Warbelton v. Gorges
Encyclopedia
Warbelton v. Gorges was one of the earliest heraldic law cases brought concerning English armory, in 1347. It concerned the coat of arms
blazon
ed Lozengy
or
and azure
, that is a field of yellow and blue lozenges
. The arms were borne by the unrelated families of Warbelton, from Hampshire
,and Gorges, from Somerset
, apparently without knowledge of each other or their common usage, until John de Warbelton and Theobald de Gorges served together in the English army at the Siege of Calais in 1346/7. A gentleman's armorial bearings represented his very identity and were of enormous importance to him, both as a matter of family pride and for practical purposes of personal recognition in battle and in legal seals. Warbelton made a formal complaint to the officer appointed by the king to resolve such matters, namely Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Lancaster
, seneschal of England, who was commanding the English forces. A 6-man court of honour was convened and the pair were cross-examined, with evidence being sought from knights of their own localities also serving at the siege.
The case was won by Warbelton, who proved a better title to the arms, and Gorges, in order not to contravene the judgement, retained the arms with the addition of a chevron gules
(red chevron) for difference. The charter drawn up in 1347 to record the judgement is preserved in the College of Arms
, from which an accurate drawing was made when it was in the possession of Peter Le Neve
during his tenure as Norroy King of Arms
(1704–1729), which facsimile forms folio 144 of Ashmole manuscript 1137 preserved in the Bodleian Library
, Oxford. At the time of the drawing it still had appended to it 5 of the original 6 seals, which provide valuable heraldic information. The timing of the case is of importance, coming just one year before the very height of the "Age of Chivalry", symbolised by the founding by King Edward III of the Order of the Garter
(1348), accompanied by a lavish tournament
(which was heraldry's greatest showcase) at Windsor Castle
.
Translation:
, Bradpole
, Dorset and Wraxall, Somerset
. A cadet
branch of the Gorges family
had married the heiress of the last de Morville early in the 13th century, that is to say very shortly after the Morvilles had adopted these arms. Yet the Gorges had by then chosen their own canting arms
of a Whirlpool
(Latin gurges) depicted by a blue whorl
on a white field, blazoned Argent, a gurges azure. The senior branch of Gorges settled at Tamerton Foliot
in Devon, whilst the cadet line, which had married the de Morville heiress, became seated in the former Morville manors in Somerset, Dorset and the Isle of Wight. It was perhaps to difference themselves from the Tamerton Foliot line that they relinquished the paternal arms of the gurges and take up the former Morville “lozengy” arms. Certainly this change had been made by Ralph III, 1st Baron Gorges (d.1324), before 1300 as the Caerlaverock roll of arms
records, composed by heralds at the Siege of Caerlaverock
, in which the alternative term "masculy" is used for "lozengy":
Rendered into English thus by Rev. Frederick Brown, FSA, from whose notes Raymond Gorges produced his "History of the Family of Gorges", 1944, op.cit.:
The Calais charter of 1347 confirms that the Gorges family had made such change voluntarily. Yet the matter is made more complex by the fact that the cadet branch of the Gorges family had died out in the male line on the death of Ralph IV, 2nd Baron Gorges, without issue in 1331. The latter, seemingly in an effort to preserve his family name and arms, had made one of his younger nephews his heir, apparently on condition that he should adopt the name and arms of Gorges. This nephew was William Russell, the second son of his second sister Eleanor de Gorges who had married Sir Theobald Russell (d.1341) of Yaverland
, Isle of Wight, and of Kingston Russell
, Dorset. Yet on William's early death in 1342 the Gorges inheritance passed to his younger brother Theobald Russell “de Gorges”, the defendant in the Calais court of honour. Theobald, who died in 1381, went on to found a notable line, seated at Wraxall, Somerset, which carried on the Gorges name and "modern arms" for several centuries, a member of which was Sir Ferdinando Gorges
, founder of the American province of Maine
.
position on the tomb at Wraxall
, of Sir Edmund Gorges(d.1512), K.B. (great-great grandson of Theobald Russell "de Gorges") and his wife Ann Howard, daughter of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
(d.1485). Also shown on the tomb in the sinister
position are the arms of Russell: Argent, on a chief gules 3 bezants. The arms of "Gorges Modern" are also quartered in the Denys monumental brass
at Olveston
, Gloucestershire, commemorating Sir Walter Denys(d.1505), great-grandson of Sir Maurice Russell
(d.1416) of Dyrham
, Glos. The judgement of 1347 appears to have been applied retrospectively in this instance as Sir Maurice Russell was the son of Ralph Russell of Yaverland
, Isle of Wight, the elder brother of Theobald Russell "de Gorges". Thus the closest male Gorges ancestor of the Denys family was Ralph de Gorges III, 1st Baron Gorges(d.1324), grandfather of Theobald Russell "de Gorges". This seems to suggest that Sir Maurice Russell himself quartered "Gorges Modern", as the Denys family would no doubt have followed his precedent in their heraldic usage, and would have had many heraldically embellished heirlooms of his from which to make their escutcheons.
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
blazon
Blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
ed Lozengy
Variation of the field
In heraldry, variations of the field are any of a number of ways that a field may be covered with a pattern, rather than a flat tincture or a simple division of the field.- Patterning with ordinaries and subordinaries :...
or
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
and azure
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
, that is a field of yellow and blue lozenges
Lozenge (heraldry)
The lozenge in heraldry is a diamond-shaped charge , usually somewhat narrower than it is tall. It is to be distinguished in modern heraldry from the fusil, which is like the lozenge but narrower, though the distinction has not always been as fine and is not always observed even today...
. The arms were borne by the unrelated families of Warbelton, from Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
,and Gorges, from Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, apparently without knowledge of each other or their common usage, until John de Warbelton and Theobald de Gorges served together in the English army at the Siege of Calais in 1346/7. A gentleman's armorial bearings represented his very identity and were of enormous importance to him, both as a matter of family pride and for practical purposes of personal recognition in battle and in legal seals. Warbelton made a formal complaint to the officer appointed by the king to resolve such matters, namely Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, 4th Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, KG , also Earl of Derby, was a member of the English nobility in the 14th century, and a prominent English diplomat, politician, and soldier...
, seneschal of England, who was commanding the English forces. A 6-man court of honour was convened and the pair were cross-examined, with evidence being sought from knights of their own localities also serving at the siege.
The case was won by Warbelton, who proved a better title to the arms, and Gorges, in order not to contravene the judgement, retained the arms with the addition of a chevron gules
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
(red chevron) for difference. The charter drawn up in 1347 to record the judgement is preserved in the College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
, from which an accurate drawing was made when it was in the possession of Peter Le Neve
Peter Le Neve
Peter Le Neve was an English herald and antiquary. He was appointed Rouge Dragon Pursuivant 17 January 1690 and created Norroy King at Arms on 25 May 1704. From 1707 to 1721 he was Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary, an officer of arms of the College of Arms...
during his tenure as Norroy King of Arms
Norroy and Ulster King of Arms
Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is one of the senior Officers of Arms of the College of Arms, and the junior of the two provincial Kings of Arms. The current office is the combination of two former appointments...
(1704–1729), which facsimile forms folio 144 of Ashmole manuscript 1137 preserved in the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
, Oxford. At the time of the drawing it still had appended to it 5 of the original 6 seals, which provide valuable heraldic information. The timing of the case is of importance, coming just one year before the very height of the "Age of Chivalry", symbolised by the founding by King Edward III of the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
(1348), accompanied by a lavish tournament
Tournament (medieval)
A tournament, or tourney is the name popularly given to chivalrous competitions or mock fights of the Middle Ages and Renaissance . It is one of various types of hastiludes....
(which was heraldry's greatest showcase) at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
.
Charter
A transcript of the original mediaeval French charter follows.
Nous Henri counte de Lancastre de Derby de Leycestre et seneschal d'engletere William de Clynton counte de Huntyngdon Renaud de Cobham Gautier sire de Manney William Lovel Stevene de Cosinton comis de monseigneur le roi d'engletere et de ffraunce aoier trier et jugger toutes maniers de batz d'armes et heames de dayntz son host en son siege devant Caleys fessouns savoir as touz presens avenir cestes.....ou ….... come Johan fiz et heir monseigneur Johan de Warbelton se plaint devant nous / Tibaud fiz monseigneur Tibaud Russel se appela …... nom de Gorges porta ses armes cestassavoir lozenge d'or et d'aszeur ... sanz diffrence et ... les ditz Johan et Tibaud jurres et examinez personalement devant nous et … … … et evidences … … … come d'autre … fust... par sang come par tesmoignance d'aunciens chivalers de leurs pays / les auncestres le dit Johan d'auncestre en auncestre du temps... ...memoire ont porte les dites armes sanz chaunge / Et vu monsiegneur Rauf de Gorges ayel de cestuy Tibaud susdit lessa ses armes et (prist?) les armes susdites de volunte et vu de ses heirs morust sanz heir male / et fust le dit Tibaut fiz de sa soer augge fust par bon delib(er)acon et avis par nous les dits armes au dit Johan heritablement Et nous avant dit Henri et William countes Renaud Gautier baneretz et William Stevene chivaler susdites a cestes (lettres ouvertes?) avons fait mettre nos seaux en tesmoignance de vite et de perpetuel record Done au dite siege en la veille de seynte Margrete l'an du grace mill CCC qaraunte sept.
Translation:
“We Henry, Earl of Lancaster, Derby and Leicester, seneschalSeneschalA seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli...
of England; William de Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon; Reginald de Cobham; Walter Lord de Manny; William Lovel; Steven de Cosinton; commissioned by the lord king of England and of France to hear, try and judge all manner of disputes of arms and helms (i.e.crestCrest (heraldry)A crest is a component of an heraldic display, so called because it stands on top of a helmet, as the crest of a jay stands on the bird's head....
s?) within his host in the siege before Calais, make known to all present and future this (decree). Whereas John son & heir of Sir John de Warbelton makes plaint before us; Theobald son of Sir Theobald Russell calls himself by name of de Gorges carries his arms, that is to say lozengy or and azure … without difference and … the said John & Theobald have been sworn and examined personally before ourselves … and evidence … (taken) … by blood as well as by witness of ancient knights of their counties; the ancestors of the said John from ancestor to ancestor from time (immemorial) have borne the said arms without change; and Sir Ralph de Gorges uncle of the present Theobald herestated relinquished his arms and took-up the said arms voluntarily and his heirs died without male heir; and the said Theobald was the son of his sister. It has been adjudged by good deliberation and counsel by us that the said arms (belong to) the said John hereditably. And we the foresaid Henry and William, earls; Reginald, Walter, banneretsKnight banneretA knight banneret, sometimes known simply as banneret, was a Medieval knight who led a company of troops during time of war under his own banner and were eligible to bear supporters in English heraldry.The military rank of a knight banneret was...
; and William, Steven, knights; above stated, to these (letters patentLetters patentLetters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
?) have caused to be placed our seals in witness as present and perpetual record. Given at the said siege on the eve of St Margaret (i.e. 19th July) the year of grace one thousand three hundred and forty seven.”
Members of court of honour
The members of the court of honour convened to resolve the dispute are as follows, with the blazon of the arms shown on the appended seals given for each, left to right:- Henry of Grosmont, Earl of LancasterHenry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of LancasterHenry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, 4th Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, KG , also Earl of Derby, was a member of the English nobility in the 14th century, and a prominent English diplomat, politician, and soldier...
: England with a labelLabel (heraldry)In heraldry, a label is a charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung. It is usually a mark of difference, but has sometimes been borne simply as a charge in its own right....
of France of 3 points, that is in full: Gules, 3 lions passant guardant or charged with a label of 3 points azure each charged with 3 fleurs de lys or (See Armorial of PlantagenetArmorial of PlantagenetThis is a list of the coats of arms known or believed to be borne by Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and his descendants in the male line.- Family chief :- Heirs :- cadets :- House of Lancaster :- House of York :...
) - William de Clinton, 1st Earl of HuntingdonWilliam de Clinton, 1st Earl of HuntingdonWilliam de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and Lord High Admiral, was the younger son of Baron John Clinton of Maxstoke and Ida De Odingsells, who was a great-great-granddaughter of Henry II. The Clintons were a great Norman family who had arrived with William the Conqueror in 1066...
: Argent, 6 crosslets fitchees sable on a chief azure 2 mullets or (per Calais Roll of ArmsRoll of armsA roll of arms is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms...
, quoted by Boutell, Charles, Heraldry Historical and Popular, London, 1863, p.171/2) - Reginald de Cobham, 1st Baron CobhamReginald de Cobham, 1st Baron CobhamReginald de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham, KG was an English soldier and diplomat.-Life:He was the son of Sir Reginald de Cobham by Joan, the daughter and heir of William de Evere...
: Gules, on a chevron or 3 estoiles sable (Calais Roll, quoted by Boutell op.cit., p.167) - Walter de Manny, 1st Baron MannyWalter de Manny, 1st Baron MannyWalter De Manny, 1st Baron Manny, KG , soldier of fortune and founder of the Charterhouse, was from Masny in Hainaut , from whose counts he claimed descent...
: Or, 3 chevronels sable (quoted by Boutell, p.137) - William Lovel, 7th Baron MorleyBaron MorleyThe title Baron Morley was created once in the Peerage of England. On 29 December 1299 William de Morley was summoned to parliament. At the death of the sixth baron, the barony was inherited by Alianore de Morley, who was married to Sir William Lovel, who was summoned to parliament as Lord Morley...
jure uxorisJure uxorisJure uxoris is a Latin term that means "by right of his wife" or "in right of a wife". It is commonly used to refer to a title held by a man whose wife holds it in her own right. In other words, he acquired the title simply by being her husband....
: seal missing. - Steven de Cosinton: 3 roses.
Background
As the charter records, the Warbelton family had borne the arms Lozengy or and azure from time immemorial, that is to say probably from about 1215 when the use of heraldic devices became widespread in England. At the same time the arms had also been adopted by the de Morville family of Knighton, Isle of WightKnighton, Isle of Wight
Knighton is a hamlet near to Sandown on the Isle of Wight.It is usually pronounced as Kay-nighton by local people, to avoid confusion with the larger, homophonic village of Niton, near Ventnor....
, Bradpole
Bradpole
Bradpole is a village in south west Dorset, England, in the Brit valley, one mile outside Bridport. The village has a population of 2,270 , 38.8% are retired.- External links :***...
, Dorset and Wraxall, Somerset
Wraxall, Somerset
Wraxall is a village in North Somerset in England. The parish of the same name also included Nailsea and Flax Bourton until 1811. It is now within the parish of Wraxall and Failand.-History:...
. A cadet
Cadet (genealogy)
In genealogy, a cadet is a younger son, as opposed to the firstborn heir. Compare puisne.- Etymology :The word is recorded in English since 1634, originally for a young son, identical to the French, which is itself derived from the gascon Occitan capdet "captain, chief", in turn from the Late...
branch of the Gorges family
Gorges family
The House of Gorges is an ancient English family with Norman origins. Radulph, Lord of the Château de Gorges came over to England from Gorges in the canton of Périers in Normandy in the army of William the Conqueror in the year 1066 and acquired a knighthood. He had thus started the history of...
had married the heiress of the last de Morville early in the 13th century, that is to say very shortly after the Morvilles had adopted these arms. Yet the Gorges had by then chosen their own canting arms
Canting arms
Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus. The term cant came into the English language from Anglo-Norman cant, meaning song or singing, from Latin cantāre, and English cognates include canticle, chant, accent, incantation and recant.Canting arms –...
of a Whirlpool
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...
(Latin gurges) depicted by a blue whorl
Whorl
A whorl is a type of spiral or circular pattern.Other meanings of whorl include:* Whorl , used to describe the attachment of sepals, petals, leaves, or branches at a single point...
on a white field, blazoned Argent, a gurges azure. The senior branch of Gorges settled at Tamerton Foliot
Tamerton Foliot
Tamerton Foliot was a village and is now a dense suburb in the north of Plymouth, England that also lends its name to the parish of the same name....
in Devon, whilst the cadet line, which had married the de Morville heiress, became seated in the former Morville manors in Somerset, Dorset and the Isle of Wight. It was perhaps to difference themselves from the Tamerton Foliot line that they relinquished the paternal arms of the gurges and take up the former Morville “lozengy” arms. Certainly this change had been made by Ralph III, 1st Baron Gorges (d.1324), before 1300 as the Caerlaverock roll of arms
Roll of arms
A roll of arms is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms...
records, composed by heralds at the Siege of Caerlaverock
Caerlaverock Castle
Caerlaverock Castle is a moated triangular castle, built in the 13th century, in the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve area at the Solway Firth, south of Dumfries in the southwest of Scotland. In the Middle Ages it was owned by the Maxwell family. Today, the castle is in the care of Historic...
, in which the alternative term "masculy" is used for "lozengy":
Ilucques vi-je Rauf de Gorges
Chevalier nouvel adoube
De peres a tere tumbe
E defoule plus de une foiz
Car tant estoit de grant bufoiz
Ke il ne s'en deignoit departir
Tout son harnois e son atire
Avoit masole de or e de asur
Rendered into English thus by Rev. Frederick Brown, FSA, from whose notes Raymond Gorges produced his "History of the Family of Gorges", 1944, op.cit.:
Sir Ralph de Gorges there I saw
One newly bound to knighthood's law
Down to the earth was prostrate thrown
More than once struck by some great stone
Or staggered by the rushing crowd
Still to recede he was too proud
Upon his arms and surcoat fold
Was masculy of blue and gold
The Calais charter of 1347 confirms that the Gorges family had made such change voluntarily. Yet the matter is made more complex by the fact that the cadet branch of the Gorges family had died out in the male line on the death of Ralph IV, 2nd Baron Gorges, without issue in 1331. The latter, seemingly in an effort to preserve his family name and arms, had made one of his younger nephews his heir, apparently on condition that he should adopt the name and arms of Gorges. This nephew was William Russell, the second son of his second sister Eleanor de Gorges who had married Sir Theobald Russell (d.1341) of Yaverland
Yaverland
Yaverland is a village on the Isle of Wight, just north of Sandown. It has about 200 houses. About 1/3 of a mile away from the village is the Yaverland Manor and Church. Holotype fossils have been discovered here of Yaverlandia and a pterosaur, Caulkicephalus...
, Isle of Wight, and of Kingston Russell
Kingston Russell
Kingston Russell is a large mansion house and manor near Long Bredy in Dorset, England, west of Dorchester. The present house dates from the late 17th century but in 1730 was clad in a white Georgian stone facade. The house was restored in 1913, and at the same time the gardens were laid out...
, Dorset. Yet on William's early death in 1342 the Gorges inheritance passed to his younger brother Theobald Russell “de Gorges”, the defendant in the Calais court of honour. Theobald, who died in 1381, went on to found a notable line, seated at Wraxall, Somerset, which carried on the Gorges name and "modern arms" for several centuries, a member of which was Sir Ferdinando Gorges
Ferdinando Gorges
Sir Ferdinando Gorges , the "Father of English Colonization in North America", was an early English colonial entrepreneur and founder of the Province of Maine in 1622, although Gorges himself never set foot in the New World.-Biography:...
, founder of the American province of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
Sequel
Theobald lost no time in having a chevron cut into his existing seal-die, as the existence of a charter dated 1347 bearing his new arms proves, now held in the British Museum. The arms of "Gorges Modern" are displayed in the dexterDexter and sinister
Dexter and sinister are terms used in heraldry to refer to specific locations in an escutcheon bearing a coat of arms and by extension also to a crest. "Dexter" means to the right from the viewpoint of the bearer of the arms, to the left of that of the viewer...
position on the tomb at Wraxall
Wraxall, Somerset
Wraxall is a village in North Somerset in England. The parish of the same name also included Nailsea and Flax Bourton until 1811. It is now within the parish of Wraxall and Failand.-History:...
, of Sir Edmund Gorges(d.1512), K.B. (great-great grandson of Theobald Russell "de Gorges") and his wife Ann Howard, daughter of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman, soldier, and the first Howard Duke of Norfolk...
(d.1485). Also shown on the tomb in the sinister
Dexter and sinister
Dexter and sinister are terms used in heraldry to refer to specific locations in an escutcheon bearing a coat of arms and by extension also to a crest. "Dexter" means to the right from the viewpoint of the bearer of the arms, to the left of that of the viewer...
position are the arms of Russell: Argent, on a chief gules 3 bezants. The arms of "Gorges Modern" are also quartered in the Denys monumental brass
Denys brass, Olveston
The Denys monumental brass in Olveston Church, Gloucestershire, dates from 1505, and is one of only about 80 Monumental brasses of Gloucestershire surviving today. It was erected following the death of Sir Walter Denys in 1505, and shows the latter together with his father Maurice Denys, both ...
at Olveston
Olveston
Olveston is a small village and larger parish in South Gloucestershire, England. The parish comprises the villages of Olveston and Tockington, and the hamlets of Old Down, Ingst and Awkley. Alveston became a separate parish in 1846...
, Gloucestershire, commemorating Sir Walter Denys(d.1505), great-grandson of Sir Maurice Russell
Maurice Russell, knight
Sir Maurice Russell of Kingston Russell, Dorset and Dyrham, Glos. was a prominent member of the Gloucestershire gentry, the 3rd son, but eventual heir of Ralph Russell and his wife Alice. He was knighted between June and December 1385 and served twice as Knight of the Shire for Gloucestershire in...
(d.1416) of Dyrham
Dyrham
Dyrham is a village and parish in South Gloucestershire, England.-Location and communications:Dyrham is at lat. 51° 29' north, long. 2° 22' west . It lies at an altitude of 100 metres above sea level. It is near the A46 trunk road, about north of Bath and a little south of the M4 motorway...
, Glos. The judgement of 1347 appears to have been applied retrospectively in this instance as Sir Maurice Russell was the son of Ralph Russell of Yaverland
Yaverland
Yaverland is a village on the Isle of Wight, just north of Sandown. It has about 200 houses. About 1/3 of a mile away from the village is the Yaverland Manor and Church. Holotype fossils have been discovered here of Yaverlandia and a pterosaur, Caulkicephalus...
, Isle of Wight, the elder brother of Theobald Russell "de Gorges". Thus the closest male Gorges ancestor of the Denys family was Ralph de Gorges III, 1st Baron Gorges(d.1324), grandfather of Theobald Russell "de Gorges". This seems to suggest that Sir Maurice Russell himself quartered "Gorges Modern", as the Denys family would no doubt have followed his precedent in their heraldic usage, and would have had many heraldically embellished heirlooms of his from which to make their escutcheons.
Other famous cases
Other famous mediaeval heraldic disputes which came before the jurisdiction of the Earl Marshall are as follows:- Poyntz v. FitzAlan, dispute mentioned in Roll of Caerlaverock (pre 1300)
- Harding v. St.Loo (1312)
- Sytsylt v. Fakenham (1333)
- Hugh Maltby v. Hamon Beckwith (1339)
- Scrope v. GrosvenorScrope v. GrosvenorScrope v. Grosvenor was one of the earliest heraldic law cases brought in England. The case resulted from the fact that two different families were using the same undifferenced coat of arms. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the composition of coats of arms was very simple...
(1385), the most famous, costly & lengthy case.
Sources
- Gorges, Raymond & Brown, Frederick, Rev., FSA. The Story of a Family through Eleven Centuries, Illustrated by Portraits and Pedigrees: Being a History of the Family of Gorges. Boston, USA (Merrymount Press privately published), 1944.
- Boutell, Charles. Heraldry Historical and Popular, London, 1863.