Anequestrian seal is a type ofseal used in the EuropeanMiddle Ages, characterized by the depiction of the owner as amounted warrior in fullarmour. Originating in thehigh medieval period (late 11th to early 12th century), the type was frequently used throughout the 13th to 14th centuries. Continued use into the 15th and 16th centuries was mostly limited tohigh nobility, especiallyroyalty, while lower nobility switched to the use of simpleheraldic seals.

Early examples of equestrian seals are known from the second half of the 11th century. The oldest example that may be addressed as an "equestrian seal" is that ofWilliam I of England (c. 1067).^[1] Among the oldest extant examples in Germany is the seal ofHenry of Laach (c. 1090). The horseman is characterized by thekite shield and a conical helmet, often bearing a banner. This type is continued into the mid-12th century, and late examples of kite shields are found into the 1160s.

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  William I of England (c. 1067)
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  Ralph I, Count of Vermandois (1116)
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  Thibaut de Blois (1138)
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  Fulk, King of Jerusalem (r. 1131–1143)
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  Gilbert de Clare (before 1148)
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  Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. 1148)
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  Enguerrand (Ingelram),count of Saint-Pol (before 1150)
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  Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona (1150)
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  Ottokar III of Styria (1157)
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  Ottokar III of Styria (1160)
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  David, Earl of Huntingdon (1160)
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  Robert III de Vitré (d. 1161)
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  Galéran IV de Meulan (1165)

The peak of usage comes with the development of the tradition ofchivalry in the high medieval period, during c. the last quarter of the 12th century and throughout the 13th century. Seals of the 1170s to 1190s show shield shapes transitional between the "kite" and the "heater" type. Helmet shapes become less conical and more rounded. The horseman is now shown as the prototypical "knight" with aheraldic shield. From about the 1230s, the horse is increasingly shown as wearing a heraldiccaparison, and the rider as wearing agreat helm.

Around the middle of the 13th century, there was a fashion to also represent ladies and ecclesiastics on horseback on their seal, not wearing armour, but, as in the cases ofJoan, Countess of Flanders (c. 1240),Maria of Brabant, Duchess of Bavaria (c. 1250) andAdelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant (c. 1260) practicingfalconry.

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  Philip I, Count of Flanders (1170)
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  Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen (1187)
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  Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse (r. 1194-1222)
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  Richard I of England (1195)
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  Theobald III, Count of Champagne (1198)
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  Geoffrey III, Count of Perche (d. 1202)
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  Casimir I of Opole (1226)
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  James I of Aragon (r. 1213–1276)
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  Matthew II of Montmorency (died 1230).
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  Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester and Hertford, c. 1218–1230
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  Gauthier III de Nemours (d. 1239)
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  Walter II of Avesnes (d. 1244)
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  Alphonse, Count of Poitiers (d. 1271)
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  Ottokar II Premysl (1273)
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  Henry I of Navarre (r. 1270–1274)
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  Alfonso X of Castile (d. 1284)
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  Amadeus V, Count of Savoy (c. 1285)
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  Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (1286)

After 1300, equestrian seals were almost exclusively used by thehigh nobility, by bearers of the rank ofduke or higher. Representations in seals of the 14th century show the nobleman with full heraldic achievements, often carrying aheraldic flag, or with a lance in fulljousting armour.

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  Trojden I, Duke of Masovia (1341)^[2]
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  Albert I of Habsburg (d. 1308)
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  Albert II, Duke of Austria (d. 1358)
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  Robert II of Scotland (r. 1371–1390)
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  Albert III, Duke of Austria (d. 1395)
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  The so-calledfranc-à-cheval was a gold coin valued onelivre tournois minted from 1360. The obverse shows the French king in the style of an equestrian seal. This coin is the origin of the namefranc for the French currency.
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  Francis II, Duke of Brittany (r.1458–1488)
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  Albert III, Duke of Saxony (d. 1500)
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  Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (1508)

Late forms were used well into theearly modern period in France and Germany. Depictions of monarchs in full armour, crested helmets, with lances or heraldic flags etc. fell out of use with the end of thejoust in the early 17th century.Frederick the Great of Prussia used aMajestätssiegel which depicted him on horseback in 1772 (albeit no longer depicted as a fully armored knight but as a military commander).^[3]

The reverse of the Great Seal ofCharles I of England (1627) shows the monarch in full gallop, wearing a fanciful classicist armour, accompanied by a hunting dog. TheBritish monarchs from 1707 onward continued the convention of depicting the seated and crowned monarch on the obverse, and the monarch on horseback on the reverse. This is the case also for the queen regnants (Great Seal of Queen Anne,Queen Victoria,Elizabeth II), who are depicted insidesaddle.

In 1976,Austria minted a commemorative gold coin (13.5g 90% Au) on the occasion of the millennial anniversary of theBabenberg dynasty (Leopold I, Margrave of Austria), known as theBabenberger-Bundesgoldmünze. The obverse of this coin was designed in the style of a medieval equestrian seal (with the addition of an alpine panorama).

In heraldic art, influenced by the equestrian seals, horsemen are a fairly common symbol. Two widely popular forms that the horseman takes is as thePahonia andSaint George fighting the dragon. While these symbols are used in various coats of arms, they are arguably most famous as theCoat of arms of Lithuania and theCoat of arms of Moscow respectively.

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  Moderncoat of arms of Lithuania
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  Modern alternativenational emblem of Belarus
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  Saint George on horseback on the coat of arms ofMoscow
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  Saint George on horseback on the coat of arms ofRussia

• History of heraldry
• Pahonia

• Sandra Hindman,Sealed in Parchment: Rereadings of Knighthood in the Illuminated Manuscripts of Chretien de Troyes (1994), 118ff.
• Phillipp R. Schofield,Seals and their Context in the Middle Ages (2015)
• "Les Sceaux du Moyen-Âge", in:Mémoires de la Société nationale des Antiquaires de FranceXXXVII.
• John McEwan, "Equestrian Seals in the Late Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries",Essays in Medieval Studies 22 (2005), 77-93,doi:10.1353/ems.2006.0011.
• Jean-François Nieus,"Early Aristocratic Seals" in: E. Van Houts (ed.),Anglo-Norman Studies XXXVIII: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2015 (2016).
• Phillipp R. Schofield,Seals and their Context in the Middle Ages (2015),38ff.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toEquestrian seals.

• http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/decoration/seal3.htmArchived 2020-02-20 at theWayback Machine
• http://www.hubert-herald.nl/EspanCatalunya.htm

• Seals (insignia)
• Heraldry
• Chivalry
• Medieval art

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