Fig. 144. | Fig. 145. |
As a preventive of peril by travel and sudden death, the names of the three Magi, or the “Kings of Cologne,” as they were more popularly termed, were believed to be most efficacious. Their bodies travelled first to Constantinople, thence to Milan, and lastly to Cologne, by various removals. The faithful may still view the skulls of the Arabian kings who visited the Saviour in the manger (if they can believe the old legend), in the richly-jewelled reliquary, guarded so sacredly in the Cathedral of Cologne. Their possession brought enormous revenues to the building, and a heavy tax is still imposed on all who would see them. It was once (and may be still) believed that anything which had touched these skulls had a protective virtue. Their names acted as a charm, and were inscribed on such articles of wearing apparel as girdles or garters, of which many specimens exist in the curious collection of Mr. C. Roach Smith, and were found at London in excavations or in the Thames. Upon rings they are most common; two are here selected from the Londesborough collection. [Fig. 144] is a thick gold hoop, inscribed with their names, Jasper, Melchior, Balthazar, and the abbreviated motto, “in · god · is · a · r.,” which the late Mr. Crofton Croker, who compiled a descriptive catalogue of these rings, thought might probably mean “in God is a remedy.” [Fig. 145] furnishes a good example of a fashion of hoop-ring prevalent in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, flat inside and angular outside. Each face is inscribed with the same talismanic names. It is formed of cheap mixed metal, was found in London, and presented to the collection by Mr. Roach Smith.
Fig. 146. | Fig. 147. |
Inscriptions on rings became at this time very common, nor were they confined to mystic or sacred words. Mottoes of love and gallantry were frequent, as well as moral sentences, and those strictly heraldic. In the curious inventory of the plate and jewels of the Duke of Anjou, compiled about 1360, mention is made of a ring with a large square emerald, surrounded by letters in black enamel. In “Archæologia,” vol. xxxi., is a fine example of such an engraved ring. The representation is copied in [Fig. 146]. It is a weighty ring of fine gold, and was found in 1823 at Thetford, in Suffolk. The device which appears upon this ring is an eagle displayed; on the inner side is engraved a bird, with the wings closed, apparently a falcon, with a crown upon its head. The following poesy, or motto, commencing on the outer side, is continued on the interior of the ring:—deus me ouroge de bous senir a gree—com moun couer desire—“God work for me to make suit acceptably to you, as my heart desires.” The devices appear to be heraldic, and the motto that of a lover, or a suitor to one in power. The eagle is the bearing of several ancient Suffolk families; it was also a badge of the House of Lancaster, and Thetford was one portion of the Duchy of Lancaster.
These mottoes, or “reasons,” as they were sometimes termed, were occasionally engraved in relief. [Fig. 147] represents a specimen from the Londesborough collection. It is of gold, and was found in the Thames. The inscription upon it is—sans bilinie—“without baseness,”—a motto that may have been adopted by some Bayard of the Middle Ages.
Fig. 148. | Figs. 149 and 150. |
A very early ring, with an unusual pretty poesy, is in the collection of J. Evans, Esq., F.S.A., and is engraved ([Fig. 148]). It is of gold, set with a small sapphire, and is inscribed—IE. SVI ICI EN LI’V D’AMI—[“I am here in place of a friend].” It was probably made at the beginning of the fourteenth century. [Fig. 149] is chased with the Nortons’ motto, “God us ayde;” and [Fig. 150] is inscribed withinside with the sentence, “Mulier, viro subjecta esto.” Both are works of the fifteenth century.
In Bromsgrove Church, Staffordshire, are the fine monumental effigies of Sir Humphrey Stafford and his wife (1450), remarkable alike for the rich armour of the knight and the courtly costume of the lady. She wears a profusion of rings, every finger, except the little finger of the right hand, being furnished with one. They exhibit great variety of design, and are valuable as exponents of the fashion of that day. We engrave in [Fig. 151] the hands of the lady, as uplifted in prayer, with four of the rings, the full size of the originals.