User:Vexald/Sandbox/Exeter Cathedral: Speke Chantry

The Speke Chantry. also called the "Chapel of St George", is situated at the east end of the north choir. It holds the tomb of Sir John Speke (c.1442–1518), a local landowner, Sheriff of Devon and Member of Parliament. The chantry compliements the chantry of Bishop Hugh Oldham (c.1452 – 1519) which stands opposite in the south choir. The two men were friends and probably planned their memorials together.
The chapel has heraldry on its outer wall, mostly relating to Speke himself but also including the arms of Oldham and Courtenay, and the arms of the Dean and Chancellor of the cathedral. There are also four older coats of arms on its window, which were originally located in the Great East Window.
Arms in the outer stonework
Arms in the window
| # | Image | Shield | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal arms of England
Blazon: Quarterly, 1st & 4th Azure, three fleurs=de-lys azure (France); 2nd & 3rd Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or (England). | ||
| 1 | Royal arms of England, white label charged with white annulets
Blazon: Quarterly, 1st & 4th Azure, three fleurs=de-lys azure (France); 2nd & 3rd Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or (England), overall a label of three points each charged with two annulets argent. The identity of these arms is uncertain. There are no recorded arms of a medieval prince with annulets on the label, and white objects would not be put on a white background.[1] | ||
| 1 | Anne of Bohemia (1366-1394), Queen of England 1382-1394.
Blazon: Quarterly, 1st & 4th Or, a double-headed eagle sable (Holy Roman Empire), 2nd & 3rd Gules, a lion rampant argent (Bohemia). | ||
| 1 | Royal arms of England
Blazon: Quarterly, 1st & 4th Azure, three fleurs=de-lys azure (France); 2nd & 3rd Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or (England). | ||
| 1 | FitzRobert, Daventer, Fallesley?
Blazon: Or, two chevrons gules. It is not clear who these arms are supposed to represent. |
Footnotes
- ↑ Roscoe Gibbs (1903) suggests the arms of England with annulets on the label might be an earlier arms of John, Duke of Bedford (?th son of Henry IV) but the annulets would not be white. Another suggestions is that they are decorative - a form of diapering - and these are intended to be the arms of the Prince of Wales.
Sources
- Bedford, Rev. W.K. Riland. The blazon of episcopacy, Second edition.] Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1897.
- Burke, Bernard. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales ...] London : Harrison, 1884.
