-Royal Seal

This Spanish document seal features an image of the king on the front surface and a royal insignia on the reverse. The insignia is a crown and shield containing the coats of arms of Castile, Aragon, Navarro, and Sicily, representing the various areas under Phillip’s control. The text on the front reads: PHILLIPUS.D.REX CASTIL.MPG ARAG NAVARUTRQ SIGIL; and the reverse: INDIARUM INSULARUM ET TERRA FIRMAE MARIS OCEAN FETA INDIA. The seal was cast from lead around 1556. According to an article in the October 13, 1881 issue of Bethlehem’s Daily Times the seal was acquired for Lehigh by Professor and University Librarian William H. Chandler during a tour of Europe. During which he succeeded in getting “an elaborate Spanish title of nobility, with the great seal of King Philip II attached.”