Image: York Minster, York (13451854344)

Description: Monument in York Minster of Thomas Savage, Archbishop of York 1501-1507. On 3 December 1492, Dr Savage was nominated as Bishop of Rochester being consecrated on 28 April 1493, a post he held until 1496 when he was translated to the see of London. Arms of Savage of Castleton, Derbyshire: Argent, a pale fusily sable (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.899). In spandrels angels swinging incense censers (thuribles). At the sides in the spandrels and at top and bottom centre are four shields showing the arms of the See of York (ancient), namely Gules, a pallium argent charged with four crosses formée fitchée sable edged and fringed or (shown here with field azure). All impaling Savage (modern). Source: Catholic Encyclopedia > Y > Ancient See of York[1]: "The arms of the see originally were: gules, a pallium argent charged with four crosses formee fitche, sable, edged and fringed or. But subsequently another coat was used: gules, two keys in saltire argent, in chief a mitre or. The Anglican archbishops have, fitly enough, substituted a royal crown for the mitre". Arms of See of York (ancient): Azure, a crozier in pale or surmounted of a pale argent fringed and ensigned with five crosses pattée fitchée of the second (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.1150) The ancient arms are sculpted on the ceiling of the Great Gatehouse of Hampton Court Palace, built by Cardinal Wolsey, Archbishop of York. See [2] " Wolsey’s Pallium & Processional Cross Wolsey's Pallium & Processional Cross. A pallium and archiepiscopal staff are represented at the half-past-eight position. It is thought that this may represent the See of York ‘Ancient’ (pastoral cross with a pallium on a blue background). This first appeared in 1396 and fell out of use by the sixteenth century, being replaced with the See of York ‘Modern’ (keys of St. Peter with a crown) when Cardinal Wolsey was Archbishop in 1520. In heraldry, the azure background (not included on the boss) represents the vestment (the chasuble) to which the pallium was pinned and the four crosses paty fitchy represent the pins once used to affix it to the garment. Behind the pallium is the Archiepiscopal staff. The gold cross is seen at the top, and the bottom of the staff shows just beneath the fringe of the pallium. Arms with the pallium first appeared in this form on those of Archbishop Simon Islip 1349-1366". Text from Complete Guide to Heraldry/Chapter 38[3]: "With the single exception of York, the archiepiscopal coats of arms all have, in some form or another, the pallium which forms part of an archbishop's vestments or insignia of rank, but it is now very generally recognised and conceded that the pallium is not merely a charge in the official coat for any specified jurisdiction, but is itself the sign of the rank of an archbishop of the same character and status as is the mitre, the pallium being displayed upon a shield as a matter of convenience for artistic representation. This view of the case has been much strengthened by the discovery that in ancient instances of the archiepiscopal arms of York the pallium is found, and not the more modern coat of the crown and keys; but whether the pallium is to be still so considered, or whether under English armorial law it must now be merely ranked as a charge in an ordinary coat of arms, in general practice it is accepted as the latter; but it nevertheless remains a point of very considerable interest (which has not yet been elucidated) why the pallium should have been discarded for York, and another coat of arms substituted". Text from Purey-Cust, A.P. Heraldry of York Minster, pp.72-78[4]: Archbishop Savage, 1501-1507- His monument, which contains his recumbent figure, is only a fragment of what must have been a much larger edifice. There are traces of a doorway, and a piscina is just beyond the figure, showing that there was probably a small oratory there ; and above there is said to have been a wooden chantry. But the details of what remains are full of heraldic interest, for the cornice of the tomb is decorated with angels bearing shields contain- ing the arms of the Archbishop, and the arms of the official positions which the Archbishop had previously held, and at the north-west corner an angel bearing the arms of Thomas Dalby, his domestic Chaplain, Archdeacon of Richmond, who, it is said, erected his patron's tomb ; while on the splay of the arch above the recumbent figure, on either side, are shields, supported by unicorns, charged with the ancient coat of the Arch- bishopric, viz., the pall, impaling a pale lozengy. One of the unicorns on each side of the arch seems to be standing on a dragon. On the panels under the recumbent figure beneath, the Archbishop's arms are emblazoned on four shields. No. i, the pale alone, for Savage, i.e. the indi- vidual ; 2, the pale impaled with the saltire cross of Rochester, i.e. his first bishopric ; 3, impaled with the keys in saltire and crown, for the diocese of York ; 4, impaled with the pall, for the province of York. And this furnishes a subject alike of historical and heraldic interest, for the coat is not the family coat of Savage, which as I have already shewn is argent six lioncels sable; it is the coat of Danvers, or De Anvers, after Edward II. written Daniell.* It would appear that John Savage, the great-great-grandfather of the Archbishop, who died in 1386, married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Danvers, of Bradley and Clifton in Cheshire. She was married three times. First to John Radcliffe ; secondly, to John Savage ; and, after his death, to Piers Legh, of Maxfield, younger son of Robert Legh, of Adlington. By her second husband she had one son, John Savage, and by her last husband a son, Piers Legh. She survived them all ; but when she died, in 1427, she specially directed in her will that her son, John Savage, should bear her coat-of-arms, which she inherited from her father. Margaret Savage seems, therefore, to have divided her arms and lands between her two sons. To the son of her second husband, John Savage, she bequeathed the estate of Clifton, which she had inherited from her mother, daughter and heir of William Baggily, who had married the co-heir of Sir Roger Button, Lord of Chedhill and Clifton, and with it the coat and crest of Danvers, viz., argent a pale fusilly sable ; crest, a unicorn's head couped argent, and probably the supporters, unicorns, which har- monize with the crest, and which may have been granted about this time. These arms were borne by his descendants until the year 1547, when Sir John Savage, who married Elizabeth Manners, daughter of the Earl of Rutland, resumed the ancient coat of his family, the six lioncels sable, simply quarter- ing the arms of Danvers. His monument, as I have said, was erected to his memory by Thomas Dalby, his chaplain. He seems to have been buried near his patron, and to have survived him eighteen years, dying in 1525. Formerly there was a brass on the floor, of which there is an illustration in Drake, to his memory. He was Prebendary of North Leverton in the Cathedral of Southwell, 1505, and of South Newbald in York Minster the same year. The year following he was collated to the Prebend of Stillington, and to the Archdeaconry of Richmond. At the south-west corner of the monument to Archbishop Savage there is a figure of an angel holding a shield emblazoned with arms similar to those which were on Thomas Dalby's monumental tablet, viz., a garb impaling a chevron ermine between three buckles. The latter is the cognizance of Dalby, but it is difficult to identify the former accurately. Torre, in his MS. history of the Minster and its property, mentions this coat as existing in the prebendal house of Stillington, " in the hall window," " in the window " of the dining-room above stairs," and carved in stone on the chimney- piece of the same, with another shield containing a garb only. He thus labels them " Richmond Archdeaconry impaling Dalby." For want of more definite information I must accept his statement, but neither in the Diocesan Record Offices of York or Chester, nor in the British Museum, can I find any seal shewing what the device of the Archdeaconry of Rich- mond actually was. There is also an uncertainty as to the meaning of the dragons on which the supporters of the arms of Savage, in the spandrels of the arch above the tomb, stand. Perhaps they are intended to represent the dragon on the banner of Edward III., which "signified fierceness and cruelty:" memorials, therefore, of Crescy and brave Sir Thomas Danvers. Perhaps they represent " the red dragon, ensign of Cadwalader, last King of the " Britons, from whom, by a male line, Henry VII. is said to have derived " his pedigree, and which, painted upon white and green silk, was his " banner at Bosworth, and afterwards affixed up, amongst other trophies " of his victory, at St. Paul's, and commemorated by the institution of a " Pursuivant of Arms called Rouge Dragon."* Memorials, therefore, of that brilliant victory, and gallant young Sir John Savage. Perhaps they repre- sent both. Who can say ? But who can regard them otherwise than as tokens of the heroic deeds done " In the brave days of old."
Title: York Minster, York (13451854344)
Credit: York Minster, York
Author: Archangel12
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