In the last of this series of three windows in York Minster, some of whose coats of arms have been somewhat difficult to conclusively identify, well, we continue with the same problems. Depending entirely upon your own confidence in identifying heraldry (and I have learned over the years not to be overconfident of my own), there are either six or seven coats of arms here. Near the top of these windows, placed in roundels, we have in the left and right lights the arms of St. Paul, Gules two swords in saltire points downwards proper. In the center roundel, John Toy in his A Guide and Index to the Windows of York Minster, says “?shield with green field". For myself, I do not see a shield there. I see a green field with what may be a human figure or even a farmer in white with what may be some wheat in gold to the left of his feet, but I don't see a shield or coat of arms there. Please feel free to click on the image above to go to the full-size photograph, and the zoom in on the central roundel here. If you see anything different from me, please let me know in the comments below. In the row of three shields in the center of each of the three lights, going from left to right: Toy says this first shield is Ingram, which should be Azure a chevron between three lions passant or (as we have seen elsewhere in the Minster), instead of the argent field here. The whole arms are difficult to make out because of what appears to be the breakage of the glass at some time with new leading to repair it. However, it is possible to make out the charges on the shield (even if the color of the field is incorrect), and though it is difficult to make out a helmet above the shield, the mantling (gules turned argent) is pretty clear, as is the Ingram crest of A cock or. For the center shield, Toy says Ingram impaling Greville, which ought to be: Azure a chevron between three lions passant or, impaling Sable on a cross engrailed or five roundels sable. Here, too, there are errors: the azure field of Ingram is white here, as it is in the shield on the left; and the Greville arms are shown only as a dark (dirty?) gold. Here, too, I suspect that the window was damaged at some time, and this is how it got repaired. And for the shield on the right, Toy says Greville, which should be Sable on a cross engrailed or five roundels sable, but here the roundels are painted as annulets. And finally, at the bottom center of the window, we have the arms of St. Peter, Gules two keys in saltire wards to chief the one or and the other argent, being supported by an angel. Looking closely at the shield, I wonder if this shield was originally the arms of the See of York, as it appears the bishop's mitre above the keys may have been removed the way it was in that other window that we saw just a few days ago. If you click on the image above and zoom in, you can see for yourself where it looks like something shaped like a mitre may have been removed and replaced with plain red glass. Next time, we may finish up our visit to York Minster.
For two years, French photographer Charles Fréger has been travelling throughout 19 European countries and trying to capture the spirit of what he calls "tribal Europe" in his "Wilder Mann" series.
East Ambulatory window : C16-C17 fragments : detail - Wild Man
The image above comes from my previous entry E- manuscripts: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves: a Wild Man (woodwose) creeps up to the rabbit and he is about get it; the rabbit hears him and looks back. I assume the rabbit escapes. Wild Man pops up in the manuscripts here and there as a monster hairy figure living in the forest. It is not dissimilar to the contemporary myths of Bigfoot and yeti. Medieval forests, however, were bigger, denser and darker and there were indeed real and surreal dark things that dwelled along the beasts: robbers, outcasts, hermits, spirits, trolls, boges. Pagan ritual were very much alive , just merging with Christian beliefs and fears. The man above looks more like a naked hairy Santa, then a monster. Here a more images of very different representations. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 9342, detail of f158v (wild men). Jean Wauquelin, Histoire d’Alexandre. Bruges, mid-15th century. Lucerne, Zentral- und Hochschulbibliothek, Msc. 42. fol., f. 109r. Nicholas of Lira, Commentary on the Bible [Isaiah], 1459 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, Codices Salemitani IXc, detail of f. 107r. Breviarium abbatis pars hiemalis (Salemer Abtsbrevier I [Winterteil]), 1493/4. Burning of the Wild Man. Ms651-folio47verso Roman d'Alexandre d'après Pseudo-Callisthène Alexandre livre au bûcher un homme sauvage ; Vers 1470-1475 Ecole française Chantilly, musée Condé Detail of a miniature of Alexander burning a wild man. From Historia de proelis in a French translation (Le Livre et le vraye hystoire du bon roy Alixandre) 1420 (British Library) "Sigenot", Dietrich von Bern with a Wild Man. Codex from the workshops of Ludwig Henfflin Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, AN II 3, f. 90r. Rektoratsmatrikel der Universität Basel, Band 1 (1460-1567). Detail of a bas-de-page scene of a wild man embracing (abducting?) a woman. Royal 10 E IV f. 72. British Library. My favorite! Wild Man in Red Shoes! Yale, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Beinecke MS 287, detail of f. 80r. Hours, Use of Rome. End of the 15th century (Flanders). Wild Man is both human and animalistic. It is the inferior uncivilised "other", that can also represent unfamiliar people of the other lands. Alexander encounter the Wildman in his voyage to Asia, from a medieval manuscript of the Alexander Romance @Biliothèque nationale de France) Wild Man fits well into the medieval fascination with the liminal. 15th century manuscript illustration of Nebuchanezzar, the Babylonian king from the Old Testament Book of Daniel, 'During that time he lived away from others, eating grass for food and letting his hair and nails grow wild. In the the Middle Ages some mad persons were allowed to go free, and they usually drifted to the woods in order to live unmolested.' ___________________________________________________________________________________ A three meter wild man by Ron Mueck in Tate.
The image above comes from my previous entry E- manuscripts: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves: a Wild Man (woodwose) creeps up to the rabbit and he is about get it; the rabbit hears him and looks back. I assume the rabbit escapes. Wild Man pops up in the manuscripts here and there as a monster hairy figure living in the forest. It is not dissimilar to the contemporary myths of Bigfoot and yeti. Medieval forests, however, were bigger, denser and darker and there were indeed real and surreal dark things that dwelled along the beasts: robbers, outcasts, hermits, spirits, trolls, boges. Pagan ritual were very much alive , just merging with Christian beliefs and fears. The man above looks more like a naked hairy Santa, then a monster. Here a more images of very different representations. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 9342, detail of f158v (wild men). Jean Wauquelin, Histoire d’Alexandre. Bruges, mid-15th century. Lucerne, Zentral- und Hochschulbibliothek, Msc. 42. fol., f. 109r. Nicholas of Lira, Commentary on the Bible [Isaiah], 1459 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, Codices Salemitani IXc, detail of f. 107r. Breviarium abbatis pars hiemalis (Salemer Abtsbrevier I [Winterteil]), 1493/4. Burning of the Wild Man. Ms651-folio47verso Roman d'Alexandre d'après Pseudo-Callisthène Alexandre livre au bûcher un homme sauvage ; Vers 1470-1475 Ecole française Chantilly, musée Condé Detail of a miniature of Alexander burning a wild man. From Historia de proelis in a French translation (Le Livre et le vraye hystoire du bon roy Alixandre) 1420 (British Library) "Sigenot", Dietrich von Bern with a Wild Man. Codex from the workshops of Ludwig Henfflin Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, AN II 3, f. 90r. Rektoratsmatrikel der Universität Basel, Band 1 (1460-1567). Detail of a bas-de-page scene of a wild man embracing (abducting?) a woman. Royal 10 E IV f. 72. British Library. My favorite! Wild Man in Red Shoes! Yale, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Beinecke MS 287, detail of f. 80r. Hours, Use of Rome. End of the 15th century (Flanders). Wild Man is both human and animalistic. It is the inferior uncivilised "other", that can also represent unfamiliar people of the other lands. Alexander encounter the Wildman in his voyage to Asia, from a medieval manuscript of the Alexander Romance @Biliothèque nationale de France) Wild Man fits well into the medieval fascination with the liminal. 15th century manuscript illustration of Nebuchanezzar, the Babylonian king from the Old Testament Book of Daniel, 'During that time he lived away from others, eating grass for food and letting his hair and nails grow wild. In the the Middle Ages some mad persons were allowed to go free, and they usually drifted to the woods in order to live unmolested.' ___________________________________________________________________________________ A three meter wild man by Ron Mueck in Tate.
Should you meet a big, hairy bloke shambling down a Dorset lane, more likely than not he is just a Real Ale bore. Should you be in the vicinity of Yellowham Woods, near the county town of Dorchester and he picks up your wife and carries her off, then maybe you've met a Woodwose. The Woodwose is Dorset's very own version of Bigfoot and like Bigfoot, blurry sightings continue to this day. The first part of his name is obvious while 'wose' is probably Old English for 'being'. Woods have always been places of mystery so it's no surprise that legends of hirsute wild men stretch back thousands of years. The Woodwose also had an unfortunate tendency to impregnate the village girls he stole, making him the perfect scapegoat for that night of hanky panky. The legend of wild men appear across Europe. Here on a German coin of 1629
Harptree Court, Somerset: Read Red Online's Harptree Court review, see photos and book...
Medieval folklore is filled with monsters, from dragons to unicorns to goblins. One enduring creature is the wild man. This fellow is generally depicted as unclothed, covered in hair, of immense strength, and living on the edge of human habitation. He (and sometimes she) appears frequently in illuminated manuscripts, heraldry, and even coins. Some wild men are shown as giants, another favorite creature of the medieval bestiary. Medieval Europeans were fascinated by what anthropologists call "liminal zones", areas crossing from one state of existence to another, in this case from civilization to wilderness. There was a lot of wilderness in medieval Europe, and since most people didn't travel, this wilderness was looked upon with wonder and fear. Who knew what might be living in that primeval forest? At the edge of human habitation there certainly were some strange people: bandits, hermits, madmen, so perhaps there were monsters too. Medieval society was a strict and hierarchical one. Everyone had their place and they better stick to it. In the more rural areas, though, the church and state had less of an iron grip, and people could get away with more. Time and again in the historical record there are reports of rural people engaging in rituals that look like pagan survivals or revivals. These were dangerous but exciting, and medieval people looked upon these remote regions with a guilty thrill. The wild man is a projection of this. Images of wild men are so frequent that some have argued that they may have been real. Some say there may have been primitive tribes living in the more remote regions, or even surviving Neanderthals. There's no evidence for this. I think there probably were a few wild men, people who left society either by choice or by force, who lived a semi-wild life in the woods, wearing uncured pelts as clothing. They may have been a danger to farmers living on the edge of civilization, stealing livestock or women and children as is often depicted in wild men imagery. In the weird, wonderful world of the Middle Ages, it's not unlikely. [All images courtesy Wikimedia Commons]
Throughout history we have cases of wondrous and fantastical beasts and humanoids that make appearances in art, literature, and indeed even in ancient bestiaries and the journals of explorers. These oddities are often written of and listed right beside very real known animals and tribes, to the point that at times it can be difficult
Artist: German 15th Century | Print: Saint Onuphrius | Original Medium: woodcut, hand-colored in ochre, pink, gray, and red
For two years, French photographer Charles Fréger has been travelling throughout 19 European countries and trying to capture the spirit of what he calls "tribal Europe" in his "Wilder Mann" series.
' Huge and hairy and mute. . .he may be so large that his legs alone have the sizes of tress. His temper when aroused is terrible and his first impulse that of tearing trespasses to pieces. When moved to revenge, he nay make lakes disappear and towns sink to the ground. He devours human beings, preferring unbaptised children, and - according to a belief held in Italian Tyrol and in the Grisons in Switzerland- makes a practice of exchanging his own worthless progeny for human offspring' Richard Bernheimer, Wild Men in the Middle Ages. 15th century manuscript illustration of Nebuchanezzar, the Babylonian king from the Old Testament Book of Daniel, 'During that time he lived away from others, eating grass for food and letting his hair and nails grow wild. In the the Middle Ages some mad persons were allowed to go free, and they usually drifted to the woods in order to live unmolested.' Daniel Farson, Vampires, Zombies & Monster Men Three students and a card board reconstruction of the huge figure that pursued them from their campsite, loping along after their pickup truck in Angles National Forest, Southern Californa, 1973. We feed on wild fruit and roots, drink the clear water of springs and warm ourselves by the light of the sun.Our garment is the mossy foliage and grass which serve also as our bed and bedspreads . . .company and pleasure we find in the wild animals of the woods, for since we do them no harm, they let us live in peace. . .We exult in brotherly love and have never had any strife among us, for each does to the other as he would want him to do to himself' The Lament of the Wild Man about the Unfaithful World Now, as lightening pitchforked in dark pastures of sky above the remote Bluff Creek wilderness, dwindling sanctum of strange man-ape beings, I felt a kinship with those lost hearts beating hugley against the fall of time. And as night gathered in the long canyons I took the headlamp which would light me down and signaled out across the miles; so, linked at least in ceremony, Bigfoot and I moved in separate sorrows along our evenings trails. As published in the Mountain Gazette, July 1975. A 17th century engraving of a Wildman discovered in Java.
Medieval folklore is filled with monsters, from dragons to unicorns to goblins. One enduring creature is the wild man. This fellow is generally depicted as unclothed, covered in hair, of immense strength, and living on the edge of human habitation. He (and sometimes she) appears frequently in illuminated manuscripts, heraldry, and even coins. Some wild men are shown as giants, another favorite creature of the medieval bestiary. Medieval Europeans were fascinated by what anthropologists call "liminal zones", areas crossing from one state of existence to another, in this case from civilization to wilderness. There was a lot of wilderness in medieval Europe, and since most people didn't travel, this wilderness was looked upon with wonder and fear. Who knew what might be living in that primeval forest? At the edge of human habitation there certainly were some strange people: bandits, hermits, madmen, so perhaps there were monsters too. Medieval society was a strict and hierarchical one. Everyone had their place and they better stick to it. In the more rural areas, though, the church and state had less of an iron grip, and people could get away with more. Time and again in the historical record there are reports of rural people engaging in rituals that look like pagan survivals or revivals. These were dangerous but exciting, and medieval people looked upon these remote regions with a guilty thrill. The wild man is a projection of this. Images of wild men are so frequent that some have argued that they may have been real. Some say there may have been primitive tribes living in the more remote regions, or even surviving Neanderthals. There's no evidence for this. I think there probably were a few wild men, people who left society either by choice or by force, who lived a semi-wild life in the woods, wearing uncured pelts as clothing. They may have been a danger to farmers living on the edge of civilization, stealing livestock or women and children as is often depicted in wild men imagery. In the weird, wonderful world of the Middle Ages, it's not unlikely. [All images courtesy Wikimedia Commons]
El Vecio Pien de Peo
