Lead, 41.06 grams, 37.67 mm dia, approx 5mm thickness. 1676 - 1689 AD. A lead seal from a document issued by Pope Innocent XI, with the remains of the securing cords still clearly visible. 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 with the cross element of the design on a raised median panel which accommodates the cord; the legend is partially visible in the upright of one letter 'P'. On the verso the text reads '+/INNO/[C]ENTIUS/PAPA/XI', the 'C' only partially visible due to the bulla having been struck a little asymmetrically. The beaded border to the text is present on about half the surface. Reference: Pateman, B. Collecting Seals page 134-135. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Pope Innocent XI was born in Como, Italy, n 1611 as Benedetto Odescalchi, a member of a minor noble family with interests in banking. Odescalchi was a strong contender for the throne of St. Peter in succession to Clement IX in 1669 but was vetoed by the French king; when the successor, Clement X, died in 1676, Odescalchi's support was too strong to be overridden and he was made pope in September of that year. Innocent XI's main early policy was the reformation of the Curia and the eradication of nepotism among its members. He also coordinated the 'Holy League' of German and Slav states which resisted the Ottoman incursions into eastern Europe, and financed measures to expel the Turks from Hungary. His relations with the French king Louis XIV were far from cordial, partly because of the king's arrogance towards church affairs and partly due to his persecution of the Hugenots. When the French king seized the papal posession of Avignon, matters came to a head and it seemed for a while that the French church might secede from Roman authority, but the death of King James II of England - Louis's only influential supporter - in 1688 left the French king isolated and obliged him to relent. Innocent died in 1689 after a long illness. There have been persistent rumours that the pope used his banking contacts to fund William of Orange's resitance to Louis XIV; these suspicions have presently halted all attempts to have the pope canonized.