This exceptionally well-preserved seal matrix was used to impress a design and name onto hot wax to ‘sign’ official documents, like our modern-day signatures.

The central design depicts a bushel of wheat shaped like a fleur-de-lys. Both this design and the shape of the matrix suggests that it belonged to a woman.

It is so well preserved that we can read the Latin inscription clearly, and a clay impression has also been made to aid interpretation. The impression reads SIGILL. MATILDE FILIA M GODWINI; the seal of Matilda daughter of (M?) Godwin(e).

Seal matrices were common items in the medieval period and were used by all levels of society. These pointed oval examples become popular in the 13th century and are often associated with women. By around 1300, pointed oval matrices were largely superseded by impersonal ‘off-the-shelf’ circular matrices.

The personal nature of early seal matrices means they are important finds for archaeologists, because it gives us the name of a person. Sometimes we are able to identify that person from historical records. Research into Matilda Godwin(e) is continuing.