The ring and the silver plate were discovered by the same detectorist.
In an ordinary field in Britain, a metal detectorist made an exciting discovery that dates back to the Middle Ages. According to the BBC, the detectorist discovered a gold medieval ring engraved with a beautiful declaration of love in a common field in North Essex. “Je desir vous Ceruir,” the ring reads in French. It translates to “I wish to serve you,” said historian Lori Rogerson.
According to the newspaper, the ring was found within 50 yards of a Tudor silver-gilt hook plate by the same detectorist near Frinton, Essex. Ms Rogerson, the province’s liaison officer, believes both items were probably lost at the same time.
The gold ring was found in a cracked state and is quite small, with a diameter of only 9.4 millimeters and a width of 3.9 millimeters. Ms Rogerson said that despite being so “small it only fits on my little finger”, it was probably worn by a man. “During this period, rings were worn on all joints of all fingers, so it could have been worn on the top joint,” she said.
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Rings engraved with French knight mottos were fashionable between 1400 and 1500 BBC reported. It added that descriptions such as “I wish to serve you” and “I wish to obey you” were often used by men wishing to serve their ladies as part of a courtly love tradition that spread through medieval Europe. The outlet also reported that the inscription was written in a type of French used in England at the time.
According to Mrs. Rogerson, anyone who could afford a folding ring at that time would have been among the elite who knew French.
The ring and the silver plate were discovered by the same detectorist, albeit on two different occasions. Ms Rogerson said that because the ring was battered and cracked and the hook tag was damaged, it may have belonged to the same person who took the ring to recycling at the time they were lost.
The tags were likely used by women in the Tudor era to hold up one layer of skirt from the other so that both were visible, the outlet reported.
