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The Armes presented vnto her Maiestie with the first [..] par Garter Dethecke
ca.
1602
Contributed by

Record MS R. 21, fol. 285 recto

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Record MS R. 21, fol. 285 recto
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Institution Rights and Document Citation

Terms of use
The College of Arms has graciously contributed images from their collections to Shakespeare Documented, and retains sole ownership of said images. Visitors may link to and cite the images within Shakespeare Documented in personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact the College of Arms to request additional use: by email at: enquiries@college-of-arms.gov.uk; by telephone: (+44)20 7248 2762; or by post at: Officer in Waiting, College of Arms, 130 Queen Victoria Street, London, UK, EC4V 4BT

Document-specific information
Creator: Ralph Brooke, York Herald
Title: The Armes presented vnto her Maiestie with the first [..] par Garter Dethecke
Date: ca. 1602
Repository: College of Arms, London, UK
Call number and opening: Record MS R21, fol. 285

Item Creator
Ralph Brooke, York Herald
Item Title
The Armes presented vnto her Maiestie with the first [..] par Garter Dethecke
Item Date
ca. 1602
Repository
College of Arms, London, UK
Call Number
Record MS R. 21, fol. 285 recto

Record MS R. 21, fol. 285 verso

View Image Assets
Record MS R. 21, fol. 285 verso
Click image to enlarge

Institution Rights and Document Citation

Terms of use
The College of Arms has graciously contributed images from their collections to Shakespeare Documented, and retains sole ownership of said images. Visitors may link to and cite the images within Shakespeare Documented in personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact the College of Arms to request additional use: by email at: enquiries@college-of-arms.gov.uk; by telephone: (+44)20 7248 2762; or by post at: Officer in Waiting, College of Arms, 130 Queen Victoria Street, London, UK, EC4V 4BT

Document-specific information
Creator: Ralph Brooke, York Herald
Title: The Armes presented vnto her Maiestie with the first [..] par Garter Dethecke
Date: ca. 1602
Repository: College of Arms, London, UK
Call number and opening: Record MS R21, fol. 285

Item Creator
Ralph Brooke, York Herald
Item Title
The Armes presented vnto her Maiestie with the first [..] par Garter Dethecke
Item Date
ca. 1602
Repository
College of Arms, London, UK
Call Number
Record MS R. 21, fol. 285 verso

Institution Rights and Document Citation

Terms of use
The College of Arms has graciously contributed images from their collections to Shakespeare Documented, and retains sole ownership of said images. Visitors may link to and cite the images within Shakespeare Documented in personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact the College of Arms to request additional use: by email at: enquiries@college-of-arms.gov.uk; by telephone: (+44)20 7248 2762; or by post at: Officer in Waiting, College of Arms, 130 Queen Victoria Street, London, UK, EC4V 4BT

Document-specific information
Creator: Ralph Brooke, York Herald
Title: The Armes presented vnto her Maiestie with the first [..] par Garter Dethecke
Date: ca. 1602
Repository: College of Arms, London, UK
Call number and opening: Record MS R21, fol. 285

Heather Wolfe, "Shakespeare's arms challenged by Ralph Brooke, as presented to Queen Elizabeth," Shakespeare Documentedhttps://doi.org/10.37078/539.

College of Arms, Record MS R21, fol. 285. See Shakespeare Documentedhttps://doi.org/10.37078/539.

In 1602, York 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.

This manuscript, in Brooke's handwriting, is part of a group of documents relating to this dispute. Shakespeare’s coat of arms appears in the top row, among 24 other coats of arms included by Brooke in his attack against Dethick. There are two additional coats of arms at the end; otherwise, the names and order are exactly as the list of 23 coats of arms made by Brooke in an earlier attempt by him to accumulate evidence against Dethick. A note by Brooke on the other side indicates that he presented a copy of the document to Queen Elizabeth. The manuscript typifies Brooke’s frustrated ambition and his energetic attacks against Dethick.

The manuscript is first noticed in Stephen Tucker, The Assignment of Arms to Shakespeare and Arden, 1596-99 (1884), p. 13, and then in J. W. Walter, Shakespeare's True Life (1890), p. 51. B. Roland Lewis describes it in The Shakespeare Documents, vol. 2 (1941), pp. 345-6.

 

Semi-diplomatic transcription

Shakespeare

see the booke of Differ. 61/.

See knyghtes of E.1 fol.

2: 28:   Booke of diff

[arms]

Lo: Mauley

 

 

Written by Heather Wolfe

Last updated February 23, 2020