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Saturday, May 2, 2020

Arms of the College of Guardians of the Holy House of Walsingham


Today is May Day (at least when I started writing this post) and May has traditionally been Mary's month.  What a better way to combine two subjects I love, Walsingham and heraldry.  As such, I was able to finish up a project I started in 2014, painting the arms of the College of Guardians of the Holy House of Walsingham.  I hung the plaque above an icon of Our Lady of Walsingham that I had commissioned back in seminary.  I told you I was revisiting old hobbies.

I first encountered these arms when I was in Walsingham for the National Pilgrimage in 2009.  I wish I would have paid more attention to Walsingham's heraldry, for it was everywhere!  The Shrine's Facebook page has been generally more active of late, and I've spotted a few images they've shared that I'd like to re-share here.


If you look closely on the flag of St. George, you'll spot an escutcheon of the arms.


The arms of the College of Guardians ensigned by a gallero on the tombstone of The Rev. Alfred Hope Patten, the restorer of the Shrine.  Interesting that his own arms were not used.  See my previous post on the matter.  

So, it begs the deeper question, what is the provenance of these arms?  According to one source I found online, the arms of the Priory of Walsingham were recorded around 1510, blazoned, "argent a cross sable five lilies slipped [of the field]."  These seem simple and most attractive.  Simple enough.  What, then, of the Holy House which we see on the shield today?  

The next clue comes in 1945.  The Shrine's restoration and expansion began in the 1930s, and it makes sense that as the enterprise grew, the corporate governing body (the Guardians) would want some device or brand for the Shrine.  At that time, the Rev. Henry Joy Fynes-Clinton was actively involved with the work of the Shrine and approached the College of Arms in London for a grant of arms.  He generously paid the heralds' fees for the grant on behalf of the Shrine.  Fynes-Clinton wrote an article for "Our Lady's Mirror" in the Spring of 1945 entitled "Armorial Bearings of Our Lady," in which he describes the new grant.  Click here to read Fynes-Clinton's article.  

Fynes-Clinton rightfully points out that the arms of the Priory of Walsingham, found in the local parish window, were already in existence. As such, the College of Guardians could not rightfully lay claim to those arms.  Thus, the arms had to be differenced in order to be granted.  In this case, the use of a canton is a brilliant way to difference these particular arms.  Moreover, the Holy House would suffice for that differenced canton.


The Rev. Alfred Hope Patten had used the front of the seal to help create the statue of Our Lady.  It's only fitting, then, that the obverse should be used to create the arms.  The detail of the Holy House can be found on the Priory's seal.


And voila!  The arms of the College of Guardians of the Holy House of Our of Walsingham have armorial bearings blazoned, "argent upon a cross sable, five lilies of the first slipped and seeded proper; a canton azure, charged with a Holy House or."   The crest is blazoned, "upon a helm mantling of the colours, issuing from a celestial crown of 12 points and stars, or, three lilies argent seeded or."   The motto is Domus Dei: porta caeli, which Fynes-Clinton translates as, "the House of God: the Gate of Heaven."


The letters patent.  Photo is from the Walsingham Shrine's website.


A fine rendering of the mantling, arms, crest, and motto.  Photo is from the Walsingham Shrine's Archives.


An ex libris (bookplate) from the College of St. Augustine, Walsingham.  Here's where we see the use of the priest's galero as an external ornament.


If you look closely (click image to enlarge) at Mary's cloak or cope, you can spot both the arms of the Guardians (viewer's left) and the arms of the Shrine's restorer, Hope Patten (viewer's right).  I had never noticed these arms here before!


And finally my rendering of the arms, acrylic on pine.  Getting the detail of the Holy House just right was quite the challenge.

All told, it was fascinating to dive into the history of these arms and their association with the Shrine.  I just can't believe it took a pandemic for me to finish these beautiful arms.  


Thursday, April 30, 2020

Scholastic Heraldry

Row 1 (L-R): Chicago, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, and UPenn
Row 2 (L-R): Wesleyan, Notre Dame, Hampden-Sydney, Kenyon, St Joseph
Row 3 (L-R): St. Albans, Roxbury Latin, Mount St. Scholastica, Rice, St. Pauls, Groton, Eton 

If I had to choose, I mean really choose, a certain branch of heraldry that I'm drawn to, it's first and foremost scholastic or academic heraldry.  A close second would be ecclesiastical heraldry.  I suppose it has something to do with how I first encountered coat armour.

In the fall of 1998, I matriculated to the pastoral campus of Hampden-Sydney College located just outside of Farmville, Virginia.  The school was founded on November 15, 1775, a day shared with the founding of the U.S. Marine Corps.  I covered the school's coat of arms in a previous post.  I distinctly recall blowing a large sum of my graduation money on items in the college's bookstore that bore those beautiful arms.  I will even admit to purchasing my class ring my freshman year, solely so that I could wear the arms of the school!  Thank goodness I graduated.  And yes, I received quite the jabbing from my friends and classmates for such a bold move.  

Ever since my undergraduate days, I've been truly enamored by heraldry, and I remain especially curious about organizations that bear arms.  What is does it mean for an academic institution to bear arms?  What messages are intrinsic to those schools' coat armour?  Aside from those larger questions, I'm interested to know the what and the why behind the design and rationale. 

So, during these past seven weeks of home confinement, I started a group on Facebook to share and discuss scholastic heraldry.  I put together the grouping of shields above for the social media site to help advertise.


Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Arise, Shine!


The coat of arms of Dr. Chad M. Krouse, 
emblazoned by Hector Rojas

Yes, it's been several years since I last posted on this blog.  In short, lots of things, good things (great, in fact) have happened in the intervening years since.  Today, the world is no longer the same; the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world to shut down, to pause, and reset.  Being home the last seven weeks has given me time to also pause and reset, just like I had to do with finding the password to this site.

I hope to share more in the coming days and weeks.  So many old hobbies and interests have been rekindled during this time.  Wait for it...yes!  Heraldry.  It's funny in a way.  Back in 2014, I was all over the subject, loving every minute.  I couldn't get enough of it, in fact.  When I began my doctoral program in 2015, my focus inevitably shifted, free time was a luxury I could no longer afford.

About a year ago, I commissioned Hector Rojas to emblazon my full achievement, another luxury I could not have afforded back in the day.  While I didn't do anything exciting with the rendering, I was pleased to have them.

During this shutdown, I'm keeping the digital heralds busy.  I'll share a few new things over the coming days.  Until then, it's great to be back.  Be safe. 

Thursday, October 23, 2014

New Arms

Recent line drawing (pencil) for a commission of arms.  
Copyright 2014, Chad Krouse.


I just finished a line drawing for a new commission of arms which I think turned out beautifully. There is a lot of significance in these arms to the new armiger and even contains a pun on his middle name (Andrew).  The anchor cross has been traditionally appropriated for Saint Andrew, seen more so in the Anglican tradition.  The crest is a Golden Retriever bearing a shotgun, something very personal for the armiger.  

Arms:  Per chevron gules and barry wavy argent and azure, in chief a demi sun in splendor or and in base an anchor of the fourth;

Crest:  On a wreath of argent and gules, a Golden Retriever passant gorged of a collar gules, in dexter paw a shotgun proper;

Motto:  "Fire When Ready."