Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??
Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...
Cotton Roll XV 8
- Record Id:
- 040-004066384
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-003202582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100139544390.0x000001
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton Roll XV 8
- Title:
- The Camden Roll
- Scope & Content:
-
An original 13th-century English roll of arms, containing 270 painted coats of arms with 185 blazons for various English and European monarchs, lords and knights. Known as 'The Camden Roll' after its former owner, William Camden (b. 1551, d. 1623), antiquarian and Clarenceux King of Arms.
The roll can be dated to around the year 1280, as Sir Patrick de Chaworth (Shield No. 149) succeeded his brother's title in 1279, while Bartholomew de Sulee (Shield No. 160) died in 1280 (Wagner, Catalogue of English Mediaeval Rolls of Arms (1950), p. 17).
Later copies of the roll include: Oxford, The Queen's College, MS 158, pp. 349-365; London, College of Arms, MS Vincent 164, ff. 111r-119r; London, British Library, Harley MS 6137, ff. 66v-72v; and London, College of Arms, MS L 14, ff. 62r-70r.
Contents:
The face of the roll comprises 270 painted shields, arranged in 45 rows of six shields, each with associated names and/or titles inscribed above, beginning, 'Le Rey de Ier'l'm; Emperur de Rome; Rey de Espayne; Emperur de Alam' and ending, 'Rauf de Oteringbire; Symun de Muntagu; Sire de Wingan'.
The subjects the shields are as follows:
Shields 1-18: Emperors and kings.
Shields 19-24: Foreign dukes.
Shields 25, 27, 29, 30, 34, 36, 37: English earls.
Shield 26: Sire Aunfour, namely Alphonso (b. 1273, d. 1284), Earl of Chester and son of Edward I (r. 1272-1307).
Shield 28: Prince de Gales (The Prince of Wales).
Shields 31-33, 35: Foreign counts.
The majority of the remaining shields belong to English lords and knights, with the exception of shields 44-51, 54, 56-61, 71-72, 83, 88, 94, 102, 181, 184, 207-208. 226, 229, 231, 236, 240, 243, 256-267, 270.
The dorse of the roll features blazons for 185 of the shields on the face, written in Anglo-Norman French, and added in a later hand. It begins, '... rlm porte le escu de argent a une croiz de or crusele de or;... porte l'escu d'or gle de deus testes de sable; … (p)orte argent et gules... rampans en l'argent et deus torels (?)… en le goules;... a un egle…' and ends, 'Munsire Will' de Heuere l'escu de gules od une croiz d'argent a un label d'azur; Munsire Will' de Valoynes l'escu undee de lung d'argent et de gules'.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-003202582
040-004066384 - Is part of:
- Cotton Ch : Cotton Charters
Cotton Roll XV 8 : The Camden Roll - Hierarchy:
- 032-003202582[0100]/040-004066384
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Cotton Ch
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 roll
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- Anglo-Norman
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1275
- End Date:
- 1285
- Date Range:
- c 1280
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.
Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.
Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.
This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.
- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Arrangement: 3 membranes joined together, measuring 1600 x 159 mm.
Script: Gothic.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
England.
Provenance:
William Camden (b. 1551, d. 1623), antiquarian and Clarenceux King of Arms: owned the manuscript c. 1605; the roll is believed to have been among several documents and manuscripts bequeathed in his will to Sir Robert Cotton.
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician. Cotton’s collection was augmented by his son, Sir Thomas Cotton (b. 1594, d. 1662), 2nd baronet, and his grandson, Sir John Cotton.
Sir John Cotton (b. 1621, d. 1702), 3rd baronet: bequeathed the entire Cotton collection of books and manuscripts to trustees ‘for Publick Use and Advantage’, 12 and 13 William III, c. 7.
Formed one of the foundation collections of the British Museum in 1753.
- Publications:
-
Brault, Gerard J., 'Heralds and Copyists: The Relationship between Three Thirteenth-Century Rolls of Arms', The Antiquaries Journal, 53.2 (1973), 244–62.
Dean, J., Ruth and Maureen B. M. Boulton, eds., Anglo-Norman Literature: A Guide to Texts and Manuscripts (London: Anglo-Norman Text Society, 1999), no. 391.1 (pp. 213-14).
Greenstreet, James Harris, ‘The Original Camden Roll of Arms’, Transactions of the British Archaeological Association, 38 (1882), 309-28.
Wagner, Anthony Richard, A Catalogue of English Medieval Rolls of Arms (London, 1950; reprint: Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2009), pp. 16-18.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Names:
- Camden, William, historian and herald, 1551-1623,
see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000109092667
Cotton, John, 3rd Baronet, 1621-1702
Cotton, Robert Bruce, first baronet, antiquary and politician, 22 Jan 1571-6 May 1631,
see also http://isni.org/isni/000000008116498X
Cotton, Thomas, 2nd Baronet, 1594-1662 - Places:
- England