Seal of prince Mikhalko Yurievich from the Suzdal field region

Seals for documents are rare finds at archaeological sites in the central areas of the Rostov-Suzdal Lands. In three of the most important towns of North-Eastern Rus - Rostov, Suzdal and Vladimir - only around ten bullae have been found throughout the entire history of their archaeological investigation. A new sphragistic find is examined in this article: a lead seal for a document with a depiction of Archangel Michael on one side and one of St. George standing with a spear in his right hand and a shield in his left. It was discovered in 2012 when the settlement of Mordysh on the River Nerl was being surveyed. The type of seal bearing depictions of saints on both sides has been convincingly identified by N.P Likhachev and V.L. Yanin as a personal seal, on which the holy patron of a prince and one of his father were depicted. This seal with a depiction of Archangel Michael and St. George could be classified as a bulla of Prince Mikhalko Yurievich. The younger brother of Andrei Bogolyubsky was invited by the men of Vladimir to be their prince after the death of Andrei, had been driven out of Vladimir in 1175 by his nephews, Mstislav and Yaropolk Rostislavich, with the support of the population of Rostov, but then regained the principality in the summer of 1175. Two seals have also been recovered made with the same matrices as that published here (found in Gorodishche near Novgorod and in the rural dwelling site of Mogutovo in the Moscow Region). Yet prior to the discovery of the seal in the Suzdal Field Region there was no convincing indication for their attribution to any individuals. The seal was found together with other objects not typical for the day-to-day lives of ordinary members of the rural population (a book clasp, a reliquary cross and an item of jewellery with filigree decoration). Assemblages of this sort were definitely associated with individuals of high social status living at rural sites and remaining until recently unidentified.