A Row of Saints and Their Attributed Arms

As I continued my perambulation around York Minster looking for heraldry, I came across this row of four windows containing the stained glass images of four saints, along with their attributed arms, plus the arms -- some attributed, some known to have been borne -- of other individuals.

Here's a partially obscured overview of these four windows, and then below we will review each window in turn and identify both coats of arms in each.

So, looking at each window separately, from left to right:

Here we see the figure of St. Peter holding the keys symbolically given to him by Christ, with his attributed arms of Gules two keys in saltire wards to chief or beneath him. Toward the top of the window, we find the arms of Latimer, Gules a cross patonce or, which we have seen previously elsewhere in the cathedral.

The figure here is that of St. Paul bearing his attributes of a sword in his right hand and a book containing his letters to the various churches, and beneath him (one of) his attributed arms, Gules a sword proper. And in the upper part of the window, we see the attributed arms of Edwin, King of Northumbria, Gules three crowns or.

In the third window, we have the figure of St. Lawrence holding a palm branch in his right hand and a gridiron, the method of his martydrom, in his left. Beneath him, we see his attributed arms, Gules a gridiron or. In the upper part of the window, we see the arms of Archbishop Richard Scrope, which we have also seen elsewhere in the Minster, Azure a bend or a label argent all within a bordure gules semy of bishop's mitres or.

Finally, this window, hidden from view by a pillar in the first photograph above, we find the figure of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, with his attributed arms, Gules two palm branches or enfiling a crown or chased argent. These charges are emblematic of a martyr. And in the upper part of the window, we see once again the (other) attributed arms of  St. Paul, Gules two swords in saltire blades to base proper.

This is a beautiful set of stained glass windows, and the depictions of both the central figures and the eight coats of arms, both attributed and otherwise, are appealingly rendered here. And the more you lookd at them, the more detail in them you notice. (For example, both of these last two windows have dedications in Latin in their lower right corners.)

I hope that you find some enjoyment in looking at these windows from York Minster.