“Ordinary People” and Their Professions: the Contribution of Sigillography to the Study of Byzantine Social History(6th‑12th Centuries)

Sigillography is nowadays an indispensable tool for the study of Byzantine society. And yet, only the pieces related to the Church, the State and the aristocracy have been approached and sufficiently examined. Through a systematic collection and study of the seals issued by professionals, this paper discusses occupations that were not directly related to the public or ecclesiastic sector but were practiced by free‑lancers, “lesser figures” within the Byzantine Empire, from the sixth to the 12th century. Combining various sources such as seals, inscriptions, literary texts and official documents, the main emphasis will be on fundamental issues of research, as well as on methodology.