John Writhe (died 1504) was a long-serving English
officer of armsAn officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions:*to control and initiate armorial matters*to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state...
. He was probably the son of William Writhe, who represented the borough of
CrickladeCricklade is a small town in north Wiltshire in England, on the River Thames, situated midway between Swindon and Cirencester.Cricklade is twinned with Sucé-sur-Erdre in France.In the 2001 census the population of the town was 4,132....
in the Parliament of 1450–51, and is most remembered for being the first Garter King of Arms to preside over the
College of ArmsThe College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
. Writhe is also notable for the contention that it was he who developed the system of
heraldicHeraldry is the profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound *harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
cadencyIn heraldry, cadency is any systematic way of distinguishing similar coats of arms belonging to members of the same family. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at once...
employed by English officers of arms to the present day.
It has been claimed that Writhe began his career as Antelope Pursuivant or
Rouge Croix PursuivantRouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms. The office is named after St George's Cross which has been a symbol of England since the time of the Crusades...
under
Henry VHenry V was King of England from 1413 until his death. From an unassuming start his military successes in the Hundred Years' War, culminating with his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt, saw him come close to uniting the realms of England and France under his rule.-Early life:Henry was born...
, but this is doubtful.
John Writhe (died 1504) was a long-serving English
officer of armsAn officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions:*to control and initiate armorial matters*to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state...
. He was probably the son of William Writhe, who represented the borough of
CrickladeCricklade is a small town in north Wiltshire in England, on the River Thames, situated midway between Swindon and Cirencester.Cricklade is twinned with Sucé-sur-Erdre in France.In the 2001 census the population of the town was 4,132....
in the Parliament of 1450–51, and is most remembered for being the first Garter King of Arms to preside over the
College of ArmsThe College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
. Writhe is also notable for the contention that it was he who developed the system of
heraldicHeraldry is the profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound *harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
cadencyIn heraldry, cadency is any systematic way of distinguishing similar coats of arms belonging to members of the same family. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at once...
employed by English officers of arms to the present day.
Heraldic career
It has been claimed that Writhe began his career as Antelope Pursuivant or
Rouge Croix PursuivantRouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms. The office is named after St George's Cross which has been a symbol of England since the time of the Crusades...
under
Henry VHenry V was King of England from 1413 until his death. From an unassuming start his military successes in the Hundred Years' War, culminating with his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt, saw him come close to uniting the realms of England and France under his rule.-Early life:Henry was born...
, but this is doubtful. By February of 1474 he had been appointed Falcon Herald. On 25 January 1477
Edward IVEdward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 2 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
made him Norroy King of Arms and on 6 July 1478, he was promoted to
Garter Principal King of ArmsThe Garter Principal King of Arms is the senior King of Arms, and the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms. He is therefore the most powerful herald within the juristiction of the College – primarily England, Wales and Northern Ireland – and so arguably the most powerful in...
. Writhe officiated at Edward's funeral in April 1483 and at
Richard III'sRichard III was King of England from 1483 until his death. He was the last king of the House of York and the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field was the decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, and is sometimes regarded as the end of the Middle Ages in England...
coronation the following July. As Garter he also took part in the coronation of
Henry VIIHenry VII was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty.Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the Wars...
who reappointed him on 13 February 1486 with back pay to the date of
BosworthThe Battle of Bosworth Field was the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses, a civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians...
.
Writhe was the first Garter of the College of Arms, which had been incorporated in March of 1484. Contrary to popular belief, though, the College did not take its own
coat of armsA coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
from Writhe. As Falcon and Garter he was employed on numerous diplomatic missions to
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the continent, and at least once to
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. An experienced armorist, Writhe collected and compiled many important armorial and
genealogicalGenealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
manuscripts. In 1498 King Henry VII granted him and
Roger MachadoRoger Machado was an English diplomat and officer of arms of Portuguese extraction. He lived among the Portuguese merchants at Bruges in 1455.-Early heraldic career:...
,
Clarenceux King of ArmsClarenceux King of Arms is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial kings of arms and his jurisdiction is that part of England south of the River Trent. The office almost certainly existed in 1420, and there is a fair degree of...
, a joint licence to make
visitationsHeraldic Visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms in England, Wales and Ireland in order to regulate and register the coats of arms of nobility and gentry and boroughs, and to record pedigrees...
.
Personal life
Writhe may have lived in Red Cross Street, adjoining Barbican House in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. After Writhe's death, his son
ThomasSir Thomas Wriothesley was a long serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the son of Garter King of Arms, John Writhe, and he succeeded his father in this office.-Personal life:...
styled him Sir John but there is no proof that he was ever
knightA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
ed. His first marriage was to Barbara, daughter and heir of John Dunstanville. This union brought about the aforementioned Thomas (who was himself the father of
Charles WriothesleyCharles Wriothesley , was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the last member of a dynasty of heralds that started with his grandfather—Garter Principal King of Arms John Writhe....
,
Windsor HeraldWindsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. It has been suggested that the office was instituted specifically for the Order of the Garter in 1348, or that it predates the Order and was in use as early as 1338...
);
WilliamWilliam Wriothesley was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the second son of Garter King of Arms, John Writhe; the younger brother of Thomas Wriothesley; and the father of Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton.-Personal life:...
,
York HeraldYork Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms. The first York Herald is believed to have been an officer to Edmund of Langley, Duke of York around the year 1385, but the first completely reliable reference to such a herald is in February of 1484, when John Water...
; and two daughters, the elder of whom married
John MynneJohn Mynne was an English officer of arms. He was the son of Henry Mynne of Gloucestershire, and son-in-law of John Writhe, the Garter King of Arms from 1478 to 1504.-Heraldic career:...
, another York Herald. Writhe died some time during May of 1504 and was buried in
St Giles CripplegateSt Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to St Giles, patron saint of beggars and cripples...
.
External links
Sources
- John Anstis
John Anstis was an English officer of arms and antiquarian. He rose to the highest heraldic office in England and became Garter King of Arms in 1718 after years of plotting.-Early life:...
. The Register of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. (London, 1724).
- Walter H Godfrey and Sir Anthony Wagner
Sir Anthony Richard Wagner, KCB, KCVO, FSA was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as Garter Principal King of Arms before retiring to the post of Clarenceux King of Arms...
, The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street: being the sixteenth and final monograph of the London Survey Committee. (London, 1963).
- Mark Noble, A History of the College of Arms. (London, 1805).
- A.F. Sutton and P.W. Hammond. The Coronation of Richard III: The Extant Documents. (New York, 1984).
- Sir Anthony Wagner. Heralds of England: a History of the Office and College of Arms. (London, 1967).
- Sir Anthony Wagner. A Catalogue of English Mediaeval Rolls of Arms. Harleian Society (London, 1950), 100.
- The College of Arms - Explains credit for cadency system.