Читать книгу Thomas Berthelet, Royal Printer and Bookbinder to Henry VIII., King of England онлайн

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The royal heraldry at the time Berthelet made his bindings was simple and dignified; first and fourth were the three fleurs-de-lys of France; second and third, the three lions of England. From William the Conqueror until Henry II., the royal coat of England probably consisted of two lions passant guardant in pale. Henry II., however, on his marriage with Eleanor, daughter of William V., Duke of Aquitaine and Guienne, incorporated the coat of that potentate, a single leopard, with his own, but as he probably considered the conjunction of this animal with those already on his coat might not be conducive to peace, he turned the leopard into a similar lion and added it to the others, and from that time the coat of arms of England has been “gules, three lions passant guardant in pale, or.” The coat of France, “azure, semé de fleurs-de-lys, or,” was adopted by Edward III., in the fourteenth year of his reign, together with the title of King of France, asserting his right to the coat and the title by virtue of his mother, Isabel, daughter of Philip IV. At first Edward placed the French coat in the second and third places of his shield, but presently gave it the places of honour, first and fourth, in consequence of a remonstrance from the French king. Edward’s grandson, Richard II., married, as his second wife, Isabel, daughter of Charles VI. of France, who changed his coat, “semé de fleurs-de-lys,” to one having only three fleurs-de-lys. Richard altered the French coat on his shield in accordance with this change, and this became the royal coat of arms of England until the accession of James I. With regard to the supporters which are found on some of Berthelet’s bindings, they are only the dragon and the greyhound. The dragon is the red dragon of the last of the British kings, Cadwallader, from whom Henry VII. claimed descent, and in remembrance of whom he bore it as a supporter, as did all our Tudor sovereigns. This, however, is only one explanation, as it appears that a very similar badge was previously borne by Henry III., Edward I., and Edward III. The greyhound was also one of Henry VII.’s supporters, and is found on several of his bindings; it was used by Henry VIII. until about 1528, when he substituted a lion and changed the sides. This greyhound was borne by Henry VII. by a double right, partly by reason of his own descent from the Earls of Somerset, whose badge it was, and also by right of his wife through the Nevilles.