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‘The
heraldic rose until a much later date than its first
appearance in armoury – it occurs, however, at the earliest
period – was always represented in what we now term the “conventional”
form, with five displayed petals.’
A
Complete Guide to Heraldry
by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (pp 269)
“The
use of the Rose as a political emblem may be traced
to the wars between the rival Houses of York and Lancaster,
the former of which used the device
of a white rose,
while a red one was the badge of the other, and these came
to be blazoned occasionally as the Rose
of York and Lancaster respectively. They are said to have
been first assumed by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and
his brother Edmund, Duke of York. Both these roses were sometimes
surrounded with rays,
and termed en soleil, and later on they were frequently conjoined.”
http://www04.u-page.so-net.ne.jp/ta2/saitou/ie401/
HENRY
VI PT. 1 Act ii Scene iv – London. The Temple garden
- lines 25 to 32
Plantagenet:
Since you are tongue tied, and so loath to speak,
In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts:
Let him who is a
true-born gentleman,
And stands upon the honour of his birth,
If he believe that I have pleaded truth,
From this briar pluck a white rose with me.
Somerset
: Let him that is no coward nor no flatterer,
But dare maintain the party of the truth,
Pluck
a red rose from off this thorn with me.
So
states William Shakespeare, in his own words as to the origins
of the White rose as an emblem or badge to serve York.
What has to be remembered is that it was the Duke of
York, and not the county of York to which this encounter relates.
Tradition, that oft times corruptor of history seems
to have linked both the family of the duke of York, and the
county of Yorkshire since the emblem was adopted by the family.
In truth the house of York had few land holdings within
the county whose primary earls were those of the Neville and
Percy families. The heraldic rose, in any hue was a well known
and recognised even in the earliest of armouries. By the time
of the above altercation, both red and white heraldic roses
were in use by several other families either represented on
their coats of arms, or as heraldic badges.
Its
use by any particular individual or family was not guarantee
of their loyalty to one side or the other as is evidenced
by the arms of Sir William Cary of Cookington (1437 – 1471)
who was executed after the battle of Tewksbury having fought
on the side of the Lancastrians.
The symbolism of the white rose refers to the Virgin
Mary who has been called the Mystical Rose of Heaven.
The use of religious symbols was commonplace in medieval
heraldry, the cross, in its many forms probably being the
most commonly employed.
The house of York had many such badges, the rose, while
being the most familiar, might not in fact have been the most
well used in contemporary times.
Certainly one such badge, the falcon in a fetter-lock
might have been more synonymous as it could well have represented
the thwarted ambitions of Richard duke of York, who coveted
the throne of England, with, it must be said, some justification. That the falcon was tethered by the fetter-lock would seem
to indicate the feelings of frustration at York’s inability
to actually acquire the throne.
Only when his son, Edward IV was crowned, was the fetter-lock
shown opened. Another
badge employed by Edward IV was the rose-en-soleil, which
was the white rose surrounded by the golden rays of the sun.
This
device is clearly shown on a genealogy of Edward IV which
shows many roses-en-soleil, all of which, even allowing
for the distortion of time, are shown in different aspects.
http://libwww.library.phila.gov/medieval/lewis_201/heraldry.html
Edward
was also called the Rose of Rouen, to borrow from the same
site, “Edward used the white rose as a badge and was
called "the Rose" or "the rose of Rouen"
in propaganda documents of the day, such as this one: "Lette
us walke in a newe wyne yerde, and lette us make us a gay
gardon in the monythe of marche with thys fayre whyte ros
and herbe, the Erle of Marche."
This refers to the time prior to Edward being crowned,
when his title was the earl of March. Indeed, it might be that this title, once held by the Mortimer
family were the original holders of the White Rose as their
family badge, and when they ceased to be, and their line became
extinct, Edward adopted all into his own heraldic achievements.
The badge could have been transferred together with
the title and estates.
Concurrently, Edward’s mother, Cicely Neville was called
the Rose of Raby, Raby being her home in County Durham.
The family connections with the rose therefore seem
to be considerable, and to be able to state which one dictated
it’s selection would be presumptive.
The
events to which Shakespeare is referring in the above lines
relate to what would become the Wars of the Roses, those internecine
periods of dynastic duelling on a national scale which were
to bring to their deaths so many Englishmen, and which would
eventually decimate the old English nobility.
That each side did use the heraldic rose, white for
the house of York, red for the house of Lancaster is well
attested although the origins for them both are not as well
documented as Shakespeare would have us believe.
Since that bloody time both roses have been adopted
by the English counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Even
today, at any sporting event that sees a Yorkshire team pitted
against one from Lancashire, they are still called, Battles
of the Roses. That
both counties use their roses in many ways to identify themselves
is still popular, indeed, this place also has adopted the
white rose to symbolise it’s Yorkshireness.
It has to be said at this point however, the term “Wars
of the Roses” was first used by Sir Walter Scott (1771 – 1832)
in the first chapter of his novel, Ivanhoe, 1820 [my thanks to the Hon. Treasurer of the Sir Walter Scott Club for this very necessary correction – my sincere apologies to any reader I might have misled. RGH]
. This places
some doubt upon the veracity of the roses ever having been
used officially as county emblems.
Whether or not however, the White Rose was ever officially
sanctioned, as a territorial emblem for the county of Yorkshire,
seems to be debateable. Indeed, there is very little evidence to support the proposition,
and much against it.
The only evidence for it seems to be the very tradition
that says so, although how far back into history that tradition
can be traced is subjective. An example of evidence against the tradition is the old county
coat of arms of the East Riding, or an eagle displayed
azure i.e. a blue eagle with wings spread, on a gold or
yellow field.
There
is no sign what-so-ever of a white rose, indeed, not until
the later shield granted in 1945, upon were there included
three white roses in chief, the blue eagle was relegated to
the lower part of the shield per chevron.
The eagle may have been borrowed from the coat of arms
of the county town of Beverley, which bore this blazon quartered.
Similarly,
most of the civic heraldry of the county refrains from using
the rose prior to 20th century grants of arms.
There are more roses by far depicted upon the coats
of arms of town and cities of other counties from Carlisle
in the north (Or a cross Moline gules between four roses of
the same and a rose or upon the centre of the 2nd)
to Southhampton in the south (per fess argent and gules, three
roses counter charged 2 and 1).
At the same time, none of the older towns and cities
of the county of Yorkshire have as an enblazon the white rose.
On the 1st of August 1759, the 51st
Regiment of Foot, later the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
after the battle of Minden plucked white roses to commemorate
fallen comrades. It
is said by some that this action began the tradition of associating
the white rose with the county of Yorkshire.
In 1975, the Yorkshire Ridings Society adopted the
1st of August as Yorkshire Day, an annual event,
which is celebrated to this day even though this tradition
is, but 26 years old (at the time of writing).
What prompted the soldiers of the 51st to
select white roses over any other flowers, which might have
been in bloom, has not been recorded.
It would be speculation to suggest that the flower
was already seen as a symbol of the county, on the other hand,
there might simply have been more of that particular flower
in bloom on that particular day!
There
is one burning question however which people still debate
– what might be called, the perennial question (pardon the
pun!) – and that is, which way up should the rose be displayed. From it’s earliest usage in heraldry, the rose has been depicted
as it is in nature, that is to say, with five petals each
separated by a sepal and with the pollen bearing parts also
depicted. This form, in heraldic parlance is “barbed and seeded”
which does not equate with the true nature of the flower as
shown, but is one of those vagaries of heraldic idiom, which
happen from time to time.
In England there are five native species of rose, the
Burnet rose (Rosa pimpinellifolia) white, the Apple-scented
rose (Rosa rubiginosa) pink, the Dog rose (Rosa
canina) pink, the Field rose (Rosa arvensis) white,
and the Downy rose (Rosa villosa) pink.
All of them have five petals, two are white, and the
remainder shades of pink.
By the mid 15th century however, continuing
progress was being made by rosarians in hybridisation.
To quote from The Origins of Garden Plants by
John Fisher, 1982, pp 254 – 255,
“Many
of our best loved roses are hybrids – even among the older
European strains familiar to the Greeks and Romans.
Thus Rosa alba, the White Rose of York, was
a hybrid between the wild Dog Rose and the sweetly scented
Rosa damascena, the Damask Rose, to be seen on frescos
dating from the middle of the 16th century BC at
Knossos, Crete.
“The
Damask Rose, in turn, was a hybrid.
One of its parents was Rosa phoenicea, a climbing
rose with single white flowers; the other parent was Rosa
gallica known 12 centuries BC in Persia and afterwards
as Rosa officinalis, the Apothecaries Rose.
It was later adopted as the Red Rose of Lancaster.”
Later
representations of the heraldic rose i.e. from the late 15th
century onwards have become more and more sophisticated, with
the arch-typical Tudor rose being in general depicted as a
semi-double flower. This has outer red petals surrounding
inner white petals being allegorical of the supremacy of the
Tudors (red rose) over the Plantagenets (white rose).
Elizabeth Plantagenet, eldest daughter of Edward IV,
having had to marry Henry Tudor after his victory over the
sole remaining Plantagenet heir, Richard III at the Battle
of Bosworth, Aug. 22, 1485.
Heraldic
accuracy is much dependant upon existent manuscripts and medieval
sources which depict the rose, it is only by seeking them
out that it might be possible to answer the question – which
way up should they be shown?
There are three options, petal uppermost, barb or sepal
uppermost, or something in between.
This latter is less commonly
represented, while the usual debate circulates around the
other two. Examples
of heraldic roses are to be seen in many places, they include
contemporary 15th century manuscripts, portraits,
stained glass, and carved decorations. While some allowance
must be made for the artistic talents and styles of mediaeval
artists, it can be taken that they are the best sources for
original depictions, and therefore must be seen as the real
source of any evidence to answer the question. Later heralds
and heraldic artists have become more urbane with time, the
College of Heralds having been founded and incorporated by
Richard III (1483 – 1485) to formalise the usage of heraldic
devices. This
may have been a retrospective undertaking, because even by
then, the original use for heraldry was quickly passing.
It’s use as a means of identification in time of war
on the battlefield was soon to end, and it became more of
a status object to be used either for domestic decoration
or the testimony of families to prove their entitlement to
an assortment of genealogical objectives.
Various heraldic artists continued to depict the white
rose more and more in the two main styles, petal up, or barb
up. This has
led to the confusion as to which is the correct version and
the heated and oft times passionate debates associated thereto.
It
would seem that in fact, or rather, in traditional usage,
any or all three variations could be said to be correct.
This may seem to be a convenient compromise, but, from
viewing the sources, it can be seen that all three are represented
with no particular favour.
These days it is the fashion to portray the rose petal
uppermost, mainly because it seems to be the most symmetrical.
The in-between version is now seldom seen, but it is
equally as valid as the other two, and its use could not be
seen as an error of presentation.
The rose’s depiction in heraldry is arbitrary and at
the discretion of the artist, which ever seems to be the right
way up, cannot be said to be the wrong way up.
It is, at the end of the day, a matter of personal
choice, which for such a demanding discipline as heraldry
is uncommon. One dependable heraldry website @ http://www04.u-page.so-net.ne.jp/ta2/saitou/ie401/Jpglossr.htm
tends to display all their roses barb uppermost. While some might find this to be erroneous, there is nothing
wrong with their depiction other than personal preference.
There is a stained-glass window in Canterbury cathedral
dating from the reign of Henry VII which clearly shows many
roses en soleil, all of with appear to be shown in-between,
while an illustration from Chemin de Vaillance produced
for Edward IV shows a rose en soleil within a lozenge and
four arcs which include the words “Dieu et Mon Droit”, the
rose en soleil is shown barb up.
While
researching this, the author has been personally surprised
by where the research led, being a native Yorkshireman, born
and bred, the results were a shock to the system, and while
he apologies for any mistakes which may have crept into the
article, the results cannot be changed.
He is also aware that many will not readily accept
his conclusions, but if they wish to undertake the same journey,
they too may arrive at the same destination.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/sceptred_isle/page/43.shtml?question=43
http://www.lightinfantry.org/light/customs.htm
http://libwww.library.phila.gov/medieval/lewis_e201/badges.html
Richard
Hayton
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