Fibula (brooch) facts for kids

Braganza Fibula/Brooch, Celtic art 250-200 BC, British Museum

A Fibula is an ancient brooch. (Plural: fibulae). Technically, the latin term fibulae meant Roman brooches, but the term is widely used for brooches from the entire ancient and early medieval world. Unlike modern brooches, fibulae were not only decorative, they originally served a practical function: to fasten clothes, including cloaks. Fibulae replaced straight pins that were used to fasten clothing in the Neolithic period and Bronze Age. In turn, fibulae were replaced as clothing fasteners in the Middle Ages by buttons. Their descendent, the modern safety-pin, remains in use today.

There are hundreds of different types and variations of fibulae. They are usually divided into families or groups based on historical period, geography and/or cultural grouping. Fibulae are also divided into classes based on their general forms.

• Hattatt, Richard. A Visual catalogue of Richard Hattatt's Ancient Brooches. Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2000.

Images for kids

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  Germanic fibulæ, early 5th century, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

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  These eagle-shaped fibulae, dating from the 6th century were found at Tierra de Barros (Spain, then the Kingdom of the Visigoths) and are made of sheet gold over bronze. The Walters Art Museum.

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  Lombardic gilded silver brooch from Tuscany, c.600 AD, one of the largest of its kind (British Museum)

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  A cloak pin

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  Detail of the Elder Futhark runic inscription on the pinholder of the 3rd-century AD Værløse Fibula followed by a swastika.

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  Early bow fibulae. 8th – 6th centuries BC

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  Typical silver Dacian fibulae 1st century BC (Museum of Transylvania Cluj Romania)

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  La Tène era fibulae. 4th – 1st centuries BC

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  Roman era plate fibulae. 1st century AD

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  Disc fibula, enamelled bronze, 180 -220 A.D., found in Tongres Gallo-Roman museum, Tongres

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  Roman zoomorphic fibula, enamelled bronze, 100 - 200 A.D., ca. 3,3 cm Gallo-Roman museum, Tongres

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  P-shaped fibulae. 3rd – 5th centuries AD

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  Crossbow fibula in goldplated bronze, 4th century A.D., 8,3 cm long, found in Tongeren Gallo-Roman museum, Tongres

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  Crossbow fibulae. 3rd – 5th centuries AD

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  Post-Roman fibulae. 5th – 10th centuries AD

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  High status Frankish brooches in the British Museum, France 5th Century AD

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  The pseudo-penannular Tara Brooch, the most ornate of Irish brooches, also decorated on the back (see article). Early 8th century.

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  Brooch of gilded silver featuring Saint Olav in the center with an ax in his left hand. (National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen)

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  Early fibulae. 10th – 8th centuries BC

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  10th century BC

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  More early fibulae. 7th – 5th centuries BC

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  Legionnaire's fibulae. 1st – 2nd centuries AD

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  Romano-Britannic fibulae. 1st century AD

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  Early Roman era bow fibulae. 1st century AD

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  Kraftig Profilierte fibulae. 1st – 2nd centuries AD

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  Roman era fibulae. 2nd century AD

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  Late Roman bow fibulae. 2nd – 3rd centuries AD

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  Diverse fibulae. 4th century BC – 3rd century AD

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  Tutulus plate fibulae. 2nd – 3rd centuries AD

See also

In Spanish: Fíbula para niños