Richard
III’s Seals
by John Ashdown-Hill
At
least seven different seals used by Richard III at various stages of
his career, either as duke of Gloucester or as king, have survived,
six of them as seal impressions on documents and one in matrix form.
Richard,
Duke of Gloucester, Admiral of England, Earl of Dorset and Somerset
(1471-75)
The
earliest surviving seal used by Richard is one made for him in his capacity
as Admiral of England. In this case the seal matrix itself has survived,
and is preserved in the British Museum [BM Dept Med & Later Antiquities,
Seal-Die no. 27]. An impression from this matrix can be seen at the
Britsh Library [BL Doubleday Cast G. 269]. The single-sided circular
seal depicts a one-masted ship, the mainsail of which is charged with
Richard’s ducal arms, namely the royal arms with a label of three points
for difference. On the embattled prow of the ship there is a cresset,
and on the embattled stern a castle with with Richard’s standard (bearing
the same arms) held aloft by a greyhound. The background is replenished
with foliage. On a scroll is the inscription: S’: RIC’I: DUC’: GLOUC’:
ADMIRALLI: ANGL: &: COM’: DORS’: &: SOMS’ The use of a greyhound
as the standard-bearer is interesting, as this animal has more usually
been heraldically associated with Henry VII.
Publications:
Birch, Catalogue of Seals in the British Museum, vol. 1, London 1887,
p. 139
P.D.A.
Harvey and A. McGuinness, A Guide
to British Medieval Seals, London 1996, p. 8, fig. 7 – die illustrated;
p. 40, fig. 34, impression.
Richard,
Duke of Gloucester (1477)
Two
examples of Richard’s seal as Duke of Gloucester survive on charters
granted by him to Queens’ College Cambridge. Both date from 1477. The
seal employed on these charters was a single-sided circular seal, displaying
Richard’s arms as duke of Gloucester: the royal arms with a label of
three points for difference, and boar supporters. The shield which bears
the arms is surmounted by a coronet. On the reverse, a counterseal has
been applied in the form of a small signet, very similar to one used
at about the same period by Elizabeth Talbot, Duchess of Norfolk. On
the Queens’ College Charters, Richard’s signet counter-seal is surrounded
by four blank circular incuse marks.
Richard
III – great seal (1483-85)
Both
obverse and reverse of this seal are those used earlier (as his third
great seal) by Richard’s brother, King Edward IV. For Richard’s use,
the name RICARDUS was substituted. The same matrices were probably also
used during the short reign of Edward V. As is usual with great seals,
the impression is double-sided. The impressions show on the obverse,
the king enthroned, robed and crowned, seated in a trefoiled gothic
compartment. The royal arms are held by lions to the left and right
of the throne, and there is a Yorkist sunburst to the left and right
of the king’s footstool. On the reverse the king, mounted, in armour,
gallops towards the right over broken ground. There is a diapered background
of lozenges enclosing roses, with fleurs-de-lys and lions’ head at the
knots of reticulation. Both obverse and reverse bear the inscription:
RICARDUS DEI GRA REX FRÂCIE ET ANGLIE ET DOMINUS HIBERNIE.
Publications:
Birch, Catalogue of Seals in the
British Museum, vol. 1, London 1887,
pp.
37;39, nos:
319
Add. Ch. 16, 964
320
Harl.
Ch. 83 C.16
321
Harl.
Ch. 51 H.15 (very incomplete)
322
Harl.
Ch. 43 F.6 (very incomplete)
Additional
example on the Queens’ College Cambridge Charter, granted by Richard
as King.
Richard
III – Court of Common Pleas great seal (1483-85)
There
is an example of this seal impression in the collection of the Society
of Antiquaries (MS. 1008). It appears to be a much earlier seal, probably
made originally for Edward III, which has been updated for Richard III
by the insertion of his name, and his boar supporters either side of
the shield of arms on the reverse.
Obverse:
a bearded king (Edward III?) enthroned, holding an orb with a long cross,
and a sceptre. The inscription reads RICARDVS DEI GRACIA REX ANGLIE
ET FRANCIE
Reverse:
Royal arms, France quartering England (but the arms show France ancient – a field semé fleurs-de-lys,
rather
than France modern – three
fleurs-de-lys, as borne by Richard III), with boar supporters.
Publications:
S. Cunningham, Richard III a royal
enigma, London 2003, pp. 27, 73.
Richard
III – signet (1483-85)
The
Society of Antiquaries of London holds, in addition to examples of Richard
III’s great seal, and the court of common pleas seal (above) the impression
of a signet of Richard III. There is a reproduction of this at the British
Museum. It is is a small single-sided impression from a circular matrix.
It bears Richard’s arms as king (quarterly France, modern and England)
within a collar of roses, beneath an open crown with a circle of crosses
and fleurs-de-lis. There is no inscription.
Publications:
Birch, Catalogue of Seals in the
British Museum, vol. 1, London 1887, p. 93 no.
Richard’s
seal as Lord of Glamorgan
(impression
of 1484, but dies made earlier)
Only
one impression of this seal survives, and it is now in poor condition.
Engravings made in the nineteenth century show that the seal was then
more complete. It is preserved on a charter now in the Glamorgan Record
Office (ref D/D C1228) which was issued on 27 February 1484. The seal
was plainly made for Richard before his accession, and displays his
arms as duke of Gloucester, together with the arms of Beauchamp and
Newburgh (Glamorgan
came to Richard as part of the Beauchamp inheritance).
The seal is double-sided. The obverse shows Richard mounted, in armour,
and galloping right, bearing a shield of the arms as described. His
white boar badge appears beneath the horse. The background is of foliage
and there is no inscription. The reverse shows a shield with the same
arms and boar supporters.
Richard
III, seal for the county palatine of Chester (1484)
This
seal, attached to a charter of 10 April 1484 (Council of the City of
Chester, CH/30), was made for Richard as king. The obverse shows Richard
mounted and galloping right on a background of diaper-work, with five-petalled
roses enclosed in the lozenges. His shield bears the royal arms. The
reverse shows Richard’s arms as king impaling the arms of Chester, on
a shield with boar supporters, beneath an open crown with a circle of
fleurs-de lis only. It is unusual to find a crown of this design used
in England. The marks of four locating rods (used to ensure that the
front and back of the seal matched up correctly) can be seen.
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