I have been told that there is no evidence that heraldic surcotes ever existed, and that the Luttrell psalter is the only place they've ever been seen. But there are a few representations of heraldic surcotes for women out there, other than the famous Luttrell Psalter image. I'm planning to put any such images on this page as I find them. I am, for the moment at least, only interested in surcotes - there are numerous examples of heraldic mantles, tabards and arming cotes, but the argument that was given to me was that there is nothing of actual womens' clothing.
Fist, the infamous Luttrell psalter:
| The Luttrell psalter, made for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell of Irnham in Lincolnshire. The image shows Sir Geoffrey being handed his helmet by his wife, Agnes Sutton, who is waring a gown showing the arms of Luttrell impaling Sutton's, and his shield by his daughter-in-law, Beatrice le Scrope who wears a surcote of the Luttrell arms impaling Scrope of Masham. Agnes died in 1340, and Beatrice married Geoffrey's son Andrew in 1320, so the manuscript can probably be dated between these events. |
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The following images are brass rubbings from "The Picture Book of Brasses", by Henry Trivick, published in 1971 by John Baker Ltd, London. ISBN 0 212 98382 2
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From the brass of Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, 1401, and his wife.
It is in St. Mary's church in Warwick.
Lady Beauchamp is clearly wearing a heraldic surcote with lozenges, teamed with a mantle with heraldic displays. The surcote appears to be a short-sleeved one and the kirtle sleeves with their buttoning show beneath. |
| Lady Maud Foxley, 1378, Bray, Berkshire. She was the first wife of Sir John Foxley, and wears a very heraldic surcote, short-sleeved with tippets. It is probably edged with fur. |
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Lady Joan Foxley, Sir John's second wife. Trivick considers her dress another heraldic surcote, and this may well be so - it's hard to tell what is in the darker fields of her dress. If so, it is a much subtler display than Lady Maud's dress. |
| William Lord Zouch of Harringworth who died in 1462, and his two wives. Alice died in 1447 and Elizabeth died after her husband. Elizabeth wears a heraldic surcote, but it's not possible to distinguish what the charges are on the dress due to the size of the image. The armoury displayed on the very large monumental brass are quartered beyond recognition, so it is possible she actually displays several coats of arms on her dress. |
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The following primary sources also show heraldic surcotes. Credit to Jessica Clark for sending me this list. As I track them down, I'll add the images.
Margaret, Lady de Camoy
1310
Sussex, England
The Book of Costume: Volume I
Millia Davenport
Crown Publishers, New York, 1948
Page 198, Plate 553
Margaret's overgown has 9 tiny shields all over, which were apparrently
originally enamelled on the brass.
Jeanne de Montjean
15th century
Indre-et-Loire, Beuvil, France
The Book of Costume: Volume I
Millia Davenport
Crown Publishers, New York, 1948
Page 292, Plate 795
Tomb sculpture of Jeanne de Montjean in which she wears an armorial sideless
surcoat
The Hours of Isabella Stuart, Duchess of Brittany
c1417-18
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England
Ms. 62 f. 20 - Isabella before the Virgin and Child
Books of Hours and Their Owners
John Harthan
Thames & Hudson, London, 1977 ISBN# 0500232172
Page 114
Isabella wears an armorial sideless surcoat which has a very narrow ermine
top, and the arms depicted on the skirt.
The Marshall and his Wife before the Madonna
Boucicaut Master
Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, France
Ms. 2 fol.26v. -
French Painting in the time of Jean de Berry: The Late Fourteenth Century
and the Patronage of the Duke
Millard Meiss
Phaidon, 1967
Plate 401
She wears an armorial sideless surcoat.
Guillaume de Bailly, written by Froissart
about 1410
Morgan Library, NEw York, USA
Ms. 804 frontspiece - Froissart Presents a Book to Richard II
A Mirror of Chaucer¹s World
Roger Sherman Loomis
Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1965
Plate 7
A woman wears a sideless surcote which has a pale colored (fur?) top, and
the arms, which are impaled, depicted on the skirt.
Gothic Painting in France
Plate 12
Two sideless surcoats, one a coat of arms.
