9 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Export barred on roundel manuscript gifted to Queen Elizabeth I by Archbishop

A rare presentation manuscript that Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker gave to Queen Elizabeth I in 1573 has been sold at auction and is in danger of leaving the country unless a buyer is found to keep it there.

The UK’s Art Minister has imposed a temporary export ban on the rare artifact in the hope that a museum or institution will raise the purchase price in order to keep it in the country.

The manuscript, made of nine circular roundels, was part of a gift from Archbishop Matthew Parker to the Queen in the early 1550s. The roundels were likely folded and integrated into a now-lost gold salt cellar. The use of shell gold around the miniatures is believed to indicate that the manuscript was given with the intention of impressing Elizabeth.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) has said the manuscript has a recommended price of £9,450 (plus VAT of £390 which can be reclaimed by an eligible institution).

The intricate manuscript the Archbishop gave to Queen Elizabeth 1 Photo: DCMS/PA

The manuscript is unusually shaped with three rows of nine roundels connected by thin vellum strips. The motto of the Knights of the Garter (“Honi soit qui mal y pense”) surrounds an oval blue and gold illumination of St. George and the Dragon in the center of the roundel.  A Latin inscription around the edge of the roundel refers to Archbishop Matthew Parker’s gift of agate to Queen Elizabeth I.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



A blue profile of Queen Elizabeth is depicted in miniature in the bottom row’s center roundel. The portrait is surrounded by three concentric rings of three Latin proverbs. Only inscriptions are found on the remaining roundels. In French, the top row inscriptions define agate. The rest are Latin texts about agate and its properties. Different calligraphic scripts are used to write the various languages, an elegant touch also seen in other manuscripts given to Elizabeth.

The presentation manuscript accompanied a gift, described by Matthew Parker as “a salt cellar made of gold, into the cover of which was inset a jewel, an agate, containing St George killing the dragon, along with verses in French upon the customary royal insignia; in the curved section or hollow of this was enclosed another agate, incised into which was a true likeness of the Queen on white agate. On the top of its cover, a small golden boat held a rectangular diamond.”

Experts believe the “verses in French” he mentions are the actual manuscript, and that all nine roundels were folded up to form a single 1.5-inch-diameter paper circle. That disc was then inserted into the precious salt cellar’s cover.

Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker. Photo: Wikipedia

The manuscript is an extremely rare surviving artifact directly related to the Tudor monarchs’ practice of packing up the court and traveling across the country with a massive baggage train, crashing at the luxury pads of various nobles and clergy entirely on their dime.

The presentation manuscript fell out of view, after the queen’s passing but reappeared in John Sharp, the Archbishop of York, collection a century later. It stayed in that family for 300 years up until December 7, 2021, when it was sold at auction.

The decision on the manuscript’s export license application will be postponed until December 1, 2022. The second deferral period will begin three months after the option agreement is signed and will last three months. Where appropriate, the minister may also consider offers from public bodies for less than the recommended price via private treaty sale arrangements. Such purchases frequently provide a significant financial benefit to the public institution that wishes to acquire the item.

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson said: “Archbishop Parker is a figure of great historical and theological consequence, and this beautiful manuscript is a significant example of Elizabethan gift exchange.

“I hope a buyer comes forward for this piece so it can be used to learn more about both the Archbishop and Queen Elizabeth I.”

Cover Photo: Portrait commemorating the defeat of the Spanish Armada, depicted in the background. Elizabeth’s hand rests on the globe, symbolising her international power. One of three known versions of the “Armada Portrait”. George Gower

Related Articles

Artificial intelligence is Detecting New Archaeological Sites in the Arabian desert

5 October 2024

5 October 2024

A team of researchers at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi has developed a machine-learning algorithm to help them trawl vast...

Urartian King Argishti’s shield reveals the name of an unknown country

30 January 2023

30 January 2023

The inscription on a bronze shield purchased by the Rezan Has Museum revealed the name of an unknown country. It...

1,800-year-old wooden mask likely used in farm festivals found in Japan

25 April 2023

25 April 2023

Archaeologists have unearthed an almost perfectly preserved wooden mask from the early third century at the Nishi-Iwata ruins in Osaka...

Hundreds of skeletons found on Welsh beach

4 July 2021

4 July 2021

Archaeologists found the burial site of women and children just below the surface of the sand dunes on Whitesands Bay...

Flying reptile discovered in Scotland dubbed ‘Jurassic fighter jet’

24 February 2022

24 February 2022

The jawbone of a 170 million-year-old pterosaur, described as the world’s best-preserved skeleton of the prehistoric winged reptile, was discovered...

Ancient Eco-Tech Uncovered in Lebanon: Phoenicians Used Recycled Pottery for Hydraulic Lime Plaster 2,700 Years Ago

23 July 2025

23 July 2025

Excavations at Tell el-Burak Reveal Technological Innovation and Early Sustainable Construction in Iron Age Lebanon In a major archaeological breakthrough,...

Ancient Hippodrome, Subject of Ben-Hur Movie, Will Become “Arkeo Sports Park”

8 August 2021

8 August 2021

Ben-Hur, a wealthy prince living in Jerusalem, is a historical figure who struggled for the freedom of the Jews during...

Polish archaeologists discovered new petroglyphs dating back to the 3rd century in Colorado

14 December 2023

14 December 2023

Archaeologists from the Jagiellonian University, southern Poland, have made a significant discovery of ancient indigenous paintings and carvings in the...

Nine Ancient Patolli Games Found in Mexico

10 September 2024

10 September 2024

In recent rescue excavations in Mexico by archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) nine patolli engravings...

The Jinn of Girnavaz Mound

6 February 2021

6 February 2021

Girnavaz mound is in the north of Nusaybin district of Mardin province and Nusaybin 4 km is away. It is...

4,500-Year-Old Dog Teeth-Adorned Bags Found in Germany May Have Been Elite Baby Carriers

11 July 2025

11 July 2025

Archaeological excavations near Krauschwitz reveal rare decorated leather bags buried with women and infants—shining new light on Neolithic burial customs...

As Thin as Modern Tools: World’s Oldest Steel Acupuncture Needles Discovered in China

6 July 2025

6 July 2025

In a discovery that reshapes the history of traditional Chinese medicine, archaeologists have unearthed what experts now confirm to be...

A Roman statue unearthed on the site of St Polyeuctus’ church, which once Constantinople’s largest church

5 April 2023

5 April 2023

At Saraçhane Archaeology Park, where the Church of St. Polyeuctus is situated, excavation work by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) teams...

3,000-year-old ‘charioteer belt’ discovered in Siberia

21 July 2023

21 July 2023

Russian archaeologists uncovered the grave of a Late Bronze Age man buried wearing a “charioteer’s belt”, a flat bronze plate...

Exceptional discovery of a fully frescoed chamber tomb dating back to the Republican and Imperial Roman ages

10 October 2023

10 October 2023

Waterworks in Giugliano, a suburb of Campania (Naples), have uncovered an untouched chamber tomb full of frescoes ceilings, and walls...