Lead, 51.46 grams, 39.85 dia, approx 5mm thickness. 1700 - 1721 AD. A lead seal from a document issued by Pope Clemens XI, the remains of the fabric cords which secured the seal to its document can be clearly seen. The iconography of papal bullas has not altered since the time of Pope Pasquale II (1099-1118) - one face bears the name of the issuing Pope and the other the opposed profile heads of SS. Peter and Paul with a cruciform emblem between and a form of the identifying abbreviated legend SPESPA (Sanctus Petrus Sanctus Paulus 'Saint Peter, Saint Paul') on the other. The present example shows on the recto the faces executed in low relief in a realistic style within a border of fine radiating lines, below the legend 'S.P', and on the verso the text '+/CLE/MENS/PAPA/XI'. Reference: Pateman, B. Collecting Seals page 134-135. Scratch to the image of St. Peter but otherwise the bulla is in very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Pope Clement XI was born in Urbino, Italy, as Giovanni Francesco Albani in 1649, a member of a noble family of Albanian origin which had distingished itself in the wars with the Ottomans. Albini was created Pope in 1700 at the age of 51, and was soon faced with the Spanish royal succession crisis. The presence of a large Imperial army in northern Italy persuaded Clemens to declare for the claimant Charles, Archduke of Austria; the resulting Treaty of Utrecht severely weakened the position of the Papal States in European politics and led to some dissent in the French ecclesiastical hierarchy. During Clement's pontificate the church was also faced with controversy over the accommodations to local custom forced on Jesuit missionaries working in China, which Clement condemned as heretical. Clement XI is remembered as a patron of the arts and supporter of the Vatican library.