Monday, January 22, 2024

The Great Stone Shields of York Minster, Part 7


Continuing our look at the stone shields flanking the (many!) archways inside York Minster (we're coming near the last of them, I promise!), today we see the following:


On the left, the attributed arms of St. Paul, Gules two swords in saltire points downward proper; and on the right, the attributed arms of St. Peter, Gules two keys in saltire wards to chief argent.


Here, looking through the archway, on the left we have Hugh FitzHenry (d. 1305) or his son, Henry FitzHugh, Azure three chevronels braced and a chief or. (The chevronels may be an error for Azure fretty a chief or as cited in Burke's General Armory and in Aspilogia III); and on the right, Henry le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Masham (1312-1392), Azure a bend or overall a label argent).

And on the near side of the arch, in the center we see the attributed arms of Jesus Christ, Sable a Latin cross or with other symbols of the cruxifiction; and on the right the arms of William FitzRalph or Ralph FitzWilliam de Greystoke, Barruly argent and azure, three chaplets of roses gules.


And in this view from a slightly different angle as the previous photograph, the arms of Henry le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Masham again, and on this side of the arch, from left to right, the attributed arms of St. Wilfrid, Azure three suns or; the attributed arms of Jesus; and the arms of William FitzRalph or Ralph FitzWilliam de Greystoke.


And from the same location, but looking further down the aisle, from left to right, we see the attributed arms of Jesus; the arms of William FitzRalph or Ralph FitzWilliam de Greystoke, Barruly argent and azure, three chaplets of roses gules; the arms of William le Latimer, senior (d. 1304), Gules a cross patonce or; and the arms of Robert de Clifford, Checky or and azure a fess gules.


And in our final archway for today, on the left we see the arms of Archbishop Richard le Scrope (1350-1405), third son of Henry, 1st Baron Scrope of Masham, Archbishop of York 1398-1405, who was executed in 1405 for his participation in the Northern Rising against King Henry IV, Azure a bend or and a label argent all within a bordure gules charged with mitres or; and on the right, the arms of Walter Skirlaw, canon of York and Bishop of Durham 1388-1406, Argent a cross triple-parted and fretted sable, or Argent a cross of six osiers intertwined sable.

As you can see, this last shield is proof once again that there may be more than one way to correctly blazon a coat of arms; either of the given blazons will accurately reproduce the shield here. Proof once again that heraldry is as much an art as it is a science.

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