CORONETS OF RANK
Fig. 644.—Coronet of Thomas FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel. (From his monument in Arundel Church, 1415.)
Fig. 645.—Crown of King Henry IV. (1399-1413). (From his monument in Trinity Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral.)
In spite of various Continental edicts, the heraldic use of coronets of rank, as also their actual use, seems elsewhere than in Great Britain to be governed by no such strict regulations as are laid down and conformed to in this country. For this reason, no less than for the greater interest these must necessarily possess for readers in this country, English coronets will first claim our attention. It has been already observed that coronets or jewelled fillets are to be found upon the helmets even of simple knights from the earliest periods. They probably served no more than decorative purposes, unless these fillets be merely turbans, or suggestions thereof. As late as the fifteenth century there appears to have been no regularised form, as will be seen from Fig. 644, which represents the coronet as shown upon the effigy of Thomas FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, in Arundel Church (1415). A very similar coronet surmounts the head-dress of the effigy of Beatrice, Countess of Arundel, at the same period. In his will, Lionel, Duke of Clarence (1368), bequeaths "two golden circles," with one of which he was created Duke. It is of interest to compare this with Fig. 645, which represents the crown of King Henry IV. as represented on his effigy. Richard, Earl of Arundel, in his will (December 5, 1375), leaves his "melieure coronne" to his eldest son Richard, his "second melieure coronne" to his daughter Joan, and his "tierce coronne" to his daughter Alice. Though not definite proof of the point, the fact that the earl distributes his coronets amongst his family irrespective of the fact that the earldom (of which one would presume the coronets to be a sign) would pass to his son, would seem to show that the wearing of a coronet even at that date was merely indicative of high nobility of birth, and not of the possession of a substantive Parliamentary peerage. In spite of the variations
in form, coronets were, however, a necessity. When both dukes and earls were created they were invested with a coronet in open Parliament. As time went on the coronet, however, gradually came to be considered the sign of the possession of a peerage, and was so borne; but it was not until the reign of Charles II. that coronets were definitely assigned by Royal Warrant (February 19, 1660) to peers not of the Blood Royal. Before this date a coronet had not (as has been already stated) been used heraldically or in fact by barons, who, both in armorial paintings and in Parliament, had used a plain crimson cap turned up with white fur.
Fig. 646.—Coronet of the Prince of Wales.