Weston Styleman Walford

“ There would not, I conceive, be much difficulty in shewing that many of the cross-legged effigies in this country are representations of persons who died seised of manors and estates—a fact inconsistent with the opinion of their having been Templars;—and others must be known from direct evidence not to have belonged to the order. The surcoat commonly worn by the knights of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries may have been sometimes mistaken for the religious habit of the Templars. ”

“ As to civil costume, I would remark that the boy, the youth, and the man may have been attired very much alike in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; and, seeing the early age at which girls married, they, with some slight differences, probably dressed as women at a time when we now should call them children: hence perhaps the effigy said to represent Blanch, daughter of Edward III., is in the costume of an adult female, although if she died in 1340, she must have been a mere child. ”

“ No one, however, of the nine effigies is bearded or habited in a mantle, or has any cross apparent; but some of those not identified have moustaches, and their chins being hidden by the hoods or helmets, they may be supposed to have also beards. I can hardly believe that a Templar would be represented without the peculiar distinctions of his order being made quite evident. ”

“ If there be any instance of an effigy in which the features and proportions, or if the features be wanting, the proportions, are those of a child, while the habit is that of a knight, priest, monk, or nun, it presents a curious subject for enquiry ”

“ The author and collector have very different ends in view. The author may class them according to the various descriptions of persons by whom they were used, or the different purposes for which they were employed; and treat specifically only of such as he can bring within those several heads. He is not bound to find a fitting place for every seal that may occur. This the methodical collector wishes to do; but the most experienced, however discriminating, must often be ignorant alike of those who used the seals which he meets with, and of the particular purposes for which they were employed. ”

“ In addition to which, a large variety of personal seals, remarkable for their allusive and facetious legends and devices, reflect the taste, fancy, humour, and occasionally the superstitions of the age, as well as of the individuals. In an historical point of view, it is not too much to say that seals bear the same relation to subjects, both as individuals and communities, that coins and medals (on whose historical value it is needless to dwell) do to sovereigns and states; while royal and municipal seals may in this respect rank with coins and medals themselves. ”

“ If the designation of any head should, from its brevity, seem obscure, probably such obscurity will be dissipated on calling to mind, that no head is intended to comprise what is clearly comprehended under any other which is numbered in the same series. ”

“ On heraldry, which has proved so serviceable in the investigation of medieval antiquities, they afford most valuable information; since from them we learn the earliest examples of the art, with few exceptions, and much of the subsequent usages and practice of it until the modern system prevailed. ”

“ On the revival of letters, the novelty and intrinsic excellence of the ancient classical literature to a great extent engrossed the attention of men of studious habits, till the inherent charm which there is in the history of a man's own country began to reassert its influence; and as minds thus better disciplined were brought to the subject, historical evidence was more correctly appreciated, and more diligently sought for. The charters of the intervening ages were examined, their credit tested, and their seals scrutinised and compared. ”

“ In Germany and France, where diplomatics, or the art of deciphering charters and the like, and of discriminating the genuine from the false, have for many years been regarded as a science, the subject of seals, which constitutes so important a branch of it, has received a corresponding share of attention, and their history and characteristics have been discussed in a manner unparalleled in this country. [2] But the seals which have been studied by the foreign diplomatists have been chiefly those of sovereigns and the higher orders of the nobility and clergy ”

“ The details of the sword-belt and the attachments of it to the scabbard are very good, and resemble what are found in some of the earliest brasses. The hands must have been brought together on the breast in an attitude of devotion; but these and the greater part of the fore-arms are broken off and have disappeared. The left leg, which, as before noticed, crosses over the right, is a good deal worn away at places, so that the form of it is much injured. The legs and feet no doubt once appeared in chausses of mail, though no trace of mail can be discovered on them. ”

“ They not only supply what is deficient in impressions elsewhere found attached, but contribute to our knowledge in various ways that might not at first be anticipated. Official seals, and seals of ecclesiastics, bring to light sometimes the names of those who have filled offices, and enjoyed dignities, and been forgotten; and sometimes revive the knowledge of the existence of offices which had themselves fallen into oblivion. In like manner common seals occasionally attest the existence of communities of which all remembrance had ceased ”

“ In like manner our universities and colleges for education are to be considered lay corporations, as in fact they are. See Blackst. Comm. I., p. 471. By device is intended such as constitutes the principal subject, and not mere ornament or accessories. It will be obvious, and it is unavoidable, that a seal difficult to decipher or interpret may sometimes require to be placed under a different head when more completely understood: and though the seals themselves are to furnish the distinctions, yet what is found on them will sometimes need explanation ”

“ I have been frequently reminded of the prevalence of this opinion by the remarks of intelligent friends with whom I have at various times examined the Temple effigies, and it may suffice to shew how general it is even among archæologists by reference to the "Hints of the Cambridge Camden Society," where, under the head of Ancient Armour, (p. 36, 4th edit.,) effigies of Knights Templars are mentioned as if they were numerous. ”

“ Fortunately there is something so attractive about them, that some individuals have taken pleasure in bringing many of them together even without regard to any ulterior use to be made of them. The collector of seals may be assured that he renders no inconsiderable service to the cause of archaeology, though he may be prompted solely by the gratification of a natural curiosity ”

“ But the great mass of lay seals would still remain to be disposed of; and they are far too numerous to be comprised under one head. For these, a method of distribution must be devised, irrespective of rank, sex, station, or use; and such as shall be easy of application, and according to distinctions apparent on the seals themselves. ”

“ Analogous to brasses and other sepulchral memorials, they furnish evidence of the slate, not only of the art by which they were executed, but likewise of those of ornamentation and design in general, and also illustrate the costumes of different classes of society at various periods; and in their legends they exemplify the peculiar kinds of letters, and divers unusual modes of abbreviation and forms of expression that were from time to time in use. ”

“ Why full-grown persons should have been represented by such diminutive effigies it may be difficult to discover. As in the case of brasses, in all probability economy sometimes of means, and sometimes of space, may have been occasionally influential. ”

“ It shows, nevertheless, that seals were sometimes used by bondmen; for, failing a proper number of freemen, there were to be bondmen sworn, and all were to have seals and affix them to the presentment. A very large number of personal seals of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, have come down to us ”

“ They seem to have furnished much of the information contained in an article on the Templars published in the "Library of Entertaining Knowledge." Many of them appear to be of later date than the rule of St. ”