A disc fibula or disc brooch is a type of

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

, that is, a

brooch A brooch (, ) is a decorative jewellery item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gem ...

, clip or

pin A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...

used to fasten clothing that has a disc-shaped, often richly decorated plate or disc covering the fastener. The terms are mostly used in relation to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

of Europe, especially the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

. They were the most common style of

Anglo-Saxon brooches Anglo-Saxon brooches are a large group of decorative brooches found in England from the fifth to the eleventh centuries. In the early Anglo-Saxon era, there were two main categories of brooch: the long (bow) brooch and the circular (disc) brooch ...

. In Scotland, where the need for a fastening at the shoulder lasted into the Renaissance and beyond, a type of silver "turreted" brooch for men was still being made in the 16th century and later. The

Brooch of Lorn The Brooch of Lorn or ''Braìste Lathurna'' in Gaelic, is a medieval "turreted" disk brooch supposedly taken from Robert the Bruce (Robert I of Scotland) at the Battle of Dalrigh in 1306.MacDougall, 110–112 However it is today dated long after ...

is the best-known example.

Continental Europe

Well-known fibulae of this type date to the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

and the centuries either side of it, for example the disc fibulae from Soest or the Lower Saxon village of

Holle Holle is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km southeast of Hildesheim, and 15 km west of Salzgitter. It was mentioned in Tom Clancy's bestseller ''Red S ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Disc fibulae up to over 5 centimetres in diameter were usually part of women's attire in continental Europe in the

; much smaller examples were also worn by men, however, from the

Carolingian era The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lombard ...

. Many disc fibulae have gold ornamentation inlaid with

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

s, are enamelled or damascened, or are overlaid with gold or silver. The well known

Pliezhausen brooch The Pliezhausen brooch (also known as the Pliezhausen disc, Pliezhausen bracteate or Pliezhausen disc brooch) () is a gold disc decorated with figures that was discovered in 1928 during excavations in Pliezhausen, in the county of Reutlingen in ...

was once the cover of a disc fibula. An example from the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

is the Tangendorf disc brooch. The early mediaeval

Maschen disc brooch The Maschen disc brooch () is an Early Medieval fibula (brooch), fibula. It was found in 1958 during archaeological excavations of the late Saxons, Saxon grave field near Maschen, in the Lower Saxony district of Harburg (district), Harburg, Germa ...

portrays a figure with a saintly

aureole An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin ''aurea'', "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure. In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the d ...

. Zürich - Uetliberg - Fürstengrabhügel - Goldscheiben.jpg, Gold disc fibulae from the Sonnenbühl prince's burial mound (

La Tène period LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

) Scheibenfibel.jpg, Alemannian disc fibula of the 6th century with

almandine Almandine (), also known as almandite, is a mineral belonging to the garnet group. The name is a corruption of alabandicus, which is the name applied by Pliny the Elder to a stone found or worked at Alabanda, a town in Caria in Asia Minor. Alma ...

and bone inlays Fibulae Aregund MAN87424.jpg, Pair of disc fibulae from the

Aregund Aregund, Aregunda, Arnegund, Aregonda, or Arnegonda ( 515/520–580) was a Frankish queen. She is the earliest known queen of Francia. Aregund was the wife of Clotaire I (also known as Clothar) king of the Franks, and the mother of Chilperic I of ...

grave c. 6th C. Fibules mérovingiennes 01.JPG, Merovingian disc fibulae of the 6th and 7th centuries with gemstones and filigree

Anglo-Saxon types

Examples from

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or early medieval England covers the period from the end of Roman Empire, Roman imperial rule in Roman Britain, Britain in the 5th century until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Compared to modern England, the territory of the ...

are usually called "brooches" in English. The

quoit brooch The quoit brooch is a type of Anglo-Saxon brooch found from the 5th century and later during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain that has given its name to the Quoit Brooch Style to embrace all types of Anglo-Saxon metalwork in the decorativ ...

is an early type, using motifs from Late Roman art in base metal. Gold types with stones and elaborate decoration in the continental style appear from the 7th century, though later plain silver, decorated with figurative images and often using

openwork In art history, architecture, and related fields, openwork or open-work is any decorative technique that creates holes, piercings, or gaps through a solid material such as metal, wood, stone, pottery, cloth, leather, or ivory. Such techniques ha ...

, becomes more common. Examples in silver include the

Fuller Brooch The Fuller Brooch is an Anglo-Saxon silver and niello brooch dated to the late 9th century, which is now in the British Museum, where it is normally on display in Room 41. The elegance of the engraved decoration depicting the Five Senses, hig ...

Strickland Brooch The Strickland Brooch is an Anglo-Saxon art, Anglo-Saxon silver and niello disc brooch dated to the mid 9th century, now in the British Museum. Although its exact provenance is unknown, it is regarded by scholars as a rare and important example o ...

and the

Anglo-Scandinavian Anglo-Scandinavian is an academic term referring to the hybridisation between Norse and Anglo-Saxon cultures in Britain during the early medieval period. It remains a term and concept often used by historians and archaeologists, and in linguist ...

Ædwen's brooch Ædwen's brooch (also known as ''Sutton brooch'', British Museum 1951,10-11,1) is an early 11th-century Anglo-Scandinavian silver disc brooch with an inscription on the reverse side. It was discovered in 1694 during the ploughing of a field in ...

. Finds from the early period before Christianization are more common, as Christianity discouraged burial with expensive

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by researche ...

. File:Sarre BroochDSCF9233.JPG, The Sarre Brooch, a 5th-century Kentish

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

File:Anglo-Saxon Disc Brooch from Monkton on display at the Ashmolean Museum.jpg, Anglo-Saxon brooch, from

Monkton, Kent Monkton is a village and civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England. The village is located at the south-west edge of the Isle of Thanet and is situated mainly along the B2047 road, leading off the A253 road between Canterbury and Ra ...

File:Brit Mus 17sept 005-crop.jpg, Brooch from the

Pentney Hoard The Pentney Hoard is an Anglo-Saxon jewellery hoard, discovered by a gravedigger in a Pentney, Norfolk churchyard in 1978. The treasure consists of six silver openwork disc brooches, five made entirely of silver and one composed of silver and c ...

, in the

Trewhiddle Trewhiddle is a small settlement in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies in the civil parish of Pentewan Valley and the parish, ecclesiastical parish of St Austell. The nearest town is St Austell, approximately one mile to the north. ...

style. File:Brit Mus Fuller Brooch.jpg, Anglo-Saxon

, 9th-century

Literature

* M. J. Bode: ''Germanische Scheibenfibeln. Ein kurzer Überblick über den Forschungsstand ausgewählter Formen.'' In: Jürgen Kunow (ed.): ''100 Jahre Fibelformen nach Oskar Almgren.'' Wünsdorf, 1998, pp. 321–338, . * Heinrich Beck (ed.): ''Fibel und Fibeltracht.'' Sonderdruck aus

Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde ''Germanische Altertumskunde Online'', formerly called ''Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde'', is a German encyclopedia of the study of Germanic history and cultures, as well as the cultures that were in close contact with them. The first ...

. Berlin, 2000, . * Webster, Leslie, ''Anglo-Saxon Art'', 2012, British Museum Press,

External links

* {{BAM/DDB, Scheibenfibel Archaeological artefact types Brooches Medieval European costume Migration Period Merovingian art Carolingian art Anglo-Saxon art