A New Great Seal of Henry V

Abstract

Only about ninety Great Seals of England are known for the period from the Conquest to the present day; and the addition of a new one to the series is a matter of some importance.In a paper read to the Society not long ago I commented on Wyon's statement that the style of Henry V was changed during the last years of his reign as a result of the treaty of Troyes in 1420. Wyon had cited an order of the King to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the alteration of a seal in his custody, but had found no impression of a seal so altered. Actually the treaty did not specifically provide that the English King should use the title in question—Heres Regni Francie—but that the French King, his father-in-law, should during his own life refer to Henry in public documents in that way; and the seal in custody of the Chancellor was presumably that of the Exchequer. I was able, however, to show in illustration fragments of two Irish seals bearing, though they came to us from later reigns, the word heres in their legend; which could only date from this period. It seemed unreasonable in these circumstances to suppose that the most important of all the Royal Seals, the Great Seal of England, should not have been similarly modified; and I ventured to hope that an example from the last two years of the reign would presently be discovered and prove my case. That example has now been produced by Mr. Chitty from the Muniment Room at Winchester College (pl.LXXV).