Heraldry of the church: a handbook for decorators

I 0^^

^rts of tfje (J^fjiircl)

Edited by the
REV. PERCY DEARMER, D.D.

€i)c Hrts of tije OTJurrij

Edited by the
REV. PERCY DEARMER, D.D.

i6mo. Profusely Illustrated. Cloth, i/6 net.

1. THE ORNAMENTS OF THE

MINISTERS. By the Rev. Percy
Dearmer, D.D.

2. CHURCH BELLS. By U. B.

Walters, M.A., F.S.A.

3. THE ARCHITECTURAL HIS=

TORY OF THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH. By A. G. Hill, M.A.,
F.S.A.

4. CHURCH MUSIC. By the Rev.

Maurice F. Bell, M.A.

5. GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN

ENGLAND. Bv the Rev. E. Her-
mitage Day, D.D., F.S.A.

6. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

IN ENGLAND. Bv the Rev. E.
Hermitage Day, D.D., F.S.A.

7. SYMBOLISM OF THE SAINTS.

By the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield,

M.A., F.S.A
8 THE CHANCEL AND THE ALTAR.

By Harold C. King, M.A.
9. CHURCH EMBROIDERY. By

Alice Drydkx.
10. HERALDRY OF THE CHURCH.

By the Rev. E. E. DoRLiN(;, M.A.,

F.S.A.

OTHERS TO FOLLOW

€fje ^rts of ti)t (t\)nvc\)

HERALDRY OF
THE CHURCH

A HANDBOOK FOR DECORATORS

BY THE

Rev. E. E. DORLING, M.A., F.S.A.

iriTH EIGHTr-THT{EE ILLUST'^iTIOC^

A. R. MOWBRAY & CO. Ltd.

London : 28 Margaret Street, Oxford Circus, W.

Oxford : 9 High Street

First printed, 191 i

EDITOR'S NOTE

THE little volumes in the Arts of
THE Church series are intended
to provide information in an interesting
as well as an accurate form about the
various arts which have clustered round
the public worship of God in the Church
of Christ. Though few have the oppor-
tunity of knowing much about them,
there are many who would like to possess
the main outlines about those arts whose
productions are so familiar to the Chris-
tian, and so dear. The authors will write
for the average intelligent man who has
not had the time to study all these matters
for himself ; and they will therefore avoid
technicalities, while endeavouring at the
same time to present the facts with a
fidelity which will not, it is hoped, be
unacceptable to the specialist.

2039287

CONTENTS

Arms of Sees in the Province of Canterbury i 5

Arms of Sees in the Province of York - 71

Shields specially associated v^mth the Holy

Name - - - - - - 93

The Four Evangelists - - - - 105

Arms assigned to Saints - - - -115

Arms suggested for Saints - - - '57

Index . _ ^ - = - - 193

Ei)t Hits of tljp (ttijiirrij

Heraldry of the Church

A Handbook for Decorators

t^^ t^^ ^^

INTRODUCTION

THIS little book is intended, as its
sub-title implies, for the use of
church decorators. It has been written,
and illustrated by the writer, in the hope
of inducing Church people of to-day to
take a little more pains with the heraldry
that is placed by them in painted windows
and on carven stones, and of telling some-
thing of what is implied by the use of
heraldic ornament.

With this aim, examples of the shields
of arms that are most likely to be used

B

2 Heraldry of the Church

in the decoration of churches are here
described in simple intelligible terms. The
first part of the book is occupied with the
arms of the dioceses of the Church of
England ; the remainder of it comprises
the shields, some devised in mediaeval
times to typify certain of the saints, some
designed by the writer to serve the same
purpose for those saints whom the armorial
writers of the middle ages omitted from
their lists.

It is hoped that this selection will be
found useful and reasonably comprehen-
sive. Though exigencies of space forbid
the inclusion of all coats of arms that have
been assigned to saints, there is here a
shield for each saint in whose honour
twenty churches and upwards have been
dedicated in England. Of these by far
the largest number, considerably over
2,000, have the Blessed Virgin as their
patron saint. All Saints is the next most
favoured dedication, more than 1,200
churches having this title. Then follow

Introduction 3

S. Peter with over 900 ; and S. Andrew
and S. Michael with more than 700
churches. Holy Trinity is the invocation
of between 600 and 700 ; S. James, S. John
the Evangelist and S. John Baptist give
their names to over 500 churches. S. Ni-
cholas follows with close on 400 ; Christ
Church and S. Paul are the titles of
nearly as many. S. Laurence, S. Mar-
garet and S. Mary Magdalene respectively
are the patron saints of over 200 churches,
and between 100 and 200 are dedicated
in honour of S. Bartholomew, S. George,
S. Giles, S. Helen, S. Leonard, S. Luke,
S. Mark, S. Martin, S. Matthew, S. Stephen
and S. Thomas the Apostle. Holy Cross
is the name of close on 100 churches ;
S. Catherine, S. Cuthbert, and S. Saviour
of nearly as many. Between 50 and 80
have the names of S. Augustine, S. Clement,
S. Botolph, S. Oswald, S. Barnabas,
S. Thomas of Canterbury and S. Anne.
Ranging between 40 and 70 are the dedica-
tions of churches in honour of Emmanuel,

4 Heraldry of the Church

S. Chad, S. Philip, and S. Wilfrid ; while
from 20 to 40 churches have the titles
of S. Bridget (or S. Bride), S. David,
S. Faith, S. Gregory, S. Hilda, S. Alban,
S. Denys and S. Jude.

This book makes no claim to be a
manual of heraldry. The mysterious
jargon of the science is, as far as possible,
replaced by straightforward English which
may be easily understood by readers
ignorant of heraldic technicalities. It has
been, of course, impossible entirely to
avoid the use of technical terms ; but
these will explain themselves when the
descriptions in which they occur are com-
pared with the drawings placed opposite
10 them.

Heraldry is a matter which enters, and
always has entered, very largely into the
decoration of churches. Carvers in wood
and stone, workers in metal and glass,
painters, embroiderers and illuminators
have all enriched our stores of heraldic
art. But the heraldic art of the middle

Introduction 5

ages is a very different thing from that of
the last three hundred years. Even when
to modern eyes the old examples seem
crude and harsh it is impossible to deny
their vigour and power ; when, as is most
often the case, they attain to beauty their
beauty is of a quality that must appeal to
the modern craftsman who is trying to
import into his own work something of
the dignity and charm that distinguish
the old.

But for the most part the modern
craftsman is trying to do nothing of the
kind. Oblivious to what almost every
old church has to teach him, he is content
to reproduce the mistakes and the feeble-
ness of other moderns as ignorant as
himself. If he can be persuaded to study
the old examples he copies and traces and
measures them, not because he is too
humble to try to work as the men of old
time worked, trusting to a keen eye and a
sure hand to give life and proportion and
stateliness to his work, but because he is

6 Heraldry of the Church

too idle to find out for himself the ways
by which they reached to the success that
is theirs.

Let it be understood that I am speaking
of heraldic work, and of that only. For
the decorators of to-day can produce work
that is every whit as fine in execution as
that of the middle ages. It is their
design that sadly needs improvement ;
and the pity of it is that their patrons are
satisfied with the poor stufF that issues
every day from the workshops. When,
as sometimes happens, the modern worker
is neither humble nor idle, but merely a
conceited and ignorant fellow who trusts
to his own unaided genius to produce
heraldic ornament, the result is usually
ludicrous, and if it were not so fatuous
would be distressing.

What this little book aims at is to teach
the decorator who is willing to learn that
heraldry may be as beautiful to-day as
ever it was ; that it may have distinction
and grace and fitness akin to that of the

Introduction 7

Middle Ages ; that if his work is to
possess those qualities he must first study
the armorial glass and the seals, the monu-
ments and the illuminations of the olden
time. If he will not do that, let him at
least be guided by those who have gone
for their inspiration to the work of the
great periods.

The question arises then — What are
the elements of the beauty of ancient
heraldic design ? 1 think they are three ;
first, cleanness and firmness of line ;
secondly, balance and proportion ; and
lastly, splendour of colour. If modern
work is to have the same beauty it must
conform to the same rules.

Let all your lines, then, be clean and
firm and expressive. There must be no
haziness or sketchiness of outline. You
must get your effects with a strong sure
stroke in which each touch of pen or
chisel, needle or brush means something
definite. Look at the leopards in the
shield of Lincoln, page 43, or the cinqfoils

8 Heraldry of the Church

in the arms of S. Davids, page 59. In the
one case the simple drawing of the beasts
attempts to show how roundness and
strength and " go " may be expressed
with economy of line ; in the other the
cinqfoils placed on the cross seem, with-
out being exactly formal and regular, to
have their due value in the little scheme
of decoration. Everyday experience shows
only too plainly how qualities of that
kind, which are the essence of ancient
heraldic art, are lacking in most of the
heraldry of to-day.

The mediaeval armorists attained in an
apparently instinctive and effortless manner
to a quality of proportion which we can
only reach after long and careful study of
their draughtsmanship. Their secret ap-
pears to be this ; that they made the
amount of space covered by the charges
rather less than the area of the field left
visible. We, on the other hand, are apt
either to make our charges far too small,
when the shield looks poor and weak, or

Introduction 9

too big, when it has a crowded and over-
weighted appearance. Look at the Chester
mitres, page 79, or at the birds in the
shield of S. Thomas, page 153. In both
instances there is some sort of balance
between the charges and the held, and it
may perhaps be claimed for each that the
effect is lively and agreeable.

The same sort of caution is necessary
when dealing with large charges which have
smaller objects upon them. S. George's
cross, page 135, satisfies the eye, but it is
considerably narrower than that of Carlisle,
page 77, which must needs be wide be-
cause of the mitre which it carries. Again,
when a large charge is between smaller
objects the same care must be exercised.
Compare S. George's cross with that of
Durham, page 75, and see how the latter
is narrow to allow room for the four
lions. Yet all three crosses are of sound
heraldic type, the Carlisle cross being
wide to allow the mitre to have its due
effect in the scheme, that of Durham

1

lo Heraldry of the Church

being narrow to let the four lions do
their share.

Or compare the fesse in the arms of
Oxford, page 49, with that of S. Barnabas,
page 163. Each is a good fesse ; but the
one is narrow because it has other charges
above and below it, the other is wide
because it has charges upon it.

Beware of what are called "art colours."
If a thing is red, paint it red, a clear,
bright, splendid scarlet. Do not use pink,
or crimson, or terra-cotta. Hues such as
those must be banished absolutely from
the palette of the heraldic painter. For
a blue thing use a clean and cool colour
like Prussian blue. A hot, purply blue
should be avoided. A vivid green of the
colour of young spring grass is, in the
same way, preferable to olive or emerald
or bottle-green.

The love of the mediaeval armorists for
blue is noteworthy. The celestial colour
is what we naturally expect to find in
shields that typify the Blessed Virgin,

Introduction 1 1

such as the arms of Salisbury, of Lincoln,
and the shield of Our Lady itself. But
it appears also in the arms assigned to
martyrs, such as S. Andrew, S. Clement,
and S. Edmund ; in that of Edward the
Confessor, of Hilda the abbess, of Guthlac
the hermit. This fondness for blue is
possibly a reflection of the devotion of the
English Church for the Blessed Virgin,
a devotion which is further exemplified in
the enormous number of churches that
are dedicated in honour of the Mother of
our Lord.

It remains to give some hints as to
the drawing and placing of heraldic
charges, and to explain a few technical
terms.

Swords should be so drawn as to look
like real weapons, not like theatrical
properties.

Keys, when there is a pair of them
(see Winchester, page 21) have a better
appearance if their wards, which are always
upwards, are of different patterns. When

1 2 Heraldry of the Church

they are crossed that which is placed
diagonally from top left to bottom right
should be above the other. (See Glou-
cester, page 37, and compare the croziers
of Llandaff, page 45.)

"Leopards" are lions walking and full-
faced; "lions" are sidefaced and rampant.
(See Lincoln, page 43, and Durham,
page 75.) ^

The chief is the upper part of the
shield. A chief is that same part cut
off by a horizontal line.

The saltire is a difficult charge to draw
satisfactorily, and it is well to get the four
arms as nearly as possible of equal length
and its upper and lower angles slightly
less than right angles.

Make your mitres of the simple early
shape. Do not be lured into drawing the
ugly bulbous objects which did duty for
mitres in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.

Keep the angles of chevrons (see
S. Botolph, page 165) somewhat acute.

Introduction 1 3

A chevron with an obtuse angle is not
a beautiful thing.

All drapery should be expressed by
simple lines. Shading by cross-hatching
should not be attempted. (See Sodor and
Man, page 89, and S. Matthew, page 107.)

When a shield contains only three
similar charges arranged two and one, the
lowest of the three may be very slightly
larger than the other two. (See S. Nicholas,
page 183.)

It is perhaps hardly necessary to explain
that "gules" means red, " azure" is blue,
" sable " stands for black, and " vert " is
the heraldic name for green.

It remains for me to express my great
indebtedness to the monumental Ecclesias-
tical Heraldry of the late Dr. Woodward,
to Dr. Husenbeth's Emblems of Saints^ to
Mrs. Jameson's valuable works. Sacred
and Legendary Art and their companions.
Legends of the Monastic Orders and Legends
of the Madonna^ to the great Catalogue of
Seals in the British Museum compiled by

14 Heraldry of the Church

Dr. Walter de Gray Birch, and last but
not least to Frances Arnold -Forster's
Studies in Church Dedications. Without
the aid which these writers have afforded
me I could hardly have produced this
little piece of work. If those who use it
find it of any value and interest 1 shall
be more than happy.

E. E. D.

ARMS OF SEES IN THE
PROVINCE OF CANTERBURY

1 6 Heraldry of the Church

Canterbury

Azure an archbishop' s crozier with its
staff silver and its cross gold surmounted by a
pall in its proper colours.

Simon Islip (1349-66) was the first
Archbishop of Canterbury who had these
arms engraved upon his seal ; all his
successors have employed them as the
arms of the metropolitan see of England.

The pall is white, edged and fringed
with gold, and the four crosses upon it,
which must have the shape drawn in the
illustration opposite, are black. The
arms of the See of Armagh are the same
as those of Canterbury ; those of the
Archbishopric of Dublin have five crosses
on the pall, otherwise they are like those
of Canterbury and Armagh.

The 'Province of Canterbury

17

CANTERBURY

Heraldry of the Church

London

Gules t\^o swords gold of S. Paul crossed
saltirewise with their points upwards.

Ralph Stratford (1340-54) seems to
have been the first Bishop of London to
display these arms as those of the see,
although several of his predecessors had
introduced into their seals a figure of
S. Paul, the patron saint of the cathedral
and city, with his emblems of sword and
book. After Bishop Stratford's time the
use of the arms by Bishops of London
became almost universal.

The mediaeval heralds gave to S. Paul
himself the same shield but with the
swords silver.

The Province of Canterbury

19

LONDON

20 Heraldry of the Church

Winchester

Gules S. Peter s keys gold and silver mth
S. PauFs sword thrust between them saltire-
wise and having its blade silver and its hilt
gold.

This Is the most usual form of these
ancient arms, borne in memory of the
saints in whose honour the cathedral is
dedicated. The manner in which the
charges are arranged has varied from time
to time ; but the field is consistently
coloured red ; the keys set back to back
with their bows interlinked are always
gold and silver ; and it is always the
golden key which lies over the blade of
the sword.

ne Trovince of Canterbury 21

WINCHESTER

2 2 Heraldry of the Church

Bangor

Gules a bend gold sprinkled mth drops
sable between tvoo pierced molets silver.

These are the colours used at present.
In former days the bend was silver ;
sometimes the drops were coloured
blue. The red of the field is seen
through the piercing of the molets. It
is impossible to say what is the origin
of these beautiful arms, or if they have
any reference to the dedication of the
cathedral or to a bishop of olden times.
The seal of Bishop Roland Merrick
(1559-66) is the earliest in the collection
at the British Museum to show these
arms impaling his own personal coat.

T^he Trovince of Canterbury 23

BANGOR

24 Heraldry of the Church

Bath and Wells

Azure a saltire quartered saltiremse gold
and silver.

The arms are those of Wells, the seat
of the bishop, the saltire being S. Andrew's
cross in allusion to the dedication of the
cathedral. The arms of Bath are not
now used.

The field is blue. Each arm of the
saltire is divided lengthways into equal
alternate strips of gold and silver, begin-
ning with gold in the top left-hand corner.
The gold is consequently above the divid-
ing-line on the dexter side (that is the
spectator's left), and below it on the
sinister side of the saltire.

Tlie Trovince of Canterbury 25

BATH AND WELLS

2 6 Heraldry of the Church

Birmingham

Party indented gold and gules five roundels
with tvoo crosses formy in the chief all counter-
coloured.

The field of these arms, divided by the
zigzag line into two halves (that to the
spectator's left being gold and the other
side red), is derived from the ancient
shield of the Berminghams, a powerful
feudal family holding in the Middle Ages
broad domains where the city now stands.
The two crosses and the five roundels are
added in memory of S. Philip in whose
honour the cathedral church is dedicated.
As the blazon indicates, these charges are
countercoloured, that is those that are on
the gold are red, and vice versa, the
roundel in the foot of the shield where
the zigzag line passes through it being
itself partly red and partly gold.

The meaning of these charges is ex-
plained later under S. Philip, page 184.

ne Trovince of Canterbury 27

BIRMINGHAM

2 8 Heraldry of the Church

Bristol

Sable three crowns palewise gold.

An early example of these arms has the
field azure, and that is probably its
original colour. When the field was blue
there was a good reason fior setting the
crowns one under the other, for thereby
this shield was distinguished from one of
the many shields assigned to S. Edmund
in which the golden crowns were arranged
two and one. The date of the change of
the colour of the field from blue to black
is lost. It has been suggested that the
three crowns refer to the dedication of the
cathedral in honour of the Holy Trinity.

The Trovince of Canterbury 29

BRISTOL

30 Heraldry of the Church

Chichester
Azure our LORD chid in yvhite mth a
golden girdle seated upon a throne gold and
haYing a s'^ord coming out of His mouth with
its blade silver and its hilt gold.

This design, evidently suggested by S.
John's vision of our Lord in glory, appears
in the seals of Sigefrid who ruled the see
from 1 1 80 to 1204, and of Richard de la
Wich and John Chipping,thirteenth-century
Bishops of Chichester. In these seals, how-
ever, the sword is omitted, and the figure is
set between two candlesticks. The fifteenth-
century seal of the dean and chapter omits
the candlesticks, but has the sword. John
Arundel, bishop from 1459 to 1477 was
the first bishop to place the figure upon
a shield as the arms of the see.

The face of our Lord should be painted
in its natural colours ; so should the hands
and feet which show the wounds. The
halo is gold with a red cross upon it. The
throne may have a red cushion, and the
footstool may be of the same colour.

The Trovince of Canterbury 3 i

CHICHESTER

32 Heraldry of the Church

LY

Gules three crowns gold.

Bishop William de Luda is found using
these arms as early as 1290. They are
those assigned to S. Etheldreda, Queen of
Northumbria and founder of the Abbey of
Ely, in whose honour the cathedral church
is dedicated. The reverse, Gold three
crowns gules., are the arms of S. Osyth,
Queen of the East Saxons and founder of
a nunnery at Chick in Essex, who was
murdered by the Danes about the year 676.

The Province of Canterbu

iry 1^1^

ELY

34 Heraldry of the Church

Ex

ETER

Gules a s^ord silver mth its hilt gold sur-
mounted by tyvo keys gold crossed saltiremse.

These arms assumed their present form
in the episcopate of John Boothe, Bishop
of Exeter from 1465 to 1478. Edmund
Lacy (1420-55) took two keys and a
sword in saltire for the arms of the see.
Edmund Stafford, his predecessor, used
two keys. The charges are borne in
allusion to the ancient dedication of the
cathedral to S. Peter and S. Paul.

The Province of Canterbury

35

EXETER

36 Heraldry of the Church

Gloucester
Azure two keys gold crossed saltiremse.

The Abbey of Gloucester was under the
protection of S. Peter, and the keys of the
Apostle naturally appear in the blue shields
of the monastic house and the see. When
in later years the name of S. Paul was
added to the dedication, S. Paul's sword
was borne upright along with the keys,
and is so engraved in the fifteenth-century
seal of the abbey. The sword has, how-
ever, been disused for a long time.

The shield that the armorists of the
Middle Ages assigned to S. Peter himself
was Gules two crossed keys silver.

The ProYince of Canterbury 37

GLOUCESTER

38 Heraldry of the Church

Hereford

Gules three fleurs-de-lis coming out of
leopards' heads gold.

This is the coat-armour of the powerful
house of Cantilupe from which came
Thomas de Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford
from 1275 to 1282. Adam Orlton, the
next bishop but one after him, had two
such fleurs-de-lis engraved in his seal,
and after his time these arms came to be
regarded as the arms of the see.

The leopards' heads are usually drawn
reversed, as in the illustration opposite,
but there is good reason for believing that
they are nothing more than a decorative
elaboration of the ball or knop from which
the leaves of the flowers spring. The
earliest examples of the arms of Cantilupe
show three golden fleurs-de-lis on red,
and the seal of a flfteenth-century Bishop
of Hereford gives them in the shield of
the see with very large plain knops. But
usage has decided that the knops shall be
leopards' heads reversed, and it is as well,
no doubt, to conform to the usual practice.

The Prol^mce of Canterbury

39

HEREFORD

40 Heraldry of the Church

Lichfield

Party gules and silver a cross quadrate
and potent between four crosses formy all
countercoloured.

No satisfactory explanation is known of
these ancient and remarkable arms, which
in the Middle Ages were devised for
S. Chad, Bishop of Mercia, and patron
of the cathedral.

The shield is equally divided by the
perpendicular line and coloured red and
silver, the red being on the spectator's
left hand. The large cross, similarly
divided, is coloured red where it rests
on the silver, and silver in its other half.
The four small crosses are treated in the
same way, those in the red half being
silver while the two in the silver are red.
The central cross is of unusual form. Its
arms issue from a square and end in
crutch-shaped pieces, whence its name
"potent," from the French potence = 2,
crutch.

The Pro'))ince of Canterbury 41

LICHFIELD

42 Heraldry of the Church

Lincoln

Gules two leopards gold and a chief azure
mth Our Lady enthroned mth the Child all
gold therein.

These arms first appear in the seal of
William Smith, Bishop of Lincoln from
1495 ^o I5H- The lower part of the
shield contains the traditional arms of the
Dukes of Normandy in memory, it seems
probable, of William the Conqueror, who
in 1085 transferred the seat of the bishop
of that vast diocese from Dorchester on
the Thames to Lincoln. The figures in
the chief refer to the dedication of the
cathedral in honour of the Blessed Virgin.

The FroVince of Canterbury 43

LINCOLN

44 Heraldry of the Church

Llandaff

S>ahle t\oo croziers crossed sa/tirevpise^ the
one gold^ the other silver^ and a chief azure
with three mitres gold therein.

The golden crozier, laid diagonally with
its head in the top left-hand corner of the
black field, should pass over the other,
which is all of silver. The three golden
mitres in the blue chief should be so
arranged that with their pendent labels
they occupy about half of the area of that
upper part. This is not an easy shield
to draw so that it presents a quite satis-
factory appearance. The croziers especially
require very careful treatment. They
must be drawn boldly, even at the ex-
pense of proportion, otherwise they will
look very thin and make no show on their
black background. The charges them-
selves seem to have no special reference
to the history of the see or to the dedica-
tion of the cathedral.

The ProYince of Canterbury 45

LLANDAFF

46 Heraldry of the Church

Norwich

Azure three mitres with their labels gold.

These arms are found as early as 1351
in the second seal of William Bateman,
Bishop of Norwich from 1344 to 1355.
Dr. Woodward {^Ecclesiastical Heraldry^
p. 327) suggests that the three mitres
" may possibly refer to the union in the
See of Norwich of the Bishoprics of
Thetford, Dunwich, and Elmham."

The ProYince of Canterbury 47

NORWICH

1

48 Heraldry of the Church

Oxford

^able a fesse silver between three ladies'
heads in the chief mth their clothing silver
and their crowns gold and an ox silver passing
a ford in the foot.

The lower portion of the shield contains
the canting arms of the city ; the ford
being represented by waved bars alter-
nately silver and blue. The ladies' heads
above the fess perhaps refer to S. Frides-
wide, Abbess of Oxford and her two patron
saints, S. Cecilia and S. Catherine. Dr.
Woodward put forward the suggestion
that the heads may be those of kings,
referring to the tradition of the royal
foundation of the University.

The ProVince of Canterbury 49

OXFORD

^

50 Heraldry of the Church

Peterborough

Gules S. Peter s keys crossed saltirewnse
between four cross lets fitchy gold.

Both the keys are gold in spite of the
convention that one of S. Peter's keys
should be silver. The arms are those
of the Abbey of Peterborough (in which
only the keys appeared), differenced by
the addition of four golden crosslets,
having their lower arms ending in spikes.
The other arms of the crosslets are made
in the fashion of the Middle Ages with
trefoil ends.

The Pro^nnce of Canterbury 5

PETERBOROUGH

52 Heraldry of the Church

Rochester

Silver a saltire gules with a scallop gold
thereon.

The earliest Rochester seal in the
British Museum collection that displays
these arms is that of John Scory, bishop
from 1 55 1 to 1554.

The red saltire is in allusion to S. An-
drew in whose honour the cathedral was
originally dedicated. The reason for the
golden scallop is lost.

The Pro'))ince of Canterbury ^i^

ROCHESTER

54 Heraldry of the Church

St. Albans

Azure a saltire gold and over all a sword
set upright mth its blade silver and its hilt
gold and haVing o'))er its point a celestial
crown gold.

Here the ancient arms of the abbey,
which bore S. Alban's golden saltire on
blue, are differenced by the martyr's sword
and crown to form the arms of the see.

The Pro'))ince of Canterbury 55

ST. ALBANS

^6 Heraldry of the Church

St. Asaph

Sable iwo keys siher crossed salttrew^se.

This is the usual form of these arms,
and they are so engraved in the seal of
Robert Lancaster, Bishop of S. Asaph
from 141 1 to 1433. But in one earlier
and some later examples a crozier appears
instead of one of the keys. There is no
obvious reason for the reference of the
keys to this saint or to the see that bears
his name.

The Prolpince of Canterbury 57

ST. ASAPH

Heraldry of the Church

St. Davids

Sable a cross gold mth five cinqfoils sable
thereon.

These arms have the appearance of a
personal coat. It is impossible to say how
or when they came to be assigned to the
see. In our drawing the cinqfoils are
pierced in accordance with ancient prac-
tice. The gold of the cross shows through
the holes.

The Pro')>ince of Canterbury 59

ST. DAVIDS

6o Heraldry of the Church

Salisbury

Azure the Blessed Virgin Mary mth the
Child gold.

The arms of the see are suggested by
the dedication of the cathedral church in
honour of Our Lady. In all examples of
these arms the Child is carried on the
right arm of His Mother, who is standing.
Both before and since the Reformation
the almost universal practice has been to
represent the Virgin crowned and holding
a sceptre in her left hand.

The Pro)>mce of Canterbury 6 1

SALISBURY

62 Heraldry of the Church

South WARK

Silver a cross indented gules yvith a mitre
gules in the quarter.

These arms are a differenced version of
the armorial bearings of the Priory of
S. Mary Overie in Southwark whose
church is now the cathedral of the dio-
cese. The shield of the priory was silver
with the same red cross of lozenges and a
lozenge gules in the quarter. The modern
substitution of the mitre for the old lozenge
is a very happy and expressive example of
heraldic differencing.

Great care is needed in the drawing of
this cross. It is easy to make this beautiful
charge quite ugly and ridiculous ; but there
is no need to do so.

The Province of Canterbury 63

SOUTHWARK

64 Heraldry of the Church

Southwell

Stable three fountains and a chief gold with
a pale azure bet^^een a deer in its proper
colours lying doyvn and two ragged stages ^ert
crossed with Our Lady and the Qhild gold in
the pale.

The " fountains," which are coloured
with six waved bars alternately blue and
silver to represent water, refer to the
second syllable of the name. The deer
which is part of the arms of the town of
Derby, and the green cross which appears
in those of Nottingham, refer to the two
counties which comprise the diocese ; while
the blue pale with its golden figures is a
reminder of the See of Lincoln of which
the County of Nottingham was formerly a
part. There is no reference to the See of
Lichfield to which Derbyshire used to
belong.

The Pro^nnce of Canterbury 6^

SOUTHWELL

66 Heraldry of the Church

Truro

Siher a saltire gules with a fleur-de-lis
sable in the foot and upon the saltire a l^ey
gold surmounted by a sVQord gold having its
hilt upward all mthin a border sable charged
"ivith fifteen bezants.

Dr. Woodward (Ecclesiastical Heraldry^
p. 189) explains these arms as follows : —
The red saltire^ the cross of S. Patrick, is
taken as the heraldic symbol (in modern
times only) of the ancient Celtic Church.
The sword and key in saltire are taken
from a shield in the Church of S. Germans,
the old Episcopal seat. Th& fleur-de-lis is
assumed to denote the transference of the
see to the Church of S. Mary at Truro.
The bordure is composed from the arms
of the Duchy of Cornwall.

The Pro^bice of Canterbury 67

TRURO

68 Heraldry of the Church

Worcester

Silver ten roundels gules.

These arms are not, as is sometimes
said, those of Godfrey Giffard, Bishop of
Worcester from 1268 to 1302 ; the charges
in his paternal coat were three passant
lions. This shield with the red roundels
is found in a fourteenth-century seal of
the Hospital of S. W^ulstan at Worcester.
He was made Bishop of Worcester in the
time of Edward the Confessor and lived
into the reign of William Rufus. In the
Middle Ao^es his name is found amona
those of the saints in whose honour the
cathedral was dedicated, and the memory
of this great-hearted and patriotic bishop
was greatly cherished there. The shield
was perhaps devised to commemorate some
forgotten deed of his.

Thomas Peverell (1407-19) is the first
Bishop of Worcester whose seal is known
to have contained these arms as represent-
ing the see.

The ProVince of Canterbury 69

OOOQ

WORCESTER

ARMS OF SEES IN
THE PROVINCE OF YORK

72 Heraldry of the Church

York

Gules the keys silver of S. Teter crossed
saltirewise and in the chief a crown gold
haVing a tall cap rising oUt of it.

The drawino: is from the seal of Arch-
bishop Robert Waldby (1397-98) who
appears to have been the first prelate to
assume these arms. In modern times the
crown is made like the crown of the King
of England, but from its form as Arch-
bishop Waldby assumed it it is evidently,
when taken in conjunction with the crossed
keys, intended to represent S, Peter's tiara.
More anciently still the archbishops used
as their official arms a shield identical with
that of the See of Canterbury.

The Pro'\)ince of York 73

YORK

74 Heralchj of the Church

Durham
Azure a cross gold beween four lions siher.

This magnificent coat of arms appears
first on the seal of Robert Nevill, Bishop
of Durham from 1438 to 1457. The lions
are possibly derived from the arms of the
great Thomas Hatfield, bishop from 1345
to 138 1, whose seal contains his arms, a
cheveron between three lions.

This shield, with the field red and the
cross and lions silver, has been found, it
is said, as the ensign of S. Denys, bishop
and martyr.

It is worthy of note that the Bishop of
Durham is the only prelate in England
who should use a mitre having a coronet
about its rim. This distinction belongs to
him, and to him alone, a sign of the
palatinate authority which until 1835 was
exercised by the occupants of the see.

The Province of J^ork

IS

DURHAM

76 Heraldry of the Church

Carlisle

Silver a cross sable with a mitre gola
thereon.

It is difficult to trace any special heraldic
significance in these arms which as late as
the reign of Edward VI had not definitely
assumed their present form. The cathedral
is dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

The Proliy^ice of l^ork 77

CARLISLE

Heraldry of the Church

Chester

Gules three mitres with their labels gold.

It is said that these are the arms of the
abbey of Benedictine nuns which was sup-
pressed in Henry VIIl's time, when the
church of the nunnery became the cathedral
of the new see.

The Pro'))ince of York 79

CHESTER

Heraldry of the Church

Liverpool

Stiver the eagle of S. John the Evangelist
holding an inkhorn sable and a chief parted
azure and gules with an open hook gold in the
azure having on its leaves the words " Thy
vpord is Truth " and in the gules a three-masted
ship gold.

The eap^le is taken from the ancient seal
of the borough ; the book with its legend
was placed in the chief at the request of
John Charles Ryle, first bishop (1880-
1900) of Liverpool, and the ship refers to
the port and commerce of the city.

The ProYince of Tork 8

LIVERPOOL

Heraldry of the Church

Manchester

Or a pale engrailed gules ^\nth three mitres
or thereon and a quarter gules with three bends
or therein.

Dr. Woodward {Ecclesiastical Heraldry^
p. 195) suggests that the engrailure of the
pale is in allusion to the name of the
Grelleys, feudal barons of Manchester.
The red quarter with its three golden
bends contains the arms of Grelley, which
also appear in the shield of the city. The
bends should be drawn as in the illustra-
tion, not equally disposed in the quarter
but with all three in its upper part, in
accordance with the custom which in
heraldic fanguage blazons them as " en-
hanced."

The ProYince of York 83

MANCHESTER

Heraldry of the Church

Newcastle

Gules three castles silver and a chief azure
yvith the golden cross of S. Cutbbert therein.

These arms are composed of the arms
of the City of Newcastle, red with three
silver castles, differenced by the blue chief
with its golden cross. This representation
of the cross found in S. Cuthbert's grave
at Durham is a reminder that the juris-
diction of the bishop extends over territory
which was formerly part of the palatinate.

The ProYince of York

NEWCASTLE

86 Heraldry of the Church

RiPON

Silver a saltire gules with two crossed keys
thereon and a chief gules with a holy lamb
therein in its proper colours.

The cathedral, formerly the church of
the College of S. Wilfrid, is dedicated in
honour of that saint and S. Peter, which
facts are happily indicated in the arms of
the see. The keys upon the red saltire
plainly refer to S. Peter, while the white
lamb with his silver flag having a red cross
upon it, and his golden cruciform nimbus,
seems to have been taken from the twelfth-
century seal of the College of S. Wilfrid.

The Province of York 87

RIPON

88 Heraldry of the Church

SoDOR AND Man

Gules a crowned lady with a halo holding a
church all in their proper colours and standing
mth outstretched arms between t^^o pillars silver
and in the foot of the shield three bent legs in
steel armour coming from a common point.

The figure between the pillars is in
modern times described as the Blessed
Virgin ; but there can be no doubt that
originally it was a representation of S. Ger-
man, the Bishop of Auxerre in France,
who, coming to this land in a time of
trouble, wrought against the heresy ot
Pelagius and was a chief supporter of the
British Church. The pillars have all the
appearance of having been once part of an
architectural canopy such as is commonly
found in mediaeval seals. The whole coat
in fact has a seal-like appearance.

Below the figure are set the three steel-
clad legs which are the armorial bearings
of the island, and gave rise to the old
jest that " the arms of Man are legs."

The Pro'))ince of York

SODOR AND MAN

90 Heraldry of the Church

Wakefield

Gold a fleur-de-lis azure and a chief azure
with three celestial crowns gold therein.

The lower part of these arms is suggested
by the arms of the City of Wakefield which
are the reverse, a gold fleur-de-lis on blue.
The golden crowns in the blue chief speak
of the dedication of the cathedral in honour
of All Saints.

The Province of Tork 9

WAKEFIELD

SHIELDS SPECIALLY

ASSOCIATED WITH THE

HOLY NAME

93

94 Heraldry of the Church

Christ Church

Azure a cross gold charged voith the sacred
monogram x sable.

So many churches are dedicated to our
Blessed Lord under this name that a
special coat of arms may well be appro-
priated to them. This shield is designed
on the model of that of the great Benedic-
tine Priory of Christ Church at Canterbury,
whose armorial bearings were identical with
these but with different colours, the Can-
terbury shield being silver, with the cross
sable and the monogram gold.

Shields associated ivith the Holy Name 95

CHRIST CHURCH

Heraldry of the Church

Holy Cross or Holy Rood
September 14

Azure our Lord upon the Cross gold.

Churches of this dedication have a clear
right to this shield. The arms of the
cross may extend to the edge of the shield
or banner, if it is preferred. The figure
of the Crucified might well be represented
crowned, and clothed to the feet, with His
arms laid horizontally along the beam of
the cross, and with eyes open, in the
ancient fashion which regarded Him as

" reigning from the tree.'

Shields associated with the Holy Ni

ame 97

HOLY CROSS OR HOLY ROOD

98 Heraldry of the Church

Emmanuel

■ Siher the fi^e wounds of our Lord repre-
sented by two handSj a heart and two feet in
their proper colours all pierced and bleeding.

This ancient device is proposed as a
suitable shield for churches of this dedica-
tion. The shield here drawn shows these
arms in their most usual form. There is a
shield of old stained-glass in the vestry of
S. Nicholas' Church at Sidmouth in Devon
in which a little golden crown is placed
above each of the five wounds, with these
inscriptions — under the hands " Wei of
wisdom" and "Wei of mercy"; under
the heart "Wei of everlasting life" ; under
thei feet " Wei of grace " and " Wei of
gostly CO fort."

Shields associated with the Holy Ni

ame 99

EMMANUEL

lOO Heraldry of the Church

S. Saviour

Silver three Passion-nails sable in a crown
of thorns '\>ert.

The shield ot the Passion, as it was
called in mediaeval England, may perhaps
be regarded as appropriate to churches
having this dedication. It seems some-
how reminiscent of the prayer beginning
" O Saviour of the world " in the office
of the Visitation of the Sick.

Shields associated with the Holy Name i o i

S. SAVIOUR

02 Heraldry of the Church

Holy Trinity

Gules the emblem of the Trinity silver with
the legends sable.

The ingenuity of the old armorists never
devised anything happier than this famous
emblem, and none is better fitted to be
borne on shield or banner by churches
of this dedication. Its complete heraldic
blazon is too long for the pages of a book
which avoids technicalities, but a glance at
the device will show how completely and
happily it expresses the great dogma of
the Godhead of the Three Persons of the
Blessed Trinity, " neither confounding the
Persons nor dividing the substance."

Azure a Trinity gold ViVQ the arms assigned
to S. Faith, virgin and martyr.

Shields associated with the Holy Name 1 03

HOLY TRINITY

THE FOUR EVANGELISTS

105

io6 Heraldry of the Church

S. Matthew. September 21

Gules an angel standing gold.

The' tamiliar emblem ot the Divine
Man, appropriated to S. Matthew since
very early times because in his Gospel
the human nature ot our Lord is the
burden of his teaching, is here placed
upon a red shield in token ot the martyr-
dom of the evangelist.

The Four E^ningelists

107

AND MARTYR

io8 Heraldry of the Church

S. Mark. April 25

Gules a \91nged lion standing ^ith his
nimbus gold.

A wino^ed lion is S. Mark's ancient
symbol, because his Gospel sets forth the
royal dignity of Christ. Placed upon a
red shield it will serve as the heraldic
emblem of the evangelist and martyr.

The Four E^nuigelists

109

S. MARK, EVANGELIST AND MARTYR

1 1 o Heraldry of the Church

S. Luke. October i8

Gules a winged ox with a nimbus gold.

The ox, the emblem assigned to S.
Luke, whose Gospel dwells on the sacri-
ficial aspect of the life of our Blessed
Lord, is here placed on red to serve as
arms for churches dedicated in honour of
the evangelist and martyr.

The Four Evangelists

1 1 1

S. LUKE, EVANGELIST AND MARTYR

1 1 2 Heraldry of the Church

S. John. December 27

Gules an eagle rising vcith a nimbus gold.

The ancient symbol of the eagle, assigned
from very early days to S. John because
his gaze pierced further into the mysteries
of heaven than that of any man, is here
placed all gold on a red field as the most
appropriate heraldic emblem for the son
ot thunder.

The Four Kyangelists

S. JOHN, APOSTLE, EVANGELIST,
AND MARTYR

ARMS ASSIGNED TO SAINTS

1 1 6 Heraldry of the Church

S. Andrew. November 30
Azure a saltire siher.

The saltire is from time immemorial the
symbol of S. Andrew in memory of the
cross on which he suffered martyrdom.

This shield with the field silver and the
saltire gules is that of S. Patrick, patron
of Ireland, and, as is well known, these two
saltires quarterly quartered on S. Andrew's
blue field form the ground of the Union
Jack.

A black saltire on gold is traditionally
assigned to S. Osmund, Bishop of Salis-
bury. Azure a saltire gold are the arms of
S. Alban, the first martyr of Britain, and
of the great abbey in Hertfordshire dedi-
cated in honour of him.

Arms assigned to Saints 1 1 7

S. ANDREW, APOSTLE AND MARTYR,
PATRON OF SCOTLAND

1 1 8 Heraldry of the Church

S. Augustine. May 26

Sable a cross silver yvith the cross of an
archbishop surmounted by a pall gold in the
first quarter and a lily ypith its leaves silver in
the second quarter.

In this ancient shield, attributed in
mediaeval days to the Apostle of the
English, the black field perhaps suggests
the Benedictine order of which S. Augus-
tine was a monk. The cross and the pall
commemorate his archiepiscopal rank. A
reason for the inclusion of the lily is less
obvious ; but he died in the month of
Mary, and perhaps the flower of Madonna
may have been placed there in memory of
May 26th, the day of his death.

Arms assigned to Saints

119

S. AUGUSTINE
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

I20 Heraldry of the Church

S. Bartholomew. August 24

Gules three flaying-knives silver vcith their
handles gold.

A large knife, which is the emblem of
S. Bartholomew, refers to the legend that
he suffered death by being flayed alive
and then crucified. But three objects
make a better pattern in a shield than
one, wherefore three knives are placed
here. (Compare S. Thomas, page 190.)

Arms assigned to Saints 1 2 i

APOSTLE AND MARTYR

1 2 2 Heraldry of the Church

S. Catherine of Alexandria
November 25

Azure a spiked wheel silver.

This favourite saint, who is said to have
been the only child of a King of Egypt,
was, after S. Mary Magdalene, the most
highly venerated of all women saints. She
was universally reverenced as the patroness
of learning and as the noblest type of
chastity. According to the well-known
legend her persecutors strove to put her
to death by breaking her upon a wheel set
with spikes, which by divine interposition
was broken. In Christian art the wheel
of S. Catherine is thus commonly repre-
sented as broken ; in the shield of arms
devised for her it is invariably shown
whole.

Arms assigned to Saints 123

S. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA

24 Heraldry of the Church

S. Clement. November 23

Azure an anchor gohi set upright.

The blue shield is charged with the very
ancient symbol of this eminent Bishop of
Rome, which was assigned to him in
memory of the legend that during Trajan's
persecution he was bound to an anchor
and cast into the sea.

Arms assigned to Saints 125

S. CLEMENT

126 Heraldry of the Church

S. CuTHBERT. March 20

Azure a cross paty gohi between four lions
silver.

It is not easy to imagine what was in
the minds of the heralds of the Middle
Ages who gave this beautiful shield to
the Hermit-Bishop of Lindisfarne, unless
we may suppose that it was suggested by
the somewhat similar arms of the See of
Durham, in whose cathedral the saint's
body rests. It will be observed that the
cross in this shield is of different form
from that of Durham, and that the colours
of the chargfes are reversed.

Arms assigned to Sain is 127

S. CUTHBERT

128 Heraldry of the Church

S. DuNSTAN. May 19

iAzure a cohered cup gold.

Dunstan, the great Archbishop of Can-
terbury, artist and musician, scholar and
reformer, statesman and preacher, was an
expert worker in metals. He was rever-
enced as the patron saint of goldsmiths,
and the golden cup in the arms devised
for him is a symbol of one side of his
complex personality.

Arms assigned to Saints

129

S. DUNSTAN, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

130 Heraldry of the Church

S. Edmund, King and Martyr
November 20

Azure a crown gold with two arrows gold
passed through it saltirewise.

Edmund, the last King of East Anglia,
was murdered by the heathen Danes in
the year 870, who scourged him and shot
him to death with arrows when at a parley
with the invaders, he refused to share his
kingdom with their chief.

The charges in the arms, which are blue
and gold like those of other Saxon kings,
refer to his kingship and his martyrdom.
The great abbey at Bury which grew up
round S. Edmund's shrine had for its arms
three like crowns and pairs of arrows on
a blue field.

^-Irms assigned to Saints 1 3 i

S. EDMUND, KING AND MARTYR

132 Heraldry of the Church

S. Edward the Confessor
October 13

Azure a cross paty heWeen five martlets
gold.

There is scarcely a shield in English
armory more famous and better known
than this of the saint who founded West-
minster Abbey and shared with S. George
and S. Thomas of Canterbury the devotion
of the English folk. Not, of course, that
King Edward himself ever displayed these
arms which were invented for him long
after his death. It is thought by some
that the martlets in these arms were sug-
gested by the birds which King Edward
placed on his coins, and that these were
doves like that which stood at the top of
his sceptre.

Arms assigned to Saints 133

S. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR

134 Heraldry of the Church

S. George. April 23

Sill?er a cross gules.

These famous arms have been a part of
the armory of England for many centuries.
The red cross of the warrior-saint was the
badge of English fighting men throughout
the Middle Ages ; and it was blazoned on
the standards of all English kings and
nobles. S. George's shield are the arms

o

of the order of the Garter, the most
ancient and eminent order of knighthood
in the world, and his cross is to-day, as it
has been for centuries, the most prominent
device in the national flag.

This shield, with its field of the imperial
purple and its plain cross gold, is suggested
as arms for S. Helen, the mother of the
Emperor Constantine, who, as tradition
relates, was the discoverer of the Cross of
our Lord.

Irms assigned to Saints

135

S. GEORGE, PATRON OF ENGLAND

136 Heraldry oj the Church

S. Gregory. March 12

Gold three bends gules and a chief gold
with a roundel ^ules therein harping the Holy
Name inscribed upon it and supported by two
lions gules.

The red roundel with the Holy Name in
gold is a representation of the host, placed
here in memory of the legend of S. Gre-
gory's mass. It is said that on a day
when he was celebrating the Sacrament a
vision of the crucified Lord descending
upon the altar was revealed, in answer to
the prayer of the bishop, to one who
doubted the Real Presence.

Arms assigned to Saints 137

138 Heraldry of the Church

S. Hilda. November 17

Azure three serpents coiled gold.

Hilda, the great-niece of King Edwin
ot Northumbria, was abbess first of Hartle-
pool and afterwards of the famous house
at Whitby which she herself founded.
" She taught," says Bede, " the strict
observance of justice, piety, chastity, and
other virtues, and especially peace and
charity . . . and so great was her pru-
dence that not only all common folk but
sometimes even kings and princes sought
counsel of her and found it." It is related
that the people adored her, and certain
stones which are found there having the
form of snakes coiled up were commonly
believed to be venomous reptiles, thus
changed by the prayers of S. Hilda. It is
this tradition that is commemorated by
the golden charges in her blue shield.

4rms (issi^^ned to Saints 139

S. HILDA, ABBESS OF WHITBY

140 Heraldry of the Church

S. James. July 25

z^zure three scallops gold.

The scallop shell, the ancient emblem
of S. James, seems to have been assigned
to him by the Spaniards who reverenced
him as their patron and protector. A
scallop was worn as a sign by all pilgrims
who had been to Compostela in Galicia
where the shrine of the saint was. The
Spanish knightly order of S. James was
founded in memory of the battle of Clavijo,
where, it is said, the patron of Spain
appeared, sword in hand, to fight against
the Moors with the trappers of his war-
horse powdered with scallops. The badge
of that famous order is a red sword with a
silver scallop upon the hilt. It is thought
that the scallop may have been chosen as
S. James's emblem in memory of his
having been a fisherman.

Arms assigned to Saints

141

s.

JAM

ES, APOSTLE AND MARTYR

142 Heraldry of the Church

S. Laurence. Auo^ust 10

to

Siher a gridiron sable.

Laurence, the deacon of Rome, who
suffered for the Faith during Valerian's
persecution in the year 258 was so highly
honoured in this, as in every other country
of Christendom, that churches dedicated in
his honour are to be found in all but four
counties in England. His emblem, the
instrument of his martyrdom, is the charge
in the silver shield that the piety of me-
diaeval armorists devised for him.

Arms assigned to Saints i 43

S. LAURENCE

144 Heraldry of the Church

S. Margaret of Antioch
July 2c

Azure a dragon s head torn off at the neck
and pierced ^ith a cross gold.

These arms are suggested by the legend
that when S. Margaret, the noble virgin-
martyr of Antioch, was imprisoned by
her persecutors Satan in the form of a
dragon appeared and devoured her. But
the power of the cross which she wore
grew in the mouth of the dragon and tore
him in pieces, so that Margaret came forth
unhurt.

Arms assigned to Saints 145

S. -MARGARET OF ANTIOCH

146 Heraldry of til e Church

S. Martin. November 1 1
Azure a charhocle gold.

It is not easy to see why this device
should have been attributed to S. Martin.
The charbocle or escarbuncle is a heraldic
figure which originated in the central boss
with its radiatino- ribs, used in ancient
times to strengthen the knightly shield.

These arms were borne by the family
of St. Martial of Auvergne in France, and
it is possible that English armorists may
have been misled by the similarity of the
name into assigning them to the famous
French bishop whose memory was so
greatly revered in our own country.

1

Arms assigned to Saints 147

^

148 Heraldry of the Church

The Blessed VirCxIn Mary

Azure a heart in its proper colour haVing
wings gold and pierced by a sword silver with
its hilt gold.

This very ancient shield for Our Lady
is a reference to Simeon's words, " Yea, a
sword shall pass through thine own soul
also." Its blue field is the Virgin's colour,
and the charges are suggestive of Mater
dolorosa. Another shield frequently found,
which symbolizes the Virgin of the An-
nunciation, is Silver a group of lilies in their
proper colours standing in a golden vase.

Arms assigned to Saints 149

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

I 50 Heraldry of the Church

S. Michael the Archangel
September 29

Silver a cross pommy gules.

The reason is lost for the choice of a
red cross of this peculiar form, with its
arms ending in balls or apples, as the
emblem of the Archangel Michael, but it
is so assigned in Harl. MS. 5852 in the
British Museum. Sometimes the cross is
found with trefoiled ends.

Arms assigned to Saints i 5 i

S. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

152 Heraldry of tlie Church

S. Thomas of Canterbury
December 29

Silver three Cornish choughs in their proper
colours.

The birds are black with red legs and
beaks. The arms of the city, three choughs
and a chief with a leopard of England, are
engraved in its fifteenth-century seal. It
is hardly likely that Archbishop Thomas
himself actually bore arms ; but the
choughs, as Mr. W. H. St. John Hope
has remarked, were certainly regarded as
S. Thomas's birds in the Middle Ages.
If there is any legend to account for this
it is no longer remembered.

Arms assigned to S din is 153

S. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY

154 Heraldry of the Church

S. Wilfrid. October 12

Gohi seven voided lozenges gules.

This shield has been regarded as S. Wil-
frid's since the fifteenth century at least.
It is not easy to say why it was assigned
to him, or wherein is its appropriateness.
Perhaps, however, it is more than fancy
which sees in this reticulated charge some
suggestion of a fishing-net. For Wilfrid
was not only a great fisher of men. The
tale of how in the days of his banishment
he showed the starving Sussex folk the
plenteous store of food that the sea held
for them is well known. Perhaps too in
the seven sharp summits of the lozenges
of his shield there may be a hint of Wil-
frid's devotion to the See of Rome, as if
those points referred to the seven hills of
the eternal city.

Arms assigned to Saints 1 5 5

S. WILFRID, BISHOP OF YORK

ARMS SUGGESTED FOR SAINTS

57

158 Heraldry of til e Church

All Saints. November r

Party silver and sable a cro'Von gold betvoeen
three scrolls gold having the word ^^ Sanctus "
gules upon each.

This shield is offered as a heraldic
emblem for churches dedicated in honour
of All Saints.

The field divided perpendicularly into
two equal halves, silver to the dexter,
sable to the sinister, is intended to sym-
bolize the brightness and the trials of the
heavenly and the earthly life. A gold
crown has ever been the emblem of sanc-
tity ; and the scrolls with their red words
are suggested as typifying the hymn of
the redeemed.

Arms suggested for Saints 159

ALL SAINTS

1 60 Heraldry of the Church

S. Anne. July 26

<iAzure a lily silver groy\nng mthin a border
silver masoned sable.

The blue field with the silver lily grow-
ing in it is intended to represent the
girlhood of the Blessed Virgin ; the
masoned border is for the protecting care
of the mother of Our Lady.

Arms suggested for Saints 1 6 1

S. ANNE

M

J 62 Heraldry of the Church

S. Barnabas. June 1 1

Qiiles a fesse siher and six roses counter-
coloured.

So little is told of this saint in history
and in legend that it is not easy to devise
a coat of arms containing any allusion to
his personality. But his festival falls in
June, the month of roses, and, in default
of a better, perhaps the shield illustrated
opposite will serve as a heraldic design
suitable for churches with this designation.

If the silver fesse is drawn so that it
occupies about a third of the shield the
roses (four of them silver on the red of
the field, the other two red upon the silver
fesse) can be disposed in a regular and
agreeable pattern somewhat after the man-
ner of a wreath. The shield then serves
to remind us of a pretty custom that ob-
tained in old days in at least one parish,
where on S. Barnabas' day the clerks and
singing boys were wont to crown them-
selves with wreaths of roses.

Arms suggested for Saints \ 6 3

S. BARNABAS

164 Heraldry of the Church

S. BoTOLPH. June 17

Barry yoavy silver and azure a chevron
sable with its point ending in a cross.

Botolph, the hermit-abbot of the fen
country, is famous as the pioneer of the
Benedictine order in England. At some
time in the seventh century he, with the
goodwill of the king of the East Angles,
founded a monastery on a lonely piece of
land surrounded by water. This shield
with its six waved divisions of white and
blue may be taken to represent the water
that was about his dwelling, and the
chevron is the old heraldic charge by
which the mediaeval armorists symbolized
a builder. The cross at the top of the
chevron is introduced to. indicate that
S. Botolph's building was sacred.

Arms suggested for Saints 165

S. BOTOLPH

1 66 Heraldry of the Church

S. Bridget. February i

Siher a himp gules aflame in a vpreath of
oak vert.

The white field may be regarded as
symbolical of the virgin Abbess of Kildare,
'' the Mary of the Irish," and suggests the
white garments which she always wore.
The oak wreath is emblematical ot Kildare,
the greatest of her foundations, whose
name means " the cell of the oak," while
the red lamp with its flame is a reminder
of the sacred fire which the nuns of Kildare
kept ever burning in memory of her.

Arms suggested for Saints 167

S. BRIDGET

1 68 Heraldry of the Church

S. David. March i

Silver a mount '\>ert and a pile azure with
a holy dove in his proper colours descending
therein.

It is told of S. David, the chief of the
builders of the Church in Wales, that
when he was a young bishop and known
for a very eloquent preacher men besought
him to speak to a great multitude when
other speakers had tried in vain to make
themselves heard. Whereupon the ground
rose as a high mount under his feet, says
the legend, so that David was clearly heard
by all, both far and near, while a white
dove sat upon his shoulder and stayed so
long as he was speaking.

It is this legend which the shield here
devised for him records in heraldic lan-
guage.

Arms suggested for Saints 169

S. DAVID, PATRON OF WALES

170 Heraldry of the Church

S. Giles. September i

Vert a leaping hind gold shot through with
an arrow silver.

This shield is designed in reference to
the favourite legend of the hermit-saint
who is said to have lived in a forest by the
Rhone. There he was discovered, so it is
related, by the King of France while hunt-
ing, who having tracked a wounded hind
found that she had taken refuge in the
hermit's cell.

S. Giles is the patron saint of the wood-
land, hence the shield is coloured green.

Arms suggested for Saints i 7 i

S. GILES

172 Heraldry of tlie Church

S. John Baptist. June 24

Gules a cross silver with eight points.

There is no need to seek far for a
heraldic symbol of S. John Baptist when
we have the beautiful cross which, under
its name of the Maltese cross, was the
badge of the famous military order of the
Knights Hospitallers. The order was
instituted early in the eleventh century
under the patronage of this saint for the
protection and support of pilgrims going
to the sepulchre of our Lord. After the
loss of the Holy Land the order had
its home at Rhodes, but being driven
trom thence it was transferred to Malta
whence the cross gained its familiar name.

Arms suggested for Saints 173

S. JOHN BAPTIST

I 74 Heraldry of the Church

S. JuDE. October 28

Gules a ship gold yvitb its sails and cordage
silver.

Of the several emblems appropriated
to S. Jude the ship, as that which appears
most often in English representations of
him, has been chosen as the charge for a
shield of arms to symbolize him. The
field is gules in reference to the legend
that he suffered a martyr's death.

Arms suggested for Saints 1 7 5

S. JUDE, APOSTLE AND MARTYR

176 H €7' ill dry of the Church

S. Leonard. November 6

Sable a saltire of cJiains gold ending in
broken fetters,

Leonard, the patron saint ot prisoners
and slaves, was a hermit of France who
lived in the sixth century. He founded
an abbey near Limoges and spent his long
life in works of pity, being specially tender
towards those who had lost their liberty.
The Benedictines claimed him as one of
their order, and the black field of these
arms is a reminder of the colour of their
habit. The golden chain with its broken
fetters is intended to typify the freeing of
captives which was S. Leonard's dearest
form of charity.

Arms suggested for Saints 177

S. LEONARD

1 78 Heraldry of the Church

S. Mary Magdalene. July 22

Party purple and sable strewn yvith drops
silver an alabaster ointment-pot in its proper

colours embellished with gold.

The field is divided perpendicularly and
coloured purple and black, the colours of
penitence and mourning. The principal
charge is the symbol of the saint, and
the silver drops with which the field is
bestrewn may be taken to represent
S. Mary's tears.

Arms suggested for Saints 179

S. MARY MAGDALENE

I 80 Heraldry of the Church

S. Matthias. February 24

Six pieces gules and gold with three dice in
their proper colours in the gules.

This shield is intended to symbolize by
its charges him who was chosen by lot into
the number of the Apostles, and by its
colours his martyrdom and renown. It is
suggested as an alternative to the usual
method of representing a saint by the
emblem which is used to distinguish him
in Christian art. A precedent for intro-
ducing dice into a shield is to be found in
the arms of the English family of Mathias
who bore Gules three dice silver^ as well as
in mediaeval shields in Winchester Cathe-
dral and elsewhere in which they are
pictured among the instruments ot our
Lord's Passion.

Arms suggested for Saints 1 8 i

S. MATTHIAS, APOSTLE AND MARTYR

1 82 Heraldry of the Church

S. Nicholas. December 6
Azure three bezants.

Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, the patron
saint of children, has as his emblem three
golden balls in reference to the legend
which tells how he saved three sisters
from poverty and shame by throwing
secretly three purses of gold into their
house. These gifts are represented heral-
dically by golden roundels in the shield
opposite, where the blue field may be
allowed to typify the sea, for S. Nicholas
is the patron too of seafaring men.

The arms of the Kentish family of
St. Nicholas who bore Ermine a chief
quarterly gold and gules are sometimes
improperly ascribed to the Bishop of
Myra.

Arms suggested for Saints i 8 3

84 Heraldry of the Church

S. Philip. May i

Gules a staff set upright haVing a cross at
its head between two fishes lying fessewise mth
two roundels in the chief and three in the foot
all gold.

The red field is symbolical of martyr-
dom ; the golden fishes and the five
roundels are for a reminder of the miracle
of the feeding of the five thousand ; the
long cross is that which is seen in so
many devotional pictures of S. Philip.

Arms suggested for Saints 1 8 5

S. PHILIP, APOSTLE AND MARTYR

I 86 Heraldry of the Church

S. Stephen. December 26

Gules a palm-branch gold set upright
between three flint-stones siber.

These are the arms of the Abbey of
S. Stephen at Dijon in France. English
heraldry seems to have failed to devise a
shield for the first martyr, and English
churches of this dedication would find it
hard to design anything better than these
expressive arms of the emblems of his
martyrdom.

Arms suggested for Sainis 187

S. STEPHEN THE FIRST MARTYR

1 88 Heraldry of the Church

S. SwiTHUN. July 15

^ih)er three apples with their lea))es li^ert
and a chief azure sprinkled with drops siher.

The charges in the shield are suggested
by the popular weather legend regarding
the festival of the translation of the famous
bishop. The silver drops in the blue chief
refer to the rain which so often falls against
our hopes on S. Swithun's day, while the
green apples allude to the old legend that
if S. Swithun wets the orchards there will
be a plentiful harvest.

Arms suggested for Saints 189

S. SWITHUN, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER

1 90 Heraldry of the Church

S. Thomas. December 21

Gules three spears in their proper colours.

The field is red, the martyr's colour ; a
spear is his well-known emblem in allusion
to the instrument of his martyrdom. Three
spears are placed in this shielci, in accord-
ance with mediaeval heraldic practice, tor
artistic reasons ; for three charges have a
better appearance than one. A single
spear would occupy too small a space to
make an effective design.

Arms suggested for Saints

191

S. THOMAS, APOSTLE AND MARTYR

INDEX

Alban. S., ii6.
All Saints, 158.
Andrew, S., 116.
Anne, S. , 160.
Armagh, 16.
Augustine, S., 1 18.

IJangor, 22.
Barna])as, S., 162.
Bartholomew, S., 120.
Bath and Wells, 24.
Birmingham, 26.
Botolph, S., 164.
Bridget, S., 166.
Bristol, 28.

Canterbury, 16.
Carlisle, 76.
Catherine, S., 122.
Chad, S., 40.
Chester, 78.
Chichester, 30.
Christ Church, 94.
Clement, S., 124.
Cross, Holy, 96.
Cuthbert, S., 126.

David, S., 168.

193

Denys, S., 74.
Dublin, 16.
Dunstan, S., 128.
Durham, 74.

Edmund, S., 130.
Edward the Confessor, 132.
Ely, 32.
Emmanuel, 98.
Etheldreda, S., 32.
Exeter, 34.

Eaith, S., 102.

Five Wounds, The, 98.

George, S., 134.
Giles, S., 170.
Gloucester, 36.
Gregory, S., 136.

Helen, S., 134.
Hereford, 38.
Hilda, S.,'138.

James, S., 140.
John Baptist, S., 172.
John the Evangelist, S. , 112.
Jude, S., 174.

O

194

Index

Laurence, S., 142.
Leonard, S. , 176.
Lichfield, 40,
Lincoln, 42.
Liverpool, 80.
Llandaff, 44.
London, 18.
Luke, S., no.

Manchester, 82.

Margaret, S., 144.

Mark, S., 108.

Martin, S., 146.

Mary Magdalene, S., 178.

Mary, the Blessed Virgin,

148.
Matthew, S., 106.
Matthias, S., 180.
Michael, S., 150.

Newcastle, 84.
Nicholas, S., 182.
Norwich, 46.

Osmund, S., 116.
Osyth, S., 32.
Oxford, 48.

Patrick, S., 116.
Paul, S., 18.

Peter, S., 36.
Peterborough, 50.
Philip, S. , 184.

Ripon, 86.
Rochester, 52.

St. Albans, 54.
St. Asaph, 56.
St. Davids, 58.
Salisbury, 60.
Saviour, S., lOO.
Sodor and Man, 88.
Southwark, 62.
Southwell, 64.
Stephen, S., 186.
Swithun, S., 188.

Thomas, S., 190.
Thomas of Canterl)ury, S.

152.
Trinity, Holy, 102.
Truro, 66.

Wakefield, 90.
Wilfrid, S., 154.
Winchester, 20.
Worcester, 68.

York, 72.

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