View the Manuscript: Part 1

The manuscript opens with a portrait of an armed equestrian Edward IV. Right of conquest, right of descent, the sovereignty of England, and the Hand of God are all represented in this initial image.

The armed and mounted figure hearkens back to Edward's spectacular victories at the battles of Mortimer's Cross and Towton just a few months before. The closed crown of England, unlike the open crowns of France and Castile/Leon on the shields flanking Edward, signifies the sovereignty of the English monarch. The arms on the horse's trappings -- England (red with three gold lions) and France (blue with fleur-de-lys) quartered with Castile (red with gold castle) and Leon (white with red lions) -- reinforces the Yorkist claim of legitimacy of descent through the female line.

The horse-trapper's central escutcheon with its three crowns of Brutus, legendary founder of England, foreshadows the three crowns of England, France, and Spain, as well as the three suns seen in the sky at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross, a weather-related illusion called parhelion.

The Hand of God is quite literally evident in the divine hands emanating from nebuli with the inscriptions "Si deus nobis cum, quis contra nos" (If God is with us, who can be against us?), "Dextra domini fecit virtutem" (The right hand of God gives strength"), and "A domino factus est istud" (This is the Lord's doing).

The gold letter inscription under Edward is from the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John: In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum hoc erat in principio ("In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning...")

Next, a brief history of the world flanks roundels depicting the Creator enthroned, the Fall of Man, and, shown in part at the bottom, Noah and the Flood. The elaborate initial I on the left is balanced on the right by two white roses and Edward's motto, "Comfort et liesse," comfort and joy. Edward IV was known as "the Rose of Rouen" in propaganda poems of the period in reference to his birthplace, and the white rose became a dominant icon for the Yorkist dynasty.

The caption surrounding the roundel, whose figure may represent the Father or the Son, reads "Ego sum alpha et o[mega] dixit dominus deus omnipotens" (I am the beginning and the end, says the Lord God almighty), a condensation of Revelations 1,8. This is a highly unusual subject for a pedigree manuscript, and may have been chosen both to emphasize divine approval of Edward's accession and to echo the imagery in the two Yorkist badges, the rose-en-soleil and the sun in splendor.

The roundel illustrating the Fall of Man is introduced by the caption "prothoplaustus Adam et Eva" (the first man, Adam, and Eve). Less accomplished in illustration than similar roundels in other genealogies, it is different in its emphasis. The caption surrounding the roundel is a paraphrase of Genesis 3, 13-14, in which God curses the serpent and promises to create "inimicitas ponam inter te et mulierem ipsa conteret caput tuum" (enmity between you and the woman, and the woman will bruise the serpent's head). Both the caption and the imagery, with the serpent being driven headlong into a black pit by divine intervention, serve to reinforce the divine judgment that Edward should be king and divine retribution on his opponents.

Beneath the Fall of Man, three small roundels show Abel, Cain, and Seth, followed by the names of Seth's sons and a roundel showing Lameth, the father of Noah.

Edward's links with a glorious past are signaled in the first four banners of this manuscript, shown here: to the left, the banner of St. George, followed by the arms of Brutus, legendary founder of England, impaling those of Pandrasus, whose daughter Brutus married. To the right we see the banners of King Sebbi and the Duke of Cornwall.

St. George, Brutus, Pandrasus, and the Dukes of Cornwall are all logical candidates for top billing in the manuscript. St. George was the patron saint of England and thus of the Order of the Garter, and one to whom the Yorkists were particularly devoted. The Duchy of Cornwall was a traditional holding of the heir apparent. Brutus and Pandrasus are a venerable part of the founding legends of Britain.

It is difficult to explain the choice of Sebbi, one of hundreds of Saxon kings, to be noted on this manuscript opposite St. George. Sebbi led a virtuous and saintly life, but so did many others. The answer may lie in the stories of his death. Shortly before he died, according to the Venerable Bede, Sebbi saw a vision of three men in bright clothing, who foretold the time and manner of his passing. Sebbi thus shared with Edward IV (who saw three suns before the battle of Mortimer's Cross) a vision that can be interpreted as a vision of the Trinity. And, there may have been an additional reason. When Sebbi died, the sepulcher brought for him was found to be too short but then miraculously stretched to fit. Perhaps Sebbi is mentioned less for his piety or his vision than for his height -- a worthy ancestor for Edward IV, who at six feet four was larger than life.

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