Branding the Tudor Dynasty: Badges of Henry VIII's Children

Hello and welcome back to the channel. If you're new here, hi, you are very welcome. This is Reading The Past and I'm Dr Cat. As you can probably hear, I am still a little bit croaky. I am much better than I was the last couple of weeks. I was really very poorly but it seems to be on the way out. With that being said, I did wake up this morning with what appears to be an eye infection. So if you could just try and ignore what's going on on this side of my face, I am going to put up quite a few pictures in this episode because I think no one really needs to see what's going on here for very long. And with that being said, let's hop right in because I have got something I want to talk about today. A fair while back, I made a video exploring the badges and mottos of the six wives of King Henry VIII. I will leave that video linked. In the comments of that video, I was asked if I could make a similar video exploring the arms, badges, symbols and mottos of Henry VIII's children. So for our purposes, I am only going to look at the children that King Henry VIII acknowledged, whether they were legitimate or otherwise. So without further ado, let's see what we can find out. On the 1st of January 1511, King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon welcomed a son. The boy was named Henry for his father. From his birth, as he was the eldest son of the English King, this little Henry was Duke of Cornwall. This had been the title customarily held by the heir to the throne since the Duchy of Cornwall was originally created in 1337 by King Edward III for his son and heir, Edward the Black Prince. The current Duke of Cornwall is Prince William and he has held that title since his father's accession to the throne as King Charles III in 2022. For Henry and Catherine's son, little Henry, this meant that from the moment he was born, he was connected to the arms of the Duchy of Cornwall, this being a sable or black shield that's adorned with 15 golden circles, also known as peasants. These seem to replicate coins. However, according to J. R. Planchet, in the case of the arms of the Duke of Cornwall, this is no representation of coins but of peas, being the arms of Poitiers or Poitou, of which he was Earl. There is no evidence that Henry Duke of Cornwall was ever designated as Prince of Wales, which is the other title that's commonly held by the eldest son and heir of the monarch. This is in spite of the fact that Henry's birth was celebrated with the extravagant tournament that is memorialised in the Westminster tournament roll. Sadly, little Henry Duke of Cornwall would die from unknown causes around 10 days after this tournament took place. At that point, he was not yet two months old. Before we look at Henry VIII's children that would survive him and rule after him, let's take a look at his acknowledged son Henry Fitzroy. Fitzroy was the natural but illegitimate son by Elizabeth Blount who was born in 1519. When Fitzroy was around six years old, his father saw to it that he was raised in the peerage through the unrivaled honour of a double dukedom. Fitzroy was made Duke of Richmond and Somerset. These titles connected him to his paternal family. His grandfather, King Henry VII, had been Earl of Richmond, while the Somerset title linked all the way back through the Beaufort line to the son of John of Gaunt. The title of Richmond is linked to the white greyhound of Richmond and thus to ideas of bravery and loyalty. While the Beaufort beast was a Yale, a symbol of strong defence. In the same year that he was granted this double dukedom, Fitzroy also became a Knight of the Garter and this allowed him to encircle his heraldic shield with a garter. As we can see on this garter is the motto of the order which translates to shame on him who thinks evil of it. I have made a video on this particular chivaric order and its history which I will be leaving linked. As we can see Henry Fitzroy's shield, also called an escutcheon, is pretty densely decorated. It is quartered with the Lions of England and the Fleurs-de-lis of France. This is in common with the shield of his father the King. Fitzroy's shield is however bordered and that border is also quartered with the first quarter being ermine, the fur that was reserved for the upper echelons of the nobility and for The rest of the border is an alternating band of squares of gold and blue. These are colours that connect to chivalry, nobility and fidelity. The silver band or baton that runs diagonally across the shield which is known as a baton sinister based upon the direction in which it is travelling. These were frequently used to designate the illegitimacy of the individual who is being represented by the arms in question. The inclusion of an overlaid shield which we see being used here is a way of differentiating between individuals usually by connecting them to a name, title or role that they have. In the overlaid shield we have a lion which as king of beasts is commonly used as a royal symbol. The tower is linked to protection and piety while the stags represent peace and protection as well. The stag was frequently viewed as being a fairly calm animal, one that would not fight unless it was pushed to do so. However when it was so pushed it was thought to prove to be devastatingly effective. Fitzroy's guarded shield is topped by a ducal crown or coronet. According to John and Rosemary Pinches when Fitzroy's arms were displayed with supporters those supporters were on the dexter side a lion with a ducal crown around its neck with a gold chain and on the sinister side a silver heraldic antelope adorned with peasants or coins with a gold coronet and a chain around its neck. However I have not come across an extant version of these arms that show these supporters in place. When Fitzroy died in 1536 he was 17 and childless thus his titles his badges and his arms became extinct. A little over a year after Fitzroy's death Henry VIII's third wife and queen Jane Seymour would give birth to their son Edward. Like his short-lived brother Henry Edward was also entitled to be styled as Duke of Cornwall from his birth although like Henry he was also never formally invested as Prince of Wales. That other title which since the start of the 14th century had been commonly bestowed upon the heir to the English throne Edward was eligible to make use of the imagery connected to that title prior to his accession to the throne. That imagery being the three ostrich feathers that are most commonly called the Prince of Wales feathers today. The origins of this badge are hotly It may connect to the jousting shield of Edward the Black Prince. He may have taken up the ostrich feathers as a way of paying homage to his mother Philippa of Hainault. She was descended from the Counts of Hainault and within this dynasty the eldest sons were known as the Counts of Ostravent and so it is suggested that the ostrich feathers may be a heraldic pun on the name Ostravent. Perhaps though the most popular story about the connection between these feathers and the Prince of Wales is that they are said to memorialise the Black Prince's victory at Cressy and in particular his capturing of the ostrich feather adorned helmet of his enemy John I of Bohemia. Certainly the motto that now goes with these feathers was John of Bohemia's namely meaning I serve. As King Edward VI used his father's achievement of arms. A shield quartered with the lions of England and the fleur-de-lis of France surrounded by the garter circlet. This is topped with the crowned royal helm which has itself got a crowned lion on top of that. It is mantled in golden ermine. The armorial supporters are a crowned lion on the dexter side and the red dragon of Cadwaladr on the left or sinister side. The dragon of Cadwaladr had been used by Edward's grandfather King Henry VII as a reminder of his Welsh origins and his claimed descent from that famed King of Gwenedd, Cadwaladr. The traditional motto on these arms is visible. God and my right. This is a reference to what they believed supported and made possible their rule over their people. Edward VI also made use of other symbols. We have encountered the white greyhound of Richmond before. In addition he made use of a golden harp. The harp has long been used to symbolise Ireland but it also connotes a person of temperate judgement. In addition harps are the instruments of heaven and of the angels. Thus they connect to faith and to notions of the divine and as such it might have been a useful symbol for a young king who along with his advisors was seeking to remake the faith of his nation in the reformed manner that he deemed to be the best. Edward also used a golden portcullis commonly referred to as the Beaufort portcullis. This symbol may have been intended to remind people of his connection to Margaret Beaufort and more importantly to her royal blood. Upon which Edward's grandfather King Henry VII grounded his claim to the throne. Unsurprisingly Edward also used a Tudor rose. This was something he would share with his other royal family members. He also deployed the sun in splendour. This was a favoured symbol of his great grandfather King Edward IV. It represents glory and perhaps also a sense of hope. Is it perhaps a reminder that Edward is a new day for the Tudor line with the promise of sons to follow him once he became a man. If this was the intended significance of the sun in splendour symbol it would prove to be a forlorn hope. Edward died childless on the 6th of July 1553. The next of King Henry VIII's children to take up his throne was his eldest daughter by Catherine of Aragon, Mary. Mary had been born on the 18th of February 1516. When she became queen she used the same arms as her brother and her father. However on occasion the white greyhound of Richmond would support her arms rather than the dragon. After Mary I's marriage to Philip II of Spain the royal arms would also on occasion incorporate his eagle. Mary chose for her motto Veritas temporis filia or truth is the daughter of time. Mary may well have felt that there had been multiple deceptions that had affected her life. From the nullification of her parents marriage to her being made to the separation of England from Rome and the denial of papal authority to the temporary accession of Jane Grey to the throne rather than Mary and that's to name just a few. Now though time had passed. Mary was 37 years old. She was Queen of England and she could restore the truth of things at least as far as she saw them. Like her brother Mary used the symbols of the the harp. Presumably though if she was seeking to invoke the divine and notions of faith with the use of the harp that's going to be in line with her Roman Catholic beliefs rather than her brother's Protestant faith. In a similar vein Mary also deployed this symbol. We see a holy altar. Upon it is a sword likely a sword of justice. It stands upright on top of the altar. In seeking to return England into obedience with the Holy See of Rome Mary viewed herself as acting justly as if she was wielding that sword of justice. However the sword that we are seeing is placed atop an altar and altars are sacrificial spaces just as swords are weapons. Is this symbol then perhaps also a promise maybe even a threat of just how far Mary was prepared to go in the name of her faith. Queen Mary I also made use in various forms of her mother's badge the pomegranate. The pomegranate is a fruit filled with seeds and this made it an ideal representation of a promise of fertility and Mary was certainly hopeful that her marriage to Philip II would prove to be fruitful that she would like the pomegranate be full of potential life and in particular with a Roman Catholic heir for her throne. In this though she was to be disappointed. Mary died at 42 years old in 1558. She would be followed on the throne by her Protestant half-sister the daughter of Anne Boleyn Elizabeth. Elizabeth was born on September the 7th 1533. She came to the throne on November the 17th 1558 meaning that at that time she was 25 years old. Elizabeth used the same achievement of arms as her siblings and her father. Like her sister though these supporters would sometimes change. Occasionally the white greyhound of Richmond would support her arms rather than the dragon. Additionally on occasion the red dragon would be exchanged for a golden one. Elizabeth took Semper Aedan as her motto which translates to always the same. Around a century later another monarch Queen Anne would take on this same motto as her own. On the aptness of this motto for Elizabeth I think many of her advisors might muster a wry smile at the idea she was always the same. Rather I think Elizabeth was frequently a mercurial slippery equivocator and she was this in a variety of matters. However many others might point out that this is a very apt motto for this queen who would never marry, never bear children and at least if we look at her portraiture alone would seemingly never grow old. Like the rest of her family Elizabeth made extensive use of symbols and badges throughout her reign and I have made dedicated videos on these symbols that I will be leaving linked. Like her other family members Elizabeth deployed the Tudor rose, the portcullis and the harp. She also used her mother's emblem of a crowned falcon holding a golden sceptre. The sceptre and the crown are signs of royal authority while the falcon is a bird of prey known for its resolute determination to achieve its aims. Anne's falcon was perched on a tree stump from which red and white roses bloomed. This was apparently Anne's promise that she would bring forth new life to reinvigorate the barren stump of the Tudor dynasty. At the time her promise had been her potential to provide Henry VIII with a son and heir. In actuality what she gave him was Elizabeth. Elizabeth was that dynasty's last and some would argue most successful monarch. Elizabeth also used a symbol that had previously been used by her first stepmother Jane Seymour. Elizabeth deployed the phoenix a symbol of resurrection, eternal life and sacrifice because of course the old phoenix must burn itself down to ash so that a new phoenix could rise out of those ashes. Elizabeth would also use the pelican for similar sacrificial significance as it was once believed the pelican pecked her own breast until it bled so that she could feed her young. Last but by no means least Elizabeth also used sieves as powerful symbols. These were intended to remind the audience of the story of those Roman Vestal virgins who were so inviolate in their virginity that they were said to be able to carry water in a sieve without spilling a single drop. Thus the symbol of the sieve when it's being used in images connected to Elizabeth is I think working in two ways. Firstly it's reminding the audience of the constant virginal state of their queen but it's also connecting her rule and her nation to the aspirational state of the classical world of imperial Rome. At least it was aspirational as far as early modern England was concerned. So what do you think of these symbols? How effective do you think they would have been? Do you have any particular favourites? As always I'm looking forward to reading your conversations in the comments section underneath this video but I'd also love it if you could pop an emoji or a social glyph in the comments too because that will help to boost the engagement and the more engaged video gets the more YouTube apparently shares it out and that should help us to grow our community. I'm thinking there have been lots of symbols mentioned today so maybe you find an emoji version of one of those maybe a lion or a unicorn or some such. You can also find me elsewhere on social media. I will leave links to all the places you can find me on the internet in my description box. Please do follow me over on some or all of those so we can continue this conversation and start some others. I do hope you enjoyed this video and found it useful. If you did please share with your friends. If you like my channel let some pals know about it. You can tell me about this video in particular by hitting the thumbs up. Please do subscribe to the channel and if you think you are subscribed have a check to make sure you've not been unsubscribed against your will. 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