A rare copy of the American Declaration of Independence, seized by the Royal Navy in 1776, has been discovered at the UK's National Archives. Found during a cataloguing project, it's considered exceptional as the only known copy taken by military action.
A rare 11th-century royal seal belonging to Edward the Confessor has been rediscovered in the French National Archives in Paris after being missing for over 40 years. The beeswax seal, dating to the 1050s and originally attached to a document from the Abbey of Saint-Denis, is the only complete example of its design from before the Norman Conquest. Dr Guilhem Dorandeu of the University of Exeter found the artefact while examining medieval documents, calling it a 'career-defining moment.' The seal depicts Edward on a throne with Byzantine-inspired symbols, revealing that complex administrative practices credited to the Normans were already developed during his reign.
