Détails

cc01268

Memorial brass Thomas Fowler and his wife

Thomas Fowler, gentleman usher to Edward IV and Edith Fowler, gentlewoman to Lady Margaret. This is the only medieval brass of a husband and wife in Cambridge or Oxford. [College Mag 229]. The stone with two brass figures now in the south east corner of the ante-chapel is stated to have originally lain at the entrance to the Chapel (one tell tale sign that it has been repositioned is that it now faces in the wrong direction); the inscription was mutilated in those days exactly as it is now. By the side of it lay another stone with the following inscription of a two line poem: "Hinc Socium quondam rapuit mors saeva Richardum Pykardum ac isto marmore texit eum" ["From here savage death once snatched away Richard Pykard and covers him with this marble (or stone)" - trans D.Butterfield] This stone disappeared. Richard Pyckard to whom it refers seems to have been one of the original members of the College and died in 1513. He was possibly one of the twelve preachers elected in 1510-11. [ College Magazine No.82 vol XXVII Easter 1913 pp105-106] Notes by David Broomfield on the Fowler and Dynham arms: Thomas Fowler born c.1435 d.? and Edith Dynham d.? Thomas was the second son of Sir William Fowler d.1452 and Cecilia Englesfield, his elder brother, Sir Richard Fowler, was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to King Edward IV Thomas was esquire of the Body of Edward IV. He married three times. His last wife was Edith daughter of Sir John Dynham d 1458 and sister and coheiress of John 1st Baron Dynham KG d.1501 who was Lord High Treasurer of England and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Edith was the sister-in-law of Tyhe Carew, Bourchier, de la Zouche and Arundell families. Her mother was Joan daughter of Sir Richard Arches and sister and heiress of John Arches. Edith was Gentlewoman to Lady Margaret Beaufort. Thomas Fowler's grandfather Henry had married Isabel Barton sister and heiress of John Barton. Henry, who fought at Agincourt, adopted the arms of Barton and his descendants used the arms of Barton until 1520. Whilst the first quarter is indistinct it clearly shows a border with castles. Thomas's brother Richard used a seal of the arms of Rycote having inherited that family's estates. It seems that Thomas used them too. Thomas's mother, Cecilia, was the daughter and coheiress of Sir John Englesfield and Johanna Clerk. Johanna's father Nicholas married Catherine the heiress of her father John Rycote and her mother Elizabeth Gernon. The original arms of the Fowlers were: azure on a chevron between three lions passant guardant or as many crosses formy sable. The Fowlers leased land in Norfolk from Christ's College. The cadency ark on the Dynham arms is curious. The crescent denotes a second son. However, Lord Dynham was the last of a succession of eldest sons who could trace their ancestry back to 8th century Britanny. No cadency marks appear in his Garter stall plate nor the tapestry he commissioned which is now in the Metropolitan Museum New York. Thomas Fowler on the other hand was a second son and correctly displays a crescent.

Thomas Fowler, gentleman usher to Edward IV and Edith Fowler, gentlewoman to Lady Margaret. This is the only medieval brass of a husband and wife in Cambridge or Oxford. [College Mag 229].

1513 - 1513

16th century