The Handbook to English Heraldry Part 24

_Aggroupment-- Combination-- Quartering-- Dimidiation-- Impalement-- Escutcheon of Pretence-- Marshalling the Arms of Widowers, Widows, and others; Official Arms; and, the Accessories of Shields._

"Marshalling is a conjoining of diverse Coats in one Shield."

--GUILLIM.

Upon this concise definition, Guillim, in another part of his work, adds the following comment:--"_Marshalling_ is an orderly disposing of sundry Coat Armours pertaining to distinct Families, and their contingent ornaments, with their parts and appurtenances, in their proper places."

Hence it is apparent that this term, "Marshalling," implies--

1. First, the bringing together and the disposition of two or more distinct "Coats in one Shield":

2. Secondly, the aggroupment of two or more distinct Coats to form a single heraldic composition, the Shields being still kept distinct from one another: and,

3. Thirdly, the a.s.sociation of certain insignia with a Shield of arms, so as to produce a complete heraldic achievement.

The a.s.sociation of "Arms" with Names, Dignities, and Estates would necessarily require, at an early period in the history of Heraldry, the establishment of some regular and recognised system for the combination and aggroupment of various distinct coats and insignia, whenever a single individual became the representative of more than one family, or was the hereditary possessor of several dignities and properties.

Again: it would be equally necessary that this system should extend to the becoming heraldic declaration and record of _Alliances_ of every kind, including (a matter of no little importance in the Middle Ages) _feudal dependence_.

In another, and a secondary sense, this same term, _Marshalling_, is used by Heralds to denote the general arrangement and disposition of heraldic charges and insignia in blazon upon the field of a Shield.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 316.--Seal of Margaret, Queen of Edward I.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 317.--Seal of Margaret, Lady de Ros. (_Laing._)]

In its simplest form, MARSHALLING is effected by _Aggroupment_ without Combination--by placing two or more Shields of arms, that is, in such positions as to form a connected group of distinct Shields, either with or without various accessories. Seals afford excellent examples of Marshalling of this order. These Seals may be cla.s.sified in two groups,--one, in which an effigy appears; and a second, in which the composition does not include any effigy. Here I may observe that the same armorial blazonry that was displayed upon their military surcoats by Princes, n.o.bles, and Knights, was adopted by Ecclesiastics for the decoration of their official vestments, and also (towards the close of the thirteenth century) by Ladies of rank, as an appropriate style of ornamentation for their own costume: and many examples of the effigies of Ladies, with a few of Ecclesiatics, adorned in this manner with heraldic insignia, exist in Seals and in Monumental Memorials. In Beverley Minster there is a n.o.ble effigy of a priest, a member of the great family of PERCY (about A.D. 1330), the embroideries of whose vestments are elaborately enriched with numerous allied shields of arms.

Upon his episcopal seal, LEWIS BEAUMONT, Bishop of Durham from 1317 to 1333, has his effigy standing between two Shields of Arms (to the dexter, _England_; to the sinister, a cross potent between four groups of small crosses patees, three crosses in each group), while his chasuble is semee de lys and also charged with a lion rampant--the arms of the house of Beaumont. The obverse of the Seal of MARGARET, daughter of PHILIP the Hardy, King of France, the second Queen of our EDWARD I., ill.u.s.trates this usage in the instance of ladies: No. 316. Upon her tunic the Queen has emblazoned the three lions of her royal husband; on her right side is a shield of _France_, the arms of her royal father; and on the left side a corresponding shield is charged with a lion rampant. I have already shown the reverse of this fine Seal (No. 251), which in the original is one inch more in depth than it appears in these woodcuts.[5] Other characteristic examples are the Seals of AGNES DE PERCY, whose effigy, having the arms of Louvaine upon the tunic, holds two armorial shields, one in each hand: and of MARGARET, Countess of LINCOLN and PEMBROKE (about 1241), who blazons the old arms of DE LACI--_quarterly or and gu., a bend sa., over all a label vert_--upon the tunic of her effigy, and has the same arms on a Shield to the dexter, while another Shield to the sinister is charged with the _lion rampant_, borne by the DE LACIES as Earls of LINCOLN. The effigies of ill.u.s.trious Ladies, which appear on Seals with allied Shields of arms, are not always represented in heraldic costume: good examples are the Seals of ISABELLE OF FRANCE, Queen of EDWARD II., and of ELIZABETH, daughter of EDWARD I., who was Countess, first of HOLLAND, and afterwards of HEREFORD: both are engraved in Sandford's "Genealogical History of England," page 121. The Seal of MARGARET BRUCE, of Skelton, Lady DE ROS, attached to a deed, dated 1820, has the effigy of the n.o.ble lady, wearing her ermine mantle, and supporting two Shields of arms--the Shield of DE ROS, _gu., three water-bougets arg._, to the dexter, and a Shield of BRUCE, _a lion rampant_: No. 317. I am indebted, for the use of the excellent woodcut of this very interesting seal, to Mr. Laing of Edinburgh, the talented author of the two n.o.ble volumes on the _Early Seals of Scotland_, which occupy a foremost position amongst the most valuable as well as the most beautiful heraldic works that have ever been published in Great Britain. (See page 11.) In the Monumental Bra.s.ses and also in the Sculptured Monumental Effigies of Ladies of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, heraldic costume is frequently represented, and the figures are constantly a.s.sociated with groups of Shields of arms. As most characteristic examples I may specify the effigy of a Lady, about A.D. 1325, at Selby in Yorkshire; and the Bra.s.s in Westminster Abbey, A.D. 1399, to ALIANORE DE BOHUN, d.u.c.h.ess of GLOUCESTER.

[Footnote 5: In No. 251 the initial A of the word AQVITANNIE has been omitted.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 318.--Seal of Joan, Countess of Surrey.]

The aggroupment of various armorial ensigns upon a Seal, without the presence of any effigy, is exemplified in the characteristic Seal of JOAN, daughter of HENRY Count DE BARRE, and of ALIANORE, daughter of EDWARD I., the widow of JOHN DE WARRENNE, Earl of SURREY, A.D. 1347. In this remarkable composition, No. 318, the arms, blazoned on lozenges, are, in the centre, _Warrenne_; in chief and base, _England_; and to the dexter and sinister, _De Barre_ (No. 162): also, at the four angles of the group, the lion and castle of _Leon_ and _Castile_, in direct allusion to the descent of the Countess from ALIANORE, first Queen of EDWARD I. In the original, this elaborate composition is only one and a half inches in diameter. Still smaller, measuring no more than one and a quarter inches in diameter, and yet no less rich in either its Heraldry or its Gothic traceries, is the beautiful little Counter-seal of MARY DE SAINT PAUL, wife of AYMER DE VALENCE, Earl of PEMBROKE, which is faithfully shown on an enlarged scale, in order to render the details more effectively, in No. 319. This ill.u.s.trious lady, who founded Pembroke College, Cambridge, A.D. 1373, was the daughter of GUY DE CHASTILLON, Count of ST. PAUL, by his wife MARY, daughter of JOHN DE DREUX, Duke of BRITTANY, and of BEATRICE, sister of EDWARD I. On her Seal, accordingly, the Countess of Brittany marshals, in the centre, the arms of her husband (_De Valence_: No. 86), and those of her father (_De Chastillon_--_gu., three pallets vair, on a chief or a label of three points az._), united upon a single shield by "Dimidiation"--a process presently to be described: to the dexter, the arms of her Royal relatives of _England_ are blazoned in a circular compartment: to the sinister, in a similar compartment, are the fleurs de lys of _France Ancient_, No. 247, at that time so closely allied with the English lions: and, finally, in a third roundle, in the base of the composition, are the arms of _De Dreux_ (_chequee or and az., within a bordure gu.;[6] over all a canton of Brittany_, No. 15, borne by the maternal grandfather of the Countess: the legend is, + S . MARIE . DE . SEYN .

POVL . COMITISSE . PEMPROCHIE. The original impression of this Seal, from which the woodcut, No. 319, was drawn, is appended to a charter, dated 1347, which is preserved amongst the muniments of Pembroke College. A very good example of the aggroupment of Shields upon a Seal, under conditions differing from those that now have been ill.u.s.trated, I have already given in No. 204. Another beautiful and most interesting example, now unfortunately partially mutilated, is the Seal of MATILDA of LANCASTER, the wife, first, of WILLIAM DE BURGH, Earl of ULSTER (and by him mother of ELIZABETH, the wife of Prince LIONEL OF CLARENCE), and, secondly, of Sir RALPH DE UFFORD. This seal, of circular form, No. 320, displays to the dexter a shield of _De Burgh_--_or, a cross gu._; to the sinister, a shield of _Ufford_--_or, a cross engrailed sa._, in the first quarter _a fleur de lys, for difference_: in base there is a lozenge of _De Chaworth_ (the mother of the Countess was MATILDA DE CHAWORTH)--_barrulee arg. and gu., an orle of martlets sa._; and in chief there remains part of another lozenge of _Lancaster_, to complete this remarkable heraldic group. Of the legend there remains only . .

ILLV MATILD' ... . SE ... The introduction of _Badges_, with a Shield or Shields of arms, in the composition of a Seal, is another variety of this same system of Marshalling. No. 321, the Seal of OLIVER DE BOHUN, exemplifies this usage, having the _white swan Badge_ of the n.o.ble house of BOHUN thrice repeated about the Shield. See No. 114. Also see, in the frontispiece, the Seal of Earl RICHARD DE BEAUCHAMP, No.

449, which is described in Section II. of Chapter XXII.

[Footnote 6: In No. 319 the bordure of _De Dreux_ in the roundle in base is charged with Lions of England, as borne by JOHN DE DREUX; but the presence of these in the Seal of the Countess is uncertain.

See No. 322.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 319.--Seal of Mary, Countess of Pembroke.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 320.--Seal of Matilda of Lancaster.]

Marshalling by Aggroupment was practised under another form by placing Shields of arms in the different panels of the same architectural monument.

MARSHALLING _by Combination_ is effected by actually forming, for the blazonry of a single Shield, a composition which includes the princ.i.p.al charges of two or more allied Shields. The composition of the Shield borne by the house of DE DREUX, to which I have just referred in describing the Seal of the Countess of Pembroke, No. 319, is a most striking example of this variety of Marshalling: and this Shield was borne by JOHN DE DREUX, created Earl of RICHMOND by his uncle King EDWARD I., who lived and died in England, as it is represented in No.

322--the _field, chequee or and azure_, being for De Dreux; the _canton ermine_ for Brittany; and the _bordure, gules charged with golden lions of England_, representing the royal Shield of England, and showing the close connection existing between the Earl of Richmond and his Sovereign. The shield of Prince JOHN of ELTHAM (No. 24), _England within a bordure of France_, is another characteristic example of this Marshalling by Combination.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 321.--Seal of Oliver de Bohun.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 322.--Shield of Earl John de Dreux.]

For many reasons, except in particular instances, these methods of Marshalling were not considered to be altogether satisfactory.

Accordingly, a fresh arrangement was devised which would preserve intact the original integrity of each coat of arms, would imply a definite systematic method of arrangement, and would admit into a single composition any required number of distinct coats. This MARSHALLING _by Quartering_, naturally suggested by such simple bearings as Nos. 16 and 17, consists in dividing the Shield, as in No. 30, into four parts, and placing in each of these divisions or quarters one of the coats to be marshalled on a single Shield. If two coats only are thus to be "_quartered_," the most important of the two occupies the first quarter, and is repeated in the fourth; and, the other coat is placed in the second quarter, and repeated in the third. The earliest example known in England is the quartered Shield of _Castile and Leon--quarterly: first and fourth, gules, a castle triple-towered or; second and third, argent, a lion rampant gu._, No. 323. This shield is sculptured upon the monument in Westminster Abbey to ALIANORE, daughter of FERDINAND III., King of CASTILE and LEON, and Queen of EDWARD I.: the date is 1290. This form of Marshalling began gradually to be adopted during the first half of the fourteenth century, and in the second half of that century it became generally adopted. Other examples of quartered shields I have already given in Nos. 252 and 253.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 323.--Shield of Castile and Leon.]

Should there be _three_ Coats to be quartered, they would severally occupy the first, second, and third quarters of the Shield, in due order, and the first quarter would be repeated in the fourth. In quartering _four_ coats, no repet.i.tion would be necessary. If more than four coats would require to be quartered, the Shield would be divided into whatever number of sections might be necessary, as in No. 36, and the required arrangement would be made; should any repet.i.tion be necessary, the first quarter is to be repeated in the fourth. This process, whatever the number of the coats thus marshalled (and their number sometimes is very great), is always ent.i.tled "_quartering_"; and each of these divisions of a Shield, for the purpose of Marshalling, is distinguished as a "Quarter." Occasionally a _quartered coat_ would have to be marshalled with others. In the "grand quartering" which then takes place, the quartered coat is treated precisely as any other member of the group. See No. 37. For example, the Shield, No. 324 (R. 2), of HENRY, first Earl of NORTHUMBERLAND, is--I. and IV. Grand Quarters,--_first and fourth, or, a lion rampt. az._, for Louvaine, or Percy modern: _second and third, gu., three lucies haurient arg._ (No.

164) for Lucy: II. and III. Grand Quarters,--_az., five fusils conjoined in fesse or_, for Percy ancient.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 324.--Shield of Henry, Earl of Northumberland.]

When a Shield to be quartered has a very numerous array of Quarterings, Grand Quartering is seldom adopted; but, in its stead, the new quarterings are marshalled in their proper succession, with the original quarterings of the Shield.

In this Marshalling the first quarter is occupied by the most important quartering, which is determined (without any fixed rule) by the original grant or licence: the other quarterings follow, in the order in which they may have been "brought in" to the composition.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 325.--Shield of Mayor of Winchelsea.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 326.--De Valence, dimidiating Claremont Nesle.]

To denote and record ALLIANCE BY MARRIAGE, two distinct Coats were first marshalled upon a single Shield by _Dimidiation_. This process is accomplished in the following manner. The Shield to be charged with the two Coats in union is divided _per pale_, as in No. 28: on the dexter half the corresponding half, or generally somewhat more than that half, of the arms of the husband is marshalled: then, in like manner, the sinister half is charged with the corresponding portion of the arms of the wife. In the Shield, No. 250, from another Seal of Queen MARGARET, _England_ dimidiates _France ancient_, Nos. 187 and 247. This Dimidiation in most cases produces a singular effect; as in No. 325, a Shield from the Seal of the Mayor of Winchelsea, one of the famous Suss.e.x Cinque Ports, which bears _England_ dimidiating _azure, three hulls of ships, in pale, or_: here the dimidiated lions and ships appear to unite for the purpose of forming the most extravagant of compound monsters. The Seal of the Borough of Great Yarmouth subst.i.tutes _three herrings_, in allusion to the staple fishery of the port, for the ships, and dimidiates them with the national lions. In the central Shield of the Seal, No. 319, I have shown _De Valence_ dimidiating _De Chastillon_. In No. 326, from the monument of WILLIAM DE VALENCE, _De Valence_ appears dimidiating the French Coat of _Claremont Nesle_--_gu., semee of trefoils, two barbels haurient addorsed or_: the Dimidiation here cuts off and removes one-half of the De Valence martlets and also one of the two barbels of Claremont.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 327.--Camoys, impaling Mortimer.]

The characteristic features of one or of both of the united Coats, as I have just shown, being commonly rendered indistinct and uncertain by Dimidiation, that form of marshalling was generally superseded by IMPALEMENT in the course of the third quarter of the fourteenth century.

This process, at once simple and effectual, marshals the whole of the husband's arms on the dexter half of a Shield divided per pale, as No.

28; and the whole of the arms of the wife on the sinister half of it.

Such an impaled Shield is borne by a husband and wife during their conjoint lives; and should the wife become a widow, by her the impaled arms are borne during her widowhood charged upon a lozenge. The dexter half only--the husband's arms--of an impaled Shield is hereditary. Fine examples of Shields that are both impaled and quartered, are preserved in the monuments of EDWARD III. and his Queen PHILIPPA, in the Bra.s.s to ALIANORE DE BOHUN, and in the monument to MARGARET BEAUFORT, all in Westminster Abbey. Other fine examples occur on the monument of Earl RICHARD BEAUCHAMP, at Warwick. No. 327, from the Bra.s.s to THOMAS, LORD CAMOYS, K.G., and his wife, ELIZABETH MORTIMER (the widow of HENRY HOTSPUR), at Trotton, in Suss.e.x, A.D. 1410, marshals _Camoys_--_arg., on a chief gu. three plates_, impaling _Mortimer_, No. 131. Again, at Warwick, the Bra.s.s to Earl THOMAS DE BEAUCHAMP and his Countess, MARGARET FERRERS of Groby, A.D. 1406, has a Shield of _Beauchamp_--_gu., a fesse between six crosslets or_, impaling _Ferrers_--_gu., seven mascles, three three and one, or_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 328.--D'Aubigny, impaling Scotland.]

It is to be observed that _Bordures_ and _Tressures_, which are not affected by Quartering, are _dimidiated by Impalement_,--that is, that side of both a Bordure and a Tressure which adjoins the line of Impalement is generally removed: thus, one of the small Shields sculptured upon the canopy of the monument of Queen MARY STUART, at Westminster, is charged with _D'Aubigny_ impaling _Scotland_,--that is, _az., three fleurs de lys or, within a bordure gu. charged with eight buckles gold_, impaling No. 138. This Shield, represented in No. 328, has both the bordure on its dexter half, and the tressure on its sinister half, dimidiated by the impalement. There are other excellent examples of this partial dimidiating in the monuments of MARGARET TUDOR and MARGARET BEAUFORT, in the same chapel of Westminster Abbey.

The husband of an _Heiress_ or a _Co-heiress_, instead of impaling the arms of his wife, marshals them upon his Shield charged as an _Escutcheon of Pretence_. The son of an heiress, as heir to his maternal grandfather through his mother, as well as to his own father, _quarters_ on his Shield, and transmits to his descendants, _the arms of both his parents_, his father's arms generally being in the first quarter. The Shield of RICHARD BEAUCHAMP, K.G., Earl of WARWICK (died in 1439), is a good example of the use of an Escutcheon of Pretence; it is represented in No. 329, drawn from the garter-plate of the Earl, in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The Earl himself, as his hereditary coat, quarters _Beauchamp_ with _Newburgh_--_chequee or and az., a chevron erm._: upon this, for his Countess, ISABELLE, daughter and heiress of THOMAS LE DESPENCER, Earl of GLOUCESTER, he marshals an Escutcheon of Pretence charged with _De Clare_, No. 124, quartering _Le Despencer_--_quarterly arg. and gu., in the second and third quarters a frette or, over all a bend sa._ In the monument of this great Earl, at Warwick, upon the Escutcheon of Pretence the arms of Bohun are quartered with those of Clare and Despencer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 329.--Shield of Earl Richard Beauchamp.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 330.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 331.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 332.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 333.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 334.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 335.]