Auncienty

Last updated

Auncienty is a term used to describe a system of precedence, for instance through years and continuance in the Houses of the Inns of Court, or among the ranks or degrees of the Officers of Arms. In many ways equivalent to Eldership, deriving from the Norman French noun "ancien" (meaning an Elder) preserved in the French concept of Ancienneté  [ fr ], it has a meaning of ceremonial seniority. This is slightly distinct from the obsolete usage of the word simply to mean "Antiquity".

Contents

Inns of Court

Sir William Dugdale, in his Origines Juridiciales, mentioned this as follows:

"...in the graund Vacation time, out of the Four Houses of Court, come two and two to every House of Chancery; and there according to their years and continuance of the House that they be of, which they call auncienty, they doe argue and reason to some doubtfull matter, that is proposed, so that the most youngest doth begyn, and the next to him in continuance doth follow; and at last he that readeth to that House of Chancery doth declare his opinion in the matter that is called into question." [1]

Of the governance of the Inner Temple, Dugdale remarks:

"...it was ordered that if any then, or thenceforth of this Society, should be called to the Bench, at that time being, or that thereafter should be a Knight, that notwithstanding such his dignity of Knighthood, he should take place at the Bench Table according to his auncienty in the House, and no otherwise." [2]

Further (concerning the Middle Temple): "The Benchers of this Society are divided into two several ranks or Classes, viz. the upper Classis consisting of the Auncienty, and the lower of the Puisnes." [3]

Similarly, as a mark of elder status, the Black Books of Lincoln's Inn refer to the "Double Readers or Auncient Benchers" (as opposed to the Middle Benchers or the Puisne Benchers); [4] "from hencefourth if any chamber within this House shall fall voide, the auncientest Bencher shall make choice of it"; [5] and the governance of Furnival's Inn and of Thavie's Inn is described (for each) as being under "the Principal and Auncients." [6]

At Gray's Inn, the progress towards admission to the "grand company of Ancients", their prerogatives and responsibilities, are described in the published editions of their archives. [7]

Officers of Arms

In the Orders given by Thomas Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal, to the Officers of Arms in 1568, [8] terms of precedency are set out for arrangements for heraldic funerals. In Section 8 (Burials appropriate to Garter Principal King of Arms): "... And it is further ordered that hee the said Garter shall take to serve with him at the funerals of the aforesaid Noble and honourable personages, first Clarenceux and then Norroy Kings of Armes, and soe successively one after another the Heraulds and Pursuivants of Arms in order according to their auncienty and degree in Office and soe to beginne againe"; and in Section 9 (Burials appropriate to Clarenceux King of Arms and Norroy King of Arms): "... And the said Clarenceux and Norroy shall take to serve with them at the said funeralls as occasion shall serve and the place require, other the Heraulds and Pursuivants of Armes successively one after another in order according to their auncienty and degree in Office". [9]

Worshipful Companies

William Camden, Clarenceux, in confirming the 1456 grant of arms to the Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers of London in 1602, wrote: "...the comunaltyes, Brotherhoods and Companyes of every faculty and Mistery in famous Townes and Cittyes, haue likewise byn distinguished the one from the other, and accordingly marshalled, and placed with their Banners, Standards and Pennons in all publike feasts, and other solempne assemblyes as their worthynes and auncienty did require." "...and that it shall be lawfull for them to use, beare, and shewe forth the same in their ensignes, Banners, Pennons and streamers, at all tymes, and in all places both by water and land, as hath byn accustomed, and to take their place, after their auncienty at all feasts and other solempne proceedings as the xvijth company of this honorable Cittye which I fynde according to the date of their Pattent to be aunciently recorded." [10]

Titles and descent

The statute of Parliament confirming the restoration of the Earldom of Ormond to James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond in 35 Henry VIII (A.D. 1543) did so "in as ample manner and forme and with like preemynens and auncientie as any the abovenamed Erles of Ormond at any time had used or enjoyed." [11]

The term occurs several times in the Letters Patent for the Limitation of the Crown issued in 1553, purporting to be the last will and testament of King Edward VI. Referring to the seniority of possible future heirs to the Crown of England and Ireland and of the King's title in France, it repeats the formula: "...to the heires males of the bodye of the said eldest sonne lawfully begotten, and so from sonne to sonne as he shalbe of auncientie in birth..." [12] Here seniority is directly consequent upon age and legitimacy.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Dugdale</span> English antiquary

Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Lyon King of Arms</span> Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry

The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest heraldic court in the world that is still in daily operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund Lodge</span> English officer of arms, writer and a compiler of short biographies

Edmund Lodge, KH (1756–1839), herald, was a long-serving English officer of arms, a writer on heraldic subjects, and a compiler of short biographies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Brooke-Little</span> British heraldic writer (1927–2006); Clarenceux King of Arms

John Philip Brooke Brooke-Little was an English writer on heraldic subjects, and a long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London. In 1947, while still a student, Brooke-Little founded the Society of Heraldic Antiquaries, now known as the Heraldry Society and recognised as one of the leading learned societies in its field. He served as the society's chairman for 50 years and then as its president from 1997 until his death in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Edward Cokayne</span> British genealogist and author (1825–1911)

George Edward Cokayne,, was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standard reference works as The Complete Peerage and The Complete Baronetage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Cochrane (officer of arms)</span>

Sir Arthur William Steuart Cochrane was a long-serving Officer of Arms at the College of Arms in London.

Sir John Dunamace Heaton-Armstrong was a long-serving English officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heraldic visitation</span> Tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms

Heraldic visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms throughout England, Wales and Ireland. Their purpose was to register and regulate the coats of arms of nobility, gentry and boroughs, and to record pedigrees. They took place from 1530 to 1688, and their records provide important source material for historians and genealogists.

Sir Richard St George was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London during the seventeenth century.

<i>The Heralds</i> 1973 novel by Brian Killick

The Heralds is a novel written by Brian Killick in 1973. It is a fictional account of the inner workings of the College of Arms in London. The book follows the exploits of the college's members after the announcement that the current Garter Principal King of Arms will be retiring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Segar</span> Officer of arms to Elizabeth I of England

Sir William Segar was a portrait painter and officer of arms to the court of Elizabeth I of England; he became Garter King of Arms under James I.

William Flower (1497/98–1588) was an English Officer of Arms in the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. He rose to the rank of Norroy King of Arms, serving in that capacity from 1562 until his death in 1588.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Glover (officer of arms)</span>

Robert Glover was an English officer of arms, genealogist and antiquarian in the reign of Elizabeth I. In the College of Arms, he rose to the rank of Somerset Herald of Arms, serving in that capacity from 1571 until his death in 1588. As marshal and deputy to his father-in-law, William Flower, Norroy King of Arms, he participated in heraldic visitations throughout northern England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Cooke (officer of arms)</span>

Robert Cooke was an English Officer of Arms during the reign of Elizabeth I, who rose swiftly through the ranks of the College of Arms to Clarenceux King of Arms, serving in that office from 1567 until his death in 1592–3.

Sir Edward Bysshe FRS (1615?–1679) was an English barrister, politician and officer of arms. He sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1679 and was Garter King of Arms during the Commonwealth period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Clench</span> English judge

John Clench was an English judge, a Serjeant-at-Law, Baron of the Exchequer and Justice of the Queen's Bench, of the late Tudor period. He established his family in south-east Suffolk, in the neighbourhood of Ipswich, where for many years he was the Town Recorder.

Henry St George, the younger, was an English officer of arms. He was a younger son of the herald Henry St George (1581–1644).

Sir Herbert Whitfield (1617–1677) was an English lawyer and landowner, whose pedigree and arms were recorded in both the 1619 Visitation of Kent and the 1623 Visitation of Surrey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Pulman</span>

James Pulman was an English officer of arms.

William Ryley was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.

References

  1. ↑ W. Dugdale, Origines Juridiciales, Third (enlarged) edition (Christopher Wilkinson, Thomas Dring and Charles Harper, London 1680), p. 195 (Google).
  2. ↑ Origines Juridiciales, 3rd edn, p. 148 (Google).
  3. ↑ Origines Juridiciales, 3rd edn, p. 209 (Google).
  4. ↑ 'Council held on November 24th 1600', in The Black Books of Lincoln's Inn, II: 1586-1660 (Lincoln's Inn 1898), p. 66 (Internet Archive).
  5. ↑ 'Council held on October 15th 1601', in The Black Books of Lincoln's Inn, II: 1586-1660, p. 69 (Internet Archive).
  6. ↑ 'Council held on May 1st 1621' and 'Council held on February 6th 1622', in The Black Books of Lincoln's Inn, II: 1586-1660, p. 221 and p. 229 (Internet Archive).
  7. ↑ R.J. Fletcher (ed.), The Pension Book of Gray's Inn (Records of the Honourable Society) I: 1559-1659 (Masters of the Bench/Stevens & Haynes, London 1901), pp. xxxii-xxxv (Internet Archive).
  8. ↑ 'Earl Marshal's Orders, 1568', in G.D. Squibb (ed.), Munimenta Heraldica, 1484-1984, Harleian Society, New Series IV (1985). Text reproduced at Elizabethan Heraldry website (elizabethan.org).
  9. ↑ See also '235. Orders to be obseruide (etc.)', in Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Committee for Privileges to Whom the Petition of Sir Henry Paston Bedingfield of Oxburgh... were referred (By Order, 1854), pp. 350-55 (Google).
  10. ↑ 'Confirmation by William Camden', etc., in A Catalogue of the Antiquities and Works of Art Exhibited at Ironmongers Hall, London, in the month of May, 1861, London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (Harrison and Sons, London 1869), p. 277 (Google).
  11. ↑ T. Carte, An History of the Life of James Duke of Ormonde from His Birth, 2 vols (J.J. and P. Knapton, London 1736), I (Introduction), pp. xlvj-xlvij (Google).
  12. ↑ 'Letters Patent for the Limitation of the Crown', in J.G. Nichols (ed.), The Chronicle of Queen Jane, and of Two Years of Queen Mary, Camden Society XLVIII (1850), p. 91-100 (Google).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.