[taken from a recent
auction by Leu Numismatik, sale 18, lot 4026]
This seal belongs to a westerner that is known in the sources, Roussel de Bailleul.
His seal identifies him with
his Graecized name Kourselios and he bears as an epithet the name "o Phrangos", the Frank. Below the description of the seal and a short account of
his career.
Roussel de Bailleul (Kourselios Phrangos), vestes, 1070-1072. Seal (Lead, 29 mm, 17.65 g, 12 h). MHP ΘV
Nimbate Mother of God “Episkepsis”, raising both
hands in prayer,
medallion of
Christ in front.
Rev. ΘKЄ R,Θ, / TⲰ CⲰ Δ૪, / K૪PCЄΛI / RECT, TⲰ / ΦPAΓO ("
Mother of God,
help your servant Kourselios the Frank") in five lines. Cheynet,
Collection Khoury, 20. G.
Schlumberger: Deux chefs normands
des armées
byzantines au XIe siècle - Sceaux de Hervé et de Roussel de Bailleul, in: Revue historique, 16 (1881), pp. 289-303. A seal of great historical interest. Minor flatness and breakage on the channel mouth, otherwise,
very fine.
This seal belongs to one of the most colorful figures in
Byzantine history, the Norman adventurer Roussel de Bailleul. Having served in
Sicily under Norman nobleman Roger de Hauteville (later the Count of
Sicily), he travelled to
Byzantium to offer
his skills as a soldier and commander to the
Byzantines. There, he possibly served as second in command to
Robert Crispin, a fellow Norman mercenary in the entourage of the famous general Isaac Komnenos. This is proposed by Cheynet on the basis of the elevated court dignity of vestes that appears on
his seal. Roussel was present in Manzikert in 1071, but he did not participate in the disastrous battle, having been sent out on a raid. In the aftermath of the battle, the now accomplished commander remained in
Byzantine service, taking the opportunity to set himself up as prince of an autonomous region in
Galatia with the aid of a force of Franco-Norman cavalry. The enterprise was ended by emperor
Michael VII (1071-1078), who persuaded the Seljuk warlord, Tutush I, to move against Roussel and
Johannes Doukas the "Kaisar", who
had become the Norman's ally. They were defeated by the Turks, and Roussel was ransomed by
his wife, but he eventually ended up in captivity in
Constantinople. The final chapter of
his life took place during the revolt of
Nikephoros Botaneiates in 1077/8, in the course of which Roussel was released from captivity to lead a batallion of soldiers to fight the rebel. However, the Norman adventurer switched sides after a victorious battle, joining the usurper. Roussel finally
ran out of luck when the Seljuks were dispatched against him. He was captured and handed over to the
Byzantines to be executed.