Another beautiful and unique ring found in Utrecht

A very special gold ring was found in Utrecht: a medieval Love Ring, or Promise Ring. It is unique because it is the first of its kind found in The Netherlands. The discovery was presented to the world by Landschap Erfgoed Utrecht.

This ‘black letter posy ring’ was made between 1375 and 1550. On the inside this gold ring has a poetic line: Amours portent mon cuer à mon ami. Translated it reads ‘love leads my heart to my beloved’.

We do not know who the beloved was, or to whom the ring belonged. Promise rings like these were not uncommon in Europe. Especially in Great Britain these rings were common to declare your love for a person.

The Utrecht ring is unique in several aspects. Not only is it the first one found here in the Low Lands, but the text is remarkable as well. Who is ‘mon ami‘ ?

Usually this type of ring was given to a woman by a man. But then, following the rules of French grammar, it would have been ‘mon amie’ with an E.

Was it, in this case, a woman who gave the ring to a man? Or was it a ring from a man to another man? The French language from those days was studied but that gave no clues as to why there was only an I at the end of ‘ami’. It is extraordinary to say the least!