Durham E-Theses Heraldic Imagery in Seventeenth-Century English Poetry Grummitt, Elaine Jennifer How to cite: Grummitt, Elaine Jennifer (2000) Heraldic Imagery in Seventeenth-Century English Poetry, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4333/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Heraldic Imagery in Seventeenth-Century English Poetry Elaine Jennifer Grummitt The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published in any form, including Electronic and the Internet, without the author's prior written consent All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. Ph.D. Thesis University of Durham Centre for Seventeenth-Century Studies 2000 -t- - 8 MAR 2002 Table of Contents Introduction: The Significance of Heraldry in Seventeenth-Century Verse 1 Chapter One: Twentieth-Century Criticism of Heraldry in Literature 25 Chapter Two: Individual Identity, Inheritance and Family Histories 45 Chapter Three: Changing Identities: Heraldry in Society 77 Chapter Four: Heraldry, Authority and Political Power 102 Chapter Five: ConclusioHeraldryn : A Christian discourse? 181279 Chapter Six: BibliographWomey n as authors and subjects of heraldic references 191536 Illustrations Figure 1: BL Additional MS 19,255, f. 6 12 Figure 2: Tudor Rose and Fleur-de-lis 48 Figure 3: Impaled Shield and Escutcheon of Pretence 48 Figure 4: FSL MS X. d. 484, f. 14. 48 Figure 5: Canton 48 Figure 6: Pheon 58 Figure 7: The Armes Of The Tobachonists (1630) 90 Figure 8: 'hands chasinge of a rampant Lowse' 93 Figure 9: 'In azure rampant sticks a payre of sheares' 90 Figure 10: 'Comical Reflections on a Taylor's Sign' 90 Figure 11: The Jacobites Coat of Arms [ 1710] 122 Figure 12: Cross Potent 131 Figure 13: 'In a Field Or, a bleeding dying Jesus' 136 Figure 14: 'the Crest of our poor family' 136 Figure 15: 'A Crowned Dragon Gules in sable field' 136 Figure 16: 'Heav'ns best Charge' 136 Figure 17: Arms of Bradstreet 162 Figure 18: Maunch Sable 164 Figure 19: Arms of Coote 162 Figure 20: The Hoyle Crest 162 Figure 21: 'In Praise of Horns' 162 Declaration: No material contained in this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree in this or any other university. Statement of Copyright: The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without their prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Abstract Elaine Grummitt Heraldic Imagery in Seventeenth-Century Poetry The significance of heraldic references in literature has been the subject of both antiquarian interest and recent scholarship. In the field of seventeenth-century poetry, there exists a small body of published work concerned with the use of heraldry by William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and John Cleveland. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate the existence and significance of heraldic references in a wider range of seventeenth-century verse and poetry. It eschews assumptions regarding the use of heraldry by, or with reference to, a narrow social elite, and examines heraldic references published in broadsheets and used in songs, as well as in the privately- circulated manuscripts of the nobility. Chapter One offers a critical examination of a range of current scholarship concerned with heraldic readings of literature. Chapter Two demonstrates that formal heraldic references, affirming or celebrating their subject's identity, were used in diverse genres, including dedicatory verses, encomia, epitaphs, elegies, epithalamia and anagrams. Chapter Three determines the social implications of the use of heraldry, with particular reference to epic and satirical verse, arguing that heraldic references in this period develop beyond their traditional, chivalric associations. Chapter Four discusses those works that include heraldic references as expressions of authority or political power, and considers their use in different contexts to affirm or undermine the position of individuals and groups within society. Chapter Five establishes the use of heraldry within religious or spiritual poetry and addresses whether its vocabulary was regarded as an expression of particular Christian values. Chapter Six explores the engagement of women writers with heraldry and considers how far their use of the language offered a challenge to the prevailing patriarchal culture. The Conclusion draws attention to the significance of the evolution of heraldry from the seventeenth century to the present day. Introduction: The Significance of Heraldry in Seventeenth-Century Verse In 1610, Edmund Bolton wrote of 'Armories ... occurring euery-where, ... from whence doth breath so sweet an aer of humanity'.1 The hyperbole demands the studious attention of his readers and invites consideration of the ubiquity of heraldry in the seventeenth century. The intention of this study is to demonstrate that heraldry, or armory, was a common trope in the verse of the period and that its importance, for seventeenth-century readers as well as to modern criticism, extends far beyond the recognition of a 'sweet... humanity'. This study will examine references from both manuscript and printed sources, in a variety of contexts and from a number of different genres, in order to reach an appreciation of the nature and significance of heraldry as a trope in seventeenth-century verse. Where important insight may be gained, some eighteenth-century material is included. The first chapter will examine a number of the important studies of heraldry and literature which have been undertaken in the twentieth century. It will also consider modern critical approaches to the subject, especially semiotic theory, which will influence this study. The second chapter considers the use of direct references to coats of arms by poets in formal, heraldic contexts; heraldry records rites of passage and a reading of poems celebrating birth, marriage or commemorating death offers the most straightforward insight into the use of heraldic references in the period. Formal boundaries, however, provoke challenge and invite the possibility that they may be breached. Chapters three to five examine, in turn, heraldic references in a variety of social, political and religious contexts in order to confront a more equivocal, and often less formal, use of heraldry. Chapter six looks at the use of heraldry with regard to women, and at the particular use of armorial references by women poets. A Display of Heraldry, by John Guillim, was first published in 1611. Its introduction includes the declaration that: 'Arms ... being a Word of Equivocation or Ambiguity, needeth some Explication'.2 This is an instruction which has an enduring relevance. 1. Edmund Bolton, The Elements of Armories (London, 1610; reprinted, Amsterdam and New York, 1971), sig. A4r. Further references (to this edition, etc.) are given after quotations in the text. 2. John Guillim, A Display of Heraldry, sixth edition (London, 1724), p. 2. The 1611 heraldry manual appeared in new editions in 1632, 1638, 1660, 1679 and 1724. The 1724 edition was edited by James 1 For the purposes of this work, it is necessary to clarify both seventeenth-century explanations of heraldic terms, as well as the particular definitions which will be used in the following chapters. Much ambiguity arises from the fact that many terms which surround heraldry are used synonymously. Heraldry, armory, coats of arms, coat armour, armorial bearings and arms, are often used interchangeably. The distinction recognised by the present work is that while heraldry and armory can be synonymous, heraldry is the broader term, referring to all the responsibilities of a herald, as well as to armorial bearings and their significance. Armory is applied in a more limited sense to armorial bearings alone. Coat of arms, coat armour, armorial bearings and achievement of arms are all used today to indicate the full heraldic entitlement conferred, or assumed, by an individual or institution, although this use blurs the earlier distinction of the first two terms, which indicated the coat, vest or tabard which had been embroidered with arms. The complete achievement of arms is composed of various elements, which must also be clarified. They are all centred around a shield, which may also be known as an escutcheon. That which appears on the shield is known as a charge; arms refer to the charges and the shield together. The crest is placed on top of the helmet (or helm) and these are always depicted above the shield. The helm is normally shown resting on either a wreath of cloth or a coronet, and a mantle is usually drawn flowing from the helm. Both arms and crest are sometimes used in synecdochic expressions to refer to the full achievement of arms, but this is inaccurate. In addition to the shield, helm and crest, the full achievement may include supporters, which are figures placed on each side of the shield, a motto, which in the seventeenth century usually appears on a scroll beneath the shield, and certain insignia, which are the badges of office, decorations or orders of knighthood to which the bearer may be entitled and which often hang on a ribbon beneath the shield.