WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND—Live Science reports that a metal detectorist in southwestern England discovered a small, medieval gold brooch inscribed with a Christian prayer to the Virgin Mary written in Latin and Hebrew initials representing the phrase, “Thou art mighty forever, O Lord.” According to Sophie Hawke, a finds liaison officer for Britain’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, the brooch may have been worn as a protection from misfortune or illness. “This woman was of sufficient means to have the object or have been given it,” commented historian Karen Jolly of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Whether she was literate or not, she would know what it said and what it meant.” The protection the brooch offered to its wearer may have been related to pregnancy and childbirth, she added. To read about a late medieval gold ring found in Wales that was inscribed with a Latin reminder of mortality, go to "Artifact."
