The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the WestRogers, W. H. Hamilton (William Henry Hamilton)
History
The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West
Rogers, W. H. Hamilton (William Henry Hamilton)
Great Britain -- History -- Tudors, 1485-1603; Great Britain -- History -- Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485
At the meeting of Henry VIII. and Maximilian at Terouenne in 1515,
Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham was "attired in purple satin, his
apparel full of _antelopes_, and _swans_ (of Bohun) of fine gold
bullion, and full of spangles." Henry Stafford, Earl of Wiltshire, his
brother, and second husband of Cicely Bonville, bore on his banner the
_swan_ (of Bohun) amid _semée of Stafford knots_, with the motto,
"HUMBLE ET LOYAL."
Knightstone, in Ottery St. Mary, originally the inheritance of the
Bittlesgate family, became the property of the Marchioness of Dorset
in 1494, the remainder having previously been vested in William, Lord
Bonville. On the attainder of her grandson, the Duke of Suffolk, in
1554, it was purchased by Mr. William Sherman, a merchant of Ottery,
who died in 1583, and whose brass effigies are on the pavement of the
south aisle of the church.
In the church of Limington near Ilchester, Somerset, two memorials are
found, but whether they are to be considered mementoes of Cicely
Bonville, or of her son the second Marquis, is not so clear. These
consist of two finely carved bench-ends, in the chancel. They are of
considerable height, having _fleur-de-lys_ shaped finials on the top,
and below occurs, on one the _rose_, and on the other the
_pomegranate_, of Henry VIII. Then follows a large shield,
quarterly,--1 and 4, _six mullets pierced, three, two, one_
(BONVILLE).--2 and 3, _a fret_ (HARINGTON); and under this the
initials W. C. joined by a cordon. Beneath are four _roses_, single
and very thickly double, alternate.
The Bonvilles acquired considerable property in Limington, Somerset,
of the representatives of the De Gyvernay family. The last of them
Henry de Gyvernay died seized of the manor 35 Henry III., leaving a
daughter Joan married to William de Shareshull. The very fine and
well-preserved effigy in the uniquely-groined north transeptal
Chantry, was probably placed to the memory of one of them (although
the armour and appointments are comparatively late), and the other
three earlier effigies on the floor doubtless represent preceding
generations.
The initials W. C. on the bench-end evidently allude to Walter Cocks,
incumbent of the parish, who was inducted in 1535, patron the Marquis
of Dorset. This would be about five years after Cicely Bonville's
death, and in the lifetime of her son, but the marshalling of the arms
seems to allude more directly to his mother.
On escutcheons in the panels of the carved parapet of Axminster church
are the Harington _fret_, and the Stafford _knot, surmounted by a
crescent_; this last badge having allusion to Henry Stafford, Earl of
Wiltshire, her second husband, he being the second son of Henry, Duke
of Buckingham. "As the manor of Uphay in the parish belonged to her,"
remarks Mr. Davidson, "it is not surprising she should have
contributed to the enlargement of the church at Axminster."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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