★ A fascinating crusader seal of William of Mechelen, patriarch of Jerusalem ★

William of Mechelen, Patriarch of Jerusalem, 1130-1145/46. Seal (Lead, 29 mm, 15.14 g, 6 h). +SEPVLCRVM DNI IHV XPI ('Sepulchre of the Lord Jesus Christ') Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Rev. +GVILIЄLMVS PATRIA[CHVS (?)] Facing bust of the patriarch. Unpublished in the standard references. A fascinating seal of great historical interest. Reverse corroded, otherwise, very fine.

When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, a Latin patriarchate was quickly installed in the city, while the Orthodox patriarch was driven out. The Latin patriarchate was centered around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the holiest sites of Christianity, as it was built over the cave where Christ was reportedly buried and resurrected after the Crucifixion. The Flemish priest William of Mechelen was the prior of this church from 1127 till 1130, when he became the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem following the death of Stephen of La Ferté, who was perhaps poisoned by orders of the king, Baldwin II, who himself died shortly afterwards.

Within the charged political environment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, William would turn into an important supporter of Baldwin's daughter, Queen Melisende, in her struggles with her husband, Fulk V. He also supported the Knights Templar at the behest of Bernard of Clairvaux by constructing a stronghold to guard the road between Jerusalem and Jaffa, the so-called Castrum Arnaldi (1132-1133). When he died in 1145/1146, he was succeeded by Fulk of Angoulême, his erstwhile ecclesiastical opponent, with whom he had clashed over the extent of the Patriarchate's control over the sees in the Archdiocese of Tyre.