Thomas Wriothesley

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For other people named Thomas Wriothesley, see Thomas Wriothesley (disambiguation).

Heraldic drawing by Wriothesley of deathbed of King Henry VII, 1509. Although not present, Wriothesley wrote his account, in which the drawing features, from discussions with attendees. BL Add.MS.45131,f.54

Sir Thomas Wriothesley (

Garter King of Arms, John Writhe
, and he succeeded his father in this office.

Personal life

Wriothesley was born at Colatford, Wiltshire. His name at birth was Thomas Writhe, and he was the eldest son and second of four children of John Writhe and his first wife, Barbara, daughter of John Castlecombe.[2] The location of Colatford has not been identified, but it was either near Castle Combe or Cricklade.

Wriothesley's first wife, whom he married before 1500, was Jane, daughter of William Hall of

St Giles Cripplegate. Mark Noble purports to quote from his will, but it cannot now be found.[4] His library may have stayed intact until the death of his son Charles in 1562; after that, it was probably dispersed. Manuscripts of his are now to be found in the College of Arms, the British Library
, and elsewhere.

Heraldic career

In 1489 Wriothesley was made Wallingford Pursuivant in the private service of

Garter King of Arms, over the heads of all the royal heralds in ordinary. Clarenceux King of Arms, Roger Machado, was an old friend of Wriothesley's father and helped push the appointment through. It was around this time that Thomas changed his original surname of Writhe to the grander one of Wriothesley, which he applied retrospectively to his ancestors. His brother William, York Herald of Arms in Ordinary
joined him in this change.

As Garter, Wriothesley helped organize and took part in many great domestic ceremonies—the funeral of Henry VII, the coronation of Henry VIII, the

Archduke Ferdinand of Austria
in 1523.

Wriothesley was licensed to carry out

heraldic visitations, though no such visitation record has survived. Wriothesley's output as a heraldic artist was considerable and includes large parts of a great armory and ordinary of all English arms.[5] His collections are an essential link between the heraldry of the Middle Ages and that of the later College of Arms, while his drawings of monuments anticipate the work of later Tudor heralds.[6]

Anthony Wagner has called Wriothesley's Gartership "active, prosperous and in many ways distinguished".[7] Wriothesley's hopes of permanently asserting the primacy of his office over the other kings of arms were dashed in 1530, when Thomas Benolt, Clarenceux King of Arms managed to obtain a commission to carry out visitations without interference by any other herald. After this, Garter King of Arms played no part in the visitation process.

Arms

Coat of arms of Thomas Wriothesley
Notes
It is said that he placed a demi-garter about his arms in memory of his descent from Sir Robert Dunstanville who is supposed to have been a Knight of the Garter.
Crest
On a torse or & azure a dove close argent, beak & legs gules, crowned or.
Escutcheon
Azure, a cross or between 4 doves close argent, beaks & legs gules.[8]
Badge
A 'bugle' (buffalo) head erased sable goutty, horned, ringed & crowned or (sometimes used as crest).

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ^ Wells, J. C. Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. 3rd edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2008.
  2. ^ Walter H Godfrey and Sir Anthony Wagner, The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street: being the sixteenth and final monograph of the London Survey Committee. (London, 1963).
  3. ^ John Anstis. The Register of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. (London, 1724), 2.393.
  4. ^ a b Noble, Mark (1805). A History of the College of Arms. London: T. Egerton etc. pp. 108–110.
  5. ISBN 0712345876
    .
  6. ^ Wagner, Sir Anthony (1950). A Catalogue of English Mediaeval Rolls of Arms. London: Society of Antiquaries. pp. xi–xii.
  7. ^ Sir Anthony Wagner. Heralds of England: a History of the Office and College of Arms. (London, 1967), 147.
  8. ^ Godfrey, Walter H; Wagner, Anthony (1963). "'Garter King of Arms', in Survey of London Monograph 16, College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street (London, 1963), pp. 38–74". british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
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