Part 71 (1/2)
The result of this temporal power enjoyed by the Bishops of Durham is seen in their heraldic achievement. In place of the two crosiers in saltire behind the s.h.i.+eld, as used by the other bishops, the Bishops of Durham place a sword and a crosier in saltire behind their s.h.i.+eld to signify both their temporal and spiritual jurisdiction.
The mitre of the Bishop of Durham is heraldically represented with the rim encircled by a ducal coronet, and it has thereby become usual to speak of the coronetted mitre of the Bishop of Durham; but it should be clearly borne in mind that the coronet formed no part of the actual mitre, and probably no mitre has ever existed in which the rim has been encircled by a coronet. But the Bishops of Durham, by virtue of their temporal status, used a coronet, and by virtue of their ecclesiastical status used a mitre, and the representation of both of these at one and the same time has resulted in the coronet being placed to encircle the rim of the mitre. The result has been that, heraldically, they are now always represented as one and the same article.
It is, of course, from this coronetted mitre of Durham that the wholly inaccurate idea of the existence of coronet on the mitre of an archbishop has originated. Apparently the humility of these Princes of the Church has not been sufficient to prevent their appropriating the peculiar privileges of their ecclesiastical brother of lesser rank.
A crest is never used with a mitre or ecclesiastical hat. Many writers deny the right of any ecclesiastic to a crest. Some deny the right also to use a motto, but this restriction has no general acceptance.
Therefore ecclesiastical heraldry in Britain is summed up in (1) its recognition of the cardinal's hat, (2) the official coat of arms for ecclesiastical purposes, (3) the ensigns of ecclesiastical rank above alluded to, viz. mitre, cross, and crosier. {605} Ecclesiastical heraldry--notably in connection with the Roman Church--in other countries has, on the contrary, a very important place in armorial matters. In addition to the emblems officially recognised for English heraldry, the ecclesiastical hat is in constant use.
The use of the ecclesiastical hat is very general outside Great Britain, and affords one of the few instances where the rules governing heraldic usages are identical throughout the Continent.
This curious unanimity is the more remarkable because it was not until the seventeenth century that the rather intricate rules concerning the colours of the hats used for different ranks and the number of ta.s.sels came into vogue.
Other than the occasional recognition of the cardinal's hat in former days, the only British official instance of the use of the ecclesiastical hat is met with in the case of the very recent matriculation of arms in Lyon Register to Right Rev. aeneas Chisholm, the present Roman Catholic Bishop of Aberdeen. I frankly admit I am unaware why the ecclesiastical hat a.s.signed to the bishop in the official matriculation of his arms has ten ta.s.sels on either side. The Continental usage would a.s.sign him but six, and English armory has no rules of its own which can be quoted in opposition thereto.
Save as an acceptance of Roman regulations (Roman Holy Orders, it should not be forgotten, are recognised by the English Common Law to the extent that a Roman Catholic priest is not reordained if he becomes an Anglican clergyman), the heraldic ecclesiastical hat of a bishop has no existence with us, and the Roman regulations would give him but six ta.s.sels.
The mitre is to be met with as a charge and as a crest, for instance, in the case of Barclay and Berkeley [”A mitre gules, labelled and garnished or, charged with a chevron between ten crosses patee, six and four argent.
Motto: 'Dieu avec nous'”]; and also in the case of Sir Edmund Hardinge, Bart., whose crests are curious [”1. of honourable augmentation, a hand fesswise couped above the wrist habited in naval uniform, holding a sword erect surmounting a Dutch and a French flag in saltire, on the former inscribed ”Atalanta,” on the latter ”Piedmontaise,” the blade of the sword pa.s.sing through a wreath of laurel near the point and a little below through another of cypress, with the motto, 'Postera laude recens;' 2. a mitre gules charged with a chevron argent, fimbriated or, thereon three escallops sable.”]
The cross can hardly be termed exclusively ecclesiastical, but a curious figure of this nature is to be met with in the arms recently granted to the Borough of Southwark. It was undoubtedly taken from the device used in Southwark before its incorporation, though as there were many bodies who adopted it in that neighbourhood, it is difficult to a.s.sign it to a specific origin. {606}
Pastoral staves and pa.s.sion-nails are elsewhere referred to, and the figures of saints and ecclesiastics are mentioned in the chapter on ”The Human Figure.”
The emblems of the saints, which appear to have received a certain amount of official recognition--both ecclesiastical and heraldic--supply the origin of many other charges not in themselves heraldic. An instance of this kind will be found in the sword of St. Paul, which figures on the s.h.i.+eld of London. The cross of St. Cuthbert, which has been adopted in the unauthorised coat for the See of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the keys of St.
Peter, which figure in many ecclesiastical coats, are other examples. The lilies of the Virgin are, of course, constantly to be met with in the form of fleurs-de-lis and natural flowers; the Wheel of St. Catharine is familiar, and the list might be extended indefinitely. {607}
CHAPTER x.x.xIX
ARMS OF DOMINION AND SOVEREIGNTY
Royal arms in many respects differ from ordinary armorial bearings, and it should be carefully borne in mind that they stand, not for any particular area of land, but for the intangible sovereignty vested in the rulers thereof. They are not necessarily, nor are they in fact, hereditary. They pa.s.s by conquest. A dynastic change which introduces new sovereignties introduces new quarterings, as when the Hanoverian dynasty came to the throne of this country the quartering of Hanover was introduced, but purely personal arms in British heraldry are never introduced. The personal arms of Tudor and Stewart were never added to the Royal Arms of this country.
The origin of the English Royal Arms was dealt with on page 172. ”Gules, three lions pa.s.sant guardant in pale or,” as the arms of England, were used by Kings John, Henry III., Edward I., and Edward II. The quartering for France was introduced by Edward III., as explained on page 274, and the Royal s.h.i.+eld: Quarterly 1 and 4, France, ancient (azure, seme-de-lis or); 2 and 3, England (gules, three lions pa.s.sant guardant in pale or), was in use in the reigns of Edward III., Richard II. (who, however, impaled his arms with those of St. Edward the Confessor), and Henry IV. The last-mentioned king about 1411 reduced the number of fleurs-de-lis to _three_, and the s.h.i.+eld remained without further change till the end of the reign of Edward VI. Queen Mary did not alter the arms of this country, but during the time of her marriage with Philip of Spain they were always borne impaled with the arms of Spain. Queen Elizabeth bore the same s.h.i.+eld as her predecessors. But when James I. came to the throne the arms were: ”Quarterly 1 and 4, quarterly i. and iiii. France, ii. and iii. England; 2.
Scotland (or, a lion rampant within a double tressure flory and counterflory gules); 3. Ireland (azure, a harp or, stringed argent).” The s.h.i.+eld was so borne by James I., Charles I., Charles II., and James II.
When William III. and Mary came to the throne an inescutcheon of the arms of Na.s.sau (”Azure, billetty and a lion rampant or”) was {608} superimposed upon the Royal Arms as previously borne, for William III., and he impaled the same coat without the inescutcheon for his wife. At her death the impalement was dropped. After the Union with Scotland in 1707 the arms of England (”Gules, three lions,” &c.) were _impaled_ with those of Scotland (the tressure not being continued down the palar line), and the impaled coat of England and Scotland was placed in the first and fourth quarters, France in the second, Ireland in the third.
At the accession of George I. the arms of Hanover were introduced in the fourth quarter. These were: ”Tierced in pairle reversed, 1. Brunswick, gules, two lions pa.s.sant guardant in pale or; 2. Luneberg, or, seme of hearts gules, a lion rampant azure; 3. (in point), Westphalia, gules, a horse courant argent, and on an inescutcheon (over the fourth quarter) gules, the crown of Charlemagne (as Arch Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire).”
At the union with Ireland in 1801 the opportunity was taken to revise the Royal Arms, and those of France were then discontinued. The escutcheon decided upon at that date was: ”Quarterly, 1 and 4, England; 2. Scotland; 3. Ireland and the arms of Hanover were placed upon an inescutcheon.” This inescutcheon was surmounted by the Electoral cap, for which a crown was subst.i.tuted later when Hanover became a kingdom.
At the death of William IV., by the operation of the Salic Law, the crowns of England and Hanover were separated, and the inescutcheon of Hanover disappeared from the Royal Arms of this country, and by Royal Warrant issued at the beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria the Royal Arms and badges were declared to be: 1 and 4, England; 2. Scotland; 3. Ireland. The necessary alteration of the cyphers are the only alterations made by his present Majesty.
The supporters date from the accession of James I. Before that date there had been much variety. Some of the Royal badges have been already alluded to in the chapter on that subject.
The differences used by various junior members of the Royal Family will be found in the Chapter on Marks of Cadency. {609}
CHAPTER XL