Editing Middleham (section)

==Treasure and archaeological finds==
===Middleham Jewel===
[[File:Middleham Jewel, obverse YORYM 1991 43-1.jpg|upright|The front of the Middleham Jewel showing the [[Crucifixion of Jesus]]|thumb|left]]
{{main|Middleham Jewel}}
In 1985 the '''Middleham Jewel''' was found on a bridle path near Middleham Castle by Paul Kingston and Ted Seaton using a [[metal detector]].{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=16–17}} A late 15th-century 68-gram gold pendant with a 10-carat blue [[sapphire]] stone, it has since passed to the [[Yorkshire Museum]] in [[York]] for £2.5 million. The lozenge pendant, engraved on the obverse with a representation of the Trinity, is bordered by a Latin inscription warding off the evil of epilepsy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artfund.org/artwork/2633/the-middleham-jewel |title=Middleham Jewel |publisher=[[Art Fund]] |date=11 June 2013 |access-date=11 June 2013 |archive-date=22 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722041441/http://www.artfund.org/artwork/2633/the-middleham-jewel |url-status=live }}</ref> The reverse has a decorative engraving of the Nativity, bordered by faces of 13 saints.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=24–26}}

The back panel slides to reveal a hollow interior, which originally contained three-and-a-half tiny discs of silk embroidered with gold thread.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=24–26}} The textile contents identify the jewel as a [[reliquary]], containing a fragment of reputed holy cloth. It would have been worn by a lady of high social status as the crest for a large necklace.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=16–17}} The sapphire may represent Heaven,<ref>Cherry, John. ''The Holy Thorn Reliquary'', p. 7, 2010, British Museum Press (British Museum objects in focus), {{ISBN|0-7141-2820-1}}</ref> and have acted as an aid to prayer.

===Other notable finds===
Other notable finds from Middleham include:
*The [[Middleham Hoard]] – three pots containing 5,099 silver coins in total, buried in the [[English Civil War]]. This is the largest such hoard ever found.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Barclay |first=Craig |title=A Civil War Hoard from Middleham, North Yorkshire |journal=British Numismatic Journal |volume=64 |issue=8 |year=1994 |pages=84–98 |url=http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1994_BNJ_64_8.pdf |access-date=6 February 2014 |archive-date=3 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203022437/http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1994_BNJ_64_8.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
*A [[livery badge]] for pinning to the chest or a hat, in gilded copper high [[relief]], with Richard III's emblem of a [[white boar]] – this is likely to have been worn by one of his household, when he was Duke of Gloucester.<ref>John Cherry (2003), in Richard Marks and Paul Williamson, eds., ''Gothic: Art for England 1400–1547'', p. 204, no. 69, 2003, V&A Publications, London. {{ISBN|1-85177-401-7}}</ref>
*The Middleham ring in the [[Yorkshire Museum]], found in 1990 – this gold ring is decorated with a low-relief inscription along the band reading ''SOVEREYNLY''.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=10–11}}
*A circular, copper-alloy plaque ({{convert|70|mm|0|order=flip|adj=on}} diameter) bearing the initials "R" and "A" surrounded by the French motto ''A Vo. Plaisir'' (For your pleasure) – this may be a casket mark given by Richard, Duke of Gloucester to his wife Anne.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |p=40}}