Edward the Confessor features in a wide range of medieval texts encompassing the categories historiography, hagiography and liturgy. Also when it comes to art, the depictions of the Confessor are highly varied and present an interesting repository for how he was imagined in medieval times. It is, however, not quite as substantial as his literary legacy, nor has it survived equally well. This repository includes his personal sigil, the Bayeux tapestry, Abbot Richard Barkyng's hangings in Westminster Abbey (mid-13th-century), a stained glass series in Fécamp Abbey Church (early 14th century), the Wilton Diptych (1390s), a selection of manuscript illuminations from the mid-11th century onwards and a few odd pieces here and there whose fulness has yet to be established.
I was very kindly notified of one of
these odd pieces by Margaret Hiley, who proofread my MA thesis back
in the days, and I was immediately thrilled to learn of it. The
oddity in question is a mural ostensibly depicting Edward the
Confessor in St. Andrew's Church, Lyddington in Rutland, and it
presumably dates from the 14th century as this is the date of the
oldest sections of the church. We do not know for certain that it is
Edward adorning the wall at Lyddington, but as the church was given
to the jurisdiction of Westminster by Edward himself, it seems a
plausible conjecture. In this blogpost I aim to see how well the
conjecture holds up by looking closely at the few details available,
and comparing this mural with other 14th-century depictions.
Historical background
Before embarking on a detailed investigation of the mural, it may be
proper to give a brief account of Edward's general standing in
14th-century England. After Henry III, Edward's most enthusiastic
devotee, there was a shift in devotional focus for the kings of
England. Henry's son, King Edward I, showed his namesake saint due
veneration and placed spoils from the Scottish campaign at the
saint-king's tomb, but towards the end of the 13th-century the royal
family became more interested in the cult of Thomas Becket. In
addition, Edward hailed the legendary Arthur as a saint in order to
bereave the Welsh of their hope of Arthur's return, although how much
this affected his pious observances can not be stated with great
certainty.
With
the militant reign of Edward III there came an upsurge in devotion
towards St. George, who eventually was pronounced the patron saint of
England in 1351. In 1381, however, King Richard II embraced the cult
of Edward and his veneration appears to have resulted in a widespread
improvement in Edward's standing in the realm - at least among the
upper echelons - and both Langland and Chaucer make references to St.
Edward in their works. The historian Jean Froissart stated that
Edward was generally venerated throughout all England, and
particularly in Ireland. He further claims that Richard's veneration
was a way of placating the Irish, but neither of these claims can be
corroborated. It was Richard's enthusiasm which resulted in the
Wilton Diptych in the mid-90s, which can be seen below.
In other words, it is not unlikely that the mural in question may be
a rendition of Edward the Confessor given the historical
circumstance. We must now turn to the details of the work for further
investigation.
Clothing
As we see from the images above, the man in the mural wears a reddish
robe and an ermine-coated cape, both very expensive accoutrements. In
art, expensive and fine clothing is of course a very effective way to
convey high standing in society, and it is very likely that this
depicts some royal saint. Another piece of evidence to suggest this
is the fact that he wears gloves, possibly hunting gloves, which
clearly demarcates a man of the upper echelons.
In the literature pertaining to Edward the Confessor, he is often
portrayed as a man of fine clothing. In the first biography of the
king, Vita Ædwardi qui apud Westmonasteriam recquiescit
(1065-75), it is stated that Edward's wife Edith was very skilled
with the needle and made him beautiful and richly adorned clothes,
which he wore without pride. Edward's clothing becomes a way for the
author, of whom little is known beyond his Flemish origins, to
emphasise the disparity between the outer and the inward man: despite
his regal appearance, Edward was a humble man on the inside who
valued the law of God above all other things. This is a common topos
in the depiction of medieval kings, and royal saints were usually
portrayed in rich clothing. In 14th century painting, however, Edward
appears to be dressed in more sumptuous clothes than previously were
the case, as we can see both in the Lyddington Mural and the Wilton
Diptych below. Whether this was a consistent trend we can not say
given the scant evidence, but both the mural and the diptych are very
different from illuminations of the same century.
The gloves are another issue. As we see in the picture above, Edward
of the Wilton Diptych has bare hands. The gloves may suggest hunting,
which of course was a popular pastime among royals, and one which was
stated to be Edward's favourite - second to praying - in Vita
Ædwardi and, drawing on this biography, in William of
Malmebury's Gesta Regum Anglorum (1120s). However, in the
mid-12th century John of Salisbury spoke very harshly of hunting as a
pastime unfit for Christians, and this view - which appears to have
been common in clerical circles - can be seen reflected in the more
sedate renditions of Edward in the hagiographies. Whether John of
Salisbury's condemnation carried any weight into the 14th century I
do not know. Nor do I know how widespread this view was. In other
words, although St Edward traditionally - as a saint - was not
depicted as a huntsman, this is no impediment to the possibility of
such a depiction in the 14th century.
The Wilton Diptych
Appearance
The face of the mural is to a great
extent worn away, but we see outlines suggesting a bearded face. From
11th century and onwards Edward the Confessor has been described as a
man of perpetual old age, having white beard at a time when he was
only about thirty or forty. This is again a common topos of medieval
literature, and a similar case can be seen in the depiction of
Charlemagne in The Song of Roland. White beard conveyed the wisdom of
old age, and emphasised the prophetic abilities of Edward the
Confessor. Furthermore, in the mid-12th century, the swan-white beard
- which was said to be as beautiful in the grave as in life - became
a symbol of Edward's virginity, another of his prime characteristics.
As we see in the Wilton Diptych, this was retained in the 14th
century.
Accessories
From what remains of the mural there are two items of royal
paraphernalia suggested by the heavily worn outlines. In his left
hand the saint-king is holding what appears to be some circular
object, possibly the royal orb or the ring he allegedly received from
John the Baptist - his particular saint according to hagiography -
which can also be seen in the Wilton Diptych.
The other item appears to be a sword, suggested by the yellow-golden
hilt at the figure's left flank. This is the most unusual aspect of
this mural in the traditional depictions of Edward the Confessor, as
this is the only representation I've come across where the saint-king
is armed. In the catalogue of artistic portrayals, the sceptre, the
orb and the crown are all common items and emphasising the peaceful
aspect of monarchy for which Edward was famous. The sword is, in
other words, unprecedented, and this may be due to its 14th-century
provenance, which, as we have seen, was a period when martial saints
were more popular - and more expedient, if we can talk so cynically
about religion - than a solomonic peacemaker like Edward.
The Emblem
The
final aspect of this investigation is slightly tenuous, but it is
crucial to the matter at hand. Just beside the hilt of the saint's
sword we can see what appears to be the pattern of the cape. It is
impossible to make out the pattern properly, but from the pictures it
looks very much like the cape is coloured in gold and azure. If this
indeed is the case, there is a strong possibility that the cape is
decorated with the arms of Edward the Confessor - invented long after
he had passed away - which were adopted into the arms of Richard II
sometime in the 1390s. The arms of Edward the Confessor, as seen
below, is a golden cross surrounded by five golden martlets on an
azure background, strongly reminiscent of the palate seen in the cape
at Lyddington. If this really is the case - which may never be
subject to certainty - it can be proved beyond reasonable doubt that
this really is a representation of Edward the Confessor.
Conclusion
To
sum up, there are several pieces of evidence which suggest the mural
depicts Edward the Confessor. It fits with the traditional
representations of him in both art and literature, although some
aspects are unusual, but that definitive proof mentioned at the end
is still solely a matter of conjecture. Nonetheless, I feel
comfortable including this mural in the existing canon of medieval
portrayals, and if it really is the case, the art history pertaining
to the Confessor has been more diverse than hitherto believed. Now it
only remains for me to visit St Andrew's, Lyddington and behold this
mural with my own blue eyes.
Literature
Literature
Barlow,
Frank, The Life of King Edward the
Confessor, Clarendon Press, 1992
Berners,
Sir John Bourchier Lord (transl.), The
Chronicle of Froissart, AMS Press,
Inc., 1967
Binski,
Paul, "Abbot Berkyng's Tapestries and Matthew Paris's Life of St
Edward the Confessor", printed in Archaeologia or Miscellaneous
Tracts relating to Antiquity published by the Society of Antiquaries
of London, Vol. CIX, Devonshire Press, Torqay, 1991
Binski,
Paul, Westminster Abbey and the
Plantagenets: kingship and the representation of power, 1200-1400,
Yale University Press, New Haven, 1995
Campbell,
Marian, "White Harts and Coronets: The Jewellery and Plate of
Richard II", printed in Gordon, Dillian, Monnas, Lisa and Elam,
Caroline, The Regal Image of Richard
II and the Wilton Diptych, Harvey
Miller Publishers, London, 1997
Harrison,
Madeline, "A Life of St. Edward the Confessor in Early
Fourteenth-Century Stained Glass at Fecamp, in Normandy",
printed in Journal of the Warburg and
Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 26, no.
1/2, 1963
Hector,
L. C., and Harvey, Barbara F. (eds. and transl.), The
Westminster Chronicle 1391-1394,
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1983
Lewis,
Katherine, "Becoming a Virgin King: Richard II and Edward
the Confessor ",
printed in Riches, Samantha J. E. and Salih, Sarah (eds.), Gender
and Holiness - Men, women and saints in late medieval Europe,
Routledge, 2002 Luscombe,
David, ‘Salisbury, John of (late 1110s–1180)’, Oxford
Dictionary of National Bi-ography,
Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2011
Mitchell,
Shelagh, "Richard II: Kingship and the Cult of Saints",
printed in Gordon, Dillian, Monnas, Lisa and Elam, Caroline, The
Regal Image of Richard II and the Wilton Diptych,
Harvey Miller Pub-lishers, London, 1997
Mynors,
R. A. B., Thomson, R. M., Winterbottom, M., William
of Malmesbury: Gesta Regum Anglorum, The History of the English
Kings, Clarendon Press, 1998
Riches,
Samantha, St George - Hero, Martyr
and Myth, Sutton Publishing, Stroud,
2000
Saul,
Nigel, Richard II,
Yale University Press, New Haven, 1997
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