The History of William Marshal, Earl of Chepstow and Pembroke, Regent of England. Book 1 of 2, Lines 1-10152.

The History of William Marshal was commissioned by his son shortly after William’s death in 1219 to celebrate the Marshal’s remarkable life; it is an authentic, contemporary voice. The manuscript was discovered in 1861 by French historian Paul Meyer. Meyer published the manuscript in its original Anglo-French in 1891 in two books. This book is a line by line translation of the first of Meyer’s books; lines 1-10152. Book 1 of the History begins in 1139 and ends in 1194. It describes the events of the Anarchy, the role of William’s father John, John’s marriages, William’s childhood, his role as a hostage at the siege of Newbury, his injury and imprisonment in Poitou where he met Eleanor of Aquitaine and his life as a knight errant. It continues with the accusation against him of an improper relationship with Margaret, wife of Henry the Young King, his exile, and return, the death of Henry the Young King, the rebellion of Richard, the future King Richard I, war with France, the death of King Henry II, and the capture of King Richard, and the rebellion of John, the future King John. It ends with the release of King Richard and the death of John Marshal.

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Animals

Animals is in Terms.

Boar

Booth Arms. Argent, three boar's heads erect sable. Source.

Earl Cadogan Arms. Quarterly: 1&4 Cadogan Arms 2&3 argent, three boar's heads couped sable. Source.

Tennant Arms. Argent, two crescents in fess sable on a chief gules a boar's head couped of the first. Source.

Buck

Buck's Head

Duff Arms. Vert, a fess dancetté ermine, between a buck's head caboshed in chief and two escallops in base or.

Three buck's heads

Cavendish Arms. Sable, three buck's heads caboshed argent. Source.

Ferneley Arms. Or, on a bend vert three buck's heads caboshed argent.

Roper Arms. Per fess azure and or, a pale counter-changed and three buck's heads erased of the second. Source.

Stanley Arms. Argent, a bend azure three buck's heads caboshed or. Source.

Dog

Greyhound

Palmer Arms. Or, two bars gules each charged with three trefoils of the first in chief a greyhound currant sable. Source.

Talbot's Heads

Duncombe Arms. Per chevron engrailed gules and argent, three talbot's heads erased counterchanged. Source.

Dolphin

Henry Machyn's Diary. 16th August 1552. The xvj day of August was taken up a' Broke Warff iij grett fysses, and in odur plasys ij more, and sold in Fysh [strete] to them that wold by them.

Three great fishes. "The viij. daye of August, there were taken about Quynborough three great fyshes called dolphins, or by some called rygges: and the weke folowyng, at Blackwall, were syxe more taken and brought to London, and there sold; the least of them was greater then any horse." Stowe's Summarie, 1566.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke

Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.

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Blennerhassett Arms. Gules, a chevron ermine, between three dolphins naiant embowed argent. Source.

Elephants

Elephants Heads

On 14th January 1725 John Anstis, Garter King at Arms, by order of King George I granted by patent to Sir Andrew Fountaine (age 49), Knt then vice-chamberlain to the Princess of Wales, and tutor to his highness Prince William, for whom he was installed (as proxy) knight of the honourable Order of the Bath, supporters to his arms, viz on either side a lion gules with wings erected or, with the old family motto of, Vix Ea Nostra Voco, and the ancient arms of Fountaine, or, a fess gules between three elephants heads erased sable.

Fishes

Kitson Arms. Sable three fishes hauriant in fess argent a chief or. Source.

Fox

Fox Arms. Ermine, on a chevron azure three fox's heads and necks erased or on a canton of the second a fleur de lys of the third. The canton is an augmentation of honour to his paternal arms, granted out of the Royal Arms as a mark of esteem to him and his heirs forever, by King Charles II following the Restoration of the Monarchy. Source.

Leopards

Hood Arms. Sable, on a fess argent between three leopards passant guardant or spotted of the field as many escallops gules. Source.

Leopard's Faces

Three Leopard's Faces

On 10th March 1774 William Browne (age 82) died. Church of St Mary, Hillington [Map]. Large mural marble tablet with plain open pilasters open pediment and relief rondal. Inscribed Sir W B Archit. Roundel sculpted by Joseph Wilton (age 51). Armorial quartered 1&4 Unknown three leopard's faces jessant de lys 2&3 appears to be Temple Arms includes an escutcheon for his wife Mary Greene.

William Browne: In 1692 he was born. On 24th August 1717 he and Mary Greene were married.

Mary Greene: On 29th September 1699 she was born to Charles Greene.

Cantilupe Arms. Azure three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys or.

Clement Arms. Argent, two bendlets wavy sable on a chief gules three leopard's faces or a bordure compony or and azure. Source.

De La Pole Arms. Azure, a fess between three leopard's faces or. Source.

Newport Arms. Argent, a chevron gules between three leopard's faces sable. Source.

Adam Murimuth's Continuation and Robert of Avesbury’s 'The Wonderful Deeds of King Edward III'

This volume brings together two of the most important contemporary chronicles for the reign of Edward III and the opening phases of the Hundred Years’ War. Written in Latin by English clerical observers, these texts provide a vivid and authoritative window into the political, diplomatic, and military history of fourteenth-century England and its continental ambitions. Adam Murimuth Continuatio's Chronicarum continues an earlier chronicle into the mid-fourteenth century, offering concise but valuable notices on royal policy, foreign relations, and ecclesiastical affairs. Its annalistic structure makes it especially useful for establishing chronology and tracing the development of events year by year. Complementing it, Robert of Avesbury’s De gestis mirabilibus regis Edwardi tertii is a rich documentary chronicle preserving letters, treaties, and official records alongside narrative passages. It is an indispensable source for understanding Edward III’s claim to the French crown, the conduct of war, and the mechanisms of medieval diplomacy. Together, these works offer scholars, students, and enthusiasts a reliable and unembellished account of a transformative period in English and European history. Essential for anyone interested in medieval chronicles, the Hundred Years’ War, or the reign of Edward III.

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Pulteney Arms. Argent, a fess dancetté gules in chief three leopard's faces sable. Source.

Watkins Arms. Azure, a fess vair between three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys or. Source.

Wentworth Arms. Sable, a chevron or three leopard's faces or. Source.

Lions

Armed and Unguled

Armed and Unguled. Having nails, claws and talons but of a separate tincture.

Ashley Arms. Argent three bulls passant sable, armed and unguled or.

Lion Rampant Reguardant

Cadogan Arms. Gules, a lion rampant reguardant or. Source.

Three Lion's Heads Erased

Fermor Arms. Argent, a fess sable between three lion's heads erased gules. Source.

Monck Arms. Gules, a chevron between three lion's heads erased argent. Source.

Wyndham Arms. Azure, a chevron between three lion's heads erased or.

Unicorn

Denison Arms. Ermine, a bend azure cotised sable between a unicorn's head erased in chief and a cross crosslet fitchy in base gules. Source.

Wings

Segreant

Chronicle of Abbot Ralph of Coggeshall

The Chronicle of Abbot Ralph of Coggeshall (Chronicon Anglicanum) is an indispensable medieval history that brings to life centuries of English and European affairs through the eyes of a learned Cistercian monk. Ralph of Coggeshall, abbot of the Abbey of Coggeshall in Essex in the early 13th century, continued and expanded his community’s chronicle, documenting events from the Norman Conquest of 1066 into the tumultuous reign of King Henry III. Blending eyewitness testimony, careful compilation, and the monastic commitment to record-keeping, this chronicle offers a rare narrative of political intrigue, royal power struggles, and social upheaval in England and beyond. Ralph’s work captures the reigns of pivotal figures such as Richard I and King John, providing invaluable insights into their characters, decisions, and the forces that shaped medieval rule. More than a simple annal, Chronicon Anglicanum conveys the texture of medieval life and governance, making it a rich source for scholars and readers fascinated by English history, monastic authorship, and the shaping of the medieval world.

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Segreant. Having the wings expanded.

Effigy of Richard Wellesburne de Montfort. THIS very remarkable effigy lies on the north wall of the church of Hitchendon in Buckinghamshire. After the battle of Evesham in 1265, in which the famous Baron Simon de Montfort, with his eldest son Henry, lost their lives, his wifea and children fled the country, with the exception of the youngest son Richard, who assumed the name of Wellesburne (from a manor so termed in Warwickshire, an ancient possession of the family), and retired to Hinchendon as above, where he resided at a mansion called Wreck Hall. The armorial bearings on this effigy, and the peculiarities which mark the period of its execution, enable us very confidently to appropriate it to this identical personage. He became the founder of the family of Wellesburne, which was extant in the county of Buckingham, in the reign of Henry VI. In the church of Hitchendon down to that period were placed numerous monuments of his successors, one of which will be found in another place. A deed of this Wellesburne de Montfort has been printed in Nichols's History of Leicestershire, the faulty Latin of which is perhaps no proof of its being fictitious. There are two seals appended to this instrument, one of which has the legend "Sigillum Bellatoris, filii Simonis de Montefort; [Seal of the Warrior, son of Simon de Montefort]" the other bears the rampant lion of his house, the legend "Wellisburne de la Monteforte."

There is some reason to conjecture that Richard Wellesburn de Montfort was imbued with the martial character of his race. His effigy represents him in the attitude of a Crusader (he might, not improbably, have passed some of the years immediately after his father's overthrow, abroad, in the service of the cross); his right hand grasps a dagger, his left sustains a ponderous broad-bladed sword, on the scabbard of which are escutcheons of various armorial coats, borne doubtless by the connections of his noble family. On this and all the effigies of his descendants the pride of heraldry obtains, which shows that they resigned not, under adverse fortune and a change of name, the remembrance of their honours.

The quilted gambeson appears in bold folds under the hauberk and descends to the upper part of the knee. His feet rest on a lion, on which is a crescent for difference. The bearing of the shield is very remarkable; a lion rampant à la queue fourchée, holding in his mouth a childb the field semée with crosslets fitchée. The bearing is repeated on the surcoat quarterly, with a griffin segreant, holding in his paws a child, and with the addition of a chief cheque, no doubt for Mellent, to which Earldom the Montforts succeeded about the time of the Norman Conquest.

This effigy is executed in a truly noble style, and recalls to us at a glance the age of chivalry and romantic feeling; and it is somewhat remarkable, that it commemorates a name which has become hacknied among the writers of fiction, without allusion to the historic tacts connected with it, merely for its sound. The slender but striking circumstances which are known concerning Wellesburne de Montfort surely afford admirable ground-work for the writer of historical romance.

Note a. Eleanor, second daughter of King John and Isabella of Angoulesme, she retired to a nunnery at Montargis, in France. Simon her second son, was Count of Bigorre in France, where he founded a family bearing his patrimonial name; Almaric, her third son, was first a priest in York, but embraced the military profession abroad; Guy, the fourth son, was Count of Anglezia in Italy, progenitor of the Montforts of Tuscany, and of the Counts of Campobachi in Naples; Richard, the fifth son, is commemorated by the effigy.

Note b. Gules, a Hon rampant with two tails argent, was a bearing of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. See the vignette above, from an architectural decoration in Westminster Abbey. This shield with the addition of a child in the lion's mouth, was blazoned in the windows of Wreck Hall at Hitchendon, and carved on the reading desk of Hitchendon Church. Argent, a lion rampant, with ten cross-crosslets fitchée sable, are the Montforts of Warwickshire. Bendy of six. Or and Gules, changed temp. Edward 1. to bendy of ten, are the Montforts of Beldesert. Gules, a griffin segreant, a chief cheque Or and Azure, over all a bend Ermine, is a coat of the Wellesburn Montforts. There is at Hitchendon a monumental figure of a withered corpse, enshrouded in a loose shirt, having marked on his breast the figure of a priest and eight crosslets on his body. This represents, it may be well conjectured, some incumbent of the parish church of the Montfort family. Langley conceives (but the style of the figure by no means supports the idea) that it is a memorial for Peter, son of Peter de Montfort, who died at the battle of Evesham. See Hist, of Desborough Hundred, p. 478.

Bligh Arms. Azure, a griffin segreant or, armes and langued gules, between three crescents argent.Source.

Griffin Arms. Sable, a griffin segreant argent beak and forelegs or. Source.

Wings conjoined in lure

Wings conjoined in lure. Wings pointed downwards like those used in falconry as a lure.

Seymour Arms. Gules two wings conjoined in lure.

Wingfield Arms. Argent, a bend gules three wings conjoined in lure of the field. Source.