Nomos 23

BYZANTINE SEALS. Nikolaos Paraspondylos, Circa 14th century. Seal or Bulla (Lead, 38.5 mm, 30.99 g, 12 h). O A/ΓI/OC - NI/KO/ΛA/OC Nimbate figure of Saint Nikolaos of Myra standing facing, wearing ecclesiastical robes, raising his right hand in benediction and holding Book of Gospels with his left. Rev. + ΦYΛAΞ ΓE/NOY NIKOΛAE / NIKOΛAΩ CΩ / OIKETH ΠAPA/CΠONΔYΛΩ / ΤΩ ΓENEI = St. Nikolaos please become guardian of your servant Nikolaos, of the Paraspondylos family metrical invocation text in seven lines. DO-. Zacos -. This is the typical imagery used to portray St. Nikolaos; he is, of course, better known in the West as Santa Claus! An impressively large and bold seal. Good very fine.

References to the Paraspondylos family are quite scarce. The best known member was Leo Paraspondylos, who in the 11th century served as the chief minister of Michael VI and Theodora. The hitherto unknown Nikolaos Paraspondylos who is documented on this 14th century seal could very well be the ancestor of Zotikos Paraspondylos, a poet and historian, who lived in the 15th century, based on the fact that Nikolaos used a metric inscription for his seal. Zotikos wrote a poem of 465 lines about the battle of Varna in 1444, when the united forces of Hungary and Poland, which sought to drive the Ottomans from the Balkans, were decisively defeated by Murad II.