File:Medieval bulla (FindID 583486).jpg

English: Papal bulla now quartered and severely distorted and cut into a quarter. The name of the issuing pope is uncertain as the surviving element has been bent and dented on the obverse directly where the lettering would have been, only the 'PP' still being legible. The reverse has most of the head of St Peter surviving with the pelleting of the surrounding outer ring, but even this is distorted, Peter's left cheek bulging out. The visible reverse design does indicate that the bulla is of the type with the heads of SS Peter and Paul issued between 1099 (under Paschal I) and 1464 (Pius II). More specifically, the reverse is of a type with more pronounced pelleting not seen until the bull of Alexander III (1159). However, the obverse uses two pellets arranged as a colon ( : ) in front of the PP. This is actually associated with only a limited number of popes between 1159-1464, namely Celestine V, Clement V, Benedict XII, Gregory XI and possibly Clement VII (this does leave a number of very short-lived popes missing, who bullae I have yet to see images of, namely Gregory VIII, Celestine IV, Innocent V, Adrian V and Alexander V). Of those five 'possibles', the 'PP' on the bullae of Celestine V and Clement V are too far away from the pelleted border compared to this present example. Of the remaining three, the configuration looks most similar to the bullae of Benedict XII (1334-42) and apparently clinching this, Benedict's bullae feature the paired dots having a ring-like look and the lower one immediately abuts a pellet from the outer border. If we accept this, then this bull is mid-fourteenth century and is the fourth of this pope to have been found in the Diocese of Norwich.

This object has clearly been deliberately damaged. The quartering may be partly accidental as the top quarter appears to have been torn from the bottom, but the vertical side shows a straight edge, indicating that it had clearly been cut, either along or close to the cord-line running through the bulla. To this we may add the deep, rounded, dents punched into the obverse. Ironically, the surface details are otherwise very well preserved. Weight 15.265g.