200px, William Bruges dressed as Garter King of Arms, kneels before St George, from his ''Garter Book'' The ''Bruges Garter Book'' is a 15th-century illuminated manuscript containing portraits of the founder knights of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

. It was made to the order of

William Bruges William Bruges (c. 1375 – 9 March 1450) was an English officer of arms. He is best remembered as the first person appointed to the post of Garter King of Arms, which is currently the highest heraldic office in England. Origins William B ...

(c. 1375-1450),

Garter King of Arms The Garter Principal King of Arms (also Garter King of Arms or simply Garter) is the senior King of Arms, and the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms, the heraldic authority with jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. ...

, and constitutes the first

armorial A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the mid-13th centur ...

covering members of the Order. It has been held since 1883 by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

(formerly the British Museum Library) in London under catalogue reference

Stowe Stowe may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village **Stowe House **Stowe School * Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish * Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire * Stowe, Linc ...

MS 594, indicating its former existence within the Library of the Dukes of Buckingham at Stowe House.

Origin

It was made between about 1430 to 1440, probably in London.

Description

The cover probably dates to the years following 1600, of brown leather tooled in gold-leaf with a floriated pattern, measuring 385 × 285 mm. The text is in Latin, written in a gothic and gothic cursive hand. It contains 27 full page miniatures in pen and watercolour, of which 26 depict standing knights displaying on a panel sitting on the ground to their right hand sides the heraldic escutcheons appertaining to their successors in the same Garter stall in

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gar ...

. The remaining page depicts William Bruges himself in the dress of Garter King of Arms kneeling before St George, the patron of the Order. The pages have been removed from their original positions and now exist mounted on modern paper leaves. *Folios 1–3 consist of subsequently made notes. *Folio 4 is a printed page imported from another book

Provenance

The manuscript is now held by the

in London. From William Bruges the manuscript passed successively to the ownerships of: *John Writhe (d. 1504), herald. *Sir

Thomas Wriothesley Sir Thomas Wriothesley ( ; died 24 November 1534) was a long serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the son of Garter King of Arms, John Writhe, and he succeeded his father in this office. Personal life Wriothesley wa ...

(d. 1534), herald. *Elias Ashmole (1617–1692) from 1665 *John Anstis (1669–1744) *William Bayntun (d. 1785): inscription (f. 1): bought by Meyrick for 10 guineas. *John Meyrick (d. 1805) *John Towneley (d. 1816), whose bookplate is affixed on the inside upper cover. *

Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (20 March 1776 – 17 January 1839), styled Earl Temple from 1784 to 1813 and known as the Marquess of Buckingham from 1813 to 1822, was a British landowner and ...

(1776–1839), purchased from Towneley in May 1816. Kept in the library of Stowe House. *

Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, (11 February 1797 – 29 July 1861), styled Viscount Cobham from birth until 1813, Earl Temple between 1813 and 1822 and Marquess of Chand ...

(1797–1861), who sold it in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. *

Bertram Ashburnham, 4th Earl of Ashburnham Bertram Ashburnham, 4th Earl of Ashburnham (23 November 1797 – 22 June 1878) was a British peer. He was the fourth son of George Ashburnham, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham. As the eldest son still living when his father died in 1830, he succeeded as ...

(1797–1878) *

Bertram Ashburnham, 5th Earl of Ashburnham Bertram Ashburnham, 5th Earl of Ashburnham (28 October 1840 – 15 January 1913) was a British peer. He was the English agent for the Spanish Carlist cause, and a supporter of Irish Home Rule. He sold off the Ashburnham collection of manuscripts ...

(1840–1913), who sold it in 1883 to the British Museum with another 1,084 former Stowe manuscripts.

Illustrations

The illustrations depict the 25 Founder Knights and King Edward III the sovereign of the Order of the Garter as follows, shown in ascending order of Garter-Stall number in St. George's Chapel:

Notes

{{reflist, group=note

Sources

''Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts''
British Library

References

15th-century illuminated manuscripts Order of the Garter Stowe manuscripts Illuminated heraldic manuscripts English manuscripts