# Disc fibula

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A **disc fibula** or **disc brooch** is a type of [fibula](/source/Fibula_(brooch)), that is, a [brooch](/source/Brooch), clip or [pin](/source/Pin) 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](/source/Middle_Ages) of Europe, especially the [Early Middle Ages](/source/Early_Middle_Ages). They were the most common style of [Anglo-Saxon brooches](/source/Anglo-Saxon_brooches).

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](/source/Brooch_of_Lorn) is the best-known example.

## Continental Europe

Well-known fibulae of this type date to the [Migration Period](/source/Migration_Period) and the centuries either side of it, for example the disc fibulae from [Soest](/source/Soest,_Germany) or the [Lower Saxon](/source/Lower_Saxony) village of [Holle](/source/Holle) in [Germany](/source/Germany). Disc fibulae up to over 5 centimetres in diameter were usually part of women's attire in continental Europe in the [Early Middle Ages](/source/Early_Middle_Ages); much smaller examples were also worn by men, however, from the [Carolingian era](/source/Carolingian_era).

Many disc fibulae have gold ornamentation inlaid with [gemstones](/source/Gemstone), are [enamelled](/source/Vitreous_enamel) or [damascened](/source/Damascening), or are overlaid with gold or silver. The well known [Pliezhausen brooch](/source/Pliezhausen_brooch) was once the cover of a disc fibula. An example from the [Roman era](/source/Roman_era) is the [Tangendorf disc brooch](/source/Tangendorf_disc_brooch). The early mediaeval [Maschen disc brooch](/source/Maschen_disc_brooch) portrays a figure with a saintly [aureole](/source/Aureole).

## Anglo-Saxon types

Main article: [Anglo-Saxon brooches](/source/Anglo-Saxon_brooches)

Examples from [Anglo-Saxon England](/source/Anglo-Saxon_England) are usually called "brooches" in English. The [quoit brooch](/source/Quoit_brooch) 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](/source/Openwork), becomes more common. Examples in silver include the [Fuller Brooch](/source/Fuller_Brooch), [Strickland Brooch](/source/Strickland_Brooch) and the [Anglo-Scandinavian](/source/Anglo-Scandinavian) [Ædwen's brooch](/source/%C3%86dwen's_brooch).

Finds from the early period before Christianization are more common, as Christianity discouraged burial with expensive [grave goods](/source/Grave_goods).

## 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, ISBN 3-910011-17-9.
- Heinrich Beck (ed.): *Fibel und Fibeltracht.* Sonderdruck aus [Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde](/source/Reallexikon_der_Germanischen_Altertumskunde). Berlin, 2000, ISBN 3-11-016858-8.
- [Webster, Leslie](/source/Leslie_Webster_(art_historian)), *Anglo-Saxon Art*, 2012, British Museum Press, ISBN 9780714128092

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Disc fibula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_fibula) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_fibula?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.