PLATE XIX.—Origin of supporters.

The gilt-latten effigies of Richard II (fig. [92]) and Anne of Bohemia have their dresses pounced all over with badges, such as the white hart, the sun-burst, and the broom sprigs on that of the king, and the ostrich and a peculiar knot on that of the queen. In 1380 Edmund Mortimer earl of March left a bequest of 'our large bed of black satin embroidered with white lions and gold roses, with scocheons of the arms of Mortimer and Ulster,' and in 1385 Joan princess of Wales bequeathed to her son the King (Richard II) 'my new bed of red velvet embroidered with ostrich feathers of silver and leopards' heads of gold with boughs and leaves issuing from their mouths.' In 1397, Sir Ralph Hastings, whose arms were a red maunch or sleeve on a gold ground, and his crest a bull's head, left bequests of a silver bason and laver 'stamped with a bull's head (cum capite tauri), a vestment of red cloth of gold with orfreys before and behind worked with maunches (cum maunches) and with the colours of mine arms,' and six salts stamped with maunches. In 1388 John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster mentions in his will 'my great bed of cloth of gold, the field powdered with roses of gold set upon pipes of gold, and in each pipe two white ostrich feathers,' also 'my new vestment of cloth of gold the field red worked with gold falcons.' Two falcons holding hanging locks in their beaks are also shown on one of the duke's seals (pl. [XXI] A). In 1400 Thomas Beauchamp earl of Warwick left a bed of silk embroidered with 'bears of mine arms'; and in 1415 John lord le Scrope mentions in his will documents sealed cum signato meo de Crabb, and in a codicil made in 1453 he bequeaths 'j fayre pile of coppis conteyning xij coppis of gilt, with crabbis in ye myddes, and two coveryngis to thame with crabb.' In the north of England a crab is often called a scrap, whence its assumption by the Scropes.

Fig. 92. Gilt-latten effigy at Westminster of King Richard II, pounced with badges, etc.

Such examples as the foregoing could be multiplied indefinitely, but they will suffice to show the prevalence of badges and the many ways in which they were used. They of course abounded on seals as well as on monuments of all kinds, and in conjunction with architecture. Under this last head may be quoted such examples as the arches in Wingfield church, Suffolk (fig. [93]), studded with leopards' heads, wings, and Stafford knots, commemorative of Michael de la Pole earl of Suffolk (ob. 1415) and his wife Katharine Stafford; the porch and other parts of Lavenham church, displaying the boars and molets of John de Vere earl of Oxford; bishop Courtenay's chimney-piece in the bishop's palace at Exeter (fig. [94]); and the great displays of Tudor badges on the deanery gateway at Peterborough (fig. [95]), the gatehouses at Christ's (fig. [96]) and St. John's Colleges (fig. [172]) at Cambridge, and the noble chapel of King's College. Special mention must also be made of the magnificent bronze doors of Henry VII's chapel at Westminster, than which no more beautiful example of the use of badges for decorative purposes could possibly be found (fig. [97]).

Fig. 93. Piers and arches in Wingfield church, Suffolk, with badges of Michael de la Pole earl of Suffolk (ob. 1415) and his wife Katharine Stafford.