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Coats of arms granted by William Dethick as York herald and Garter king of arms
ca. 1595-
1600

V.a.156, flyleaf

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V.a.156, flyleaf
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Images that are under Folger copyright are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This allows you to use our images without additional permission provided that you cite the Folger Shakespeare Library as the source and you license anything you create using the images under the same or equivalent license. For more information, including permissions beyond the scope of this license, see Permissions. The Folger waives permission fees for non-commercial publication by registered non-profits, including university presses, regardless of the license they use. For images copyrighted by an entity other than the Folger, please contact the copyright holder for permission information.

Document-specific information
Creator: Ralph Brooke
Title: Coats of arms granted by William Dethick as York herald and Garter king of arms, 1570-1595 [manuscript], compiled ca. 1595-ca. 1600.
Date: ca. 1595-1600
Repository: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, USA
Call number and opening: MS V.a.156
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Item Creator
Ralph Brooke
Item Title
Coats of arms granted by William Dethick as York herald and Garter king of arms, 1570-1595 [manuscript], compiled ca. 1595-ca. 1600.
Item Date
ca. 1595-1600
Repository
Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, USA
Call Number
V.a.156, flyleaf

Institution Rights and Document Citation

Terms of use
Images that are under Folger copyright are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This allows you to use our images without additional permission provided that you cite the Folger Shakespeare Library as the source and you license anything you create using the images under the same or equivalent license. For more information, including permissions beyond the scope of this license, see Permissions. The Folger waives permission fees for non-commercial publication by registered non-profits, including university presses, regardless of the license they use. For images copyrighted by an entity other than the Folger, please contact the copyright holder for permission information.

Document-specific information
Creator: Ralph Brooke
Title: Coats of arms granted by William Dethick as York herald and Garter king of arms, 1570-1595 [manuscript], compiled ca. 1595-ca. 1600.
Date: ca. 1595-1600
Repository: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, USA
Call number and opening: MS V.a.156
View online bibliographic record

Heather Wolfe, "Ralph Brooke's compilation of arms granted by William Dethick, with list including Shakespeare's name," Shakespeare Documentedhttps://doi.org/10.37078/214.

Folger Shakespeare Library, MS V.a.156. See Shakespeare Documentedhttps://doi.org/10.37078/214.

In 1602, the herald Ralph Brooke challenged 23 coats of arms granted by William Dethick, including the arms originally granted to Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare, and now belonging to William Shakespeare. Brooke argued that these coats of arms were granted to unworthy or deceased individuals, or, in the case of Shakespeare, that they too closely resembled the ancient arms of another family. Dethick defended Shakespeare’s coat of arms by pointing out their unique features and John Shakespeare’s civic career and marriage into the Arden family. The outcome is not recorded, but the dispute appears to have been resolved in favor of Dethick.  

In this manuscript, Ralph Brooke lavishly illustrates arms which he believes were incorrectly granted by William Dethick to plasterers, embroiderers, stocking-sellers, soapmakers, fishmongers, and foreigners, among others. He makes additional notes at the beginning and end of the volume, including a list of 23 names in the upper left corner of the first page. Shakespeare’s name is fourth on the list. The list forms the basis for the scroll that Brooke sent to Queen Elizabeth.     

 

Semi-diplomatic transcription

[list of names]

[1] Norton   

2 Lound    

3 Hall    

4 Shakespeare   

5 Clarke   

6 Sanderson   

7 Smyth   

8 Parre    

9 Pettous   

10 Yonge   

11 Peake

12 Cowley

13 Macatrot

14 Laurence

15 Wythens

16 Whitmore

17 Gibson

18 Elkyn

19 Hickman

20 Thwates

21 Lee

22 Molesworth

23 Heyward

Written by Heather Wolfe

Last updated February 23, 2020