Alexios Komnenos Angelos, sebastokrator (1185-1195)
Obverse
St. George mounted on a horse. On either side, the inscription: |γεργιοσ : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Γεώργιος. Linear border.
Obverse
St. George mounted on a horse. On either side, the inscription: |γεργιοσ : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Γεώργιος. Linear border.
Reverse
Inscription of six lines (featuring many ligatures), a cross above. Linear border.
αλεΞιου
σραγισμα
κολα
σeaokρα
.ορντοσαγ
.ελνυμ
Ἀλεξίου σφράγισμα Κομνηνῶν κλάδου σεβαστοκρα[τ]οροῦντος Ἀγ[γ]ελωνύμου
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.4825 |
---|---|
Diameter | 35.0 mm |
Previous Editions | Oikonomides, Dated Seals, no. 124; Zacos-Veglery, no. 2745; see also Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 81. |
Translation
Ἀλεξίου σφράγισμα Κομνηνῶν κλάδου σεβαστοκρατοροῦντος Ἀγγελωνύμου.
Seal of the sebastokrator Alexios, a descendant of the Komnenoi whose name is Angelos.
Bibliography
- A Collection of Dated Byzantine Lead Seals (Open in Zotero)
- Les bulles métriques dans la sigillographie byzantine (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The owner of this seal is the future emperor Alexios III Angelos who had been made sebastokrator by his brother Isaac upon the latter's accession to the throne in 1185. Alexios's preference for his Komnenian ancestry is evident in the inscription (Κομνηνῶν κλάδου), words which distinguish the metrical inscription on this seal from others issued by him (Laurent, Bulles métriques, no. 591; Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 89).