyalty to a friend or as a symbol of love.

In the medieval period men and women usually wore long sleeved and ankle length garments covered by a cloak. Such garments were commonly fastened with a brooch. From the 13th century, when jewellery became a popular accessory, brooches were worn as symbols of status and social position. Ring brooches were the most common design in this period. They were often made of silver and gold and inscribed with mottoes of sentiment. It remains unclear how these items of jewellery were worn and how functional they were. It is possible that they were sewn into place.

Brooches were given as tokens of love. James Robinson has suggested that these small pieces of jewellery were discreet symbols of affection and could even have been worn discreetly as a symbol of forbidden or adulterous love. However, brooch inscriptions show that they were also thought to have a protective significance. A brooch, by fastening a garment, symbolically protected the wearer from amatory and sexual advances. In this sense brooches could be worn as symbols of fidelity, virginity or chastity. A lady giving her brooch as a love token was thus a symbol of her letting down her defences and accepting the amorous and sexual petitions of an admirer.

Although some surviving brooches have traces of enamel , indicating that they were once brighter and more vibrant than they are today, the small size of medieval brooches and their inscriptions suggests that they were worn as discreet and personal tokens. Whilst they were outward symbols of status and wealth, their inscriptions were significant only to the individual wearing them. The inscription on this brooch, meaning 'I am here in place of a friend' is an intimate message of love or friendship.



Romance Tradition

Gift giving was a strong theme in medieval romance literature. Knights and ladies gave rings, brooches and belts as a means of communicating love and affection. Such presents were then worn by the receiver as symbols of love or loyalty. In the 12th century Marie de France explained the gift giving process in her lais Eliduc.

'If you love him...send him a girdle, a ribbon or a ring, for this will please him. If he receives it gladly... then you will be sure of his love.'
The Lais of Marie de France, Glynn S Burgess and Keith Busby (trans), London, Penguin Classics, 1986, p.115

The romance writers acknowledged the possibility of misreading the symbolism of rings and other tokens. A ring given as a symbol of love may be worn by the receiver as a symbol of loyalty. This ambiguity noted in the romances seems to reflect the many purposes for which rings and other such tokens were given and the varying reasons for which they were worn.

Brooches of precious metal were worn in the medieval period as symbols of status, but also served a practical purpose, to fasten garments. The inscription upon this brooch, meaning 'I am here in place of a friend' is an intimate message of friendship or love suggesting that this object was given to the owner by a lover or a close friend.

M.49-1975