Heraldry for Craftsmen & Designers
by Sir W. H. St. John Hope · English · Gutenberg #45181 · 352,803 chars · public domain (US)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Heraldry for Craftsmen & Designers
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: Heraldry for Craftsmen & Designers
Author: Sir W. H. St. John Hope
Release date: March 20, 2014 [eBook #45181]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45181
Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Simon Gardner and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERALDRY FOR CRAFTSMEN & DESIGNERS ***
Transcriber's Notes
Changes to the text are limited to correction of typographical errors
are listed at the end of the book. Minor corrections to formatting or
punctuation are made without comment.
Illustrations and plates have been re-positioned to appear as close as
possible following the first reference in the text, while retaining
their numbered order. Plate XXX and Plate XXXI were in reverse order
in the original.
Footnotes have been numbered consecutively throughout the book and
placed after the paragraph in which the footnote anchor appears.
In this Plain Text version of the e-book, characters from the Latin-1
(ISO-8859-1) character set only are used. Other symbols are represented
as follows:
[s] stands for "long s"
_underscore symbols_ represent italic typeface;
=equals signs= represent bold type face;
~tilde signs~ represent blackletter font;
ALL CAPS is used to represent small caps typeface.
* * * * *
THE ARTISTIC CRAFTS SERIES
OF TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS
EDITED BY W. R. LETHABY
HERALDRY
[Illustration: BANNER OF THE ARMS OF KING GEORGE THE FIFTH.]
HERALDRY FOR
CRAFTSMEN & DESIGNERS
BY W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE
LITT.D., D.C.L., WITH DIAGRAMS
BY THE AUTHOR AND
NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
COLOURED LITHOGRAPHS
AND COLLOTYPE REPRODUCTIONS
FROM ANCIENT
EXAMPLES
PUBLISHED BY JOHN HOGG
13 PATERNOSTER ROW
LONDON 1913
PRINTED BY
BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD
LONDON
EDITOR'S PREFACE
In issuing this volume of a series of Handbooks on the Artistic Crafts,
it will be well to state what are our general aims.
In the first place, we wish to provide trustworthy text-books of
workshop practice, from the points of view of experts who have
critically examined the methods current in the shops, and, putting aside
vain survivals, are prepared to say what is good workmanship and to set
up a standard of quality in the crafts which are more especially
associated with design. Secondly, in doing this, we hope to treat design
itself as an essential part of good workmanship. During the last century
most of the arts, save painting and sculpture of an academic kind, were
little considered, and there was a tendency to look on 'design' as a
mere matter of _appearance_. Such 'ornamentation' as there was was
usually obtained by following in a mechanical way a drawing provided by
an artist who often knew little of the technical processes involved in
production. With the critical attention given to the crafts by Ruskin
and Morris, it came to be seen that it was impossible to detach design
from craft in this way, and that, in the widest sense, true design is an
inseparable element of good quality, involving as it does the selection
of good and suitable material, contrivance for special purpose, expert
workmanship, proper finish and so on, far more than mere ornament, and,
indeed, that ornamentation itself was rather an exuberance of fine
workmanship than a matter of merely abstract lines. Workmanship when
separated by too wide a gulf from fresh thought--that is, from
design--inevitably decays, and, on the other hand, ornamentation,
divorced from workmanship, is necessarily unreal, and quickly falls into
affectation. Proper ornamentation may be defined as a language addressed
to the eye; it is pleasant thought expressed in the speech of the tool.
In the third place, we would have this series put artistic craftsmanship
before people as furnishing reasonable occupations for those who would
gain a livelihood. Although within the bounds of academic art the
competition, of its kind, is so acute that only a very few per cent. can
fairly hope to succeed as painters and sculptors, yet as artistic
craftsmen there is some probability that nearly every one who would pass
through a sufficient period of apprenticeship to workmanship and design
would reach a measure of success.
In the blending of handwork and thought in such arts as we propose to
deal with, happy careers may be found as far removed from the dreary
routine of hack labour as from the terrible uncertainty of academic art.
It is desirable in every way that men of good education should be
brought back into the productive crafts: there are more than enough of
us 'in the City,' and it is probable that more consideration will be
given in this century than in the last to Design and Workmanship.
* * * * *
Designers have at times to deal with some matters which are almost
common to all the arts, matters which they either know or do not know,
and in which the genius they are apt to trust in goes for little apart
from knowledge. They must learn lettering for inscriptions much like
they once learnt the multiplication table, and they should learn the
elements of heraldry in the same way. This it has been difficult to do,
as most of the books on heraldry, in seeking to be complete, so
effectually muddle up the few important points with the vast number of
things unimportant, or worse, that the art student is likely to give it
up in despair. Many books on heraldry, which in itself is surely a gay
thing, have been made to resemble grammars and dictionaries of a
meaningless jargon.
Any student, however, who has become interested in a single shield, or
in the look of the thing as seen in a collection of fine examples of
heraldry such as are illustrated in this volume, should be able to
master the main principles in an hour or two. The curious terms are only
old-fashioned; they are used, so far as they are necessary, not of
malice, but because it is of the essence of heraldry that everything
shall be so strictly defined that a few words may represent a shield of
arms as surely as a picture. Hence everything has a name, everything is
clear, sharp, and bright, the colours are few, the forms must be large
and simple. Even the seemingly arbitrary dictum that 'no colour must be
put on colour or metal on metal' may probably have arisen from the fact
that when gilding or silvering was used on a shield it would form a
perfect foil for colours, but as they reflected light in the same way,
they could not be distinguished if used one on the other. Even yellow
pigment on white would not tell clearly at any distance; the maxim is
merely a rule for the sake of distinctness. Again, the curious vigorous
drawing of beasts and birds with the eyes staring and the feet spread
out was not the result of a desire to be quaint, but arose naturally
from the same need of being clear. A good naturalistic drawing of a lion
would be useless on a flag. Granted the special needs of heraldry, it
developed in a perfectly understandable way.
On the question of heraldic drawing I should like to caution the student
against thinking that it is so easy as it looks. Elementary and
exaggerated, it may seem as if any child might do it, but in truth it is
terribly difficult. The old shields were designed by experts with great
experience; they placed the charge perfectly on the field and so
distributed the parts that they were balanced in 'weight'; there were no
weak lines and nothing was crowded for lack of room. Much practice made
them perfect, and perfection is still difficult.
The present volume seems to me exactly what artists have wanted.
W. R. LETHABY
_March 1913_
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
This book is an attempt to place before designers and craftsmen such an
account of the principles of the art of Heraldry as will enable them to
work out for themselves the many and various applications of it that are
possible to-day.
To that end the different usages which have prevailed from time to time
are dealt with in detail, and are illustrated as far as may be from
ancient sources.
Should it be thought that undue stress has been laid upon the pre-Tudor
heraldry, to the comparative exclusion of that of later times, it may be
pointed out that until the principles of the earlier heraldry have been
grasped and appreciated, it is impossible to get rid of the cast-iron
uniformity and stupid rules that bound the heraldry of to-day, and tend
to strangle all attempts to raise it to a higher level.
To what extent these chilling ideas prevail, and how necessary it is to
get rid of them, cannot better be illustrated than by two letters
written to the author, after most of the following chapters were in
type, by a critical friend who has not read any of them.
He points out in his first letter that on the very day of his writing
there had been brought to his notice, not for the first time, the great
need that exists for a book in which sculptors and painters may find out
what they legitimately may and what they may not do as regards heraldry.
What, for example, may be left out from an achievement of arms, and how
the different elements composing it may be varied, or even rearranged.
He instances the case of a sculptor who had been supplied with a
drawing, 'brilliant in emerald green and powder blue,' of the arms that
had been granted to a famous Englishman whose memory was about to be
honoured by the setting up of a statue with his arms, etc. carved upon
the pedestal.
The arms in the drawing did not present any difficulties, but the crest
was not shown upon the helm, and the whole was surrounded by a series of
trophies which to this unenlightened sculptor were as heraldic as the
arms and crest. Out of all this, asked the sculptor, what could lawfully
be omitted? If any of the trophies were supporters, must they be shown?
And must the crest be used? Ought the crest to be on a helm? And should
the helm be shown in profile or full-faced?
The contents of the drawing, if all were sculptured, would, in my
friend's opinion, 'either come so small as to be unmonumental, or so
large as to dwarf the statue into a doll.'
It will be seen from the principles enunciated in the present work that
the answers to the foregoing questions were obviously as follows:
I. That the sculptor might use the arms alone if he thought fit, and he
might vary the shape and size of the shield according to his fancy.
II. That he could omit the crest if he wished, but if he elected to use
it, the crest ought certainly to be set upon a helm, which should face
the same way as the crest; the crested helm might also be flourished
about with such mantling as the sculptor thought proper.
III. That in the particular drawing none of the trophies was heraldic.
The sculptor accordingly could omit the whole, if he were so minded, or
could dispose about the arms and crested helm any such other trophies of
like character as would in his judgment look well or be appropriate.
In a further letter my friend enumerates other difficulties that vex
poor artists. Must a shield always be surmounted by a crested helm?
Should the helm face any special way according to the degree of the
bearer thereof? What are the ordinary relative proportions which helm
and crest should bear to the shield? May a shield be set aslant as well
as upright? Should a torse be drawn with a curved or a straight line? Is
it necessary to represent the engraved dots and lines indicative of the
tinctures? What are supporters to stand upon? Are they to plant their
feet on a ribbon or scroll, or on a flowering mound, or what? May arms
entitled to have supporters be represented without them? What are the
simplest elements to which a shield of arms may be reduced?--as, for
example, in a panel some 60 or 70 feet above the eye, and when but a
small space is available.
To a craftsman or designer who has grasped the principles of heraldry
these further questions will present no difficulty, and most of them can
be answered by that appeal to medieval usage which the nature of the
illustrations renders possible.
These illustrations, it will be seen, are largely selected from heraldic
seals, and for the particular reason that seals illustrate so admirably
and in a small compass such a number of those usages to which appeal may
confidently be made. Examples of heraldry in conjunction with buildings,
monuments, and architectural features generally, have also been given,
and its application to the minor arts has not been overlooked.
In order, too, to enable full advantage to be taken of the long period
covered by the illustrations, the most typical of these have been
collected into a chronological series at the end of the book. It is thus
possible to show the gradual rise and decline of heraldic art from the
thirteenth to the seventeenth century, beyond which it is hardly
necessary to go.
The only modern illustrations that have been tolerated are those showing
the formation of the Union Jack, and the degraded condition of the
so-called Royal Standard. The coloured frontispiece is an attempt to
show a more effective way of displaying with equal heraldic
'correctness' the arms of our Sovereign Lord King George the Fifth.
W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE
My thanks are due to the Society of Antiquaries of London
for leave to reproduce the coloured illustrations in pls.
I and II, for the loan of blocks or drawings of figs. 7,
13, 33, 64, 65, 101, 129, 153, 186, 187, 190, and 193, and
for leave to photograph the numerous casts of seals
figured in pls. V-XIV and XVII-XXX and throughout the
book; to the Royal Archæological Institute for loan of
figs. 20 and 107; to the Sussex Archæological Society for
the loan of fig. 142; to the Society of Arts for figs. 6,
15, 17, 28, 30, 41, 45, 46, 48, 51, 55, 73, 74, 86, 92,
114, 126, 127, 150, 154, 155, and 199; to the Royal
Institute of British Architects for figs. 8, 93, and 199;
to Messrs. Cassell & Co. for figs. 21, 53, 54, 56, 63, 81,
84, 85, 91, 108, 109, 117, 118, 124, 132, 133, 139, 151;
to Messrs. Constable & Co. for figs. 9, 14, 43, 67, 68,
72, 75, 76, 77, 78, 83, 136, 137, 138; to Messrs. Parker &
Co. for fig. 143; and to Messrs. Longmans & Co. for figs.
177, 183. Also to Mr. T. W. Rutter for lending the
drawings reproduced in pls. II and III; to Mr. R. W. Paul
for the drawing of fig. 184; to Mr. Mill Stephenson for
the loan of the brass rubbings reproduced in figs. 19, 26,
27, 29, 31, 32, 35-39, 42, 146-148; to the Rev. T. W.
Galpin, Mr. E. M. Beloe, and Mr. Aymer Vallance for the
photographs of figs. 47, 149, and 191 respectively; and to
the Rev. Severne Majendie for leave to photograph the
effigies of the Duke and Duchess of Exeter (figs. 167,
168) in St. Katharine's chapel in Regent's Park.
I wish also to thank, among others, Mr. David Weller, head
verger of Westminster Abbey, for leave to reproduce the
photographs shown in figs. 1, 2, 4, 34, 40, 87, 104, 110,
134, 156, 176, 194, 195; Mr. T. W. Phillips, of Wells, for
those forming figs. 23 and 111; Mr. Charles Goulding, of
Beverley, for those forming figs. 49, 50; Mr. T. Palmer
Clarke, of Cambridge, for those forming figs. 88, 96, 128,
170, 171, and 172; and Mr. Fred Spalding, of Chelmsford,
for the photograph of the New Hall panel in fig. 189.
CONTENTS
CHAP. _page_
I. INTRODUCTION 33
Defects of Modern Heraldic Decoration; Appeal to First
Principles; English _versus_ Foreign Sources;
Definition of Heraldry; Modes of Display; Colours and
Furs; Formation of Arms; Divisions of the Shield; Early
Authorities: Seals, Monuments, Buildings, Wills and
Inventories, Rolls of Arms.
II. THE SHIELD AND ITS TREATMENT 65
Early Forms of Shields; Later Forms; Shields of Irregular
Outline and Surface; The Filling of a Shield; Apparent
_versus_ Absolute Uniformity; Modern Rules as to
Proportion; The Use and Abuse of Quartering: its Origin
and Growth; Differencing of Arms; The Scutcheon of Ulster;
Diapering.
III. THE SHIELD AND ITS TREATMENT (_cont._) 109
Armorial Bearings of Ladies; Use of Lozenges and Roundels
as variant forms of Shields; Arms of Men on Lozenges;
Combinations of Shields with Lozenges and Roundels of Arms
on Seals and in Embroideries.
IV. THE TREATMENT OF CRESTS 123
Origin of Crests; Earliest examples of Crests; Ways of
wearing Crests; The Helm and its treatment; Modern use of
Helms; Absurd Crests; Use of Crests other than by
individuals; The comparative sizes of Helms and Crests.
V. MANTLINGS 139
Origin of Mantlings; Simple early forms; Colours of
Mantlings; Medieval usage as to colours of Mantlings.
VI. CRESTS AND CROWNS, CAPS OF ESTATE, AND WREATHS 148
Crests within Crowns; Nature and Treatment of Crowns; Caps
of Estate: Their possible origin and introduction into
Heraldry; The colour of Caps; The placing of Crests upon
Caps; Wreaths or Torses; Their Colour; Crests and Mottoes;
Use of Crests by Bishops; The ensigning of Arms with
Mitres, Cardinals' and Doctors' Hats, and Caps of Estate.
VII. THE USE OF BADGES, KNOTS, AND THE REBUS 165
Definition of a Badge; Difference between Crests and
Badges; Examples of Badges; The Ostrich-Feather Badge; The
White Hart, etc.; Introduction of Badges into Heraldry;
Their Prevalence; Allusive Badges; Badges of obscure
Origin; Knots and Badges; The Rebus.
VIII. SUPPORTERS 193
The probable Origin of Supporters; Quasi-Supporters; True
Supporters: their Introduction; Supporters of Crested
Helms; Pairs of Supporters; Dissimilar Supporters; The use
of Supporters by Ladies; Other ways of Supporting Shields.
IX. BANNERS OF ARMS 219
The Royal Banner of Arms; The Banner of the Arms of the
City of London; Shapes of Banners; Sizes of certain
Banners; Upright _versus_ Long Banners; Advantages of the
upright form; Banners with Achievements of Arms; Modern
Use of Banners.
X. MARSHALLING OF ARMS 251
Arms of husband and wife; Dimidiating; Impaling;
Scutcheons of Pretence; Impalement with Official Arms;
Arms of ladies; Heraldic Drawing; Mottoes; Use and Misuse
of the Garter; Lettering and Mottoes.
XI. CROWNS, CORONETS, AND COLLARS 269
Crowns and Coronets; Introduction of Coronets; Coronets of
Princes, Dukes, and Earls; Bequests of Coronets;
Illustrations of Coronets and Crowns; Collars and Chains;
Collars of Orders; Lancastrian Collars of SS; Yorkist
Collars of Suns and Roses; Tudor Collars of SS;
Other Livery Collars; Waits' Collars; Collars and Chains
of Mayors, Mayoresses, and Sheriffs; The Revival of
Collars; Inordinate Length of modern Collars.
XII. HERALDIC EMBROIDERIES 319
The introduction of armorial insignia in embroidered
Vestments: on Robes: on Beds, etc.
XIII. TUDOR AND LATER HERALDRY 331
Decorative Heraldry of the Reign of Henry VIII; The
Decadent Change in the Quality of Heraldry; Examples of
Elaborated Arms; Survival of Tradition in Heraldic Art;
Elizabethan Heraldry; Heraldry in the Seventeenth Century
and Under the Commonwealth; Post-Restoration Heraldry.
CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS 354
INDEX 411
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
_Facing
PLATE page_
Banner of the arms of King George the Fifth
(_Frontispiece_) Title
I. Arms of Milton Abbey from a window in Ibberton church,
Dorset, c. 1475. (_From_ "_Archæologia_," vol. xlvii.) 48
II. } Shields in stained glass of the 14th century in 54
III. } the Victoria and Albert Museum. (From coloured 56
drawings by Mr. T. W. Rutter)
IV. Part (reduced) of an early Roll of Arms belonging to
the Society of Antiquaries of London 64
V. Examples of shaped shields 70
VI. Various shapes of shields 73
VII. Examples of quartering 89
VIII. Examples of diapered shields 104
IX. Use of lozenges and roundels of arms 112
X. Use of lozenges and roundels of arms 114
XI. Early examples of crests 123
XII. Early uses of crests, on seals of William Montagu earl
of Salisbury, 1337-44 125
XIII. Various treatments of crests 129
XIV. Examples of crests and mantlings 130
XV. Stall-plate (reduced) of Hugh Stafford lord Bourchier,
_c._ 1421 151
XVI. Stall-plate (reduced) of William lord Willoughby, _c._
1421 154
XVII. Crests with mottoes 161
XVIII. Examples of supporters 188
XIX. Origin of supporters 193
XX. Shields with supporters 198
XXI. Shields accompanied by badges 199
XXII. Quasi-supporter 200
XXIII. Shields accompanied by badges 202
XXIV. Shields accompanied by badges 203
XXV. Arms with crown and supporters of Elizabeth Wydville,
queen of Edward IV 208
XXVI. Arms, supporters, and badges of the lady Margaret
Beaufort, 1455 209
XXVII. Methods of arranging shields 214
XXVIII. Examples of banners of arms 216
XXIX. Ways of upholding shields 218
XXX. Crowned shield with supporters and badges of the lady
Margaret Beaufort, 1485 288
XXXI. Right and wrong versions of the Union Jack 248
ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
FIG. _page_
1. Tile with the arms of King Henry III, _c._ 1255, from the
chapter-house of Westminster abbey. (_From a photograph by
Mr. David Weller_) 36
2. Shield of the arms of St. Edward, _c._ 1259, in the quire of
Westminster abbey church. (_From a photograph by Mr. David
Weller_) 37
3. Heraldry on the gatehouse of Kirkham priory, Yorkshire,
built between 1289 and 1296. (_From a photograph by Mr. C.
C. Hodges_) 38
4. Shield with curved bend or baston of Henry de Laci earl of
Lincoln, _c._ 1259, in the quire of Westminster abbey
church. (_From a photograph by Mr. David Weller_) 44
5. Arms of Clopton, from a brass _c._ 1420 at Long Melford in
Suffolk 46
6. Heraldic candle-holder, etc. from the latten grate about the
tomb of King Henry VII at Westminster. (_From_ "_Journal
of the Society of Arts_," vol. xlv. p. 238) 55
7. Firedog with armorial bearings. (_From a drawing by Mr. C.
Prætorius, F.S.A._) 56
8. Chimney-piece in Tattershall castle, Lincolnshire, built by
Ralph lord Cromwell between 1433 and 1455. (_From_
"_Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects_,"
3rd S. vol. iv. 241) 57
9. Paving tiles with arms and badges of the Beauchamps, from
Tewkesbury abbey church. (_From_ "_The Ancestor_," vol.
ix.) 58
10. Seal of Richard duke of Gloucester, as admiral of England in
Dorset and Somerset (1462) 59
11. Heraldic buckle from the effigy of Robert lord Hungerford
(_ob._ 1459) in Salisbury cathedral church. (_From
Stothard's_ "_Monumental Effigies_") 60
12. Heraldic buckle from the effigy of William lord Bardolf (ob.
1441) in Dennington church, Suffolk. (_From Stothard's_
"_Monumental Effigies_") 60
13. Enamelled shield with the arms of Ballard on the print of a
mazer at All Souls college, Oxford, _c._ 1445. (_From_
"_Archæologia_," vol. l. 151) 61
14. Heraldic paving tiles from Tewkesbury abbey. (_From_ "_The
Ancestor_," vol. ix.) 63
15. Shield with rounded corners (_c._ 1259) of Richard earl of
Cornwall in the quire of Westminster abbey church. (_From_
"_Journal of the Society of Arts_," vol. xlv. 231) 66
16. Shields of English work from the tomb of William earl of
Pembroke, ob. 1296, in Westminster abbey church. (_From
Stothard's_ "_Monumental Effigies_") 67
17. Seal of Hugh Bardolf showing shield with square corners.
From the Barons' Letter. (_From_ "_Journal of the Society
of Arts_," vol. xlv. 228) 68
18. Seal and counterseal of Simon lord of Montagu, with shield
supported by two bearded men and surmounted by the castle
of Corfe, of which Simon became governor in 1298. From the
Barons' Letter 69
19. Shield of ornate form, from a brass at Stoke Poges, Bucks,
1476 70
20. Head of a doorway, now in Norwich Guildhall, with arms of
King Henry VIII, the City of Norwich, and the Goldsmiths'
Company. (_From the Norwich volume of the Archæological
Institute_, p. 173) 72
21. Shield with engrailed edges, _c._ 1520, from the chantry
chapel of abbot Thomas Ramryge in St. Albans abbey church.
(_From Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No. 210) 73
22. Shields with ridged charges, from the monument of Guy lord
Bryen, _ob._ 1390, in Tewkesbury abbey church. (_From
Stothard's "Monumental Effigies"_) 74
23. Armorial panels from the George Inn at Glastonbury. (_From a
photograph by Mr. T. W. Phillips_) 75
24. Shield with curved surface from an effigy of a Pembridge at
Clehonger, Herefordshire. (_From Stothard's "Monumental
Effigies"_) 76
25. Shield from the seal of Henry Percy (from the Barons'
Letter) with well-drawn lion 77
26. Shield with a leaping lion, from a brass _c._ 1380 at
Felbrigge in Norfolk 78
27. Shield with an eagle from a brass at Great Tew, Oxon, _c._
1410 79
28. Seal of Queen's College, Oxford, 1341, with well-filled
shields. (_From "Journal of the Society of Arts,"_ vol.
xlv. 230) 80
29. Shield with a griffin, from a brass of 1405, at
Boughton-under-Blean, Kent 81
30. Seal of Peter de Mauley IV (from the Barons' Letter) showing
a simple well-balanced shield. (_From "Journal of the
Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 234) 82
31. Shield with a bend counter-flowered from the brass of Sir
Thomas Bromfleet, 1430, at Wymington, Beds. 82
32. Shield with three lions, from a brass at Stanford Dingley,
Berks, 1444 83
33. Shield of the royal arms done in boiled leather, from the
tomb of Edward prince of Wales at Canterbury, 1376.
(_Reduced from "Vetusta Monumenta,"_ vol. vii.) 84
34. Shield of the King of France, _c._ 1259, in the quire of
Westminster abbey church. (_From a photograph by Mr. David
Weller_) 85
35 and 36. Shields with uncharged ordinaries: from the brass of
bishop Robert Wyvil at Salisbury, 1375; and the brass of
William Holyngbroke at New Romney in Kent, 1375 87
37. Shield with a charged bend from a brass at Kidderminster,
1415 88
38 and 39. Shields with engrailed borders, plain and charged:
from the brass of William Grevel, 1401, at Chipping
Campden in Gloucestershire; and the brass of Thomas
Walysel, _c._ 1420, at Whitchurch, Oxon. 90
40. Quartered shield of Queen Eleanor of Castile, from her tomb
at Westminster, 1291. (_From a photograph by Mr. David
Weller_) 91
41. Arms of King Edward III from his tomb at Westminster. (_From
"Journal of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 230) 92
42. Shield with impaled quarters from the brass of Peter Halle,
_ob._ 1420, at Herne in Kent 93
43. Arms of St. Edward, from the tomb of Edmund duke of York,
_ob._ 1402, at King's Langley. (_From "The Ancestor,"_
vol. ii.) 94
44. Seal of Humphrey Stafford earl of Buckingham, Hereford,
Stafford, Northampton, and Perche, as captain of Calais
and lieutenant of the Marches, 1442 95
45. Shield of Sir Hugh Hastings from the Elsing brass (1347),
with diapered maunch and a label of three pieces. (_From
"Journal of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 231) 100
46. Part of the gilt-latten effigy of Edward prince of Wales at
Canterbury, showing labels over both the arms and the
crest. (_From "Journal of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv.
232) 102
47. Diapered shield of the arms of Vere, from an effigy in
Hatfield Broadoak church, Essex. (_From a photograph by
the Rev. T. W. Galpin_) 104
48. Diapered shield from the seal of Robert Waldby archbishop
of York, 1390, for the Regality of Hexham. (_From "Journal
of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 231) 105
49. Diapered shield of the arms of Clun, from the monument of
the lady Eleanor Percy (_ob._ 1337) in Beverley Minster.
(_From a photograph by Mr. C. Goulding_) 106
50. Diapered shield of the arms of Percy, from the monument of
the lady Eleanor Percy (_ob._ 1337) in Beverley Minster.
(_From a photograph by Mr. C. Goulding_) 107
51. Lozenge of arms from the monument at Westminster of Frances
Brandon duchess of Suffolk, _ob._ 1559. (_From "Journal of
the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 229) 110
52. Seal of Robert FitzPain, with arms in an oval. From the
Barons' Letter 112
53. Seal of Joan de Barre, wife of John de Warenne earl of
Surrey, 1306. (_From Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No.
318) 113
54. Seal of Mary de Seynt-Pol, wife of Aymer of Valence earl of
Pembroke, 1322. (_From Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No.
319) 116
55. Seal of Maud Badlesmere, wife of John de Vere earl of
Oxford, 1336. (_From "Journal of the Society of Arts,"_
vol. xlv. 228) 118
56. Seal of Maud of Lancaster, wife of William of Burgh earl of
Ulster, and of Sir Ralph Ufford, 1343-4. (_From Boutell's
"English Heraldry,"_ No. 320) 119
57. The Syon Cope, now in the Victoria and Albert
Museum 121
58. Seal of Thomas de Moulton, with fan-shaped crest on helm and
horse's head. From the Barons' Letter 124
59. Seal of Thomas earl of Lancaster, Leicester, and Ferrers,
showing wiver crest on his helm and horse's head. From the
Barons' Letter 126
60. Seal of Henry of Lancaster, lord of Monmouth, with wiver
crest and quasi-supporters. From the Barons'
Letter 127
61. Seal of Robert de la Warde, with fan crest. From the Barons'
Letter 128
62. Seal of Walter de Mounci, with helm surmounted by a fox as a
crest. From the Barons' Letter 128
63. Seal of Sir Robert de Marni, 1366, with crested helms
flanking the shield. (_From Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_
No. 381) 130
64. Crest, etc. of Sir John Astley, from a MS. _c._ 1420. (_From
"Archæologia,"_ vol. lvii.) 131
65. Crest of Edward prince of Wales, 1376, of leather and
stamped gesso. (_Reduced from "Vetusta Monumenta,"_ vol.
vii.) 132
66. Funeral helm and wooden crest of George Brooke lord Cobham,
_ob._ 1558, in Cobham church, Kent 133
67. Stall-plate of Humphrey duke of Buckingham as earl of
Stafford, _c._ 1429. (_From "The Ancestor,"_ vol.
iii.) 135
68. Stall-plate of Sir Thomas Burgh, K.G., _c._ 1483. (_From
"The Ancestor,"_ vol. iii.) 136
69. Seal of Richard Nevill with separate crests and supporters
for his earldoms of Salisbury and Warwick 137
70. Seal of William lord Hastings, _c._ 1461 140
71. Seal of William de la Pole earl of Suffolk, 1415 141
72. Stall-plate of Ralph lord Bassett, showing simple form of
mantling. (_From "The Ancestor,"_ vol. iii.) 142
73. Stall-plate of Sir Sanchet Dabrichecourt, K.G., _c._ 1421.
(_From "Journal of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv.
233) 143
74. Stall-plate of Sir William Arundel, K.G., _c._ 1421. (_From
"Journal of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 233) 145
75. Stall-plate of Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick, after
1423. (_From "The Ancestor,"_ vol. iii.) 146
76. Stall-plate of Richard Wydville lord Rivers, _c._ 1450.
(_From "The Ancestor,"_ vol. iii.) 147
77. Stall-plate of Hugh lord Burnell, c. 1421. (_From "The
Ancestor,"_ vol. iii.) 149
78. Arms of St. Edmund, from the tomb of Edmund duke of York,
_ob._ 1402, at King's Langley. (_From "The Ancestor,"_
vol. ii.) 150
79. Crest from the stall-plate of Hugh Stafford lord
Bourchier 152
80. Two forms of the same crest. From the stall-plate of Richard
lord Grey of Codnor 153
81. Helm with crest and wreath from the Hastings brass at
Elsing, 1347. (_From Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No.
385) 157
82. Helm with crest and torse and simple form of mantling, from
the Harsick brass at Southacre, 1384 159
83. Stall-plate of Sir Simon Felbrigge, _c._ 1421. (_From "The
Ancestor,"_ vol. iii.) 160
84. Privy seal of Henry le Despenser bishop of Norwich,
1370-1406. (_From Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No.
351) 162
85. Shield with ostrich-feather badge from the tomb of Edward
prince of Wales (_ob._ 1376) at Canterbury. (_From
Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No. 401) 167
86. Seal of Thomas of Woodstock duke of Gloucester with
ostrich-feather and Bohun swan badges. (_From "Journal of
the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 240) 168
87. Fetterlock-and-falcon badge of the house of York, from Henry
VII's chapel at Westminster. (_From a photograph by Mr.
David Weller_) 169
88. Crowned rose and portcullis from King's college chapel at
Cambridge. (_From a photograph by Mr. J. Palmer
Clarke_) 170
89. Seal of Robert de Clifford, with arms surrounded by rings in
allusion to his mother Isabel Vipont. (From the Barons'
Letter) 171
90. Seal of Robert de Toni as CHEVALER AU CING with the arms
encircled by swans and talbots. (From the Barons'
Letter) 171
91. Seal of Oliver Bohun with swans about the shield. (_From
Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No. 321) 172
92. Gilt-latten effigy at Westminster of King Richard II,
pounced with badges, etc. (_From "Journal of the Society
of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 240) 173
93. Piers and arches in Wingfield church, Suffolk, with badges
of Michael de la Pole earl of Suffolk (ob. 1415) and his
wife Katharine Stafford. (_From a photograph by the Rev.
W. Marshall in "Journal of the Royal Institute of British
Architects,"_ 3rd. S. vol. iv. 245) 176
94. Chimney-piece in the Bishop's Palace at Exeter with the arms
and badges of bishop Peter Courtenay, 1478-87. (_From a
photograph by Heath and Bradnee_) 177
95. Gateway to the Deanery at Peterborough. Built by Robert
Kirkton, abbot 1497-1526. (_From a photograph by Mr. A.
Nicholls_) 178
96. The gatehouse of Christ's College, Cambridge. (_From a
photograph by Mr. J. Palmer Clarke_) 179
97. Bronze door with badges of York and Beaufort from the Lady
chapel of Westminster abbey church. (_From a photograph by
Mr. Emery Walker, F.S.A._) 180
98. Signet with badge and crested helm of Lewis lord Bourchier,
1420 181
99. Seal of Hugh de Vere with boar badge and two wivers as
supporters. From the Barons' Letter 181
100. Signet of William lord Bardolf (_c._ 1410) with eagle badge
derived from his arms 182
101. Signet with flote badge and word of Sir William Oldhalle in
1457. (_From "Archæologia,"_ vol. xxxvii. 337) 182
102. Seal with badge (a _gray_ or badger) of Richard lord Grey of
Codnor, 1392 183
103. Seal of Thomas lord Stanley as earl of Derby and seneschal
of Macclesfield, 1485, with the eagle's claw badge of
Stanley and the legs of the Isle of Man 183
104. Daisy plant (_marguerite_) badge of the Lady Margaret
Beaufort, from Henry VII's chapel at Westminster. (_From a
photograph by Mr. David Weller_) 184
105. Part of the brass at Exeter of canon William Langeton,
kinsman of Edward Stafford bishop of Exeter, 1413, in cope
with an orphrey of ~X~'s and Stafford knots 185
106. Elbow-piece and Bourchier knot from the brass of Sir
Humphrey Bourchier, _ob._ 1471, in Westminster abbey
church 186
107. Alabaster tomb and effigy of Edward Stafford earl of
Wiltshire, _ob._ 1498, in Lowick church, Northamptonshire.
(_From the "Archæological Journal,"_ vol. lxi.
233) 187
108. Rebus of abbot Robert Kirkton from the Deanery Gate at
Peterborough. (_From Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No.
295) 188
109. Rebus of Thomas Beckington bishop of Bath and Wells, 1477.
(_From Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No. 296) 188
110. Rebus of John Islip abbot of Westminster, from his chantry
chapel. (_From a photograph by Mr. David Weller_) 189
111. Oriel window in the Deanery at Wells with badges of King
Edward IV, and badges and rebuses of Dean Gunthorpe.
(_From a photograph by Mr. T. W. Phillips_) 190
112. Arms and rebus of Sir John Pechy, _ob._ 1522, from painted
glass in Lullingstone church, Kent. (_From Stothard's
"Monumental Effigies"_) 191
113. Seal of John de Moun slung from an eagle and flanked by two
leopards. From the Barons' Letter 195
114. Seal of Alan la Souche in 1301. From the Barons' Letter.
(_From "Journal of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv.
228) 196
115. Seal of John Beauchamp of Hacche, with shield on breast of
an eagle. From the Barons' Letter 197
116. Seal of William de Ferrers with shield upon an eagle with
two heads. From the Barons' Letter 197
117. Seal of Edmund Mortimer earl of March and Ulster, 1400, with
rampant leopard supporters. (_From Boutell's "English
Heraldry,"_ No. 407) 201
118. Seal of Sir William Windsor, 1381, with eagle supporters.
(_From Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No. 382) 201
119. Seal of William de la Pole duke of Suffolk, 1448 202
120. Seal of John Nevill lord Montagu, 1461 203
121. Seal of William lord Hastings, _c._ 1461 204
122. Seal of John lord Talbot and Furnival, 1406 205
123. Seal of George duke of Clarence and lord of Richmond, 1462,
with black bulls of Clare supporting his crested
helm 207
124. Seal of Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick, 1401. (_From
Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No. 448) 208
125. Seal of Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick and of Albemarle
and lord Despenser, 1421 209
126. Seal of Edmund duke of Somerset for the town of Bayeux, _c._
1445. (_From "Journal of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv.
234) 210
127. Seal of Cecily Nevill, wife of Richard duke of York and
mother of King Edward IV, 1461. (_From "Journal of the
Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 235) 212
128. Arms and supporters, a dragon and a greyhound, of King Henry
VII in King's College chapel at Cambridge. (_From a
photograph by Mr. J. Palmer Clarke_) 213
129. Seal of the Mayoralty of Calais. (_From "Archæologia,"_ vol.
liii. 327) 215
130. Seal of Walter lord Hungerford with banners of Heytesbury
and Hussey or Homet, _c._ 1420 216
131. Knights with banners, from an illumination 220
132. Seal of Walter lord Hungerford with banners. (_From
Boutell's "English Heraldry,"_ No. 391) 221
133. Part of the seal of Margaret lady Hungerford, with impaled
banner held up by a lion. (_From Boutell's "English
Heraldry,"_ No. 406) 222
134. Tomb of Lewis Robsart lord Bourchier, K.G. _ob._ 1431, in
Westminster abbey church, with banners of arms upheld by
supporters. (_From a photograph by Mr. David
Weller_) 223
135. The King's banner or "royal standard" as now borne 227
136. Stall-plate, as a banner, of Walter lord Hungerford, after
1426. (_From "The Ancestor,"_ vol. iii.) 230
137. Stall-plate, as a banner, of Richard Nevill earl of
Salisbury, _c._ 1436. (_From "The Ancestor,"_ vol.
iii.) 231
138. Stall-plate, as a banner, of Sir John Grey of Ruthin, _c._
1439. (_From "The Ancestor,"_ vol. iii.) 232
139. Standard of Sir Henry Stafford, K.G. _c._ 1475. (_From
Boutell's "English Heraldry"_ No. 415) 234
140. Knights with pennons, from an illumination 236
141. Armed Knights carrying pennons, from an
illumination 237
142. Armorial vane on Etchingham church, Sussex. (_From "Sussex
Archæological Collections,"_ vol. ix. 349) 240
143. Vane formerly upon the finial of the kitchen roof, Stanton
Harcourt, Oxon. (_From "A Glossary of ... Gothic
Architecture,"_ vol. i. 505) 241
144. Part of King Henry VIII's garden at Hampton Court, from a
contemporary picture. 246
145. Part of King Henry VIII's garden at Hampton Court, from a
contemporary picture. 247
146. Shield of Bryen impaling Bures, from a brass in Acton
church, Suffolk 252
147. Lion with a forked tail, from a brass at Spilsby in
Lincolnshire, 1391 255
148. Shield with three pheasants, from a brass at Checkendon,
Oxon, 1404 256
149. Shield of the arms of Sir Humphrey Littlebury, from his
effigy at Holbeach in Lincolnshire, _c._ 1360, with fine
examples of heraldic leopards. (_From a photograph by Mr.
E. M. Beloe, F.S.A._) 257
150. Early and modern versions of ermine-tails. (_From "Journal
of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 236) 258
151. Early and modern versions of vair. (_From Boutell's "English
Heraldry,"_ Nos. 61, 62) 258
152. The Garter, from the brass of Thomas lord Camoys, K.G. at
Trotton in Sussex 261
153. Pewter medallion with Edward prince of Wales, now in the
British Museum. (_From "Archæologia,"_ vol. xxxi.
141) 262
154. Shield of arms encircled by the Garter, from the brass of
Thomas lord Camoys, _ob._ 1419. (_From "Journal of the
Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 237) 264
155. Shields encircled by the Garter and a scroll, from the brass
of bishop Hallam (_ob._ 1416) at Constance. (_From
"Journal of the Society of Arts,"_ vol. xlv. 237) 265
156. Royal arms of King Henry VII within the Garter, of English
work, from the King's tomb by Torregiano at Westminster.
(_From a photograph by Mr. David Weller_) 266
157. Arms of St. George within the Garter, from the brass of Sir
Thomas Bullen, K.G. earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, 1538, at
Hever in Kent 267
158. Crowned effigy of Queen Eleanor at Westminster 270
159. Crowned effigy of Queen Joan at Canterbury 271
160. Helm and crest, and bust, of Richard Beauchamp earl of
Warwick, _ob._ 1439, from his gilt-latten effigy at
Warwick. (_From Stothard's "Monumental
Effigies"_) 274
161. Effigy of a lady, _c._ 1250, in Scarcliffe church,
Derbyshire. (_From Stothard's "Monumental
Effigies"_) 275
162. Effigy of a lady in Staindrop church, Durham. (_From
Stothard's "Monumental Effigies"_) 276
163. Thomas earl of Arundel, _ob._ 1416, from his alabaster
effigy at Arundel. (_From Stothard's "Monumental
Effigies"_) 277
164. Joan Beaufort countess of Westmorland, _ob._ 1440, from her
alabaster effigy in Staindrop church, Durham. (_From
Stothard's "Monumental Effigies"_) 278
165. William FitzAlan earl of Arundel (_ob._ 1487) from his
effigy at Arundel. (_From Stothard's "Monumental
Effigies"_) 279
166. Joan countess of Arundel, from her effigy at Arundel. (_From
Stothard's "Monumental Effigies"_) 280
167. John Holand duke of Exeter, _ob._ 1447, from his effigy at
St. Katharine's hospital, Regent's Park 282
168. Head of a duchess of Exeter, from the monument at St.
Katharine's hospital, Regent's Park 283
169. Alice duchess of Suffolk, _ob._ 1475, from her alabaster
effigy in Ewelme church, Oxon. (_From Hollis's "Monumental
Effigies"_) 284
170. Armorial ensigns and badges of the lady Margaret Beaufort
from the gatehouse of her foundation of Christ's college,
Cambridge. (_From a photograph by Mr. J. Palmer
Clarke_) 286
171. Arms of the foundress, the lady Margaret Beaufort, with yale
supporters, from the base of an oriel in Christ's college,
Cambridge. (_From a photograph by Mr. J. Palmer
Clarke_) 287
172. Armorial panel on the gatehouse of St. John's college,
Cambridge. (_From a photograph by Mr. J. Palmer
Clarke_) 289
173. King Henry IV from his alabaster effigy in Canterbury
cathedral church. (_From Stothard's "Monumental
Effigies"_) 291
174. King Henry III from his gilt-latten effigy at
Westminster 292
175. King Edward II from his alabaster effigy at Gloucester.
(_From Stothard's "Monumental Effigies"_) 293
176. Crowned initials of King Henry VII from his Lady chapel at
Westminster. (_From a photograph by Mr. David
Weller_) 294
177. Thomas Howard third duke of Norfolk (1473?-1554) with the
collar of the Order of the Garter, from the picture by
Holbein at Windsor Castle. (_From Gardiner's "Student's
History of England,"_ p. 410) 295
178. Collars of SS 296
179. Collar of SS from the effigy of William lord Bardolf, _ob._
1441, at Dennington in Suffolk. (_From Stothard's
"Monumental Effigies"_) 297
180. Spandrel of the tomb of Oliver Groos, esquire (_ob._ 1439),
in Sloley church, Norfolk, with collar of SS 301
181. Collars of SS from the effigy of Queen Joan at Canterbury,
and of Robert lord Hungerford at Salisbury. (_From
Stothard's "Monumental Effigies"_) 303
182. Collars of suns and roses from the effigy of a knight at
Aston, Warwickshire, and the effigy of Sir Robert
Harcourt, K.G. 1471 at Stanton Harcourt, Oxon. (_From
Hollis's "Monumental Effigies"_) 305
183. Sir Thomas More wearing the collar of SS: from an original
portrait painted by Holbein in 1527, belonging to the late
Mr. Edward Huth. (_From Gardiner's "Student's History of
England,"_ p. 387) 307
184. Head of the effigy in Ripon Minster of Sir Thomas
Markenfield with livery collar of park-palings. (_From a
drawing by Mr. Roland Paul, F.S.A._) 310
185. Thomas lord Berkeley (_ob._ 1417) with a collar of mermaids,
from his brass at Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire.
(_From Hollis's "Monumental Effigies"_) 311
186. Silver badge belonging to the duke of Northumberland. (_From
a drawing by Mr. C. Prætorius, F.S.A._) 312
187. Waits' Collars of Exeter, King's Lynn, and Norwich 314
188. Part of an embroidered altar frontal with a rebus at Baunton
in Gloucestershire. (_From a photograph by Mr. G.
Clinch_) 320
189. Carved panel with the crowned arms, supporters, and badges
of King Henry VIII at New Hall in Essex. (_From a
photograph by Mr. Fred Spalding_) 333
190. Paving tile with arms and initials of John Lyte (_c._ 1535),
from Marten church, Wilts. (_From a drawing by Mr. C.
Prætorius, F.S.A._) 334
191. Arms with crested helm and badge (a blazing ragged-staff)
of, apparently, Sir John Guldeford of Benenden, _ob._
1565, in East Guldeford church, Sussex. (_From a
photograph by Mr. Aymer Vallance, M.A., F.S.A._) 339
192. Part of a bed-hanging embroidered with the arms of Henry and
Elizabeth Wentworth, _c._ 1560, formerly in the possession
of Sir A. W. Franks, K.C.B. 342
193. Arms of Cotes, from a mazer print of 1585-6. (_From
"Archæologia,"_ vol. l. 174) 343
194. Shield from the tomb of Margaret countess of Lennox, _ob._
1578, in Westminster abbey church. (_From a photograph by
Mr. David Weller_) 344
195. Achievement of arms from the monument of Sir Richard
Pecksall, _ob._ 1571, in Westminster abbey church. (_From
a photograph by Mr. David Weller_) 345
196. Obverse of the Great Seal of the Republic of England,
Scotland, and Ireland, 1655 (reduced) 348
197. Arms, etc. of the Trinity House, London. From a
wood-carving _c._ 1670 in the Victoria and Albert
Museum 349
198. Limewood carving with the arms and crest of the Trevor
family, _c._ 1700, in the Victoria and Albert
Museum 351
199. Part of the carved oak ceiling of the chapel, formerly the
hall, of Auckland castle, Durham, with the arms of bishop
John Cosin. Date 1662-4. (_From a photograph by Mr. H.
Kilburn in "Journal of the Royal Institute of British
Architects,"_ 3rd S. vol. iv. 272) 352
CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS pp. 354-407
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Defects of Modern Heraldic Decoration; Appeal to First
Principles; English _versus_ Foreign Sources; Definition
of Heraldry; Modes of Display; Colours and Furs; Formation
of Arms; Divisions of the Shield; Early Authorities:
Seals, Monuments, Buildings, Wills and Inventories, Rolls
of Arms.
To those who have given attention to the study of ancient heraldry few
things are more surprising than the imperfect understanding of its true
principles displayed in their works by so many artists and craftsmen of
every degree. Year after year, in paintings and sculpture at the Royal
Academy and other exhibitions, in the architecture and decorations of
our churches and public buildings, on monuments, on plate, jewellery,
and ornaments of all kinds, the attempt to introduce armorial
accessories, even by some of our best artists, is almost always a
failure.
In so recent a work as the national memorial to Queen Victoria before
Buckingham Palace, the shields for Scotland in the frieze of the
pedestal bear the rampant lion only, and the distinctive double tressure
is again omitted in the Scottish quarter of the royal arms behind the
figure of Victory. The sides of the pedestal also bear fanciful shields
of arms, in the one case with three lamps, in the other with some
allegorical device, charged on bends sinister!
It is only fair to say that the fault appears to be not altogether that
of the artist or craftsman, but should rather be ascribed to the
disregard of the principles and usages of true armory that pervades so
much of the printed literature to which men naturally turn for
information.
He, however, who would know something about heraldic art must go behind
the books to better sources of information, and rid himself once and for
all of the modern cast-iron rules that cramp all attempts to improve
matters. He will then soon find himself revelling in the delightful
freedom and playful common-sense of medieval armory when it was still a
living art, and a science too, utilized for artistic purposes by every
class of worker and unencumbered by the ridiculous conceits of Tudor and
later times.
The appeal, moreover, should largely be confined, if one would have what
is best, to our own land. In the beginning heraldry was much the same in
most European countries, but in course of time foreign armory became
complicated by needless subdivisions and new methods of expression and
combination. It would indeed be foolish to maintain that nothing can be
learnt from foreign sources, but in the earlier stages of study English
heraldry should come first. Not only is it characterized by a beautiful
simplicity which continued practically unchanged until the beginning of
the sixteenth century, but no other country outside England possesses
such a wealth of examples of its various applications, and they lie
immediately to hand for purposes of study and comparison. Moreover,
English heraldry so fully illustrates the general principles followed in
other countries that it is unnecessary at first to go further afield.
Heraldry, or armory as it was anciently called, is a symbolical and
pictorial language of uncertain and disputed origin, which, by the
beginning of the thirteenth century, had already been reduced to a
science with a system, classification, and nomenclature of its own. The
artistic devices known as arms, which may be formed by proper
combinations of the colours, ordinaries, and figures that represent the
letters of this language, had each their significance, and soon came to
be regarded as the hereditary possession of some person, family,
dignity, or office.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. Tile with the arms of King Henry III, _c._ 1255,
from the chapter-house of Westminster abbey.]
The display of arms was restricted primarily to shields and banners,
but occasionally to horse-trappers (pls. XI B and XII B) and such
garments as jupes, gowns, and mantles. Later on heraldry came also to be
used ornamentally, either upon shields or without them, in all kinds of
ways, in architecture and on monuments, on tiles and in glazing, in
woodcarvings and in paintings, in woven stuffs and embroideries, in
jewellery and on seals.
[Illustration: FIG. 2. Shield of the arms of St. Edward, _c._ 1259, in
the quire of Westminster abbey church. An early instance of the use of
heraldry in architecture.]
The colours used in heraldry are red, blue, green, purple, and black,
or, to give them their old names, gules, azure, vert, purpure, and
sable; combined with the yellow of gold and the whiteness of silver.
Orange was never used, probably on account of the difficulty of finding
a stable pigment. It was soon found that for brilliancy of effect the
use of gold or silver with a colour was preferable to that of colour
with colour or metal with metal; two colours are therefore found
together or superposed only under certain conditions, and the same
applies to the two metals.
[Illustration: FIG. 3. Heraldry on the gatehouse of Kirkham priory,
Yorkshire, built between 1289 and 1296.]
Imitations of two furs, ermine and vair, were also used: the one of
white flecked with little black tails; the other of alternating oblong
patches of white and blue, square at the top and rounded at the bottom,
to represent grey squirrels' skins. (See figs. 151, 152.) If vair were
coloured other than white and blue, the resultant was called vairy.
There is also known a black fur with silver ermine-tails.
There were never any exact rules as to the particular tint of the colour
employed, that being simply a matter of taste. Thus blue may range from
a full indigo almost to Cambridge-blue, and red from a bright scarlet,
through vermilion, to a dull brick colour, and so on; and it is
surprising to find how well quiet colours blend together.
In the formation of arms the mere combinations of colours and metals
produced by vertical, horizontal, or other divisions of the shield were
soon exhausted, as were quarters, checkers, etc. There accordingly grew
quite naturally the further use of applied strips or bands based upon
such divisions.
[Illustration: Party]
[Illustration: Party-fessewise]
[Illustration: Quarterly]
[Illustration: Pale]
[Illustration: Fesse]
[Illustration: Cross]
[Illustration: Party-bendwise]
[Illustration: Party-saltirewise]
[Illustration: Gyronny]
[Illustration: Bend]
[Illustration: Saltire]
[Illustration: Border]
[Illustration: Chief]
[Illustration: Quarter]
[Illustration: Cheveron]
[Illustration: Pile]
[Illustration: Orle]
[Illustration: Flanches]
[Illustration: Paly]
[Illustration: Barry]
[Illustration: Wavy]
[Illustration: Bendy]
[Illustration: Checky]
[Illustration: Lozengy]
Thus the vertical parting of a metal and a colour known as party
produced the pale, and a horizontal division the fesse or bar, and these
combined to form the cross suggested by the quarterly lines. An oblique
or slanting parting gave rise to the bend, and the crossing of two such
produced the St. Andrew's cross or saltire. A combination of the lines
of a saltire with a quarterly division produced the varied field called
gyronny. The border almost suggested itself. A cutting off of the upper
half or head of the shield yielded the chief, and of a fourth part the
quarter. One other of these applied pieces, or ordinaries as they were
called, was the cheveron, formed of two strips issuing from the lower
edges of the shield and meeting in a point in the middle, like the
cheverons forming the roof timbers of a house. Another ordinary was the
pile, which was often threefold with lines converging towards the base
as in fig. 72. Sometimes a shield was charged with one of smaller size
called a scutcheon, and the middle of this was occasionally cut out to
form a voided scutcheon or orle. Flanches, as they are called, are very
rarely found; they are formed by drawing incurving lines within each
side of the shield. An even series of pales yielded a vertical striping
called paly, and of piles, pily, while an even number of bars became
barry. Undulated or waved bars formed wavy, and sometimes paly and pily
stripes were also waved (fig. 19). In early examples the bend was often
bended or curved. Bends are so represented in one of the shields in
Westminster abbey (fig. 4), in some of the shields over the nave arcades
in York minster, and on a number of monumental effigies. A narrower bend
which overlaid everything was known as a baston (see fig. 60). A number
of narrow bends produced bendy, but the lines were then straight. A
field divided into squares or checkers formed checky, and when divided
into what are now called lozenges it became lozengy. Pales, fesses,
crosses, saltires, borders, and cheverons sometimes had their edges
engrailed by taking out of them, as it were, a continuous series of
bites separated by sharp points, and the lower edge of a chief or the
inner margin of a border was often indented like the edge of a saw; but
in early heraldry engrailing and indenting were interchangeable terms.
An indented fesse was anciently called a daunce. Cheverons, fesses,
bars, etc. were occasionally battled, through the upper line being
formed into battlements. A fesse was often placed between two cheverons,
as in the well-known arms of FitzWalter; or between two very narrow bars
called cotises, or pairs of cotises called gemell bars. Cheverons,
bends, and pales were also sometimes cotised. Cotises were often of a
tincture different from that of the ordinary which they accompanied, and
sometimes indented or dancetty as in the arms of Clopton (fig. 5) and
Gonvile. The ground or field could be relieved by the use of vair or
ermine, or by the addition of fretting or trellis-work or other simple
means. It was also not unfrequently powdered with small crosses,
fleurs-de-lis, or billets; often in conjunction with a larger charge
like a cinqfoil or a lion.
[Illustration: FIG. 4. Shield with curved bend or baston of Henry de
Laci earl of Lincoln, _c._ 1259, in the quire of Westminster abbey
church.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5. Arms of Clopton, _sable a bend silver and two
cotises dancetty gold_, from a brass _c._ 1420 at Long Melford in
Suffolk.]
Almost from the beginning every kind of device was charged or painted
upon shields, either singly or in multiple, and upon or about such
ordinaries as crosses, cheverons, and fesses. Birds, beasts, and
fishes, and parts of them like heads, or feet, or wings; flowers,
fruits, and leaves; suns, moons or crescents, and stars; fleurs-de-lis,
crosses, billets, roundels, rings, etc.--all were pressed into the
service. The great rule as to colour held good as regards charges, and
it was not permissible to paint a red rose upon blue or a gold star upon
silver; but a red rose upon gold or a silver star upon blue was quite
right.
It has however been lawful at all times to place an ordinary, such as a
fesse or a cheveron, and whether charged or not, upon a parti-coloured
field like quarterly, checky, paly, or barry, or upon vair or vairy. A
quarter, or a chief, or a border, without reference to its colour, can
also be added to any such field.
Conversely, a parti-coloured cross, fesse, or charge of any kind is
allowable upon a plain field.
In the Great Roll of arms, _temp_. Edward II, are instances of two
shields, in the one case of a red lion, and in the other of a red
_fer-de-moline_, on fields party gold and vert; also of a silver leopard
upon a field party gold and gules, and of three red lions upon party
gold and azure. Likewise of a shield with three lions ermine upon party
azure and gules, and of another with wavy red bars upon a field party
gold and silver.
In the arms, too, of Eton College granted by King Henry VI in 1448-9
three silver lilies on a black field are combined with a chief party
azure and gules, with a gold leopard on the red half and a gold
fleur-de-lis on the blue half. King Henry also granted in 1449 these
arms, _party cheveronwise gules and sable three gold keys_, to Roger
Keys, clerk, for his services in connexion with the building of Eton
College, and to his brother Thomas Keys and his descendants.
Shields with quarterly fields often had a single charge in the quarter,
like the well-known molet of the Veres, or the eagle of Phelip.
Arms were sometimes counter-coloured, by interchanging the tinctures of
the whole or parts of an ordinary or charge or charges overlying a
parti-coloured field. This often has a very striking effect, as in the
arms of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, which are _party silver and sable a
cheveron counter-coloured_, or those of Geoffrey Chaucer, who bore
_party silver and gules a bend counter-coloured_. Sir Robert Farnham
bore _quarterly silver and azure four crescents counter-coloured_, or,
as the Great Roll describes them, 'de l'un en l'autre.' The town of
Southampton likewise bears for its arms _gules a chief silver with three
roses counter-coloured_.
In drawing parti-coloured fields it is as well to consider what are the
old rules with regard to them. In the early rolls a field barry of
silver and azure, or of gold and sable, is often described as of six
pieces, that is, with three coloured bars alternating with three of the
metal, though barry of eight and even ten pieces is found. Paly of
six pieces is also a normal number. But the number of pieces must always
be even, or the alternate pieces will become bars or pales. The number
of squares in each line of a checkered field or ordinary is also another
important matter. Six or eight form the usual basis for the division of
a field, but the seven on the seal of the earl of Warenne and Surrey
attached to the Barons' Letter of 1300-1 is not without its artistic
advantages. On an ordinary, such as a fesse or cross, there should be at
least two rows of checkers. Here, however, as in other cases, much
depends upon the size of the shield, and a large one could obviously
carry with advantage either on field or ordinary more squares than a
small one without infringing any heraldic law.
Besides the plain cross familiar to most of us in the arms of St.
George, and the similar form with engrailed edges, there is a variety
known as the ragged cross, derived from two crossed pieces of a tree
with lopped branches. This is often used in the so-called arms of Our
Lord, showing the instruments of His Passion, or in compositions
associated therewith, as in the cross with the three crowned nails
forming the arms of the town of Colchester.
Several other forms of cross have also been used. The most popular of
these is that with splayed or spreading ends, often split into three
divisions, called the cross paty, which appears in the arms of St.
Edward (see figs. 2 and 43). It is practically the same as the cross
called patonce, flory, or fleury, these being names applied to mere
variations of drawing. The cross with _les chefs flurettes_ of the Great
Roll seems to have been one flowered, or with fleurs-de-lis, at the
ends.
Another favourite cross was that with forked or split ends, formed of a
_fer-de-moline_ or mill-rind, sometimes called a cross _fourchée_, or,
when the split ends were coiled, a cross _recercelée_. The arms of
Antony Bek bishop of Durham (1284-1310) and patriarch of Jerusalem were
_gules a fer-de-moline ermine_, and certain vestments 'woven with a
cross of his arms which are called _ferrum molendini_' passed to his
cathedral church at his death. On his seal of dignity the bishop is
shown actually wearing such a vestment of his arms.
The tau or St. Anthony's cross also occurs in some late fifteenth
century arms.
The small crosses with which the field of a shield was sometimes
powdered were usually what are now called crosslets, but with rounded
instead of the modern squared angles, as in the Beauchamp arms (fig.
14), and a field powdered with these was simply called crusily. But the
powdering sometimes consisted of crosses paty, or formy as they were
also styled, as in the arms of Berkeley, or of the cross with crutched
ends called a cross potent, like that in the arms of the Kingdom of
Jerusalem. These crosses often had a spiked foot, as if for fixing them
in the ground, and were then further described as fitchy or crosses
fixable.
Since the elucidation of the artistic rather than the scientific side of
heraldry is the object of this present work, it is advisable to show how
it may best be studied.
The artistic treatment of heraldry can only be taught imperfectly by
means of books, and it is far better that the student should be his own
teacher by consulting such good examples of heraldic art as may commonly
be found nigh at hand. He may, however, first equip himself to advantage
with a proper grasp of the subject by reading carefully the admirable
article on Heraldry, by Mr. Oswald Barron, in the new (eleventh)
edition of the _Encyclopædia Britannica_.
The earliest and best of artistic authorities are heraldic seals. These
came into common use towards the end of the twelfth century, much at the
same time that armory itself became a thing of life, and they were
constantly being engraved for men, and even for women, who bore and used
arms, and for corporate bodies entitled to have seals.
Moreover, since every seal was produced under the direction of its owner
and continually used by him, the heraldry displayed on seals has a
personal interest of the greatest value, as showing not only what arms
the owner bore, but how they were intended to be seen.
From seals may be learnt the different shapes of shields, and the times
of their changes of fashion; the methods of depicting crests; the origin
and use of supporters; the treatment of the 'words' and 'reasons' now
called mottoes; the various ways of combining arms to indicate
alliances, kinships, and official connexions; and the many other
effective ways in which heraldry may be treated artistically without
breaking the rigid rules of its scientific side.
Seals, unfortunately, owing to their inaccessibility, are not so
generally available for purposes of study as some other authorities.
They are consequently comparatively little known. Fine series, both of
original impressions and casts, are on exhibition in the British and the
Victoria and Albert Museums, and in not a few local museums also,[1] but
the great collection in the British Museum is practically the only
public one that can be utilized to any extent by the heraldic student,
and then under the limitation of applying for each seal by a separate
ticket.
[1] It would surely not be a matter of much difficulty or expense to
equip the leading schools of art in this country with sets of casts of
these beautiful objects.
The many examples of armorial seals illustrated in the present work will
give the student a good idea of their importance and high artistic
excellence.
Next to the heraldry on seals, that displayed on tombs and monuments,
and in combination with architecture, may be studied, and, of course,
with greater ease, since such a number of examples is available. Many a
village church is comparatively as rich in heraldry as the abbey
churches of Westminster and St. Albans, or the minsters of Lincoln and
York and Beverley.
It is to the country church, too, that we may often look for lovely
examples of old heraldic glass, which has escaped the destruction of
other subjects that were deemed more superstitious (pls. I, II, and
III).
[Illustration: PLATE I. ARMS OF MILTON ABBEY FROM A WINDOW IN IBBERTON
CHURCH DORSET, C. 1475 (FROM ARCHAEOLOGIA, VOL. XLVII.)]
[Illustration: PLATE II. SHIELDS IN STAINED GLASS OF THE 14TH CENTURY
WITH THE ARMS OF (1) JOHN, EARL OF KENT (2) JOHN OF GAUNT AS KING OF
CASTILE, AND (3) SIR WILLIAM ARUNDEL, K.G.: IN THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT
MUSEUM.]
[Illustration: PLATE III. SHIELDS IN STAINED GLASS OF THE 14TH CENTURY
WITH THE ARMS OF (1) MOWBRAY (2) BEAUCHAMP, AND (3) AUDLEY: IN THE
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM.]
But the student is not restricted to ecclesiastical buildings in his
search for good examples of heraldry.
Inasmuch as there never was such a thing as an ecclesiastical style, it
was quite immaterial to the medieval master masons whether they were
called in to build a church or a gatehouse, a castle or a mansion, a
barn or a bridge. The master carpenter worked in the same way upon a
rood loft or a pew end as upon the screen or the coffer in the house of
the lord; the glazier filled alike with his coloured transparencies the
bay of the hall, the window of the chapel, or that of the minster or the
abbey; and the tiler sold his wares to sacrist, churchwarden, or squire
alike.
The applications of heraldry to architecture are so numerous that it is
not easy to deal with them in any degree of connexion.
Shields of arms, badges, crests, and supporters are freely used in
every conceivable way, and on every reasonable place: on gatehouses
(figs. 3, 95, 96) and towers, on porches and doorways, in windows and
on walls, on plinths, buttresses, and pinnacles, on cornice, frieze, and
parapet, on chimney-pieces (figs. 8, 94) and spandrels, on vaults and
roofs, on woodwork, metalwork (figs. 6, 7), and furniture of all kinds,
on tombs, fonts, pulpits, screens, and coffers, in painting, in
glass, and on the tiles of the floor (figs. 1, 9, 14).
[Illustration: FIG. 6. Heraldic candle-holder, etc. from the latten
grate about the tomb of King Henry VII at Westminster.]
[Illustration: FIG. 7. Firedog with armorial bearings.]
[Illustration: FIG. 8. Chimney-piece in Tattershall castle,
Lincolnshire, built by Ralph lord Cromwell between 1433 and 1455, with
shields of arms and treasurer's purse and motto.]
[Illustration: FIG. 9. Paving tiles with arms and badges of the
Beauchamps, from Tewkesbury abbey church.]
Though actual examples are now rare, we know from pictures and
monuments, and the tantalizing descriptions in inventories, to how large
an extent heraldry was used in embroidery and woven work, on carpets and
hangings, on copes and frontals, on gowns, mantles, and jupes, on
trappers and in banners, and even on the sails of ships (fig. 10).
[Illustration: FIG. 10. Seal of Richard duke of Gloucester, as admiral
of England in Dorset and Somerset (1462), with arms on the mainsail of
the ship.]
Wills and inventories also tell us that in jewellery and goldsmiths'
work (see figs. 11 and 12) heraldry played a prominent part, and by the
aid of enamel it appeared in its proper colours, an advantage not
always attainable otherwise (fig. 13). Beautiful examples of heraldic
shields bright with enamel occur in the abbey church of Westminster on
the tombs of King Edward III and of William of Valence, and on the tombs
at Canterbury and Warwick respectively of Edward prince of Wales and
Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick; while in St. George's chapel in
Windsor castle there are actually nearly ninety enamelled stall-plates
of Knights of the Garter of earlier date than Tudor times, extending
from about 1390 to 1485, and forming in themselves a veritable heraldic
storehouse of the highest artistic excellence. (See pls. XV, XVI.)
[Illustration: FIG. 11. Heraldic buckle from the effigy of Robert lord
Hungerford (_ob._ 1459) in Salisbury cathedral church.]
[Illustration: FIG. 12. Heraldic buckle from the effigy of William lord
Bardolf (_ob._ 1441) in Dennington church, Suffolk.]
[Illustration: FIG. 13. Enamelled shield with the arms of Ballard on the
print of a mazer (_c._ 1445) at All Souls college, Oxford.]
Another source of coloured heraldry is to be found in the so-called
rolls of arms.
While heraldry was a living art, it obviously became necessary to keep
some record of the numerous armorial bearings which were already in use,
as well as of those that were constantly being invented. This seems to
have been done by entering the arms on long rolls of parchment. In the
earliest examples these took the form of rows of painted shields, with
the owners' names written over (pl. IV); but in a few rare cases the
blazon or written description of the arms is also given, while other
rolls consist wholly of such descriptions, as in the well-known Great
and Boroughbridge Rolls. These have a special value in supplying the
terminology of the old heraldry, but this belongs to the science or
grammar and not the art of it. The pictured rolls, on the other hand,
clearly belong to the artistic side, and as they date from the middle
of the thirteenth century onwards, they show how the early heralds from
time to time drew the arms they wished to record.
[Illustration: FIG. 14. Heraldic paving tiles from Tewkesbury abbey. The
three uppermost bear the arms of Despenser, Berkeley, and Beauchamp, and
the large one the arms of Robert FitzHamon, the founder, impaled with
the singular cross of the abbey.]
[Illustration: PLATE IV. PART (REDUCED) OF AN EARLY ROLL OF ARMS
BELONGING TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON.]
CHAPTER II
THE SHIELD AND ITS TREATMENT
Early Forms of Shields; Later Forms; Shields of Irregular
Outline and Surface; The Filling of a Shield; Apparent
_versus_ Absolute Uniformity; Modern Rules as to
Proportion; The Use and Abuse of Quartering: its Origin
and Growth; Differencing of Arms; The Scutcheon of Ulster;
Diapering.
From these preliminary remarks we may pass to the practical
consideration of the principles of heraldic art.
And first as to shields and their treatment.
The form of a shield is in itself entirely arbitrary and void of
meaning. Although it varied from time to time, this was simply a matter
of fashion, like the shape of an arch or the pattern of a window. Such
changes must not, however, be overlooked, for it would be absurd in
actual practice to use an ornate shield of the style of the fifteenth or
sixteenth century for a lion of (say) the thirteenth century type, or to
fill a shield of early form with charges characteristic of a later
date.
During the twelfth century shields were more or less kite-shaped, like
those that were actually used, but in the thirteenth century they began
to be shorter and straighter across the top. Good examples of this type
may be found on seals. In the aisles behind the quire of Westminster
abbey church, the beautiful shields in the spandrels of the wall arcade,
of a date not later than 1259, retain their rounded upper corners. (See
figs. 2 and 15.) The next form, with the upper corners square (figs.
16, 17), came into vogue in the second half of the thirteenth century,
and has continued always in use. Owing to the elastic way in which its
curves can be slightly altered when required, it may safely be adopted
in general practice. In the earliest examples the curves begin at the
top, or just below, but later on they were so struck as to increase the
area of the lower part of the shield in order to make more room for the
charges. In some fourteenth century instances the sides continue
straight nearly to the bottom, so that the shield is practically an
oblong with rounded lower corners, like the shields of the royal arms on
our coinage to-day (fig. 18 and pl. VI A). A tendency in the same
direction is not uncommon throughout the fifteenth century. About the
middle of the same century the fashion began to prevail, alongside the
other, of representing a man's arms on the same irregularly shaped
shield that he was wont to carry in the jousts. This is as wide at the
bottom as the top, with its outline worked into curves, and has on the
dexter, or right-hand side as borne, a deep notch for the lance to rest
in during tilting; the top and bottom of the shield are often subdivided
into three or more lobes or shallow curves. Good examples occur on
seals and monuments, and some of the Garter stall-plates. (See pls. V A
and B; VI B; XVII; and XXIII A.) Shields of a more ornate form are
occasionally to be met with, like an example (fig. 19) on a brass at
Stoke Poges of the date 1476, with graceful leaf-work curling over at
the top and bottom. Shields similarly ornamented occur on the doorway
of a citizen's house now built into the Guildhall at Norwich (fig. 20).
[Illustration: FIG. 15. Shield with rounded corners (_c._ 1259) of
Richard earl of Cornwall in the quire of Westminster abbey church.]
[Illustration: FIG. 16. Shields of English work from the tomb of William
earl of Pembroke (_ob._ 1296) in Westminster abbey church.]
[Illustration: FIG. 17. Seal of Hugh Bardolf showing shield with square
corners. From the Barons' Letter.]
[Illustration: FIG. 18. Seal and counterseal of Simon lord of Montagu,
with shield of unusual form supported by two bearded men and surmounted
by the castle of Corfe, of which Simon became governor in 1298. The
quadrangular signet displays a griffin. From the Barons' Letter.]
[Illustration: FIG. 19. Shield of ornate form, from a brass at Stoke
Poges, Bucks, 1476.]
[Illustration: FIG. 20. Head of a doorway, now in Norwich Guildhall,
with arms of King Henry VIII, the City of Norwich, and the Goldsmiths'
Company.]
[Illustration: PLATE V.--Examples of shaped shields.
A John Tiptoft earl of Worcester, 1449.
B William Herbert earl of Huntingdon, 1479.
]
[Illustration:
A John earl of Kent 1351.
B John Mowbray, duke of Norfolk and earl marshal, 1442.
PLATE VI.--Various shapes of shields.]
In the simpler forms the field of a shield in painted representations is
invariably shown flat; but in carvings, and occasionally on seals, a
slight convexity, or even concavity, is often met with, the artistic
advantages of which it is unnecessary to enlarge upon. In some of the
later ornate forms, like those described above, the incurved or
engrailed edge is accompanied by a field worked with a series of ridges
and furrows (figs. 21 and 23). The effect of this may be good, but there
is a danger of carrying it to excess and so injuring the appearance of
the charges. If the shield be well covered by the bearings on it, it is
generally better to use one of simple form than one with an irregular
outline and ridged surface; but there is, of course, no reason why both
forms should not be used concurrently in architectural or other works,
as they sometimes were of old.
[Illustration: FIG. 21. Shield with engrailed edges (_c._ 1520), from
the chantry chapel of abbot Thomas Ramryge in St. Albans abbey church.]
The same principle as the ridging of a shield to relieve the plain
surface was also applied to the ordinaries upon it. An early example may
be seen upon the tomb of queen Eleanor at Westminster, which has the
bends in the shields of Ponthieu ridged along the middle line. The
shield borne by Brian FitzAlan (_ob._ 1302) in his effigy at Bedale has
the alternate bars of his arms (_barry of eight pieces gold and gules_)
treated in the same way. Another instance may be seen on the effigy of
Sir Richard Whatton (_c._ 1325) at Whatton, Notts, in which a bend,
though charged, is ridged. The shields on the tomb of Guy lord Bryen
(_ob._ 1390) at Tewkesbury (fig. 22) furnish typical later examples,
while during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries instances are
as common as the curved and ridged shields described above, especially
as regards crosses and saltires, as at St. Albans, the George Inn at
Glastonbury (fig. 23), and elsewhere.
[Illustration: FIG. 22. Shields with ridged charges, from the monument
of Guy lord Bryen (_ob._ 1390) in Tewkesbury abbey church.]
[Illustration: FIG. 23. Armorial panels, the middlemost with the arms,
supporters, and badges of King Edward IV, from the George Inn at
Glastonbury.]
In monumental effigies the shield borne by a knight often has a convex
or rounded surface (fig. 24), and in late fifteenth century and Tudor
architecture otherwise flat shields sometimes have the middle swelled
out, as on dean Gunthorpe's oriel at Wells, in a manner very popular in
Renaissance work. (See figs. 111 and 195.)
[Illustration: FIG. 24. Shield with curved surface, from an effigy of a
Pembridge at Clehonger, Herefordshire.]
A reference to a number of good ancient examples of heraldic shields or
banners will disclose the care that has been taken to occupy the field,
as far as possible, with whatever is placed upon it (figs. 25, 26, 27).
A lion or an eagle, for instance, will have the limbs and extremities
so spread out as to fill every available space; and the same will be
found in every group or combination of objects capable of arrangement or
extension.
[Illustration: FIG. 25. Shield from the seal of Henry Percy (from the
Barons' Letter) with well-drawn lion.]
[Illustration: FIG. 26. Shield with a leaping lion, from a brass (_c._
1380) at Felbrigge in Norfolk.]
[Illustration: FIG. 27. Shield with an eagle from a brass at Great Tew,
Oxon, _c._ 1410.]
Even with most unpromising combinations, or a group that cannot be
extended or modified at all, or with a single charge like a
fleur-de-lis, or ordinary such as a bend, (fig. 30), pale, or cheveron
(pl. VIII A), a judicious adjustment of proportions, or some equally
common-sense method, enabled a medieval artist to make his shield look
well.
[Illustration: FIG. 28. Seal of Queen's College, Oxford, 1341, with
well-filled shields.]
[Illustration: FIG. 29. Shield with a griffin, from a brass of 1405 at
Boughton-under-Blean, Kent.]
[Illustration: FIG. 30. Seal of Peter de Mauley IV (from the Barons'
Letter), showing a simple well-balanced shield.]
Another point that may be noticed in all old work is that in shields
containing several similar objects no two are exactly alike. If the
charges be, for example, three roses or three roundels or three lions
(fig. 32), two will be placed in the upper and the third in the lower
part of the shield. But the latter will often be somewhat larger than
the others, and these, in turn, will differ slightly the one from the
other as they do in nature. So, too, in a case like the three leopards
of the King of England, whether displayed on shield or in banner, no two
are exactly alike, but each differs somewhat from another in pose or in
size (fig. 32). Even when the same charge is repeated many times, like
the fleurs-de-lis in the old arms of France, any possible chance of
mechanical monotony is avoided by a trifling variation in the shape of
each, as in the shield of the King of France in the early series at
Westminster (fig. 34).
Another fact is that in the old work lines and curves are hardly ever
quite true, but drawn by hand instead of with pen or compasses. The
modern artist, on the contrary, usually draws his lines and curves with
mechanical precision; his charges are exact copies one of another; the
fact that they do not fill the field (_pace_ the royal arms on the
coinage) is to him quite unimportant, and the final result is that under
no circumstances will his work look well. Even in old stencilling a
pleasing effect never seen in modern work of the kind was produced
through a not too rigid adherence to a regularity of application.
[Illustration: FIG. 31. Shield with a bend counter-flowered, from the
brass of Sir Thomas Bromfleet (1430) at Wymington, Beds.]
[Illustration: FIG. 32. Shield with three lions, from a brass at
Stanford Dingley, Berks, 1444.]
[Illustration: FIG. 33. Shield of the royal arms done in boiled leather,
from the tomb of Edward prince of Wales at Canterbury, 1376.]
[Illustration: FIG. 34. Shield of the King of France (c. 1259) in the
quire of Westminster abbey church.]
Another cause of the bad effect of much modern heraldry is the
unnecessary adherence to the rules laid down in some of the textbooks
and manuals as to the relative widths of ordinaries and subordinaries.
The old heralds certainly did not fetter themselves with such shackles.
A cheveron, a bend, a fesse, or a cross was drawn of the best proportion
to look well (figs. 35, 36). If charged it would be wider than when
plain. If placed between charges it was drawn narrower, if itself
uncharged, and thus took its proper relative position with regard to the
size and arrangement or the charges. So, too, with a border; if
uncharged or merely gobony (_i.e._ formed of short lengths of alternate
colours) or engrailed, it was drawn very narrow, and even if charged
it was not allowed much greater width (figs. 38, 39). It thus never
unduly encroached upon the field or other contents of the shield, and
yet remained an artistic addition in itself. The curious bordering known
as the tressure, which is almost peculiar to Scotland, and familiar to
us through its occurrence in the shield of our Sovereign, is drawn
sufficiently narrow in all good examples to leave ample room for the
ramping lion it fences in, and its frieze of fleurs-de-lis is formed of
a good number of flowers, instead of the eight considered sufficient in
the royal arms of to-day. Even a chief, if necessary, was enlarged from
the 'less than one-third of the shield' of to-day to the one-half of it,
or even more, as may be seen in some of the examples of the arms of the
monastery in the abbey church of Westminster, or in those of the town of
Southampton.
[Illustration:
From the brass of bishop Robert Wyvil in the cathedral church of
Salisbury, 1375.
From the brass of William Holyngbroke at New Romney in Kent, 1375.
Figs. 35 and 36. Shields with uncharged ordinaries.]
[Illustration: FIG. 37. Shield with a charged bend, from a brass at
Kidderminster, 1415.]
[Illustration:
From the brass of William Grevel (1401) at Chipping Campden in
Gloucestershire.
From the brass of Thomas Walysel (_c._ 1420) at Whitchurch, Oxon.
Figs. 38 and 39. Shields with engrailed borders, plain and charged.]
Another feature of early heraldry which it is well to bear in mind is
the sparing use of what is known as quartering, or the method of
combining in one shield the arms of two or more persons or families. One
of our oldest instances of this occurs on the tomb of Queen Eleanor, the
first wife of King Edward I, at Westminster, and shows her paternal arms
of Castile and Leon so arranged (fig. 40). Another early example occurs
in the Great Roll, _temp._ Edward II, where the arms of Sir Simon
Montagu (_ob. c. 1316_), _silver a fesse indented gules of three
indentures_, are quartered with _azure a gold griffin_. So long as the
shield contained only four quarters, with the first and fourth, and the
second and third, respectively alike, the effect was often good, as in
the cases just noted, or in the beautiful arms of France and England
combined used after 1340 by King Edward III (fig. 41). There are also
many examples, as in the well-known bearings of the Veres and of the
Despensers, where a quarterly disposition of the shield forms the basis
of the arms. But when, as became common in the fifteenth century,
quarters were multiplied or subdivided, the artistic effect of the
old simple shield was lost or destroyed. As the principle was further
extended, especially in Tudor and Stewart times, the result became more
and more confused in appearance, until the field resembled rather a
piece of coloured patchwork than a combination of various arms all more
or less beautiful in themselves.
[Illustration: FIG. 40. Quartered shield of Queen Eleanor of Castile,
from her tomb at Westminster, 1291.]
[Illustration: FIG. 41. Arms of King Edward III, from his tomb at
Westminster.]
The origin and growth of these combinations, which actually are
perfectly lawful and proper, and yet often quite accidental, can easily
be illustrated by a few typical examples.
In 1382 King Richard II, who used the same arms as his grandfather, a
quarterly shield of Old France and England, married Anne of Bohemia,
daughter of the Emperor Charles IV. As her shield was also a quartered
one, the combined arms of the king and his queen, as shown upon her
seal, formed a shield of eight quarters (pl. VII A). This was further
complicated through the later assumption by King Richard of the arms
assigned to St. Edward (fig. 43), a cross between five birds; and the
eight-quartered shield with this clumsy addition at one side may be seen
on the Felbrigge brass.
[Illustration:
A Queen Anne of Bohemia, 1382.
B John of Gaunt's privy seal as King of Castile, 1372.
PLATE VII.--Examples of Quartering.]
[Illustration: FIG. 42. Shield with impaled quarters, from the brass of
Peter Halle (_c._ 1420) at Herne in Kent.]
[Illustration: FIG. 43. Arms of St. Edward, from the tomb of Edmund duke
of York (_ob._ 1402) at King's Langley.]
These arms of St. Edward were used for a time duly 'differenced' in
conjunction with his own quarterly arms by Henry of Lancaster,
afterwards King Henry IV, and are impaled with those of his wife, Mary
de Bohun, on his seal (1399) as duke of Hereford. Artistically the
lop-sided effect so produced is quite unhappy.
Many fifteenth century shields show forth, by the simple quartering of a
man's arms with those of his wife or his mother, his succession or
summons as a lord of parliament, or his inheritance of great estates.
But this simplicity was gradually destroyed when the added quartering
was itself quartered, as in the arms of Richard Nevill earl of Salisbury
(see pls. XVII A and XXII B), or the quarterings were all different, as
in the case of Humphrey Stafford duke of Buckingham. When but a year
old he succeeded his father as earl of Stafford, and on his mother's
death he became earl of Buckingham, Hereford, Northampton, Essex, and
Perche! These dignities are duly displayed in the quarterings of his
arms on his seal, as follows: 1. The quartered arms of his mother, for
the earldom of Buckingham. 2. Bohun of Hereford. 3. Bohun of
Northampton. 4. Stafford (fig. 44).
[Illustration: FIG. 44. Seal of Humphrey Stafford earl of Buckingham,
Hereford, Stafford, Northampton, and Perche, as captain of Calais and
lieutenant of the Marches, 1442.]
When Henry duke of Buckingham succeeded in 1460 to all the dignities of
duke Humphrey his grandfather, he wisely elected, by the advice of the
kings-of-arms, to drop the above quarterings, and to use only the arms
of his great-grandmother, who as sister and heir of Humphrey duke of
Gloucester and earl of Buckingham bore _France and England quarterly
within a border silver_.
About 1433 Margaret, daughter of Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick, was
married to John Talbot earl of Shrewsbury, and she thereupon had a
beautiful seal engraved, with two large shields or arms hung side by
side by their straps from a ragged staff, the badge of her father's
house (pl. XXVII B). This charming composition is, however, quite spoilt
through the complicated treatment of the shields. One of these bears the
arms of husband and wife conjoined, the other those of the lady's
father. The earl of Warwick's shield is a quartered one of Beauchamp
and Newburgh, with a small superimposed scutcheon. The earl of
Shrewsbury's arms also consisted of four quarters, to which his wife
added her four (omitting the scutcheon), and thus made a patchwork of
eight.
A more remarkable and equally accidental case may be illustrated by the
brass of Sir Humphrey Bourchier (1471) in the abbey church of
Westminster.
This displays four shields: one has the arms of Bourchier quartering
Lovain and impaling the quarterly arms of Berners; and another, the six
quarterings of Sir Humphrey's wife, Elizabeth Tylney. In a third shield
these are quite properly impaled, with a resultant of fourteen quarters.
In the fourth shield these are quartered together, and so produce a
dreadful confusion of twenty-eight quarters! It is not necessary here to
show how these shields might have been simplified in themselves, but
from the artistic standpoint there cannot be any doubt that the two
first should at least have been kept separate. The many other examples
to be found in the illustrations of this book will serve as useful
reminders of the greater advantage artistically of simpler treatment.
It is moreover well to remember that in the majority of cases there is
not the least need in actual work to produce a great many quarterings in
a shield. In numerous examples, especially in the sixteenth century and
later, they were assumed merely for display, and to reduce them to a
reasonable few is often a most desirable thing.
It is difficult without knowledge of individual cases to lay down any
definite rules for dealing with quarterings, but there can be no
question that in general a shield looks best without any at all. In the
case of a man with a compound name or title, who represents more than
one family or dignity, it would be legitimate to add a quartering on
that account, but only of the actual arms of the family or dignity
represented. It is however so hard to draw a line or to restrain the
wishes of clients that the fifteenth century example of Henry duke of
Buckingham should ever be borne in mind.
As soon as the principle of hereditary descent of armorial bearings
became established, the necessity arose of making some slight difference
between the arms of a father and those borne by his sons. This was
usually done by adding to the paternal arms such more or less
unobtrusive device as a label, or narrow border, or a small charge like
a crescent or a molet.
The lord John of Eltham, son of King Edward II, bears upon his tomb at
Westminster a beautifully carved shield of the arms of England
differenced by a border of France; and one of the sons of King Edward
III, Thomas of Woodstock, differenced his father's arms by a silver
border, as at an earlier period did Edmund earl of Kent, the youngest
son of King Edward I.
The label is a narrow band with long pendent strips or pieces, usually
three, but sometimes four or five in number, placed upon and across the
upper part of a shield (fig. 45). It is now used to distinguish the arms
of an eldest son from those of his father, but this was not always the
rule, and younger sons of King Henry III and King Edward I, and at least
three of the sons of King Edward III, besides the Prince of Wales, bore
distinctive labels for difference. Anciently, the label was very narrow,
and the pendent pieces of equal or nearly equal width throughout, even
when charged with devices, as they sometimes were. The colour was also
a matter of choice. The first three Edwards, during their fathers'
lifetime, successively bore blue labels, sometimes of three, sometimes
of five pieces, while the younger brother of King Edward I, Edmund earl
of Lancaster, used a label of France (blue with gold fleurs-de-lis) of
four pieces, and Thomas of Brotherton, second son of King Edward I, a
silver label of three pieces.
[Illustration: FIG. 45. Shield of Sir Hugh Hastings, from the Elsing
brass (1347), with diapered maunch and a label of three pieces.]
In the case of the sons of King Edward III, the Prince of Wales bore at
first a silver label of five and later of three pieces; Lionel duke of
Clarence seems to have borne at one time a gold label with a red cross
on each piece for Ulster, and at another a silver label charged on each
piece with a red quarter for Clare; John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster bore
an ermine label for his earldom of Richmond (pl. II); and Edmund duke of
York a silver label with three red roundels on each piece (pl. XXI B).
The rolls of arms furnish instances of labels of all colours, and with
pieces charged with various devices, such as leopards, eagles, castles,
martlets, etc.
Differencing with labels was likewise extended to crests, and a good
example may be seen on the monument of Edward prince of Wales (_ob._
1376) at Canterbury (fig. 46), as well as in fig. 139.
[Illustration: FIG. 46. Part of the gilt-latten effigy of Edward prince
of Wales at Canterbury, showing labels over both the arms and the
crest.]
In modern heraldry the label is often drawn unduly wide, with short and
ugly wedge-shaped pieces hanging from or sticking on to it, and
sometimes it does not even extend to the sides of the shield. The result
is that instead of its being a comparatively unobtrusive addition to
the arms the label becomes unduly conspicuous and void of all artistic
effect.
The old way of differencing by the addition of a crescent, molet, or
similar device was generally carried out in quite an artistic fashion
on account of the care taken to place the device agreeably, a favourite
position being on the principal ordinary or charge of the arms.
Many cadets of the great family of Nevill, for example, differenced the
arms of their house, _gules a saltire silver_, by placing the device on
the middle of the saltire, and some of the Beauchamps placed the
differencing mark on the fesse of their arms. In other cases the device
was placed in the upper part of the shield, or in some other such point
where it would least interfere with or be confounded with the charges.
One of the most difficult differences an artist has to contend with
to-day is the silver scutcheon with a red hand which is placed upon the
arms of baronets. Its position of course varies, and may often be
altered with advantage, and it looks all the better if drawn not unduly
large and with a simple heater-shaped shield. But some artists wisely
leave it out altogether.
In the case of all devices introduced as differences it will generally
be found advisable to draw them to a somewhat smaller scale than the
charges already in the arms.
In many ancient heraldic shields, especially in painted glass, and to a
lesser extent in carved work and on seals, the plain uncharged surfaces
of the field or ordinaries are relieved by covering them with the purely
ornamental decoration called diapering (figs. 45, 48). An early instance
in relief occurs on the shield of the effigy in the Templars' church in
London usually ascribed to Geoffrey de Magnavilla; and another
delicately sculptured example of later date is to be seen on the Vere
effigy in Hatfield Broadoak church in Essex (fig. 47). Several fine
instances of painted diapering will be found in Stothard's _Monumental
Effigies_. This beautiful treatment has, happily, been largely revived
of late years by the glass painters, who use it quite successfully,
probably from the ease with which in their case it can be applied.
Modern carvers use it very sparingly, and this perhaps is as it should
be, for diapering needs to be done with great skill in sculpture to look
well. A careful study therefore of old examples is advisable, in order
thoroughly to understand the principles of its application.
[Illustration: FIG. 47. Diapered shield of the arms of Vere, from an
effigy in Hatfield Broadoak church, Essex.]
[Illustration: FIG. 48. Diapered shield from the seal of Robert Waldby
archbishop of York, 1390, for the regality of Hexham.]
Some of the finest diapered shields in carved work occur in the
spandrels of the splendid monument of the lady Eleanor Percy in Beverley
minster (figs. 49, 50). Good instances are to be found on seals, and a
number of these are here illustrated in order to show the proper
treatment of diapering. (See pls. VIII, XII, and XXVII A.)
[Illustration: FIG. 49. Diapered shield of the arms of Clun, from the
monument of the lady Eleanor Percy (_ob._ 1337) in Beverley minster.]
[Illustration: FIG. 50. Diapered shield of the arms of Percy, from the
monument of the lady Eleanor Percy (_ob._ 1337) in Beverley minster.]
[Illustration:
A Humphrey earl of Stafford, in 1429.
B John Tiptoft.
C Elizabeth, wife of John la Warre, in 1393.
PLATE VIII.--Examples of diapered shields.]
It is of course to be borne in mind that diapering is merely a surface
decoration, and it must not on any account be emphasized by any
difference of colour from that of the field or ordinary it relieves, nor
must it be treated with such prominence as to render it liable to be
mistaken for a charge or charges.
Diapering can be represented effectively in embroidered work by the use
of flowered or patterned damasks, as may be seen in the banners in St.
Paul's cathedral church in the chapel of the Order of St. Michael and
St. George.
CHAPTER III
THE SHIELD AND ITS TREATMENT (_continued_)
Armorial Bearings of Ladies; Use of Lozenges and Roundels
as variant forms of Shields; Arms of Men on Lozenges;
Combinations of Shields with Lozenges and Roundels of Arms
on Seals and in Embroideries.
Before leaving the subject of the shield a few words must be written
about the armorial bearings of ladies.
It has always been the practice for the daughters of a house to bear,
without difference or alteration, the arms of their father. This
practice has been departed from only in quite modern times, by the
addition of distinctive labels to the arms borne by our princesses. To
the manner in which married ladies have arranged or 'marshalled' their
arms reference will be made later, but it is necessary here to call
attention to the fact that it has been customary for a long time to
place the arms of widows and single ladies upon shields that are
lozenge-shaped. A good early example is that from the monument in
Westminster abbey church of Frances Brandon duchess of Suffolk (_ob._
1559), shown in fig. 51.
[Illustration: FIG. 51. Lozenge of arms from the monument at Westminster
of Frances Brandon duchess of Suffolk (_ob._ 1559).]
This singularly inconvenient form of shield, upon which it is often
impossible to draw the arms properly, began to be used early in the
fourteenth century.
It was not, however, used for or restricted to the arms of ladies, since
the evidence of seals shows that it was at first used to contain the
armorial bearings of men. There can likewise be little doubt that it and
the roundel, which was also charged with arms, were contemporaneously
invented by the seal engravers as variants from the ordinary form of
shield; and it is interesting to note that the majority of the examples
occur on seals which have a background or setting of elaborate tracery.
The roundel seems to have originated in the covering of the entire field
of a circular seal with the arms of its owner, such as the leopards of
England which are so disposed in a counterseal of Edward of Carnarvon as
prince of Wales. Two seals of John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster, engraved
probably in 1372, show a similar treatment: the one bearing his arms
impaling, and the other his arms impaled with, those of Castile and Leon
(pl. VII B). The former commemorates his marriage with Constance of
Castile, and the latter the duke's claim in right of his wife to the
kingdom of Castile itself.
A large enamelled roundel, _party gules and azure with a gold
charbocle_, accompanies the shield and crested helm which, with it, form
the stall-plate of Ralph lord Bassett (_c._ 1390) at Windsor.
One of the lesser seals appended to the Barons' Letter, that of Robert
FitzPain, is an oval filled with the owner's arms (fig. 52).
[Illustration: FIG. 52. Seal of Robert FitzPain, with arms in an oval.]
One of the earliest examples of arms on a lozenge is on a seal of Thomas
Furnival, who died in 1279, and another but little later is furnished by
the seal of William de Braose, appended to a deed of either 1282 or 1314
at Magdalen College, Oxford (pl. IX B).
[Illustration:
A William Paynel, in 1301.
B William Braose, ? 1282.
C Parnell Bensted, in 1359.
D E Elizabeth of Clare.
PLATE IX.--Use of lozenges and roundels of arms.]
That of William Paynel, appended to the Barons' Letter, also has his
arms on a lozenge (pl. IX A).
The first seal of a lady in which lozenges of arms occur is probably
that of Joan, daughter of Henry count of Barre and Eleanor daughter of
King Edward I, who married, in 1306, John de Warenne earl of Surrey
(fig. 53). This has five lozenges arranged in cross: that in the middle
has her husband's checkers, those on each side her father's barbels,
etc. and those above and below the three leopards of England. The lady's
descent from King Edward is further shown by the castles and lions of
his consort Eleanor of Castile.
[Illustration: FIG. 53. Seal of Joan de Barre, wife of John de Warenne
earl of Surrey, 1306.]
Another interesting example, of a date about 1320, is the seal of
Parnel, daughter of H. de Grapenell, and widow (1) of John FitzJohn and
(2) of Sir John Bensted (_ob._ 1323). This has in the middle a shield of
the arms of Bensted, _gules three gold gemell-bars_, between four
lozenges, apparently for Grapenell and FitzJohn (pl. IX C).
Contemporary with Parnel Bensted's seal are two others in which roundels
are used instead of lozenges. Both are traceried seals of Elizabeth
daughter of Gilbert of Clare earl of Gloucester, and Joan daughter of
King Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile. She was thrice married:
first, about 1306 to John of Burgh, son of Richard earl of Ulster;
secondly to Theobald lord Verdon; and thirdly to Roger lord d'Amory, who
died in 1322.
One of these seals has in the middle, in a shield, Elizabeth's own arms
of Clare impaling Burgh within a black border bedewed with tears. Above
and below are roundels of Clare, and on either side other roundels of
Verdon and d'Amory. In the interspaces are the castles and lions of
Castile and Leon (pl. IX D).
The other seal is similarly arranged, but has in the middle a large
shield of d'Amory, between roundels of arms of the lady's other
husbands above and below, and of Clare for her father or herself on
either side. The interspaces again contain castles and lions (pl. IX E).
Four other early seals of great artistic merit displaying roundels may
also be described, especially since they are apparently the work of the
same engraver. They are filled with tracery, consisting of a triangle
enclosing a circle, which contains a large shield, with cusped circles
on its sides containing roundels or devices.
The first is for Mary de Seynt-Pol, who married in 1322 Aymer of Valence
earl of Pembroke (fig. 54). The shield bears the dimidiated arms of
husband and wife; on a roundel in base are the arms of her mother; and
higher up are roundels of England and France, out of compliment to King
Edward II and Queen Isabel.
[Illustration: FIG. 54. Seal of Mary de Seynt-Pol, wife of Aymer of
Valence earl of Pembroke, 1322.]
The second is for John de Bohun earl of Hereford, and has a large shield
of Bohun with roundels also of Bohun. It was probably engraved in 1322,
and before the earl's marriage in 1325 (pl. X A).
[Illustration:
A John de Bohun earl of Hereford, 1322.
B Hugh Courtenay earl of Devon, 1334.
C Henry Sturmy, lord of Savernake Forest, 1355.
D Elizabeth, wife of Walter Bermyngham, in 1341.
E Sibyl, wife of Sir Edmund Arundel, 1350.
PLATE X.--Use of lozenges and roundels of arms.]
The third is for Richard FitzAlan earl of Arundel (1330-1), who
succeeded to the vast Warenne estates in 1347. It has in the middle a
shield of FitzAlan, and about it three roundels with the checkers of
Warenne.
The fourth is for Hugh Courtenay earl of Devon (1334-5-40)or his son
Hugh (1340-77). The shield displays the arms of Courtenay and in each of
the outer circles is a sexfoil (pl. X B).
To these examples may be added a fifth of about the same date, for Henry
Sturmy or Esturmy, lord of the forest of Savernake. This has the Sturmy
shield in the middle, between two roundels of the Hussey arms, and a
third roundel above with the tenure horn of Savernake Forest (pl. X C).
Other seals that may be quoted in illustration of the indiscriminate use
of shields, roundels, and lozenges during the fourteenth century are
those of: (1) Juliana, daughter of Thomas Leybourne, and wife of John
lord Hastings (_ob._ 1325), with a shield of Hastings impaling
Leybourne, encircled by six lozenges of arms indicative of other
alliances and descents, derived from the fact of the lady having been
married thrice; (2) Elizabeth de Multon, wife of Walter Bermyngham, with
the shield of Bermyngham surrounded by six roundels of other arms; (3)
Maud, daughter of Bartholomew Badlesmere, and wife in 1336 of John de
Vere earl of Oxford (fig. 55), with a shield of Vere between lozenges of
Clare, Badlesmere (her father and herself), Clare with label (mother),
and FitzPayn (first husband); (4) Maud, daughter of Henry earl of
Lancaster, married first to William of Burgh earl of Ulster, and
secondly (in 1343-4) to Sir Ralph Ufford (fig. 56), with lozenges of
Lancaster (father and herself) above and Chaworth (mother) below, and
shields of Burgh and Ufford (husbands); (5) Sybil, daughter of William
Montagu earl of Salisbury and Katharine Graunson, with shield of
FitzAlan with a label, for her husband Sir Edmund of Arundel, second
son of Edmund FitzAlan earl of Arundel, between lozenges of Montagu and
Graunson (pl. X E);[2] and (6) Elizabeth, widow of Sir Gilbert
Elsefield, with a lozenge of Elsefield between four roundels of other
arms (impression 1382-3).
[2] Impression attached to a deed in the British Museum, 1350-1.
[Illustration: FIG. 55. Seal of Maud Badlesmere, wife of John de Vere
earl of Oxford, 1336.]
[Illustration:
FIG. 56. Seal of Maud of Lancaster, wife
(1) of William of Burgh earl of Ulster, and
(2) of Sir Ralph Ufford, 1343-4.
]
Alice, wife of Thomas of Heslerton, has on her seal (impression 1374) a
large lozenge of the arms of Heslerton (_gules six silver lions with
gold crowns_) within a quatrefoil, outside of which are four small
banners of arms with martlets between.
Lastly may be noted a seal of Roger Foljambe, attached to a deed of
1396-7, having a lozenge of his arms (_a bend and six scallop shells_)
surrounded by his word or motto.
But seals are not the only authorities for the indiscriminate use of
roundels and lozenges as well as shields of arms. In the Victoria and
Albert Museum at South Kensington is an enamelled coffer of late
thirteenth century work decorated with lozenges of arms of England,
Valence, Dreux, Angoulême, Brabant, and Lacy. The famous Syon cope _de
opere Anglicano_, also in the Victoria and Albert Museum, has the
existing orphrey filled with large armorial roundels and lozenges, and
its border is composed of a stole and fanon embroidered throughout with
lozenges of arms. (See fig. 57.) Christchurch, Canterbury, in 1315
possessed an albe 'sewn with lozenges with the arms of the king of
England and of Leybourne,'[3] and another 'sewn with the arms of
Northwode and Ponyngg in squares';[4] also an albe 'sewn with divers
arms in lozenges with purple frets with a stole and fanon of the same
work,'[5] evidently not unlike those on the Syon cope.
[3] 'consuta de losenges cum armis regis Anglie et de Leyburn.'
[4] 'consuta de armis de Northwode et Ponyngg in quadrangulis.'
[5] 'consuta de diversis armis in lozengis cum frectis purpureis cum
stola et manipulo ejusdem operis.'
[Illustration: FIG. 57. The Syon Cope, now in the Victoria and Albert
Museum.]
It may also be noted that the pillows beneath the head of the effigy at
Westminster of Aveline countess of Lancaster (_c._ 1275) are both
covered with heraldic lozenges: on the upper one with the arms of her
husband alternating with the lion of Redvers; on the lower with the vair
cross on red of her father, William of Forz earl of Albemarle. The gilt
metal bed plate under the effigy of William of Valence earl of Pembroke
(_ob._ 1296), likewise at Westminster, is also covered with a lozengy
diaper of England and Valence, still bright with the original enamel;
the workmanship of this, however, is probably French.
The restriction of the lozenge to the arms of ladies has clearly
therefore no medieval precedent, and there is not any reason why the
modern custom should not be set aside when for artistic reasons a shield
or roundel is preferable.
CHAPTER IV
THE TREATMENT OF CRESTS
Origin of Crests; Earliest examples of Crests; Ways of
wearing Crests; The Helm and its treatment; Modern use of
Helms; Absurd Crests; Use of Crests other than by
individuals; The comparative sizes of Helms and Crests.
A crest was originally, as its name reminds us, a tuft or plume on the
head of a bird. Such a plume or tuft, or bush as it was often called,
was fixed in early times as an ornament on the top of a helm, of which
it thus formed the crest. Other devices, such as could conveniently be
so worn, were soon used for the same purpose, and like armorial bearings
became associated with particular individuals. In later days when the
helm enveloped the whole head, the crest played a useful part in
revealing the wearer's identity, though his face was hidden.
One of the earliest suggestions of a crest in English armory appears on
the second great seal (of 1198) of King Richard I, whose cylindrical
helm has a leopard upon the cap with two wing-shaped fans above turned
in opposite directions. On many seals of the second half of the
thirteenth century, as, for instance, on those of Robert de Vere earl of
Oxford (1263) and Henry de Laci earl of Lincoln (1272), the knight is
represented as riding in full armour, with the helm surmounted with a
fan-shaped plume, which is also repeated upon the horse's head. (See
also fig. 58 and pl. XI B.)
[Illustration: FIG. 58. Seal of Thomas de Moulton, with fan-shaped crest
on helm and horse's head. From the Barons' Letter.]
[Illustration: A Roger of Leybourne, ob. 1284.
B Henry de Perci, in 1301.
PLATE XI.--Early examples of crests.]
An early use of a crest proper is furnished by the seal of Roger of
Leybourne (_ob._ 1284). This shows his shield of arms (bearing six
lions) hung upon a tree, with his banner (charged with one lion only)
behind, and at one side a helm with lion crest (pl. XI A). Thomas of
Berkeley in 1295 has upon his seal a shield flanked by two mermaids and
surmounted by a helm carrying a mitre for a crest. Thomas earl of
Lancaster (1296) on two separate seals has a wiver, or two-legged
dragon, upon his helm, and this again is repeated upon his horse's head
(fig. 59). The seal of his brother Henry of Lancaster, appended to the
Barons' Letter, also shows his helm crested with a wiver (fig. 60). Two
other early examples of crests on seals from the Barons' Letter are
shown in figs. 61 and 62. Sir John Peche, on a seal appended to a deed
of 1323-4, has his shield flanked by wivers and surmounted by a helm
with squirrel crest. William Montagu earl of Salisbury (1336-7), in the
mounted figure of himself on his fine seal, has a demi-griffin fixed
upon his crowned helm (pl. XII B), and King Edward III shows for the
first time, on his seal of 1340, his crest of a crowned leopard standing
upon the cap of estate which surmounts his helm.
[Illustration: FIG. 59. Seal of Thomas earl of Lancaster, Leicester, and
Ferrers, showing wiver crest on his helm and horse's head. From the
Barons' Letter.]
[Illustration: FIG. 60. Seal of Henry of Lancaster, lord of Monmouth,
with wiver crest and quasi-supporters.]
[Illustration: A B
PLATE XII.--Early uses of crests, on seals of William Montagu earl of
Salisbury, 1337-44.]
During the first half of the fourteenth century there is an interesting
diversity in the manner of representing crests, when not being worn by
their owners.
William Montagu earl of Salisbury shows on his counterseal (pl. XII A)
his shield supported by two griffins, and ensigned by the demi-griffin
issuing from an open crown which in his seal he carries upon his helm.
John Engayn, in 1349, has upon the upper edge of his shield a wolf or
fox walking under a tree. Henry duke of Lancaster (1341) ensigns the
shield of his arms with a cap of estate surmounted by a leopard (pl.
XIII C); and Peter de Mauley, the sixth of that name, in 1379-80 has a
seal with his simple arms (_a bend_) supported by two ramping leopards,
and surmounted by a fierce dragon breathing defiance (pl. XX B). In none
of these cases does a helm appear.
[Illustration: FIG. 61. Seal of Robert de la Warde, with fan crest.]
[Illustration: FIG. 62. Seal of Walter de Mounci, with the helm
surmounted by a fox as a crest.]
After the middle of the fourteenth century the crest is invariably shown
as part of the helm.
The helm, it is hardly necessary to say, was such an one as formed part
of the war harness of the time, and in the numerous armorial
representations that may be found on seals or on monuments or buildings
it is almost invariably shown in profile. This was, however, merely on
account of its being the most convenient way of displaying the crest,
and, in accordance with the usual medieval common-sense, examples are to
be found which show the helm and crest facing the observer.
Thus Thomas de Holand (1353) has on his seal a shield of his arms hung
from a tree and flanked by two fronting helms, each encircled by a crown
and surmounted by a huge bush of feathers; Sir Robert de Marni (1366)
flanks his shield, which is also hung from a tree, with two fronting
helms, each crested with a tall pair of wings rising from the sides of a
cap of estate (fig. 63); Sir Stephen Hales (1392-3) on his seal has a
couched shield of his arms surmounted by a fronting helm, with a crown
about it from which issue two fine wings; Robert Deynelay (1394-5) in
like manner shows his helm crested with two ears of a bat or hare; and
Walter lord FitzWalter (1415-31) has on his seal a couched shield, and
on a fronting helm above a cap of estate surmounted by a star between
two large wings (pl. XIII A). Another example of a fronting helm is
shown in pl. V B.
[Illustration: FIG. 63. Seal of Sir Robert de Marni, 1366, with crested
helms flanking the shield.]
The present custom of using various types of helm facing different ways
to denote grades of rank is comparatively recent as well as often
inconvenient, and utterly subversive of the proper method of displaying
a crest, which should invariably face the same way as its wearer. This
fact is amply illustrated by the early stall-plates at Windsor, but the
modern crested helms surmounting the stalls there were for a long time
the scoff of students of heraldry owing to the absurd manner in which
the crests were set athwart the fronting helms. It is pleasant to be
able to add that the crests have lately been replaced almost
throughout by a new and larger series, worthy of their surroundings,
and set upon the helms in the proper way. Under the same enlightened
administration the most recent stall-plates are enamelled creations of
real artistic and heraldic excellence.
[Illustration: FIG. 64. Crest, etc. of Sir John Astley, from a MS. _c._
1420.]
The crest was, of old time, almost always something that could actually
be set upon a helm, and such objects as naturally were too large or
too heavy were modelled in boiled leather, wood, or other light
material: like the fine crest borne at the funeral of Edward prince of
Wales, now over his tomb at Canterbury, which is a leopard standing upon
a cap of estate and modelled in leather covered with stamped gesso (fig.
65); or the soldan's head of carved wood that surmounts the funeral helm
of George lord Cobham, in Cobham church, Kent (fig. 66).
[Illustration: FIG. 65. Crest of Edward prince of Wales, 1376, of
leather and stamped gesso, from his tomb at Canterbury.]
[Illustration: FIG. 66. Funeral helm and wooden crest of George Brooke
lord Cobham (_ob._ 1558) in Cobham church, Kent.]
Such impossible crests as the pictorial scenes and other absurdities
granted by the kings-of-arms during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, and even back to Elizabethan days, would not have been
thought of at an earlier period, when heraldry was a living art.
The degradation of the proper use of a crest, other than by those
entitled to wear one, began as soon as the kings-of-arms presumed to
grant armorial bearings by their bestowing crests upon impersonal
corporate bodies like the London livery companies, such as the Tallow
Chandlers (1456), Masons (1472), and Wax Chandlers (1485-6).
Arms were borne by the mayor and commonalty of a city or town at least
as early as 1283 in the case of Chester, and of 1305 in the case of
Dover (or the Cinque Ports), but none presumed to use a crest until
London did so on the making of a new seal in 1539, and no crest was
granted to a town before 1561.
Before leaving crests a word must be said as to their comparative sizes.
Throughout the best period of heraldic art the crested helm and the
shield in pictorial representations practically balance one another,
but there is occasionally a tendency to diminish the shield, and so
apparently to enlarge the crest. This may be seen, for example, in
several of the early stall-plates at Windsor (figs. 67, 68), which
otherwise are admirable models as to the treatment of crests in general.
They also show very clearly how easily and comfortably the crests
surmount the helms.
[Illustration: FIG. 67. Stall-plate of Humphrey duke of Buckingham as
earl of Stafford, _c._ 1429.]
[Illustration: FIG. 68. Stall-plate of Sir Thomas Burgh, _c._ 1483.]
A remarkable early English example of the use of _two_ crests is
furnished by a seal of Richard Nevill (1449-71), the 'Kingmaker,' who
was earl of Salisbury, and, in right of his wife, also earl of Warwick
(fig. 69). This exhibits two helms above the multi-quartered shield, the
one carrying the Beauchamp swan for the earldom of Warwick, the other
the Montagu griffin for the earldom of Salisbury.
[Illustration: FIG. 69. Seal of Richard Nevill with separate crests and
supporters for his earldoms of Salisbury and Warwick.]
CHAPTER V
MANTLINGS
Origin of Mantlings; Simple early forms; Colours of
Mantlings; Medieval usage as to colours of Mantlings.
In actual use the helm seems often to have been covered behind by a
hanging scarf or cloth of some kind, perhaps to temper the heat of the
sun, like a modern puggaree. Heraldically this is represented by what is
now called the mantling.
At first this was a simple affair, worn puggaree-wise, but by degrees it
was enlarged in representations until it extended on either side beyond
the helm, and was disposed in graceful twists and folds with dagged
edges, which have been supposed to represent the cuts it was liable to
receive during fighting (figs. 70, 71).
[Illustration: FIG. 70. Seal of William lord Hastings, _c._ 1461.]
The usual colour for the mantling, for a long time, has been red, and
its lining of ermine or white fur, but there is ample precedence for a
difference of treatment, as may be seen in that rich collection of
ancient heraldic art, the stall-plates at Windsor.
The earliest surviving plate, that of Ralph lord Bassett (K.G. 1368-90),
has a short black mantling, to match the boar's head that forms his
crest (fig. 72). A large group of plates set up in 1421 exhibits a
considerable variety. Thus the plate of Sir Sanchet Dabrichecourt has a
red mantling powdered with gold lozenges, a treatment suggested by two
bands of red similarly decorated which encircle the bush of feathers
forming his crest (fig. 73). The mantling of William lord Latimer is of
red and silver stripes, and that of John lord Beaumont, like the field
of his shield, is, together with the cap of estate, of blue powdered
with gold fleurs-de-lis. Sir Walter Pavely has also a blue mantling.
[Illustration: FIG. 71. Seal of William de la Pole earl of Suffolk,
1415.]
[Illustration: FIG. 72. Stall-plate of Ralph lord Basset, showing simple
form of mantling.]
[Illustration: FIG. 73. Stall-plate of Sir Sanchet Dabrichecourt, _c._
1421.]
Sir William FitzWaryn's mantling is quarterly per fesse indented of red
and ermine, like his shield of arms. The Captal de Buch, Raynald lord
Cobham, Hugh lord Burnell (fig. 77), Hugh lord Bourchier (pl. XVI), and
Sir Thomas Banastre have black mantlings, and John lord Bourchier and
William lord Willoughby d'Eresby (pl. XV) white mantlings lined with
red. Sir Miles Stapleton and the Soudan de la Trau have black mantlings
lined with red. Several early mantlings, too, are formed entirely of
silver feathers, with red, black, or other linings. These usually
accompany a feathered crest, like Sir William Arundel's griffin (fig.
74), or the earl of Warwick's swan (fig. 75), or Sir Thomas Erpingham's
bush of feathers. Another curious variation, which is found on four
early plates, has the colour of the mantling different on the two sides
of the helm, such as red on one side, and blue or black on the other. In
about a dozen plates between 1450 and 1470 the red, and in one case the
blue, ground of a mantling is relieved by a trailing pattern in gold,
sometimes in lines only, but more usually as leafwork or flowers. In the
plate of Walter lord Hungerford (el. 1421) the mantling on his
banner-like plate is barred with red and ermine (see fig. 136), in
allusion to the arms of his lordship of Hussey. Lastly, in the plate of
Richard lord Rivers (el. 1450) the mantling is red, sown with gold
trefoils, and lined with white, with gold tassels at the ends (fig. 76).
This is derived from the crest, which is the upper part of a man
brandishing a scimitar, and clad in a red tunic with standing collar
and large hanging sleeves, also sown with trefoils. The sleeves are
cleverly arranged in the plate, as if forming part of the mantling, and
are similarly dagged and lined and tasselled. On the stall-plate (_c._
1483) of Francis viscount Lovel the mantling is of purple sown with gold
hanging locks.
[Illustration: FIG. 75. Stall-plate of Richard Beauchamp earl of
Warwick, after 1423.]
[Illustration: FIG. 76. Stall-plate of Richard Wydville lord Rivers,
_c._ 1450.]
CHAPTER VI
CRESTS AND CROWNS, CAPS OF ESTATE, AND WREATHS
Crests within Crowns; Nature and treatment of Crowns; Caps
of Estate: Their possible origin and introduction into
Heraldry; The colour of Caps; The placing of Crests upon
Caps; Wreaths or Torses; Their Colour; Crests and Mottoes;
Use of Crests by Bishops; The ensigning of Arms with
Mitres, Cardinals' and Doctors' Hats, and Caps of Estate.
The treatment of the crest varies. In the earliest examples it is set
directly upon the mantled helm (fig. 77 and pls. XIV A and XVII B), to
which it was actually attached by wires through holes on top. But from
the first large numbers of crests were fixed, or rose as it were, from
within a crown or coronet encircling the helm, or stood upon a cap or
hat of estate that surmounted it. (See figs. 65, 67, 72, 73, 74, 75, and
pls. XIII E and F, XVII A, XXI, XXII, XXVII A, etc.)
[Illustration:
A Walter lord FitzWalter, 1415-31.
B
C Henry duke of Lancaster, 1341.
D Robert Shottesbroke, 1458-9.
E Thomas lord Dacre of Gilsland, 1412.
F Sir John Cheyny, 1395.
PLATE XIII.--Various treatments of crests.]
[Illustration: FIG. 77. Stall-plate of Hugh lord Burnell, _c._ 1421.]
[Illustration:
A Edmund Grey earl of Kent, 1442.
B Thomas Ballard, Esq.
C Sir Henry Ingelose, of Loddon, 1451.
PLATE XIV.--Examples of crests and mantlings.]
The crown was merely ornamental, and had no reference to the dignity of
the wearer, but was used alike heraldically by prince and peer, knight
and esquire, and the same may be said of the cap of estate.
Crowns were anciently formed of a number of leaves or fleurons set
upright upon the band, sometimes with lesser leaves or jewels between
them; the bands too were often jewelled. But in practice only three
(fig. 78), or sometimes five, principal leaves are shown when the crown
is drawn in profile (fig. 83).
[Illustration: FIG. 78. Arms of St. Edmund, from the tomb of Edmund duke
of York (_ob._ 1402) at King's Langley.]
[Illustration: PLATE XV. STALL-PLATE (REDUCED) OF HUGH STAFFORD LORD
BOURCHIER, C. 1421.]
Beyond the fact that the thing was a crown, there was no strict rule as
to the design, which varied according to the taste of the artist. Two
examples among the early stall-plates at Windsor, those of Hugh Stafford
lord Bourchier (fig. 79 and pl. XVI) and Richard lord Grey of Codnor
(both _c._ 1421), illustrate this in a pretty way (fig. 80). In both
cases the plate after being finished has been cut up, partly reversed,
and in part re-engraved; not because anything was wrong with the
heraldry, but to make the crested helms face the other way. These have
accordingly been turned over, but in cutting them afresh the engraver
has slightly varied the designs of the crests and of the crowns with
which each is encircled, without however in any way altering their
heraldic character. In the earliest existing plates the crested helms
are all drawn turned towards the high altar, consequently those on the
north side of the quire face heraldically towards the sinister. The two
plates just noted, and at least one other, have been transferred from
one side of the quire to the other.
[Illustration: FIG. 79. Crest from the reverse of the stall-plate of
Hugh Stafford lord Bourchier.]
[Illustration: FIG. 80. Two forms of the same crest, from the
stall-plate of Richard lord Grey of Codnor.]
[Illustration: PLATE XVI. STALL-PLATE OF WILLIAM LORD WILLOUGHBY, C.
1421.]
One of the first instances of a crown about a crest is on the seal of
William Montagu earl of Salisbury, 1337 (pl. XII).
Crowns were not by any means always of gold or silver, and quite a
number of pre-Tudor stall-plates have them enamelled red, and in two
cases blue.
These heraldic crowns must not be confounded with the coronets, as they
are now called, worn of different patterns by peers and peeresses
according to their degree; some reference to these will be made later.
The cap of estate is generally depicted in English heraldic art as a
high crowned conical hat or cap with flattened top, and a broad brim
lined with ermine. The brim is usually turned up high in front, but
gradually lessens along the sides towards the back, where the brim
extends horizontally to its full width.
The cap of estate first appears, surmounted by his leopard crest, on the
head of King Edward III in the great seal made for him in February
1339-40 on his assumption of the title of King of France. Whether the
cap has any connexion with the assumption of the king's new title it is
difficult to say, but its more common name of 'cap of maintenance' would
acquire a significant meaning could such connexion be proved. It is
however more probable that the cap was worn by the king for his dignity
of duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and it was long the custom for
representatives of those duchies to take part in coronation processions
wearing robes and caps of estate. According to the _Little Device_ for
the coronation of Henry VII, there were to ride before the king in the
procession from the Tower 'ij Squiers for the kinges bodie bearing in
baudrick wise twoo mantells furred w^t Ermyns, wearing twoo hattes of
Estate of Crymsen clothe of golde beked on, beks turnyd upp behinde, and
furred also w^t Ermyns in reprecentacion of the kinges twoo duchesses of
Gyen and Normandie.'[6]
[6] L. G. Wickham Legg, _English Coronation Records_ (Westminster,
1901), 223.
Although the cap may at first have been restricted to the king, it was
certainly used by the sons of Edward III, and may be seen of like form
and fashion upon the seals of Edward as prince of Wales (1343), of John
of Gaunt as duke of Lancaster (1362) and of Edmund of Langley as duke of
York (pl. XXI), and of Thomas of Woodstock as duke of Gloucester in
1385. It was no doubt in each case given by personal investiture by the
Sovereign, but only to those who were made dukes.
In heraldry, however, the cap of estate was used after 1350 by many who
were not only dukes who had been invested with it, but by earls and
barons who had not been so invested, and even by mere knights (pl. XIII
F).
It would be as rash to argue from this that such persons were all
entitled to wear for dignity the cap of estate as it would be to insist
that the equally common use of a crown round the base of a crest
entitled every knight or baron on whose seal it occurs to wear a
coronet.
The colour of the cap of estate was almost invariably red, with a lining
of ermine, but in two of the early stall-plates it is blue. The crest is
generally placed directly upon it, but representations of two-legged or
four-legged creatures often stand upon the brim with their feet on
either side of the flat-topped cap (figs. 112, 138). It is hardly
necessary to say that the crested cap is always placed upon the helm,
with the mantling issuing from under it.
It is a common practice nowadays, quite wrongly, to represent crests
apart from the helm, and as standing upon a twisted bar, or wreath as it
is called. A little research will show that this bar represents the
twisting together of two or three differently coloured stuffs, and
fixing the wreath so formed round the base of the crest to mask its
junction with the top of a helm. Once invented it came into common use,
and crests of all kinds were fixed within it.
When seen sideways the rounded top of the helm causes the crest to
appear as if standing upon the wreath, and this has no doubt given rise
to the present malpractice.
The Rev. C. Boutell in his smaller _English Heraldry_ quotes the
Hastings brass at Elsing, of the year 1347, as the earliest instance of
a wreath about a crest (fig. 81). But this brass is probably French, and
in English work the wreath does not come into being much before the
close of the fourteenth century, and was not regularly used until about
1450.
[Illustration: FIG. 81. Helm with crest and wreath, from the Hastings
brass at Elsing, 1347.]
The wreath or torse, as it was also called, from being a twist, was
usually of two colours, derived from the principal metal and colour of
the arms; but the fifteenth century stall-plates show many variations
from this rule. Thus Lewis lord Bourchier (_c._ 1421) has a torse of
blue, gold, and black, and John earl of Tankerville (_c._ 1421) one of
green, red, and white. John lord Bourchier (_c._ 1421) and Henry lord
Bourchier (_c._ 1452) both have black and green torses. Richard Wydville
lord Rivers (_c._ 1450) has the crest issuing from a green torse,
crested with a crown of holly leaves. Thomas lord Stanley (_c._ 1459)
has a torse of gold and blue with red spots or jewels between, and Sir
William Chamberlayne (_c._ 1461) a red and blue torse.
The modern practice is that the twists of a torse shall be only six in
number; but in old heraldry there was no such rule, and any number from
four may be found, whatever would look best. In the Harsick brass (fig.
82) there are eleven twists.
[Illustration: FIG. 82. Helm with crest and torse and simple form of
mantling, from the Harsick brass at Southacre, 1384.]
Crests occasionally had mottoes or 'words' associated with them, quite
apart from the ordinary 'word' or 'reason' of the family or individual.
Thus the ermine bush of feathers that formed the crest of Sir Simon
Felbrigge is accompanied on his stall-plate (_c._ 1421) by a scroll
lettered ~Sanz muer~ (fig. 83), and on that of John lord Scrope (el.
1461) the crest, which is likewise a bush of feathers, has above it the
'reason' ~autre qz-elle~. Two of the fine seals of Richard Nevill earl
of Salisbury (1428-60) have behind his demi-griffin crest a scroll
lettered apparently ~ma~ [_or_ ~do~] ~ple[s]ier~ (pls. XVII A and XXII
B), and the seal of John Talbot earl of Shrewsbury, as marshal of France
(1445), has a scroll with his 'word' issuing from the mouth of his lion
crest (pl. XVII B).
[Illustration: FIG. 83. Stall-plate of Sir Simon Felbrigge, _c._ 1421.]
[Illustration:
A Richard Nevill earl of Salisbury, 1428-60.
B John Talbot earl of Shrewsbury, 1445.
PLATE XVII.--Crests with mottoes.]
From what has been said above as to the ancient association of helm and
crest, it follows that the present fashion of representing the crest by
itself, apart from the helm to which it was always attached, is entirely
wrong. It at once renders the crest meaningless: in appearance it
forthwith becomes insignificant; and attempts to treat it artistically
generally end in failure.
Let crests be shown as crests, properly set upon practicable helms, and
with competent mantlings treated with all the freedom that they are
capable of.
It may here be noted that it has not been customary, nor is it logically
correct, for ladies and other non-combatant persons, such as the
ministers of the Church, to use crests; arms they have ever been allowed
to bear. Examples, however, of the breach of the rule as to crests even
by bishops are afforded by several of their privy seals. Thus Henry le
Despenser bishop of Norwich (1370-1406) has his differenced shield of
arms surmounted by a mantled helm upon which a mitre, with a griffin's
head and wings issuing therefrom, is placed as a crest (fig. 84); and
Alexander Nevill archbishop of York (1374) shows his shield hanging
below a crowned helm surmounted by the bull's head crest of his house
and supported by two griffins.
[Illustration: FIG. 84. Privy seal of Henry le Despenser bishop of
Norwich, 1370-1406.]
William Courtenay, as archbishop of Canterbury (1381-96), similarly
displays a shield of his arms, ensigned by a helm surmounted by a cap of
estate with a dolphin on top. A helm crested with a lovely bunch of
columbines is also carved with his arms above the tomb of James
Goldwell bishop of Norwich (_ob._ 1498-9) in his cathedral church.
Robert Nevill on his privy seal as bishop of Durham (1438-57) surmounts
his shield with a beautiful labelled mitre, from which issues a bull's
head with a scroll lettered ~en grace affie~.
Many of the bishops of Durham, on their great seals in chancery, in
virtue of their secular palatinate jurisdiction, are represented as
riding in complete armour with helms on their heads. The first to be so
represented was Thomas Hatfield (1345), who wears a large crowned helm
surmounted by a mitre, from which issues a bush of feathers. John
Fordham (1381) also surmounts his crowned helm with a mitre, on which is
perched a bird. Walter Skirlaw (1388) and Thomas Langley (1406) set
within the crowns crests without mitres; in one case the bust of an
angel, in the other a bush of feathers. Robert Nevill (1438) surmounts
his crowned helm with a mitre, from which issues a bull's head, as on
his privy seal above noted. Cuthbert Tunstall (1530) has a mitre alone
upon his helm.
The usual practice in displaying a bishop's arms has been, for a long
time, to ensign them simply with his own official headgear in the shape
of a mitre, and the same custom prevailed with regard to the arms of
mitred abbots and priors. Robert Nevill's privy seal is an early
example.
Cardinals ensigned their shields with the tasselled hat of their order,
as may be seen on the seal-of-arms of Henry Beaufort bishop of
Winchester (1405), and in a carving of his arms in Southwark cathedral
church. A cardinal's hat is displayed, with his rebus and sundry royal
badges, on the arch about the cenotaph of John Morton archbishop of
Canterbury and cardinal in the undercroft of his cathedral church.
Doctors also sometimes surmounted their arms with the round cap
pertaining to their dignity.
On the monument at St. Albans of Humphrey duke of Gloucester (_ob._
1446) his arms are ensigned alternately by his mantled and crested helm,
and by a large cap of estate encircled by a crown or coronet. Jasper
duke of Bedford (1485) on his seal likewise surmounts his arms with a
cap of estate encircled by a delicate crown.
There is not any necessity at the present day to represent any crown or
coronet with the cap of estate within it.
CHAPTER VII
THE USE OF BADGES, KNOTS, AND THE REBUS
Definition of a Badge; Difference between Crests and
Badges; Examples of Badges; The Ostrich-Feather Badge; The
White Hart, etc.; Introduction of Badges into Heraldry;
Their Prevalence; Allusive Badges; Badges of obscure
Origin; Knots and Badges; The Rebus.
Closely allied with crests, but borne and used in an entirely different
way, are the devices called badges.
The whole history of these is in itself of great interest, and the
facility with which they lend themselves to artistic heraldic decoration
renders badges of peculiar value.
A badge is, properly speaking, any distinctive device, emblem, or figure
assumed as the mark or cognisance of an individual or family; and it
should be borne alone, without any shield, torse, or other accessory.
But a badge may be and often was, like a crest, accompanied by a word,
reason, or motto. There is however this important difference between a
crest and a badge, that the crest was pre-eminently the personal device
of its owner, while his badge might also be used by his servants and
retainers. Such a use of the badge still survives in the 'crest' on the
buttons of liveried servants.
The most famous and best known badge is that of the three ostrich
feathers encircled by a crown or coronet borne by the Prince of Wales.
It was probably introduced by Queen Philippa, who is known to have
possessed plate ornamented with 'a black scocheon of ostrich feathers,'
perhaps allusive of the Comté of Ostrevant, the appanage of the eldest
sons of the house of Hainault. A single ostrich feather, alone or stuck
in a scroll, occurs after 1343 in several seals of Edward prince of
Wales, and on his tomb at Canterbury the shield of his own arms
alternates with his mother's black shield with three silver ostrich
feathers, each transfixing a scroll with the word ~ich diene~; over the
shield is likewise a scroll inscribed with the same words (fig. 85).
John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster is said to have borne an ostrich feather
powdered with ermine tails, and Thomas of Woodstock duke of Gloucester,
the youngest of Queen Philippa's sons, bore the feathers with a strap
(which some have regarded as a Garter) extended along the quill (fig.
86). The Queen's great-grandson, Richard duke of York and earl of March
(1436), bore the feather with a chain similarly placed; perhaps Edmund
of Langley, his grandfather, had done the same. Henry of Lancaster, the
son of John of Gaunt, on his seal as earl of Derby in 1385 (pl. XXIV C)
and on that as duke of Hereford in 1399, has an ostrich feather stuck in
the end of a scroll which is entwined about the feather and inscribed
with the significant word ~souvereyne~, and the same word is repeated
many times on his tomb as King Henry IV at Canterbury.
[Illustration: FIG. 85. Shield with ostrich-feather badge from the tomb
of Edward prince of Wales (_ob._ 1376) at Canterbury.]
[Illustration: FIG. 86. Seal of Thomas of Woodstock duke of Gloucester
with ostrich-feather and Bohun swan badges.]
Another notable badge is the couched white hart of King Richard II, with
which may be named the white hind borne by his kinsman, Thomas Holand
earl of Kent (pl. XVIII B).
[Illustration:
A Joan Arundel wife of William lord Beauchamp, 1416.
B Thomas Holand earl of Kent, 1398.
C Robert Corbet
D Joan Stafford countess of Kent and lady of Wake, 1437.
PLATE XVIII.--Examples of supporters.]
The fetterlock-and-falcon (fig. 87) and the white rose of the house of
York, the white lion of the earls of March, the rayed rose of Edward IV,
and the silver boar of Richard III are of course well-known badges; as
well as the red and the red and white roses, the crowned fleur-de-lis,
and the Beaufort portcullis, used by the Tudor kings (fig. 88).
[Illustration: FIG. 87. Fetterlock-and-falcon badge of the house of
York, from Henry VII's chapel at Westminster.]
[Illustration: FIG. 88. Crowned rose and portcullis from King's college
chapel at Cambridge.]
When badges first came into use in this country is uncertain, but after
the middle of the fourteenth century they abound. They are foreshadowed
by the free treatment of earlier decorative heraldry, such as the
little leopards on the footgear and pillows of King Henry III's
gilt-latten effigy at Westminster, and the plate with its lozengy diaper
of leopards on which it lies; also the lozengy diaper of castles and
lions which covers the metal plate whereon lies the effigy of Queen
Eleanor of Castile.
Many badges, too, originated in devices borrowed from various sources
and arranged about the shield on seals, as in figs. 89 and 90, which
are only two out of a number of such appended to the Barons' Letter.
[Illustration: FIG. 89. Seal of Robert de Clifford, with arms surrounded
by rings in allusion to his mother Isabel Vipont.]
[Illustration: FIG. 90. Seal of Robert de Toni as CHEVALER AU CING with
the arms encircled by swans and talbots.]
The famous white swan badge of the Bohuns (fig. 91) is found perched
upon the shield in the seal of Humphrey Bohun earl of Hereford and
Essex, 1298 (pl. XIX B). Later on its neck was encircled by a crown for
a collar, with a chain attached, and in this form it appears on the
seals of Thomas of Woodstock, who married Eleanor Bohun (fig. 86), and
on that lady's brass at Westminster. It was also borne by the sons and
descendants of King Henry IV by his wife Mary Bohun.
[Illustration: FIG. 91. Seal of Oliver Bohun with swans about the
shield.]
[Illustration:
A Stephen Longespee, ob. 1260.
B Humphrey de Bohun earl of Hereford and Essex, constable of England,
1298.
PLATE XIX.--Origin of supporters.]
The gilt-latten effigies of Richard II (fig. 92) and Anne of Bohemia
have their dresses pounced all over with badges, such as the white
hart, the sun-burst, and the broom sprigs on that of the king, and the
ostrich and a peculiar knot on that of the queen. In 1380 Edmund
Mortimer earl of March left a bequest of 'our large bed of black satin
embroidered with white lions and gold roses, with scocheons of the arms
of Mortimer and Ulster,' and in 1385 Joan princess of Wales bequeathed
to her son the King (Richard II) 'my new bed of red velvet embroidered
with ostrich feathers of silver and leopards' heads of gold with boughs
and leaves issuing from their mouths.' In 1397, Sir Ralph Hastings,
whose arms were a red maunch or sleeve on a gold ground, and his crest a
bull's head, left bequests of a silver bason and laver 'stamped with a
bull's head (_cum capite tauri_), a vestment of red cloth of gold with
orfreys before and behind worked with maunches (_cum maunches_) and with
the colours of mine arms,' and six salts stamped with maunches. In 1388
John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster mentions in his will 'my great bed of
cloth of gold, the field powdered with roses of gold set upon pipes of
gold, and in each pipe two white ostrich feathers,' also 'my new
vestment of cloth of gold the field red worked with gold falcons.' Two
falcons holding hanging locks in their beaks are also shown on one of
the duke's seals (pl. XXI A). In 1400 Thomas Beauchamp earl of Warwick
left a bed of silk embroidered with 'bears of mine arms'; and in 1415
John lord le Scrope mentions in his will documents sealed _cum signato
meo de Crabb_, and in a codicil made in 1453 he bequeaths 'j fayre pile
of coppis conteyning xij coppis of gilt, with crabbis in ye myddes, and
two coveryngis to thame with crabb.' In the north of England a crab is
often called a scrap, whence its assumption by the Scropes.
[Illustration: FIG. 92. Gilt-latten effigy at Westminster of King
Richard II, pounced with badges, etc.]
Such examples as the foregoing could be multiplied indefinitely, but
they will suffice to show the prevalence of badges and the many ways in
which they were used. They of course abounded on seals as well as on
monuments of all kinds, and in conjunction with architecture. Under this
last head may be quoted such examples as the arches in Wingfield church,
Suffolk (fig. 93), studded with leopards' heads, wings, and Stafford
knots, commemorative of Michael de la Pole earl of Suffolk (_ob._ 1415)
and his wife Katharine Stafford; the porch and other parts of Lavenham
church, displaying the boars and molets of John de Vere earl of Oxford;
bishop Courtenay's chimney-piece in the bishop's palace at Exeter
(fig. 94); and the great displays of Tudor badges on the deanery gateway
at Peterborough (fig. 95), the gatehouses at Christ's (fig. 96) and St.
John's Colleges (fig. 172) at Cambridge, and the noble chapel of King's
College. Special mention must also be made of the magnificent bronze
doors of Henry VII's chapel at Westminster, than which no more beautiful
example of the use of badges for decorative purposes could possibly be
found (fig. 97).
[Illustration: FIG. 93. Piers and arches in Wingfield church, Suffolk,
with badges of Michael de la Pole earl of Suffolk (_ob._ 1415) and his
wife Katharine Stafford.]
[Illustration: FIG. 94. Chimney-piece in the Bishop's Palace at Exeter
with the arms and badges of bishop Peter Courtenay, 1478-87.]
[Illustration: FIG. 95. Gateway to the Deanery at Peterborough. Built by
Robert Kirkton abbot 1497-1526.]
[Illustration: FIG. 96. The gatehouse of Christ's College, Cambridge.]
[Illustration: FIG. 97. Bronze door with badges of York and Beaufort,
from the Lady chapel of Westminster abbey church.]
The sources of badges were various. As a matter of fact a man's badge
was often the same device as his crest, like the Courtenay dolphin, or
the boar of the Veres, or the sickle of the Hungerfords. Sometimes the
badge was derived from a part of the arms, such as the leopards' heads
and the wings of the de la Poles, the water-bougets of the Bourchiers
(fig. 98), the silver molet of the Veres (fig. 99), and the Phelip eagle
(fig. 100). If by chance a badge could have any punning or allusive
meaning it was the more popular, and it then often served as a rebus.
The boar (_verre_) of the Veres (fig. 99), the crab or scrap of the
Scropes, the pike or luce of the Lucys, the long swords of Longespee
(pl. XIX A), the _gray_ or badger of Richard lord Grey of Codnor (fig.
102), and the wood-stock or tree stump of Thomas duke of Gloucester, who
was born at Woodstock, are all good examples of a practice that should
be followed whenever possible, even in these degenerate days.
[Illustration: FIG. 98. Signet with badge and crested helm of Lewis lord
Bourchier, 1420.]
[Illustration: FIG. 99. Seal of Hugh de Vere with boar badge and two
wivers as supporters. From the Barons' Letter.]
[Illustration: FIG. 100. Signet of William Phelip lord Bardolf (_c._
1410) with eagle badge derived from his arms.]
[Illustration: FIG. 101. Signet with flote badge and word of Sir William
Oldhalle in 1457.]
[Illustration: FIG. 102. Seal with badge (a _gray_ or badger) of Richard
lord Grey of Codnor, 1392.]
[Illustration: FIG. 103. Seal of Thomas lord Stanley as earl of Derby
and seneschal of Macclesfield, 1485, with the eagle's claw badge of
Stanley and the legs of the Isle of Man.]
But in a large number of cases the badge has a different and often
quite obscure origin, like the Bohun swan, the Percy crescent and
swivel, the Beauchamp bear and ragged staff, the Lovel hanging-lock, the
Zouch eagle and crooked billet, and the Berkeley mermaid.
[Illustration: FIG. 104. Daisy plant (_marguerite_) badge of the Lady
Margaret Beaufort, from Henry VII's chapel at Westminster.]
A few families, _e.g._ the Staffords (fig. 105), the Bourchiers, and the
Wakes, used as a badge some special form of knot, and attention has
already been called to the peculiar knots pounced upon the effigy of
Queen Anne of Bohemia. Interesting examples of the Bourchier knot may be
seen on the tomb of archbishop Thomas Bourchier at Canterbury, and on
the brass of Sir Humphrey Bourchier at Westminster (fig. 106), and a
good instance of the application of the knot is afforded by the seal of
Joan Stafford countess of Kent and lady of Wake, who encircles her
impaled shield with a cordon of Stafford knots (pl. XVIII D). On the
tomb at Lowick (Northants) of Edward Stafford earl of Wiltshire (_ob._
1498) the shields are encircled with cordons of Stafford knots with
another Stafford badge, the nave of a wheel, alternating with the knots
(fig. 107). On the canopy of the tomb at Little Easton in Essex of Henry
Bourchier earl of Essex (_ob._ 1483) and his wife Isabel, sister of
Richard duke of York, is a badge formed by placing a Bourchier knot
within a fetterlock of York.
[Illustration: FIG. 105. Part of the brass at Exeter of canon William
Langeton, kinsman of Edward Stafford bishop of Exeter, 1413, in cope
with an orphrey of [~X~]'s and Stafford knots.]
[Illustration: FIG. 106. Elbow-piece and Bourchier knot, from the brass
of Sir Humphrey Bourchier (_ob._ 1471) in Westminster abbey church.]
[Illustration: FIG. 107. Alabaster tomb and effigy of Edward Stafford
earl of Wiltshire (_ob._ 1498) in Lowick church, Northamptonshire.]
Mention has been made above of the rebus. This was invariably a badge or
device forming a pun upon a man's surname, and at one time was
exceedingly popular. It no doubt originated in the canting or allusive
heraldry of earlier days, like the boars' heads of the Swynburnes, the
trumpets of the Trumpingtons, the hammers (Fr. _martel_) of the Martels,
or the scallop shells of the Scales. The _ox_ crossing a _ford_ in the
arms of Oxford, and the _Cam_ and its great _bridge_ in the arms of
Cambridge are also kindred examples. A large number of rebuses on names
ending in 'ton' are based upon a tun or barrel, like the _lup_ on a
_ton_ of Robert Lupton provost of Eton 1503-4, or the large church
(_kirk_) and _ton_ of abbot Kirkton on the deanery gate at Peterborough
(fig. 108), or the _beacon_ rising from a _ton_ of bishop Thomas
Beckington at Wells (fig. 109). The _gold wells_ of bishop Goldwell and
the _harts ly_ing in _water_ of bishop Walter Lyhart in their cathedral
church at Norwich are well known, as are probably the _eye_ and the
_slip_ of a tree which form, together with a man falling from a tree (I
slip!), the rebuses of abbot Islip at Westminster (fig. 110). An _ox_,
the letter N, and a _bridge_ make the rebus of canon John Oxenbridge in
his chantry chapel at Windsor, while an eagle and an _ox_ with ~ne~ on
his side gives the name of prior John Oxney at Christchurch, Canterbury.
Two large _hares_ with a spring or _well_ rising between them crouch at
the feet of bishop Harewell's effigy at Wells; and dean Gunthorpe's
oriel window in the deanery there is decorated with _guns_ (fig. 111).
Sir John Pechey's arms (_azure a lion ermine with a forked tail and a
gold crown_), in a window in Lullingstone church, Kent, are encircled by
a wreath of peach-branches, with peaches charged with the letter ~e~ for
the final syllable of his name (fig. 112).
[Illustration: FIG. 108. Rebus of abbot Robert Kirkton, from the Deanery
Gate at Peterborough.]
[Illustration: FIG. 109. Rebus of Thomas Beckington bishop of Bath and
Wells, 1477.]
[Illustration: FIG. 110. Rebus of John Islip abbot of Westminster, from
his chantry chapel.]
[Illustration: FIG. 111. Oriel window in the Deanery at Wells with badge
of King Edward IV, and rebus of Dean Gunthorpe.]
[Illustration: FIG. 112. Arms and rebus of Sir John Pechey (_ob._ 1522),
from painted glass in Lullingstone church, Kent.]
Here again it is needless to multiply examples of rebuses, but the fun
to be got out of them is ample justification for urging their adoption
and use in connexion with decorative heraldry.[7]
[7] The Rev. E. E. Dorling has taken for his rebus a little door
(doorling!) with the hinges ending in E's, and the author of this book
might fitly content himself with the anchor of Hope!
CHAPTER VIII
SUPPORTERS
The probable Origin of Supporters; Quasi-Supporters; True
Supporters: their Introduction; Supporters of Crested
Helms; Pairs of Supporters; Dissimilar Supporters; The use
of Supporters by Ladies; Other ways of supporting Shields.
The misuse of crests to which reference has been made unfortunately does
not stand alone, for modern artists are quite as much at fault with
regard to the proper treatment of supporters.
There can be little doubt that these charming adjuncts to heraldic
compositions originated with the seal engravers, in their desire to fill
up the vacant space in a round seal between the shield and its
surrounding margin. In the oldest examples this was done by adding
scrollwork or leafage, but in the seal of Humphrey Bohun earl of
Hereford, 1220, the large shield of his arms is flanked by two smaller
shields of his other earldom of Essex. The same treatment occurs in the
seal of his grandson, another Humphrey Bohun earl of Hereford and Essex,
1298-1322 (pl. XIX B). Henry de Laci (1257) has the side spaces filled
by two small wivers, and in the seal of Stephen Longespee (_ob._ 1260)
the shield is flanked by two _long swords_ (pl. XIX A). Gilbert of Clare
earl of Gloucester (1262) has his shield hung on a peg and accompanied
by two lions back to back, while in the seal of Edmund earl of Cornwall
(1272) and son of Richard king of the Romans the shield is held up in
the beak of an imperial eagle splayed or spread out behind it. Thomas
earl of Lancaster (1296) on both his larger and his lesser seals has the
shield flanked by two wivers, as has also his brother Henry of Lancaster
(1298) (fig. 60).
Sometimes the shield is hung about the neck of a bird (fig. 113), or
about a beast, as in the seal of Alan la Souche, which likewise has the
shield surrounded by a number of lions (fig. 114).
[Illustration: FIG. 113. Seal of John de Moun with the shield slung from
an eagle and flanked by two leopards. From the Barons' Letter.]
[Illustration: FIG. 114. Seal of Alan la Souche in 1301.]
During the first half of the fourteenth century little definite progress
was made towards true supporters. Shields, whether hung from pegs or
upon trees, or surmounted by crested helms, still continued to be
flanked by quasi-supporters, which of course varied much in character.
Pairs of wivers, dragons, and lions, usually back to back, the better to
fit the space, and sometimes with entwined tails, were common early in
the century, and shields with splayed eagles behind may not infrequently
be found (figs. 115, 116). What may be regarded as true supporters
appear on the lesser seal (pl. XII A) of William Montagu earl of
Salisbury (_circa_ 1337), wherein two griffins seem to be holding up the
shield, but it is not until well on in the second half of the fourteenth
century that further definite instances become fairly common.
[Illustration: FIG. 115. Seal of John Beauchamp of Hacche with shield on
breast of an eagle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 116. Seal of William de Ferrers with shield upon an
eagle with two heads.]
Interesting transitional usages may also be found. Thus on a seal (_c._
1350) of Margaret Graunson two wivers uphold by their beaks the upper
corners of a shield of her husband's arms, while a third wiver similarly
grips the point. Guy de Bryen (_c._ 1350) has his shield hung upon a
tree and supported at the corners by two wivers holding it by their
beaks. Another lady, Joan FitzAlan, who married in 1362 Humphrey Bohun
earl of Hereford, has an impaled shield of their arms held up in their
beaks by two Bohun swans; and another pair of swans perform the same
office in a FitzWarin seal used in 1398-9 (pl. XX A).
[Illustration:
A Ivo FitzWarin, in 1398-9.
B Peter de Mauley, in 1379-80.
C Sir Bartholomew Burghersh, 1397-8.
D John la Warre, in 1390.
PLATE XX.--Shields with supporters.]
A curious variant from the ordinary flanking pair of beasts occurs on
the seal of Edmund Mortimer earl of March (1360-81), where the arms are
accompanied by a pair of lions with their heads covered by large helms
with the earl's crest, a bush of feathers rising from a crown. A similar
treatment is to be seen on a seal of John la Warre, as used in 1390 (pl.
XX D).
Analogous cases will be noted on the seal of Sir Robert de Marni (1366)
(fig. 64), whose shield hangs from a tree and is flanked by two fronting
helms with tall pairs of wings rising from caps of estate as crests;
also in a seal of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh (1397-8), which has the
shield flanked by two helms crested with tall soldans' heads, and
surmounted by what is probably his badge, a swan with a lady's head (pl.
XX C). A seal of Sir Roger Scales (1369-86) has his seal flanked by two
long-necked wivers, and hung by a strap from another wiver which has
twisted itself into the shape of the letter S, and perched itself on the
upper edge of the shield.
Another case of true supporters is afforded by a seal of Peter de Mauley
in 1379-80, where a shield surmounted by a fierce dragon (perhaps a
badge) is upheld by small lions (pl. XX B). Other supporters of shields
only may be seen on seals of Thomas Beauchamp earl of Warwick
(1369), where they are bears; and of Roger Mortimer earl of March
and Ulster (1381), where they are lions, as is also the case in a seal
of John Batour used in 1418-9. In each of these cases the shield is hung
upon a tree.
In heraldic representations where the shield of arms is surmounted by a
helm and crest, there is the same hesitation in arriving at true
supporters; the space at the sides being filled at first by a badge or
such device. Thus John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster (in 1362) introduced a
pair of eagles with hanging locks in their beaks, and his brother Edmund
of Langley duke of York (in 1385) followed suit with a couple of falcons
having in their beaks scrolls with scriptures (pl. XXI). John Nevill
lord of Raby and seneschal of Bordeaux (1378) flanked his arms, etc.
with two letters ~b~, while his kinsman, Sir William Nevill, used in
1390 a seal with his arms and crested helm accompanied by two large
stars.
[Illustration:
A John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster, 1362.
B Edmund of Langley duke of York, 1385.
PLATE XXI.--Shields accompanied by Badges.]
The fine seal of Thomas lord Despenser (before 1397) has on either side
of his shield and crested helm a tree from which hangs a lozenge of
arms: the one bearing the three cheverons of Clare, for his lordship of
Glamorgan; the other the forked-tailed lion of the barony of Burghersh,
which came to him through his mother (pl. XXII A). Richard Nevill earl
of Salisbury in 1429 similarly places two angels bearing shields: one
with the arms of Nevill, the other with the lions of Longespee in virtue
of his earldom of Salisbury (pl. XXII B). Henry of Lancaster (afterwards
King Henry IV) as earl of Derby, etc. (_c._ 1385) flanks his arms and
crested helm with two ostrich feathers entwined with a scroll with the
scripture ~souvereyne~ (pl. XXIV C), and others of the royal house
similarly used ostrich feathers of other forms. Edward V as prince of
Wales in 1471 flanked his arms with two scrolled ostrich feathers
standing on large York roses. Thomas duke of Exeter (1416) placed a swan
on either side of his armorial achievement, and William lord Lovel and
Holand (1423) a hanging lock (pl. XXIII A); while Sir John Pelham (_c._
1430) flanked his crest with his buckle badge (pl. XXIII B). On the fine
seal of Thomas lord Roos of Hamlake or Helmsley (1431-64) his peacock
crest is flanked by two large flowering plants, perhaps _hemlocks_ (pl.
XXIII E).
[Illustration:
A Thomas lord Despenser, before 1397.
B Richard Nevill earl of Salisbury, 1429.
PLATE XXII.--Quasi-supporters.]
[Illustration:
A William lord Lovel and Holand, 1423.
B Sir John Pelham, _c._ 1430.
C Hugh de Veer, 1301.
D Aver de Rocheford, _c._ 1330.
E Thomas lord Roos of Hamlake, 1431.
PLATE XXIII.--Shields accompanied by badges.]
By the third quarter of the fourteenth century the combination of
supporters with shields of arms surmounted by crested helms had become
fully established, and henceforth the number of beautiful and
instructive examples is so great that it is unnecessary to do more than
illustrate a typical series (figs. 117-121). It will be seen from these
that in seals the majority of the supporters are upholding the heavy
helm and its crest, and not the shield that hangs below it; probably on
account of the nature of the design. The supporters, too, usually form
pairs, and it goes without saying that every variety of creature is made
to serve. Sometimes they are composed of badges, like the falcons on
crooked billets used by William lord Zouch (pl. XXIV A), or the
similar birds with 'words' coupled with oak leaves and the letter ~t~
that appear on a seal of Sir John Falstaff used in 1456 (pl. XXIV B).
William lord Botraux, in a seal used in 1426, has his armorial ensigns
flanked by two buttresses (Fr. _botreaux_); while John lord Talbot and
Furnival (1406) has two _talbots_ (fig. 122), and George duke of
Clarence (1463) the black bulls of Clare (fig. 123).
[Illustration: FIG. 117. Seal of Edmund Mortimer earl of March and
Ulster, 1400, with rampant leopard supporters.]
[Illustration: FIG. 118. Seal of Sir William Windsor, 1381, with eagle
supporters.]
[Illustration: FIG. 119. Seal of William de la Pole duke of Suffolk,
1448.]
[Illustration: FIG. 120. Seal of John Nevill lord Montagu, 1461.]
[Illustration: FIG. 121. Seal of William lord Hastings, _c._ 1461.]
[Illustration: FIG. 122. Seal of John lord Talbot and Furnival, 1406.]
[Illustration: FIG. 123. Seal of George duke of Clarence and lord of
Richmond, 1462, with black bulls of Clare supporting his crested helm.]
[Illustration:
A William lord Zouch, 1430.
B Sir John Falstaff, in 1456.
C Henry of Lancaster earl of Derby, 1385.
PLATE XXIV.--Shields accompanied by badges.]
Where the supporters differ it is usually the case that they represent
more than one dignity. Thus on one of his seals (fig. 124) Richard
Beauchamp earl of Warwick (1401) used as such for supporters two muzzled
bears hugging ragged staves, but on a later seal (1421) as earl of
Warwick and of Albemarle the supporters are a bear and a griffin (fig.
125). So, too, his successor in the title of earl of Warwick, Richard
Nevill, on a fine seal (_c._ 1451-2) has two muzzled bears for
supporters, but on a later seal (_c._ 1460) as earl of Warwick and
Salisbury his supporters are a Warwick bear and a Montagu griffin (fig.
69). Edmund Beaufort duke of Somerset on his seal for the town of Bayeux
(_c._ 1445) (fig. 126) has on one side his own eagle supporter, and on
the other a spotted dog-like beast with a crown about his neck; and
Richard duke of York and earl of March on his seal as governor of France
and Normandy in 1436 has for supporters the York falcon and the white
lion of March. On the stall-plate of John Beaufort duke of Somerset and
earl of Kendal his arms are supported by a Somerset crowned eagle and a
mysterious beast called a yale,[8] behind each of which stands an
ostrich feather with the quill gobony of blue and silver.
[8] For a full account of the yale or eale see papers in the
_Archæological Journal_, lxviii, 173-199. The adoption of the beast by
the duke of Somerset has not yet been explained, but it may be for his
earldom of Kendal and partly be a rebus (Kend-eale).
[Illustration: FIG. 124. Seal of Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick,
1401.]
[Illustration: FIG. 125. Seal of Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick and
of Albemarle and lord Despenser, 1421.]
[Illustration: FIG. 126. Seal of Edmund duke of Somerset for the town of
Bayeux, _c._ 1445.]
It is not necessary here to cite the various supporters borne by the
Kings of England, but it may suffice to point out that since the union
of the crowns of England and Scotland one of the royal supporters has
always been a lion for England and the other a unicorn for Scotland.
In seals of married ladies in which their arms are accompanied by
supporters, one often represents the husband and the other the lady's
family.
Thus Joan Holand, daughter of Thomas earl of Kent, and wife of Edmund of
Langley duke of York, has (after 1393) her husband's half of her
impaled shield supported by the falcon of York, and her own half by her
father's hind with its crown collar. Cecily Nevill, the wife of Richard
duke of York and earl of March, and mother of King Edward IV, has the
shield on her fine seal ensigned by a falcon of York and supported by a
stag with crown-collar and chain and by a lion of March (fig. 127). The
even more splendid seal of Elizabeth Wydville, queen-consort of King
Edward IV, shows as her supporters the lion of March and a lean
spotted beast not unlike an otter, collared and chained (pl. XXV). The
lady Margaret Beaufort, on the other hand, ensigns on both her seals her
paternal arms of Beaufort with the Somerset eagle and uses for her
supporters a pair of yales (pls. XXVI, XXX).
[Illustration: PLATE XXV.--Arms with crown and supporters of Elizabeth
Wydville, queen of Edward IV.]
[Illustration: PLATE XXVI.--Arms, supporters, and badges of the Lady
Margaret Beaufort, 1455.]
[Illustration: FIG. 127. Seal of Cecily Nevill, wife of Richard duke of
York and mother of King Edward IV, 1461.]
It is of course all-important that supporters should be shown standing
upon something solid, and not on so precarious a footing as the edge of
a motto or forked scroll. One of the beautiful armorial groups with the
supporters of King Henry VII in King's college chapel at Cambridge (fig.
128) shows how effectively and yet unobtrusively this may be done. In
the splendid panel at New Hall in Essex with the crowned arms, etc. of
King Henry VIII his dragon and greyhound supporters stand in a bush of
roses and pomegranates (fig. 189); and in the well-known glass at
Ockwells the supporters have fields full of flowers to stand on.
[Illustration: FIG. 128. Arms and supporters, a dragon and a greyhound,
of King Henry VII in King's college chapel at Cambridge.]
Besides the more or less regular use of supporters just described, there
are a number of curious and irregular ways of supporting shields. These
deserve special attention, not only from their value in showing how
delightfully heraldry used to be played with, but as precedents for
similar variety of treatment at the present day, when supporters
so-called often do not support anything. Over the doorway, for example,
of the National Portrait Gallery in London the 'supporters' of the royal
arms are merely a pair of cowering beasts at the base of the shield.
Quite an early instance of playful treatment is furnished by the seal of
Roger Leybourne (_ob._ 1284). This has a small banner standing behind
the shield, which is hung on a tree with side branches; one of these
supports the crested helm, and the other ends in a bunch of leaves (pl.
XI A).
Thomas lord Holand and Wake (_c._ 1353) has within a traceried panel a
tree standing in a rabbit warren and supporting his crowned helm with
its huge bush of feathers. Hanging on either side are two shields, one
with beautiful diapering of his lordship of Wake, the other (originally)
of his lordship of Holand (pl. XXVII A).
[Illustration:
A Thomas lord Holand and Wake, _c._ 1350.
B Margaret Beauchamp, wife of John Talbot earl of Shrewsbury, after 1433.
PLATE XXVII.--Methods of arranging shields.]
Thomas of Woodstock duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III, used from
about 1385 a lovely seal with the stock of a tree standing within a
paling and surrounded by water on which float two chained Bohun swans,
for his wife Eleanor Bohun; from the tree hangs a large shield of the
duke's arms, with his crested helm above, and from two side branches are
suspended diapered shields of the earldom of Hereford (_azure two bends,
one gold, the other silver_), also in reference to his Bohun marriage.
Margaret daughter of Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick, and wife of John
Talbot earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford, in her fine shield (after 1433)
suspends by their straps her father's shield and the impaled shield of
her husband and herself from the ragged staff of her father's house (pl.
XXVII B).
Thomas Holand earl of Kent used in 1398 a seal bearing his badge of a
white hind with a crown for a collar, reclining under a tree, and with
the shield of his arms hanging round its neck (pl. XVIII B).
In the fourteenth century seal of the mayoralty of Calais a boar has a
cloak tied about his neck and flying upwards banner-wise to display the
arms of the town, which were _barry wavy with a crowned (?) leopard
rampant_ (fig. 129). A similar treatment occurs on the half-florin of
King Edward III, which has for device a crowned sitting leopard with a
cloak about his neck with the royal arms.
[Illustration: FIG. 129. Seal of the mayoralty of Calais.]
On one of his seals as regent of France (1422-35) John duke of Bedford
has an eagle standing with one leg upon his badge, the root of a tree,
and holding in its other claw a shield of his arms.
William lord Fitz Hugh (1429) and of Marmion shows on his seal his
quartered shield ensigned by his helm and crest, which was apparently a
lion's head. The rest of the beast is somewhat incongruously squatting
behind the shield and has the paws thrust out on each side to grasp two
banners of arms that complete the composition (pl. XXVIII A).
A similar pair of banners appears on the seal of Walter lord Hungerford,
which has the shield 'supported' by two Hungerford sickles, and
surmounted by the crested helm, with flanking banners of the arms of the
lordships of Heytesbury and Hussey (fig. 130).
[Illustration: FIG. 130. Seal of Walter lord Hungerford with banners of
Heytesbury and Hussey or Homet, _c._ 1420.]
[Illustration:
A William lord FitzHugh (1429) and of Marmion.
B Margaret lady Hungerford and Botreaux, 1462.
PLATE XXVIII.--Examples of banners of arms.]
Banners also figure prominently on the charming seal of Margaret lady of
Hungerford and Botreaux (1462) (pl. XXVIII B). She was the daughter of
William lord Botreaux and Margaret Beaumont, and wife of Sir Robert
Hungerford, who died in 1459. The seal shows the lady in her widow's
dress 'sitting upon her knees' in a garden, and reading from a book some
words which are inscribed on a scroll about her head. Overshadowing her
are two large banners of impaled arms: one of Hungerford and Botreaux,
upheld by a lion; the other of Botreaux and Beaumont, upheld by a
griffin.
On many late thirteenth and early fourteenth century seals it was not
uncommon to represent ladies holding up shields of arms. A delightful
example that may be cited is that of Emmeline FitzGerald, and wife of
Stephen Longespee, who is upholding her father's shield in her right and
her husband's in her left hand. Below each shield is a leopard of
England to show her husband's close relationship to the royal house, and
on each side of her is a _long sword_. She died in 1331 (pl. XXIX B).
A few cases occur where a man himself acts as the supporter of his arms.
One of the shields of Henry Percy earl of Northumberland (1377) shows
him in armour, standing behind a large shield of Percy which he supports
with his left hand. His right is upon the hilt of a sword with the belt
wrapped about it, and against his left shoulder rests a banner with the
Percy lion. The earl appears in similar fashion in another of his seals
as lord of Cockermouth (1393). In this the shield is quarterly of Percy
and Lucy, and is grasped as before by his left hand, while the right
holds up a pennon charged with his badge of a crescent (pl. XXIX A).
It must suffice to quote one last piece of playfulness, a seal of
Richard duke of York and earl of March and Ulster (_ob._ 1460) as
justice-in-eyre of the forests. This has his shield of arms suspended
about the neck of a York falcon, and enclosed by the horns of a buck's
head in base, in reference to his office. Upon the buck's horns are
fixed two small hands for the duke's earldom of Ulster (pl. XXIX C).
[Illustration:
A Henry Percy earl of Northumberland, 1377.
B Emmelin FitzGerald, wife of Stephen Longespee, c. 1250.
C Richard duke of York, as Justice in Eyre of Forests, ob. 1460.
PLATE XXIX.--Ways of upholding shields.]
CHAPTER IX
BANNERS OF ARMS
The Royal Banner of Arms; the Banner of the Arms of the
City of London; Shapes of Banners; Sizes of certain
Banners; Upright _versus_ Long Banners; Advantages of the
upright form; Banners with Achievements of Arms; Modern
Use of Banners.
Representations of banners constantly occur in medieval pictures (fig.
131); and, as has been shown above, they are not infrequent upon seals.
[Illustration: FIG. 131. Knights with banners, from an illumination in
Royal MS. 19 B XV in the British Museum.]
Every one is familiar with the banner of the royal arms that betokens
the presence of the King, and with our splendid national banner known as
the Union Jack. The banner with the arms of the city that is flown above
the Mansion House when the lord mayor is in residence is familiar to
Londoners, and the citizens of Rochester are equally accustomed to see
the banner of their city flying on Sundays and holidays from the great
tower of their castle. Let a banner once be regarded in the light of a
rectangular shield and its fitness to contain armorial bearings
immediately becomes apparent. The King's banner is now always miscalled
'the royal standard,' even in official language, though heraldically it
is not a standard at all, but simply a banner.
Medieval banners at first were oblong in shape, and set upright with a
longer side next the staff. In the late thirteenth century pictures
formerly in the painted chamber in the palace of Westminster the banners
borne by the knights were more than twice as tall as they were broad.
The same proportion survives even in the famous pictorial pageant of
Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick, drawn about 1493;[9] but the majority
of the banners therein shown have a height one and three-quarter times
the width, which is better for the display of heraldry. This is also the
proportion of the banners on William lord Hungerford's seal (fig. 132),
but the banners with impaled arms on lady Hungerford's seal are nearly
square (fig. 133). On the monument in Westminster abbey church of Lewis
lord Bourchier (_ob._ 1431) the large quartered banners at the ends,
upheld by lions and eagles, are slightly less than a square and a half
in area, and admirably proportioned for displaying arms (fig. 134). The
banner of King Edward IV, 'which also hung over his grave' in St.
George's chapel in Windsor castle, is described as of 'Taffaty, and
thereon painted quarterly France and England; it had in breadth three
foot four inches, besides a Fringe of about an inch broad, and in depth
five foot and four inches, besides the Fringe.'[10] Ashmole, in his
description of the banners hung above the stalls of the Knights of the
Garter, states (in 1672) that 'the fashion of the Soveraign's and all
the Knight-Companions Banners are square; but it doth no where appear to
us, of what size their Banners anciently were; yet in Queen Elizabeth's
Reign, we find them two yards and a quarter long, and a yard and three
quarters broad, beside the Fringe (which is made of Gold or Silver and
Silk, of the colours in the Wreath) and thereon are wrought or beaten
upon Taffaty-Sarcenet, double-Sarcenet, or rich Taffaty, with fine Gold
and Colours, on both sides, the paternal Coat of the Knights Companion,
together with his Quarterings, or so many of them as he please to make
use of, wherein Garter is to take care that they be warrantly
marshalled.... These Banners of Arms are fixed to the end of long
Staves, painted in Oyl, formerly with the Colours of the Wreath, but now
Red.'[11]
[9] Brit. Mus. Cott. MS. Julius E. IV.
[10] Elias Ashmole, _The Institution, Laws and Ceremonies of the most
Noble Order of the Garter_ (London, 1672), 149.
[11] _Ibid._ 335, 336.
[Illustration: FIG. 132. Seal of Walter lord Hungerford with banners.]
[Illustration: FIG. 133. Part of the seal of Margaret lady Hungerford,
with impaled banner held up by a lion.]
[Illustration: FIG. 134. Tomb of Lewis Robsart lord Bourchier, K.G.
(_ob._ 1431), in Westminster abbey church, with banners of arms upheld
by supporters.]
The remark here as to the quarterings, in view of the comments upon them
in an earlier page of this book, is interesting, but it is more
important to note that both the banner of King Edward IV, and those of
the Knights of the Garter in Queen Elizabeth's time, were of similar
proportions to those on the Bourchier monument.
The fact is that the heraldic draughtsmen of even this late period were
fully as aware as their predecessors of the difficulty of drawing arms
in a banner that exceeded the width of a square, and they also
appreciated the greater advantage of an area that was narrower than that
figure.
The longer form of banner may be tolerated for so simple a combination
as the Union Jack, or even for such of its component parts as the cross
of St. Andrew or the saltire of St. Patrick, but it is rarely possible
so to arrange heraldry upon it as to look well, and even the cross of
St. George looks better upright thus
[Illustration]
than
[Illustration]
when
extended unduly horizontally.
In the King's banner as at present borne it is practically impossible to
draw the arms artistically, or with a proper balancing relation of field
and charge (fig. 135). The leopards of England may be so outrageously
lengthened and attenuated as nearly to fill the quarters allotted to
them, but it is impracticable to display properly the upright form of
the ramping lion of Scotland or to expand horizontally the Irish harp.
In the banner, too, of the lord mayor of London as used on the Mansion
House to-day, the sword of St. Paul in the quarter can only be drawn of
the comparative size of Sir William Walworth's dagger, which it is in
consequence so absurdly mistaken to be.
[Illustration: FIG. 135. The King's banner or 'royal standard' as now
borne.]
Were, however, the King's arms (see frontispiece) and those of his city
of London placed on upright oblong or even square banners, all
difficulties of drawing them would be avoided, and from appearing to be
glaring examples of mean modern heraldry they would forthwith become
fine pieces of artistic decoration.
A close approximation to the better way of displaying the King's arms is
illustrated by the lately adopted banners of Queen Mary and Queen
Alexandra, both of which show the Sovereign's arms impaling those of his
consort. The King's arms are thus restricted to half the usual length of
the present 'royal standard,' that is, to a square, and so can be drawn
with less waste space on either side of the charges.
Whatever be their shape, banners, like shields, ought as a rule to be
covered completely with the heraldry, like the banners of the Knights of
the Garter at Windsor (which, though modern, are quite good in this
respect) and those of more recent institution of the Order of St.
Michael and St. George in St. Paul's cathedral church.
Examples are not lacking, even in the fifteenth century, of banners
charged with regular heraldic achievements instead of arms, and quite
an interesting series may be found among the Windsor stall-plates. Two
small oblong plates of Sir Peter Courtenay and Henry lord FitzHugh are
practically complete banners of their arms, but Walter lord Hungerford
(after 1426) displays his arms, with helm, crest, and mantling, upon a
dull black banner with fringed gold border attached to a writhen gilded
staff (fig. 136). Richard Nevill earl of Salisbury (_c._ 1436) (fig.
137), John earl of Shrewsbury (_c._ 1453), John lord Tiptoft (_c._
1461), and several others have their arms, etc. on plain gold-coloured
fringed banners, but Richard lord Rivers (_c._ 1450), Thomas lord
Stanley (_c._ 1459), and George duke of Clarence (_c._ 1461) have the
field worked all over with decorative scroll-work. Sir John Grey of
Ruthin (_c._ 1439) also displays his arms on an undoubted banner with
black ground and gold fringe and staff (fig. 138), and William lord
Fauconberg (_c._ 1440) on a banner with the field bendy of blue and
silver, with a gold fringe and staff. It is not improbable that several
other quadrangular stall-plates with coloured grounds represent banners.
Edmund of Langley duke of York has the field paly of three pieces of
silver, green, and black; John duke of Bedford (1422-3) has a ground
party blue and silver, and Thomas duke of Exeter (_c._ 1422) a ground
all black. John duke of Somerset (_c._ 1440) has the field of his plate
bendy of silver, red, and green, with a gilded border of scrolled
leaves; and Walter lord Mountjoy (_c._ 1472) disposes the same three
colours in vertical stripes.
[Illustration: FIG. 136. Stall-plate, as a banner, of Walter lord
Hungerford, after 1426.]
[Illustration: FIG. 137. Stall-plate, as a banner, of Richard Nevill
earl of Salisbury, _c._ 1436.]
[Illustration: FIG. 138. Stall-plate, as a banner, of Sir John Grey of
Ruthin, _c._ 1439.]
Two similar displays of heraldic achievements are to be found in a
manuscript at the Heralds' College.[12] In one of these the arms, etc.
of Sir Richard Nanfant (_ob._ 1506-7) are painted upon a quadrangular
field party of blue and green. In the other the impaled shield of Sir
Richard and his dame, upheld by an angel, is painted upon a ground
having the upper three-fourths red and the fourth part pale pink.[13]
[12] MS. M 3.
[13] _Illustrated Catalogue of the Heraldic Exhibition, Burlington
House, 1894_ (London, 1896), pl. xxviii.
In modern practice there is no conceivable reason why banners for the
display of arms should not be more widely adopted; not only as banners
proper, to fly upon a staff, but in decorative art, such as painting,
sculpture, and embroidery. Both the Royal Society and the Society of
Antiquaries regularly notify their existence in Burlington House by
displaying banners of their arms over their apartments, and their
example is one that might be followed by other corporations entitled to
bear arms. On the use of banners by individuals it is unnecessary to
enter after the useful series of examples and usages thereof already
noted.
The curious flags known as standards, which were in use during the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, seem to have been borne simply for
display in pageants or at funerals. For decorative purposes they are
most effective, and as they were anciently borne by men of every degree
down to and including esquires, they might with much advantage from the
artistic standpoint again be devised and brought into use.
A standard (fig. 139) was a long narrow flag with the lower edge
horizontal, and the upper gradually descending from the staff to the
extremity, which was split into two rounded ends. A compartment next the
staff always contained the arms of St. George. The rest of the ground
not infrequently was formed of two, three, or four horizontal stripes of
the livery colours of the owner, and divided into three sections by two
slanting bands with his word, reason, or motto. Upon the section next to
the St. George's cross was generally displayed the principal beast or
other device of the bearer and in later times the crest on a torse,
while the other sections and the field in general were powdered with
badges or rebuses. The whole was fringed of the livery colours.
[Illustration: FIG. 139. Standard of Sir Henry Stafford, K.G. _c._
1475.]
The series illustrated in the volume in the De Walden Library on
"Banners, Standards, and Badges from a Tudor Manuscript in the College
of Arms" will supply ample evidence of the playful composition of
ancient standards, and hints as to the way in which they may be invented
nowadays.
Pennons were small and narrow flags of varying length, sometimes
pointed, sometimes swallow-tailed at the end, fixed below the point of a
lance or spear and carried by the owner as his personal ensign (fig.
140). That held by Sir John d'Abernoun in his well-known brass (_c._
1277) at Stoke d'Abernoun is short and pointed and fringed, and bears
his arms (_azure a cheveron gold_). A contemporary illustration of a
large and more fluttering form of pennon is to be seen in fig. 141. An
example of a pennon charged with a badge, in the shape of the Percy
crescent, occurs on the seal of Henry Percy earl of Northumberland,
who is shown with it in his hand (pl. XXIX A).
[Illustration: FIG. 140. Knights with pennons, from an illumination in
Royal MS. 19 B XV in the British Museum.]
[Illustration: FIG. 141. Armed Knights carrying pennons, temp. Edward I,
from an illumination in Arundel MS. 83 f. 132.]
In the fif
Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/45181