Details

LOT 0820

Medieval Renard of Themericourt Heraldic Knight's Seal Matrix

(Bronze, 24 grams, 33 mm.).

Circa 14th century AD. Cast bronze hexagonal shaft 'chessman' seal matrix with quatrefoil pierced suspension; the circular face depicting a foliage spray to each side the arms of Themericourt, consisting of three chevrons with mullet cadence mark in the upper left corner and below a crested helm showing a female head with long flowing hair; the Roman letter inscription reading RENART: DE: TEMERICOURT.

Provenance

Found East Yorkshire, UK in 2011; with copy of a letter from Peter Spencer, dated August 2011.

Footnotes

The modern village of Themericourt is situated in the French Vexin region and was an important manor in medieval times, located north of the river Seine and to the north-west of Paris. The triple chevrons are still used on the arms of Themericourt to this day and can be traced back as far as 24th July 1392, according to Charles Osmont's 1744 work Memoires pour Servir de Preuves a l'Histoire Ecclesiastique et Civile de Bretagne. These are understood to be the oldest arms associated with Saint Lo, a 6th century bishop of Coutances. A squire (escuier) named Bernart de Themericourt is mentioned in a document of 1383. A man of the same name owned the priory of the royal abbey of St. Lucien de Beauvais at the end of the 13th century. The motto of the arms of Themericourt says insigne nomen usque a rotomago as aegeum mare - 'a name famed from Rouen to the Aegean Sea.' The mullet cadence mark usually indicates the arms of the third born son of the family; further research into this family would be beneficial in possibly associating this seal with a particular personage.

CONDITION