Signatures, Seals and Marks

Abstract

This Documenta highlights the historical significance of seals as instruments of validation, identification and expressions of authority, used since the Mesopotamian civilisations and widely studied within fields such as sigillography, heraldry, diplomatics and art history. Although earlier inventories exist, such as that prepared by the Marquis of Abrantes in 1983, significant gaps remain, namely the absence of a systematic catalogue of the seals preserved in the Lisbon Municipal Archive. This Documenta therefore aims to disseminate this collection, which is presented in three parts: (1) royal signatures from King João I to King José, allowing the observation of graphic continuities and transformations; (2) royal pendant seals from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, including the facsimile of the acclamation of King João I at the Cortes of Coimbra (1385); and (3) documents of diverse nature, dating from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, incorporating marks and practices of authentication with considerable historical and symbolic value. The presentation of this corpus seeks to encourage specialised research into a documentary heritage that spans centuries of municipal and national history.