A remarkable archaeological discovery in the Harz Mountains has shed new light on the wide-ranging networks of the medieval papacy.
In June 2025, volunteer archaeologist Günter Dittrich discovered a lead papal seal while surveying the site of the abandoned medieval village of Bischofsrode, located near Gernrode in Germany’s Harz district.
An example of the papal bulla, the object was traditionally used to authenticate official papal documents. The oval lead seal is about four centimetres wide and exhibits obvious heavy corrosion, although its imagery and inscriptions are recognisable.
On one side are two bearded heads, each representing Saints Peter and Paul, facing each other with a simple cross placed between them. Embedded in front of the figure is the shortened Latin inscription “SPASPE” for Saint Paul the Apostle and Saint Peter the Bishop. The reverse side shows the words, “ALEXANDER PP III,” describing Pope Alexander III, who was the head of the Catholic Church from 1159 to 1181.
Seals of this design became standard for papal documents from the 12th century onward. The depiction of Peter and Paul symbolised the pope’s authority as successor to the two foundational saints of the Church, while the reverse side carried the name of the reigning pontiff.
Although Alexander III himself likely never handled this particular seal, it would originally have been attached to a document issued by the papal chancery, the administrative office responsible for producing official correspondence across the Catholic world.
The site of the discovery also provides an exciting past. Bischofsrode, several kilometres southwest of Gernrode, is now a site of derelict settlement and former church.
Pottery fragments and other archaeological evidence suggest the village must have existed between the 11th or 12th century and the 14th century. There are few written accounts; the settlement is documented only a single time when, in 1170, Bishop Gero of Halberstadt confirmed that three villages—including “Bischeperot”—had been donated to Mariental Abbey.
How the papal seal reached this remote location remains uncertain. It may have arrived attached to a document connected to local church administration or property transfers.
Alternatively, detached seals were sometimes reused as protective talismans or melted down as a source of lead. Regardless of its exact path, the discovery illustrates how even small rural communities in the Harz Mountains were linked to the complex political and ecclesiastical networks of medieval Europe.
Header Image Credit : Andrea Hörentrup
Sources : LDA
