Rings for the finger : $b from the earliest known times to the present, with full descriptions of the origin, early making, materials, the archæology, history, for affection, for love, for engagement, for wedding, commemorative, mourning, etc.Kunz, George Frederick
History
Rings for the finger : $b from the earliest known times to the present, with full descriptions of the origin, early making, materials, the archæology, history, for affection, for love, for engagement, for wedding, commemorative, mourning, etc.
Kunz, George Frederick
Rings; Rings -- Folklore
Rings set with precious stones were given as prizes at the tournament
held by Henry VII of England in 1494. The prize for jousting was to be
a ruby ring, while the best in the tourney and the one delivering the
most telling strokes was to be rewarded with a diamond ring. The Earl
of Suffolk, Thomas Brandon, who later married King Henry’s daughter
Margaret, after the death of her first husband Louis XII of France, was
successful in gaining one of the ruby rings, bestowed upon him by the
“Ladie Margaret,” his future wife, and Sir Edward A. Borough fought so
stoutly in the mêlée that he was adjudged worthy of a diamond ring. An
extra prize of an emerald ring was given to the Earl of Essex for his
valor.[315]
In 1681 the Duke of Norfolk presented to the College of Arms in London
the sword, dagger, and ring worn by James IV of Scotland (1473–1513)
at the battle of Flodden Field, fought August 22, 1513, in which he
met his death. This ring was set with a turquoise and had been sent to
James by the queen of France, as a pledge of friendship and regard,
when she solicited the good offices of the Scottish monarch with Henry
VIII, who had just laid siege to Térouanne. Another account states that
when the queen sent the ring to James, she charged him to break a lance
for her sake. This ring is said to have been taken from the body of
King James by Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, an ancestor of the donor.[316]
The belief that the turquoise protected those who wore it from falls
and wounds, probably determined its selection, but the result in this
case was hardly calculated to increase the stone’s prestige.
On the site of this disastrous defeat of the Scotch by the English
army under the Earl of Surrey, an inscribed ring was found in 1783.
The inscription, in Norman French, reads: “On est mal loiauls amans
qui se poet garder des maux disans” (Only a lover of scant loyalty can
escape calumny). The words are disposed in groups of two, and between
each pair is a boar’s head, the crest of the Campbells. This has led to
the conjecture that the ring belonged to the second son of the Duke of
Argyll, Archibald Campbell, who met his death in the forefront of the
fight.[317]
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF HENRY VIII, BY HANS HOLBEIN, PAINTED
IN 1540
Rings of identical form and setting on index fingers of each hand
and on little finger of left hand. These are designed to match
exactly the jewels on his collar and sleeves.
Reale Galleria d’Arte Antica. Palazzo Corsini, Rome]
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF JANE SEYMOUR (CA. 1510–1537) THIRD
WIFE OF HENRY VIII, AND MOTHER OF EDWARD VI, BY HANS HOLBEIN, THE
YOUNGER
Rings set with precious stones on index and fourth fingers of
left hand
Kaiserliche Gemälde-Galerie, Vienna]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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