The Arms of a Very Popular Saint at York Minster

We've now come to the last of our pictures of heraldry in York Minster, and I'm going to end our journey here with a couple of depictions of a saint who seems to be very popular here, given how many times we have seen his attributed coat of arms in the cathedral: Saint Peter.

Those arms are blazoned: Gules two keys in saltire wards to chief or.

First, we find these arms in yet another stained glass window:

This window dates way back; in the lower right panel there are three dates (presumably those of its installation and when it has been repaired/replaced): circa 1310, 1789, and 1950!

And in the lower left panel of the window, we find the attributed arms of St. Peter:

And in another part of the cathedral, we find, within one photograph, two depictions of these same arms:

The shield at the base of the ironwork decoration is easy to see here, but if you look closely (and you can click on the image above to go to the full-size photograph), there is another shield on the ceiling behind the ironwork, above and a little to the right of the shield in front, bearing these same arms. (Because of the bright light illuminating the ceiling, the red of the shield looks a little washed out here. The camera I use can only compensate so much, you see.)

And here's a close-up of the arms of St. Peter on the ironwork:

And so, with these examples of the attributed arms of St. Peter, we end our travels both in the City of York and in York Minster. I hope that you have enjoyed seeing all of these examples of the heraldry to be found there!

More Arms to Identify With Some Difficulty

In the last of this series of three windows in York Minster, some of whose coats of arms have been somewhat difficult to conclusively identify, well, we continue with the same problems.

Depending entirely upon your own confidence in identifying heraldry (and I have learned over the years not to be overconfident of my own), there are either six or seven coats of arms here.

Near the top of these windows, placed in roundels, we have in the left and right lights the arms of St. Paul, Gules two swords in saltire points downwards proper.

In the center roundel, John Toy in his A Guide and Index to the Windows of York Minster, says “?shield with green field". For myself, I do not see a shield there. I see a green field with what may be a human figure or even a farmer in white with what may be some wheat in gold to the left of his feet, but I don't see a shield or coat of arms there. Please feel free to click on the image above to go to the full-size photograph, and the zoom in on the central roundel here. If you see anything different from me, please let me know in the comments below.

In the row of three shields in the center of each of the three lights, going from left to right:

Toy says this first shield is Ingram, which should be Azure a chevron between three lions passant or (as we have seen elsewhere in the Minster), instead of the argent field here. The whole arms are difficult to make out because of what appears to be the breakage of the glass at some time with new leading to repair it. However, it is possible to make out the charges on the shield (even if the color of the field is incorrect), and though it is difficult to make out a helmet above the shield, the mantling (gules turned argent) is pretty clear, as is the Ingram crest of A cock or.

For the center shield, Toy says Ingram impaling Greville, which ought to be: Azure a chevron between three lions passant or, impaling Sable on a cross engrailed or five roundels sable. Here, too, there are errors: the azure field of Ingram is white here, as it is in the shield on the left; and the Greville arms are shown only as a dark (dirty?) gold. Here, too, I suspect that the window was damaged at some time, and this is how it got repaired.

And for the shield on the right, Toy says Greville, which should be Sable on a cross engrailed or five roundels sable, but here the roundels are painted as annulets.

And finally, at the bottom center of the window, we have the arms of St. Peter, Gules two keys in saltire wards to chief the one or and the other argent, being supported by an angel. Looking closely at the shield, I wonder if this shield was originally the arms of the See of York, as it appears the bishop's mitre above the keys may have been removed the way it was in that other window that we saw just a few days ago. If you click on the image above and zoom in, you can see for yourself where it looks like something shaped like a mitre may have been removed and replaced with plain red glass.

Next time, we may finish up our visit to York Minster.

More Arms Identified, and More Arms Not Identified

Our next window in York Minster has four coats of arms, some of which give us the same kinds of issues of identification as some of those in the previous window did.

There are three shields across the upper part of the three lights, and another at the bottom of the central light.

To review the three in the upper part of the windows:

For the arms on the left, John Toy in A Guide and Index to the Windows of York Minster says that this coat is that of the Prince of Wales, without specifying which one which one. Nonetheless, the shield does appear to be Gules three lions passant guardant in pale or overall a label of three tags argent (although the white label is significantly darker than the white portions in the rest of the window. Has it become badly discolored, or is it meant to be some other color?).

Of the arms in the central light, Vert a cross gules, I could only find the attributed arms of Galicia. Toy says that this is the arms of Greenfield. However, in Burke's General Armory, Greenfield is blazoned as Vert on a cross argent five torteaux. The Dictionary of British Arms has no entries for Vert a cross gules.

The third shield is definitely that of Archbishop Walter Giffard (Archbishop of York 1266-1279), Gules three lions passant in pale argent.

And now the shield at the bottom of the window:

I would blazon these arms as: Azure on a chevron cotised between three lions rampant argent three escallops sable. Toy says that the arms here, without identifying any name associated with them, are Argent a lion rampant on a chief gules three escallops or, which is clearly a different coat of arms from what appears in the window now. I believe these arms are too recent for them to appear in any of my armorials or ordinaries.

So there you have it! A three-light window with four coats of arms, one definitely identifiable, one with a "maybe" identification suspect only because of the white portions may be badly discolored, and two with no firm identification at all.

But that is often "life in the heraldic fast lane", I suppose.

More Armorial Windows in York Minster

I will admit it; there are a lot of armorial stained glass windows in York Minster.

But we are now fast approaching the end of our journey in the Minster, and I'll have to find you something else heraldic to look at before very long.

But until then ...

This window, identified in John Toy's A Guide and Index to the Windows of York Minster as s31, and by Browne in A Description of the Representations and Arms on the Glass in the Windows of York Minster as the third window in the south aisle of the Nave, give us a few problems in accurately identifying the heraldry contained herein.

Beginning at the top of the window, in the center light we have:

Toy identifies this shield as that of Edmund of Woodstock, that is to say, England with a bordure argent. Browne says it is Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester.

Moving down to the center of the windows vertically, in the left and right lights we see:

On the left, Browne does not identify this coat of arms. Toy says this is the coat of FitzAlan of Bedale, Barry gules and argent a bordure azure. 

Of the arms on the right, Browne identifies it as Toy says this shield is that of John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, England with a bordure of France. (At this scale, the stained glass of the bordure is simply alternating panes of azure and or, rather than azure with fleurs-de-lis or. I expect that most visitors to the Minster wouldn't even notice the difference.) However, and adding to the confusion, Browne identifies this coat as the Earl of Huntingdon, which would make the family name here Holland. (The second and third Holland Earls of Huntingdon of the fourth creation bore England with a bordure of France.) But Holland, with a different shield, also appears lower in the window. Frankly, one of the Holland Earls seems more likely than an Earl of Cornwall, but who am I to say?

And down at the base of the window, we come to:

On the left, Browne once again does not identify this shield, which I would blazon as Azure three chevronels braced argent a chief checky argent and azure. Toy says this is the arms of FitzHugh, but FitzHugh, which we have seen elsewhere in the Minster, is Azure three chevronels braced a chief or. So I have been unable to confirm Toy's identification of this shield.

On the right, however, we have the arms of Holland, Azure semy-de-lis a lion rampant argent.

So you can see that some of the armorial identifications here are a bit muddled, to say the least.

Three Windows, Six Coats of Arms

Continuing (but coming near to the end of) our perambulation around York Minster, we come to a set of three windows which contain two coats of arms each.

You will probably recognize each of these arms, as we have seen them elsewhere in the cathedral.

In the first window we see the arms of FitzAlan, Barry of eight or and gules (the one black bar has apparently replaced a red one); and Latimer, Gules a cross patonce or.

In the next window we see the arms of Ros or de Ros, Gules three water bougets argent; and de Clare, Or three chevrons gules.

And in the third window, the arms of Warenne or de Warenne, Checky or and azure; and Percy ancient, Azure a fess of five fusils or.

On a genealogical note, it was Henry, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick, who changed his arms from Percy ancient (as appear in this window) to Percy modern (which we have also see elsewhere in the Minster), Or a lion rampant azure. John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, was Henry, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick’s maternal grandfather. So now you know the family connection between these two coats of arms!

More Saints and "Just Plain Folks"

In our next two windows in York Minster we find some more saints along with the arms of some regular (if wealthy) people.

In this window, we have an image of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child.

Above her, we find the arms of Bryan, Azure three piles or.

And beneath her, we see the arms of Sir Charles Hayward or Heyward, Or on a chief azure a fret debruised by a heart or between two bees volant proper. You can learn a lot more about Sir Charles by way of his entry in Wikipedia at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_William_Hayward

The central figure in our next window is labeled as St. Oswald.

That said, the banner he is holding with his right hand bears the attributed arms associated with St. Edwin. (I would note, too, that Azure three crowns or is also attributed to King Arthur. That's the wonderful thing about attributing coats of arms to figures who lived before heraldry; you can invent just about anything you like for them!)

The arms above the figure of St. Oswald are in memory of Guy Cuthbert Dawnay, a Conservative politician and the fourth son of William Dawnay, 7th Viscount Downe. The arms are blazoned Argent on a bend cotised sable three annulets argent, but lack a martlet, the usual cadency difference for a fourth son. Guy Dawnay, who was killed at the age of 40 by a wounded buffalo in 1889 near Mombassa in East Africa, is also commemorated in the inscription at the bottom right corner of this window. He also has his own Wikipedia entry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Dawnay_(politician), although that entry does not mention this memorial window in York Minster.

Once again, please take the time to really look at and appreciate the stained glass painter's skill in creating these two windows, in addition to the heraldry contained in them.

Saints and Regular People

The two windows in York Minster that we're going to look at today each have the arms of a saint along with the arms of just a regular person (albeit presumably a rich one).

Here, with the central figure of St. Gabriel who is greeting the Virgin Mary (who is not included in this frame), we have in chief the attributed arms of St. Paul, Gules two swords in saltire points downwards proper.

The arms in the base of the window (above) are a little harder to positively identify. They are blazoned Vairy argent and gules a bordure azure bezanty [or, semy of bezants/roundels or]. John Toy, in A Guide and Index to the Windows of York Minster says these are the arms of A. S. Rymer. But the arms of the only Rymer in Burke's General Armory are given as Gules a tree eradicated or surmounted by a greyhound passant argent collared or. But Burke also cites a Rimmer with the arms shown here. Looking elsewhere, I can also find Delaryver, of Bransby, Yorkshire, and also Nicholas de la Rivere with these same arms.

So I'm at a bit of a loss here. Rimmer is easily seen as a variant spelling of Rymer (and vice versa); can Delaryver and de la Rivere also be variants of Rymer/Rimmer, and thus all part of the same family? I could make the argument in favor of that interpretation, but I could just as easily argue against it.

Fortunately, the next window contains no such similar uncertainty.

Here, above the central figure of St. John the Baptist holding the Agnus Dei, we see the attributed arms of St. William, Or seven mascles conjoined three three and one gules.

And below the central figure, we find the arms of Noel Goddard Terry, a grandson of Sir Joseph Terry (1828-1898). Sir Joseph was a British confectioner, industrialist and Conservative politician who served as Lord Mayor of York on three occasions. Joseph Terry and Sons, Ltd. is a chocolate confectionary company best known for their chocolate oranges. (There is a plethora of information about Terry's Chocolate Oranges on-line at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry%27s_Chocolate_Orange.)

Noel G. Terry's arms are a differenced from Sir Joseph's by the use of the two martlets, each the cadency mark of a fourth son, and are blazoned: Ermine on a cross invected between in chief two martlets gules a fasces between in pale two roses argent and in fess two lions passant or.

Henry V, Act III, Scene 1

Today's window from York Minster immediately reminded me of Shakespeare's Henry V, Act III, Scene 1, which has Henry before the walls of Harfleur giving his "Once more unto the breach, dear friends" speech, which ends with:

"Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'"

So here we have the figure of St. George, bearing in his right hand a two-tailed banner of his arms Argent a cross gules, his left hand resting on a shield of the arms of England, Gules three lions passant guardant in pale or.

And in the upper part of the window, a shield with the arms of St. George, Argent a cross gules.

So you can see why my mind was immediately drawn to that line from the play Henry V; the only thing this window is missing is a direct reference to King Henry V to complete it.

Once again, be sure to take in the very high quality work in this window. It is a joy to behold, Shakespearean reference or not!

St. Michael the Archangel, St. Peter, and the Civic Trust

Our next window from York Minster is a less ornately decorated one, but still impressive.

The central figure is that of St. Michael the Archangel slaying the dragon.

You might want to click on the image above to see the full-size photograph; the detailing in the figure of St. Michael is well worth taking the time to really look at.

At the top of the window you can find the arms of St. Peter, Gules two keys in saltire wards upwards or. The arms here were, according to John Toy in A Guide and Index to the Windows of York Minster, originally those of the Dean and Chapter of York, but have had the tiara in chief removed.

And at the base of the window, we find the badge of the York Civic Trust, which we have seen before in our perambulations around the City of York.

As noted before, this badge dimidiates Azure a fleur-de-lys or with Gules a crowned lion's face or (the golden border here is not typically a part of the badge, as you can see by a simple image search on-line for "York Civic Trust"), thus reflecting in simplified form the Plantagenet arms of England, Quarterly: 1 and 4, France ancient (later France modern); and 2 and 3, England.

But really, in addition to the heraldry in this window, please note all of the detail in both the images and the surrounding lozenge-shaped panes of glass.

What a great example of the painter/stainer's art here!

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.

Heraldry In The News!

It's time for another edition of "Heraldry In The News!", though this time not for the most positive of reasons.

Now, to be honest, I haven't been following the anti-immigration demonstrations (and counter-demonstrations) and far-right riots occurring in England very much, as I am still recovering from surgery to remove the hardware they put into my left ankle nearly ten years ago to repair a spiral fracture but which was now causing what they term "hardware pain", as well as dealing with some scar tissue that had built up and was also beginning to cause some issues there.

But though I'm not getting out on-line quite as much as usual right now, interesting pictures of heraldry still attract my attention, as this one did taken at a demonstration that became a riot in Leeds, England.

My first thought upon seeing it, especially as regards the man in the mask, is that: "Apparently someone has not learned that the primary reason for heraldry is identification of the bearer."

Now, admittedly, the coat of arms on his left shoulder is not his, or his family's, but still ....

The shield is that of the Middlesbrough Football Club,* as can be easily found on their website and any number of other places on the internet, such as Wikipedia, where the image below came from.

As you can see, it's pretty much an exact match for his tattoo.

Anyway, it just seems to me that if you apparently don't want anyone to identify you -- as he seemingly doesn't, given the mask pulled up to obscure most of his face -- then maybe you shouldn't at the same time be clearly and publicly displaying a tattoo of a coat of arms that can be used to easily identify you!

Just sayin'.

* The city of Middlesbrough, where Middlesbrough FC is located, is about 65 miles (105 km) NNE of Leeds. I cannot say why a Middlesbrough fan would be in Leeds for a demonstration/riot, but there could be any of several possible innocuous explanations in addition to the ones that are more sinister.

Fourteen Armorial Windows of a Single Pattern, Part 7 of 7

And now we come to the last three windows (an odd number, because one of my earlier posts required enough explanation that it only covered a single of these windows) in the Clerestory Nave in York Minster.

This window contains the arms of England (in the center, as has been usual for these windows), but the remaining arms are all those of different members of the Mauley family, making this window quite the family reunion.

Here we see, from left to right, the arms of: Edmund Mauley, Or on a bend sable three wyverns argent; John Mauley, Or on a bend sable three dolphins argent [these last look like horse’s heads to me, but what do I know?]; England, Gules three lions passant guardant in pale or; Robert Mauley, Or on a bend sable three eagles displayed argent; and Piers (Peter) Mauley, with the base Mauley arms, Or a bend sable.

Next up:

This window contains the arms, all of which we have seen elsewhere in the Minster, of:

From left to right: Vavasour, Or a dance sable; Clare, Or three chevrons gules; England, Gules three lions passant guardant in pale or; Percy (modern), Or a lion rampant azure; and, as in the last window (above), Mauley, Or a bend sable.

And finally,

In this window, we do not have the arms of England in the center, as in so many of the other windows in the Clerestory.

Instead, we have, from left to right: Hastings, Argent a maunch sable; Vavasour, Or a dance sable; Etton of Gilling, Barry of 14 argent and gules on a canton azure a cross flory or; the attributed arms of King Arthur, Azure three crowns or (Weir's A Guide to the Heraldry in York Minster says that this coat is the attributed coat of arms of King Edwin of Northumbria, but those arms are elsewhere given in the Minster as Gules three crowns or, so I am using the more common attribution of these arms in other sources); and finally, Lamplugh, Or a cross flory sable.

I hope that you have enjoyed our little romp through the Clerestory Nave windows in York Minster.

Next time, more heraldry from elsewhere in the cathedral!

Fourteen Armorial Windows of a Single Pattern, Part 6 of 7

In the inimitable words of Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Movie,

        Movin' right along
        Footloose and fancy-free
        Getting there is half the fun, come share it with me
        Moving right along (doog-a-doon doog-a-doon)

We are now "moving right along" to our next pair of windows in the Nave Clerestory of York Minster, we come to:

The arms here, from left to right, are:

Warrenne, Checky azure and or; Wake, Or a fess gules and in chief three torteaux; England, Gules three lions passant guardant in pale or; Wake, Or two bars gules and in chief three torteaux; and Teye, Or on a fess between two chevrons gules three mullets of eight points argent. (It is possible, though, that this is a cadet of FitzWalter.)

And in the next window:

These arms are, from left to right:

Trehouse, Vair a maunch gules; 

Vert six lions rampant three two and one or a label of four points gules. Browne, in A Description of the Representations and Arms on the Glass in the Windows of York Minster, identifies this coat as the son of Ulphus of Deira. For more information about the base coat of arms, see Ulphus of Deira, below; 

England, Gules three lions passant guardant in pale or; 

Browne identifies this coat, Vert six lions rampant three two and one or, as Ulphus of Deira (the name is more commonly given as Ulf) whose attributed arms we have seen before in the great stone shields in the nave). Ulf, Prince of Deira, is said to have donated a large ivory horn to York Minster around the year 1030 (and thus he lived in pre-heraldic times), along with granting the whole of his lands and revenues to God and St. Peter. But I note that the Dictionary of British Arms, Vol. 1, identifies Vert six lions rampant three two and one or as the arms of Nicholas de Langeford, found in the Boroughbgridge Roll, 1322, so there's that to consider, too; and

Redman, Gules three cushions or. The Dictionary of British Arms cites Redman/Redmayne. Burke’s General Armory gives Redman (cos. Chester and York). Unless, of course, this is an error for William de Greystoke, Gules three lozenges argent, whose arms we have seen elsewhere in the Minster. And if these arms are actually meant to be Gules three lozenges or, then they may be Freeman or St. Andrew (a family name, not the Saint), of Leicestershire.

And thus you see the difficulties that can sometimes be an obstacle to the accurate identification of a coat of arms, when the artists depicting the arms are not clear or make mistakes, as sometimes happens.

Fourteen Armorial Windows of a Single Pattern, Part 5 of 7

Continuing our survey of the coats of arms in these fourteen windows in York Minster which are all of a single pattern or type, we come to the following:

In this window, we find the arms, from left to right, of:

Hook or Houke (same name, different spellings!), Azure a fess between three fleurs-de-lis or; 

John FitzHugh, Azure fretty a chief or; 

England (in the center, as with the other windows in this series), Gules three lions passant guardant in pale or

William de Rythre, Azure three crescents or; and

Here, we're going for probabilities. The shield is Argent a lion rampant azure. Is this an error for Percy (modern)? Percy modern is Or a lion rampant azure. Papworth's Dictionary of British Armorials cites 17 different families with Argent a lion rampant azure, the most likely being Fauconberg/Falconbridge, which comports with the identifications in the Dictionary of British Arms which also makes  Fauconberg/Falconbridge the most likely identification for this coat.

Then in the next window,

we find the following coats of arms, also from left to right:

Deyvill, Or on a fess between four fleurs-de-lis gules two fleurs-de-lis or; 

Furnival, Argent a bend between six martlets gules (yes, I know that the bend looks sable here, but that is the same issue we have seen previously in some of the other windows in this series, where the red has blackened over the years); 

England, Gules three lions passant guardant in pale or; 

Meynell, Azure three bars gemel and a chief or. Burke’s General Armory notes: "Meynell or Mennell (co. York). Azure four (another, six) bars gemel and a chief or;" and

Evers, or Eure, Quarterly or and gules on a bend sable three escallops argent.

I really have to admit that all of these windows, taken as a whole, are very impressive, and not just for the heraldry contained in them!