My Personal Heraldic Surcote: Part 1 of 4

Greetings All!  In these plague-ridden times I have finally finished the heraldic surcote project I've been working on for years!  Sadly, I can't get all dressed up, but there's no place to go to show it off until we get this plague under control, and I can't wait for that to happen, so I'm doing something I don't normally do:  I'm sharing the project in my blog before entering it into competition or display.  It's rather long...so I am breaking it up into four parts which will hopefully make sense and will also hopefully mean somebody actually reads it all the way through.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed researching it.
*Please note sources are listed at the bottom of Part 4 of this project*

Personal Heraldic Surcote  by THL Isolda Fairamay

Completed May 2020

Part 1 of 4

Purpose of This Project:  Create and produce a woman’s heraldic surcote based on historical evidence and, through that journey, to note the significance of heraldry in art as it pertains to women in the Middle Ages.

Definition of Heraldry: “Heraldry: 1. a. The profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning arms, tracing genealogies, and determining and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms.” (The Free Dictionary, 2003-2018.)

Origins:

The Roman eagle, the dragon of Wessex and the Viking raven are symbols that have been recognized for centuries, but since they belonged to peoples as a group rather than individual people, they do not represent the birth of heraldry as defined in itself. (Hallam, 1987, page 278) Early evidence that symbols and images were being used as some sort of identification can be seen in the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and in a late 12th century manuscript of John of Worcester’s Chronicle illustrating Henry I having a nightmare. (Slater, 2003, page 8-9)

Fig. 1.  Notice the images on the shields of knights depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

Fig. 2.  The Nightmare of Henry I.  Notice the patterns on the shields of the knights in his nightmare.

The birth of heraldry with respect to inherited devices may have originated in 1127, when Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, was knighted and presented with a grant of arms by his father-in-law Henry I in the form of a blue shield painted with gold lions. (Woodcock, 2000, page 8-9, Slater, 2003, page 9) Later, his son, King Henry II bore two lions and by 1198, the number of lions settled to three, which today forms part of the British Royal Arms. (Hallam, 1987, page 278)

Fig. 3.  Tomb Plate of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou.  Notice the golden lions on the shield.

The Language of Heraldry:

 By the end of the 13th century, heraldry was widespread, making it necessary to employ specialists called “heralds” to assist in identifying enemies (Hallam 1987, page 278) Heralds began to keep records of shields called rolls of arms.  (Slater, 2003, page 9) This marks the beginning of heraldry as a system of classification and use of technical language that has stood the test of time, and with the use of armorial records, anyone today can identify their meaning just as if they were living in the 13th century. (Hulme, 1892, page 18)

Fig. 4.  The Derling Roll, the oldest extant English roll of arms dating from c. 1270-1280, depicts 324 coats of arms and is a vital record for the study of knighthood in medieval England.

The scope of heraldry and its definitions and presentation is a wide and complicated subject, so for the purpose of this project here is a short list of important basic heraldry definitions that will help the reader understand what is being viewed (especially if knowledge of heraldry practices is little to none!):

Coat of Arms:  The common term for the heraldic shield.  (Slater, 2003, page 124)

Roll of Arms:  A herald’s catalogue of coats of arms.  (Slater, 2003, page 125)

Marshal:  To combine two or more coats of arms on one shield.  (Slater, 2003, page 125)

Dimidiated:  An early form of marshalling arms by halving them. (Slater, 2003, page 124)

Impalement:  The placing of two coats of arms side by side, depicting the charges of the two coats in their entirety on a single shield. (Slater, 2003, pages 110, 125)

Dexter:  right (from the point of view of the shield bearer) (Slater, 2003, page 124)

Sinister:  left (from the point of view of the bearer of the shield) (Slater, 2003, page 125)

 Purposes of Heraldry:

 Perhaps the most important reason for the use of heraldic devices hails from the advancement in the design of the helm, which became more protective during the 12th century, covering the face, thereby making it difficult for one to identify the wearer. (Hallam, 1987, Page 278) Heraldic devices on shields, horse trappings and surcotes made identification possible. (Hallam, 1987, Page 278) Kings would signal alliances by placing their own arms beside that of their allying rulers.  (Slater, 2003) Surcotes began to be worn over armour by the beginning of the 13th century and it became customary for the owner’s heraldic device to be on them, thus the expression “coat-of-arms”.  (Hulme, 1892, page 18)

Fig. 5.  Codex Manesse, 52r Walther of Blades Herr Walther von Klingen.  Notice the knights depicted in the 14th century Codex Manesse illumination in full heraldic regalia, including shield, horse trappings and surcotes over armour.

The use of heraldry does not end at identification in battle. By the mid-14th century, heraldry was being used on tombs, castles and manuscripts. (Hallam 1987) The representation of people through their heraldry would prove useful for those who were illiterate since one could identify a person without the use of words by simply looking at their heraldry. (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020) Heraldry was also a very important tool to represent status.  (Slater, 2003) The beauty of art depicting heraldry, especially on clothing, was also a very sneaky way of spreading propaganda such as promoting lifestyle, piousness (to spread Christianity) and simply the glorification of heroes and heroines. (Piponnier et al, 1997)  Purely decorative use of heraldry can be traced to Henry III in 1254, when visiting The Great Hall in Paris by Louis IX, he noticed the walls decorated with painted wooden shields with the arms of French noble families upon them; he was so impressed he returned home and placed stone shields in Westminster Abbey. (Woodcock, 2000, page 10) The original 16 painted and sculptured shields form a roll of arms in the nave of Westminster Abbey.  (Scott-Giles, 2014)

Fig. 6. Four of the Original 16 Carved Shields in the Nave of the Chapel of St. Edmund in Wesminster Abbey  Representing:  Henry de Lacy, Roger le Bigod, Simon de Montfort, and Richard Earl of Cornwall.

It is vital to note that heraldic display was not limited to men.  Heraldry would also be used by women to denote family status, including alliances that would develop as a result of marriage. (Slater, 2003) Originally, the paternal or husband’s arms were used alone, but it later became customary to display the woman’s paternal arms on one side and the husband’s arms on the other.  (Hulme page 19-20) The original method for depicting marriage on shields and monuments would show the complete arms of the husband on the dexter and the complete arms of the wife (paternal family arms) on the sinister, as in the case of impalement.  (Slater, 2003) By the late 13th century, showing half of each of the arms of the husband and wife on one shield, in the case of dimidiation, came into practice. (Slater, 2003) Likely, at least in part, due to some of the bizarre results of dimidiation, by the end of the 14th century, full arms were again shown on both sides (impalement). (Slater, 2003 page 110)

Fig. 7. The Difference Between Dimidiation and Impalement.

Heraldic Clothing for Men

 It is of great importance to note that there are extant pieces as well as artistic representations of men’s heraldic clothing available for study.  Extant heraldic garments for men exist with the most notable piece of extant heraldic clothing being the jupon of the Black Prince.  (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020) The Black Prince was otherwise known as Edward of Woodstock, 1330-1376. (Textile Research Centre) The original faded piece, along with other battle accessories, has been preserved for exhibition, most recently in the V&A Museum in London.  (Canterbury Cathedral, Historic Treasures in London Exhibition) The recreation of this piece can be seen hanging above the tomb of the Black Prince in Canterbury Cathedral itself. (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020).

The Black Prince’s jupon is not only available as an extant piece, it is also important to note that it exists in art through the brass monument on his tomb, as an engraving, and as an illumination in a manuscript.  (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020)

Fig. 8. The original extant battle jupon of the Black Prince

Fig. 9. Recreation of the Black Prince’s jupon displayed over his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral.

A description of the construction of the garment from the Textile Research Centre website: “The jupon is made of a thick linen, covered with wool padding. Onto this were added velvet panels in alternating red and blue. The decoration includes applied fleurs-de-lys embroidered with gilt thread (symbolising France) applied to the blue panels, and applied heraldic lions, also worked in gilt thread (symbolising England), applied to the red panels.”  (Textile Research Centre)

The Black Prince’s jupon is not only available as an extant piece, it is also important to note that it exists in art through the brass monument on his tomb, as an engraving, and as an illumination in a manuscript.  (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020)

Fig. 10. Brass tomb monument of the Black Prince c 1380.

Fig. 11. Engraving depicting the Black Prince c1356.

Fig. 12. Manuscript illumination depicting the Black Prince c.1386-1399.

There are two other extant pieces of heraldic clothing of note that are not battle garments, one being the tunic of Don Fernando de la Cerda and the other being a pellote (sideless surcote) of Fernando de la Cerda c1255-1275. (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020) The interesting aspect that ties these two pieces together is the likelihood that the fabric from which they are made, woven half-silk fabric with the heraldic design worked into it, appears to be identical. (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020)

Fig. 13 Burial tunic of Fernando de la Cerda, c 1255-1275.

Fig.14 The detail of the fabric used for the burial tunic.

Fig. 15 Pellote of Fernando de la Cerda c 1255-1275

Conclusion:  There are extant pieces of heraldic battle clothing that are also portrayed in art as in the Black Prince’s jupon.  There are extant pieces of non-battle heraldic clothing as in the garment belonging to Fernando de la Cerda that do not appear to be portrayed in any art.  Considering that there are extant pieces of both types of heraldic clothing, it would lead me to believe that at least some of the non-battle heraldic clothing portrayed in art could have existed as actual garments.

Women’s Heraldic Surcotes

There are various examples of heraldic surcotes for women available in art:

Fig. 16 Illustration of the tomb effigy of Marguerite de Bourgogne c 1374-1411.  You can see her surcote has a marshalled heraldic design on the skirt.

The Chronicles of Jean Froissart detail events during approximately the first half of the Hundred Years’ War, from about 1326-1400.  (Ainsworth, et al 2013) The accompanying illuminations were produced in Paris in the early 15th century by several artists. (Villela-Petit, 2013).  Below we see two examples of heraldic surcotes illustrated in these manuscripts:

Fig. 17 The top right image from Froissart’s Chronicles depicts Queen Isabella of England in a surcote with arms of France and England. C 1325 (Ainsworth, et al 2013)

Fig. 18 Depiction of Philippa of Hainault from Froissart’s Chronicles with the arms of the Hainault family on her surcote.

Fig. 19 The arms of Hainault

Although the surcote depicted in the illumination of the Coronation of Marie de Brabant itself does not exist as an extant garment, the all over heraldic fleurs-de-lys fabric depicted in the surcote, as well as the garment of the King and the wall covering ,was used widely by royal households.  (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020) Extant fabric fragments from various pieces of heraldic fabric dating to the 13th century, which are housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, are made up of a range of woven silk tissue and silk and gilt thread. (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020) Looking at accounts of the Paris Embroiderers Guild there was an order on September 8th, 1352 for fabric covered with fleurs-de-lis which would be embroidered and then attached to the items ordered.  (Boyer, Robyn M., 2020) The description of these extant fragments may very well be the design depicted in this illumination.

Fig. 20 Depiction of the Coronation of Marie de Brabant 1275:  Grande Chroniques de France, Jean Fouquet.  C 1455-1460

Conclusion: Although we have no full extant heraldic surcotes for women available for study, the extant textiles that were portrayed in art, the extant evidence available for men, as well as the artistic evidence available for both men and women lead me to believe female heraldic surcotes did exist.  In the very least, if heraldic surcotes for women were reserved for ceremonial wear alone, they would be an important display of status, unity, and propaganda.

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2...