Sir W. H. St. John Hope

The probable Origin of Supporters; Quasi-Supporters; True Supporters: their Introduction; Supporters of Crested Helms; Pairs of Supporters; Dissimilar Supporters; The use of Supporters by Ladies; Other ways of supporting Shields.

The misuse of crests to which reference has been made unfortunately does not stand alone, for modern artists are quite as much at fault with regard to the proper treatment of supporters.

There can be little doubt that these charming adjuncts to heraldic compositions originated with the seal engravers, in their desire to fill up the vacant space in a round seal between the shield and its surrounding margin. In the oldest examples this was done by adding scrollwork or leafage, but in the seal of Humphrey Bohun earl of Hereford, 1220, the large shield of his arms is flanked by two smaller shields of his other earldom of Essex. The same treatment occurs in the seal of his grandson, another Humphrey Bohun earl of Hereford and Essex, 1298-1322 (pl. XIX B). Henry de Laci (1257) has the side spaces filled by two small wivers, and in the seal of Stephen Longespee (ob. 1260) the shield is flanked by two long swords (pl. XIX A). Gilbert of Clare earl of Gloucester (1262) has his shield hung on a peg and accompanied by two lions back to back, while in the seal of Edmund earl of Cornwall (1272) and son of Richard king of the Romans the shield is held up in the beak of an imperial eagle splayed or spread out behind it. Thomas earl of Lancaster (1296) on both his larger and his lesser seals has the shield flanked by two wivers, as has also his brother Henry of Lancaster (1298) (fig. 60).

Sometimes the shield is hung about the neck of a bird (fig. 113), or about a beast, as in the seal of Alan la Souche, which likewise has the shield surrounded by a number of lions (fig. 114).

Fig. 113. Seal of John de Moun with the shield slung from an eagle and flanked by two leopards. From the Barons' Letter.

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Fig. 114. Seal of Alan la Souche in 1301.

During the first half of the fourteenth century little definite progress was made towards true supporters. Shields, whether hung from pegs or upon trees, or surmounted by crested helms, still continued to be flanked by quasi-supporters, which of course varied much in character. Pairs of wivers, dragons, and lions, usually back to back, the better to fit the space, and sometimes with entwined tails, were common early in the century, and shields with splayed eagles behind may not infrequently be found (figs. 115, 116). What may be regarded as true supporters appear on the lesser seal (pl. XII A) of William Montagu earl of Salisbury (circa 1337), wherein two griffins seem to be holding up the shield, but it is not until well on in the second half of the fourteenth century that further definite instances become fairly common.

Fig. 115. Seal of John Beauchamp of Hacche with shield on breast of an eagle.

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Fig. 116. Seal of William de Ferrers with shield upon an eagle with two heads.

Interesting transitional usages may also be found. Thus on a seal (c. 1350) of Margaret Graunson two wivers uphold by their beaks the upper corners of a shield of her husband's arms, while a third wiver similarly grips the point. Guy de Bryen (c. 1350) has his shield hung upon a tree and supported at the corners by two wivers holding it by their beaks. Another lady, Joan FitzAlan, who married in 1362 Humphrey Bohun earl of Hereford, has an impaled shield of their arms held up in their beaks by two Bohun swans; and another pair of swans perform the same office in a FitzWarin seal used in 1398-9 (pl. XX A).

PLATE XX.—Shields with supporters.

• A Ivo FitzWarin, in 1398-9.
• B Peter de Mauley, in 1379-80.
• C Sir Bartholomew Burghersh, 1397-8.
• D John la Warre, in 1390.

A curious variant from the ordinary flanking pair of beasts occurs on the seal of Edmund Mortimer earl of March (1360-81), where the arms are accompanied by a pair of lions with their heads covered by large helms with the earl's crest, a bush of feathers rising from a crown. A similar treatment is to be seen on a seal of John la Warre, as used in 1390 (pl. XX D).

Analogous cases will be noted on the seal of Sir Robert de Marni (1366) (fig. 64), whose shield hangs from a tree and is flanked by two fronting helms with tall pairs of wings rising from caps of estate as crests; also in a seal of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh (1397-8), which has the shield flanked by two helms crested with tall soldans' heads, and surmounted by what is probably his badge, a swan with a lady's head (pl. XX C). A seal of Sir Roger Scales (1369-86) has his seal flanked by two long-necked wivers, and hung by a strap from another wiver which has twisted itself into the shape of the letter S, and perched itself on the upper edge of the shield.

Another case of true supporters is afforded by a seal of Peter de Mauley in 1379-80, where a shield surmounted by a fierce dragon (perhaps a badge) is upheld by small lions (pl. XX B). Other supporters of shields only may be seen on seals of Thomas Beauchamp earl of Warwick (1369), where they are bears; and of Roger Mortimer earl of March and Ulster (1381), where they are lions, as is also the case in a seal of John Batour used in 1418-9. In each of these cases the shield is hung upon a tree.

In heraldic representations where the shield of arms is surmounted by a helm and crest, there is the same hesitation in arriving at true supporters; the space at the sides being filled at first by a badge or such device. Thus John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster (in 1362) introduced a pair of eagles with hanging locks in their beaks, and his brother Edmund of Langley duke of York (in 1385) followed suit with a couple of falcons having in their beaks scrolls with scriptures (pl. XXI). John Nevill lord of Raby and seneschal of Bordeaux (1378) flanked his arms, etc. with two letters b, while his kinsman, Sir William Nevill, used in 1390 a seal with his arms and crested helm accompanied by two large stars.

PLATE XXI.—Shields accompanied by Badges.

• A John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster, 1362.
• B Edmund of Langley duke of York, 1385.

The fine seal of Thomas lord Despenser (before 1397) has on either side of his shield and crested helm a tree from which hangs a lozenge of arms: the one bearing the three cheverons of Clare, for his lordship of Glamorgan; the other the forked-tailed lion of the barony of Burghersh, which came to him through his mother (pl. XXII A). Richard Nevill earl of Salisbury in 1429 similarly places two angels bearing shields: one with the arms of Nevill, the other with the lions of Longespee in virtue of his earldom of Salisbury (pl. XXII B). Henry of Lancaster (afterwards King Henry IV) as earl of Derby, etc. (c. 1385) flanks his arms and crested helm with two ostrich feathers entwined with a scroll with the scripture souvereyne (pl. XXIV C), and others of the royal house similarly used ostrich feathers of other forms. Edward V as prince of Wales in 1471 flanked his arms with two scrolled ostrich feathers standing on large York roses. Thomas duke of Exeter (1416) placed a swan on either side of his armorial achievement, and William lord Lovel and Holand (1423) a hanging lock (pl. XXIII A); while Sir John Pelham (c. 1430) flanked his crest with his buckle badge (pl. XXIII B). On the fine seal of Thomas lord Roos of Hamlake or Helmsley (1431-64) his peacock crest is flanked by two large flowering plants, perhaps hemlocks (pl. XXIII E).

PLATE XXII.—Quasi-supporters.

• A Thomas lord Despenser, before 1397.
• B Richard Nevill earl of Salisbury, 1429.

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PLATE XXIII.—Shields accompanied by badges.

• A William lord Lovel and Holand, 1423.
• B Sir John Pelham, c. 1430.
• C Hugh de Veer, 1301.
• D Aver de Rocheford, c. 1330.
• E Thomas lord Roos of Hamlake, 1431.

By the third quarter of the fourteenth century the combination of supporters with shields of arms surmounted by crested helms had become fully established, and henceforth the number of beautiful and instructive examples is so great that it is unnecessary to do more than illustrate a typical series (figs. 117-121). It will be seen from these that in seals the majority of the supporters are upholding the heavy helm and its crest, and not the shield that hangs below it; probably on account of the nature of the design. The supporters, too, usually form pairs, and it goes without saying that every variety of creature is made to serve. Sometimes they are composed of badges, like the falcons on crooked billets used by William lord Zouch (pl. XXIV A), or the similar birds with 'words' coupled with oak leaves and the letter t that appear on a seal of Sir John Falstaff used in 1456 (pl. XXIV B). William lord Botraux, in a seal used in 1426, has his armorial ensigns flanked by two buttresses (Fr. botreaux); while John lord Talbot and Furnival (1406) has two talbots (fig. 122), and George duke of Clarence (1463) the black bulls of Clare (fig. 123).

Where the supporters differ it is usually the case that they represent more than one dignity. Thus on one of his seals (fig. 124) Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick (1401) used as such for supporters two muzzled bears hugging ragged staves, but on a later seal (1421) as earl of Warwick and of Albemarle the supporters are a bear and a griffin (fig. 125). So, too, his successor in the title of earl of Warwick, Richard Nevill, on a fine seal (c. 1451-2) has two muzzled bears for supporters, but on a later seal (c. 1460) as earl of Warwick and Salisbury his supporters are a Warwick bear and a Montagu griffin (fig. 69). Edmund Beaufort duke of Somerset on his seal for the town of Bayeux (c. 1445) (fig. 126) has on one side his own eagle supporter, and on the other a spotted dog-like beast with a crown about his neck; and Richard duke of York and earl of March on his seal as governor of France and Normandy in 1436 has for supporters the York falcon and the white lion of March. On the stall-plate of John Beaufort duke of Somerset and earl of Kendal his arms are supported by a Somerset crowned eagle and a mysterious beast called a yale,[8] behind each of which stands an ostrich feather with the quill gobony of blue and silver.

Thus Joan Holand, daughter of Thomas earl of Kent, and wife of Edmund of Langley duke of York, has (after 1393) her[Pg 207]
[Pg 208] husband's half of her impaled shield supported by the falcon of York, and her own half by her father's hind with its crown collar. Cecily Nevill, the wife of Richard duke of York and earl of March, and mother of King Edward IV, has the shield on her fine seal ensigned by a falcon of York and supported by a stag with crown-collar and chain and by a lion of March (fig. 127). The even more splendid seal of Elizabeth Wydville, queen-consort of King Edward IV, shows as her supporters the lion of March and a lean spotted beast not unlike an otter, collared and chained (pl. XXV). The lady Margaret Beaufort, on the other hand, ensigns on both her seals her paternal arms of Beaufort with the Somerset eagle and uses for her supporters a pair of yales (pls. XXVI, XXX).

It is of course all-important that supporters should be shown standing upon something solid, and not on so precarious a footing as the edge of a motto or forked scroll. One of the beautiful armorial groups with the supporters of King Henry VII in King's college chapel at Cambridge (fig. 128) shows how effectively and yet unobtrusively this may be done. In the splendid panel at New Hall in Essex with the crowned arms, etc. of King Henry VIII his dragon and greyhound supporters stand in a bush of roses and pomegranates (fig. 189); and in the well-known glass at Ockwells the supporters have fields full of flowers to stand on.

Quite an early instance of playful treatment is furnished by the seal of Roger Leybourne (ob. 1284). This has a small banner standing behind the shield, which is hung on a tree with side branches; one of these supports the crested helm, and the other ends in a bunch of leaves (pl. XI A).

Thomas lord Holand and Wake (c. 1353) has within a traceried panel a tree[Pg 212]
[Pg 213] standing in a rabbit warren and supporting his crowned helm with its huge bush of feathers. Hanging on either side are two shields, one with beautiful diapering of his lordship of Wake, the other (originally) of his lordship of Holand (pl. XXVII A).

Thomas of Woodstock duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III, used from about 1385 a lovely seal with the stock of a tree standing within a paling and surrounded by water on which float two chained Bohun swans, for his wife Eleanor Bohun; from the tree hangs a large shield of the duke's arms, with his crested helm above, and from two side branches are suspended diapered shields of the earldom of Hereford (azure two bends, one gold, the other silver), also in reference to his Bohun marriage.

Margaret daughter of Richard Beauchamp earl of Warwick, and wife of John Talbot earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford, in her fine shield (after 1433) suspends by their straps her father's shield and the impaled shield of her husband and herself from the ragged staff of her father's house (pl. XXVII B).

Thomas Holand earl of Kent used in 1398 a seal bearing his badge of a white hind with a crown for a collar, reclining under a tree, and with the shield of his arms hanging round its neck (pl. XVIII B).

In the fourteenth century seal of the mayoralty of Calais a boar has a cloak tied about his neck and flying upwards banner-wise to display the arms of the town, which were barry wavy with a crowned (?) leopard rampant (fig. 129). A similar treatment occurs on the half-florin of King Edward III, which has for device a crowned sitting leopard with a cloak about his neck with the royal arms.

William lord Fitz Hugh (1429) and of Marmion shows on his seal his quartered shield ensigned by his helm and crest, which was apparently a lion's head. The rest of the beast is somewhat incongruously squatting behind the shield and has the paws thrust out on each side to grasp two banners of arms that complete the composition (pl. XXVIII A).

A similar pair of banners appears on the seal of Walter lord Hungerford, which has the shield 'supported' by two Hungerford sickles, and surmounted by the crested helm, with flanking banners of the arms of the lordships of Heytesbury and Hussey (fig. 130).

Banners also figure prominently on the charming seal of Margaret lady of Hungerford and Botreaux (1462) (pl. XXVIII B). She was the daughter of William lord Botreaux and Margaret Beaumont, and wife of Sir Robert Hungerford, who died in 1459. The seal shows the lady in her widow's dress 'sitting upon her knees' in a garden, and reading from a book some words which are inscribed on a scroll about her head. Overshadowing her are two large banners of impaled arms: one of Hungerford and Botreaux, upheld by a lion; the other of Botreaux and Beaumont, upheld by a griffin.

On many late thirteenth and early fourteenth century seals it was not uncommon to represent ladies holding up shields of arms. A delightful example that may be cited is that of Emmeline FitzGerald, and wife of Stephen Longespee, who is upholding her father's shield in her right and her husband's in her left hand. Below each shield is a leopard of England to show her husband's close relationship to the royal house, and on each side of her is a long sword. She died in 1331 (pl. XXIX B).

A few cases occur where a man himself acts as the supporter of his arms. One of the shields of Henry Percy earl of Northumberland (1377) shows him in armour, standing behind a large shield of Percy which he supports with his left hand. His right is upon the hilt of a sword with the belt wrapped about it, and against his left shoulder rests a banner with the Percy lion. The earl appears in similar fashion in another of his seals as lord of Cockermouth (1393). In this the shield is quarterly of Percy and Lucy, and is grasped as before by his left hand, while the right holds up a pennon charged with his badge of a crescent (pl. XXIX A).

It must suffice to quote one last piece of playfulness, a seal of Richard duke of York and earl of March and Ulster (ob. 1460) as justice-in-eyre of the forests. This has his shield of arms suspended about the neck of a York falcon, and enclosed by the horns of a buck's head in base, in reference to his office. Upon the buck's horns are fixed two small hands for the duke's earldom of Ulster (pl. XXIX C).