Brass Rubbing: Sir Simon de Felbrigg and Margaret

From Horowitz. 2002. Sir Simon is dressed in full plate armor, along with a broadsword and a misericorde. His palettes protecting the armpits are charged, or emblazoned, with the cross of St. George, patron saint of England. On his left knee is worn the Garter by virtue of his being one of the Knights of the Garter (KG). His right arm holds the royal banner of the king. Lady Margaret wears a crispine headdress; her hair is gathered into hairnets near each temple and is studded with jewels. Her kirtle is shown with sleeves tightly buttoned and a somewhat revealing neckline. Over her shoulders a flowing mantle rests, falling to the ground and attached at the breast. Her figure is readily seen in the brass rubbing, more so than on the original brass. At her feet is a pet lap dog. The rubbing shows where the brass plates were placed together. The double canopy is elaborate and surrounded by four surviving shields; the central shield is charged with the arms of Felbrigg impaling those of Margaret's family. At the lowest point of the canopy, near their heads, there is a small figure of a White Hart, the badge of King Richard II's mother, the Fair Maid of Kent. Sir Simon was appointed Standard-Bearer to Richard II on 7 April 1395. In may have been Simon's earlier appearances at Court that brought him into contact with his first wife. The marriage of Richard II to his first queen, Anne of Bohemia, in 1382, was largely encouraged by Przimislaus, Duke of Teschen, and Anne's great-uncle. This duke's daughter was Margaret, who attended the royal wedding as the maid of honor and later became Lady Margaret Felbrigg. Simon received many honors from Richard II and in 1397 was created the 92nd member of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. This Order was founded by King Edward III, Richard II's grandfather, and became the most coveted Order of Knighthood. The legend goes that while riding through the streets of London with his entourage, Edward III observed a lady accidentally dropping her garter in the mud. While Edward dismounted to pick it up, he observed that the crowd laughed. The enraged king yelled Honi soit qui mal y pense! ("Shame to him who thinks ill of it!") It's a good bet that the laughing stopped. This became the Order's motto and appears on the garter and on the badge worn on the mantle. Simon does not bear this insignia; Sir Thomas Boleyn (1997.05.0025), wears the complete costume. Only 25 knights and the monarch were allowed to be Knights of the Garter. There are six surviving brasses in England that depict the Order. The chapel of the Order was that of St. George at Windsor, perhaps the reason for the saint's cross on Sir Simon's armor. This knight accompanied Richard II to Ireland when Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, usurped the throne as Henry IV. Simon subsequently lost several offices, but he served the Lancastrian king well and fought in the wars of Henry V against France. On 27 June 1416, his wife Margaret died. Simon commissioned the brass to be made and left the dates for his death blank. He later remarried, and when he died on 3 December 1442, he was buried in the church of Black Friars in Norwitch. His second wife, Catherine, was buried next to him in 1450. It was this knight who probably ordered the brasses of his father and grandfather in the Felbrigg church (1997.05.0006).

Horowitz, Mark R. The Monumental Brasses of England: The Horrowitz Collection. Morton Grove, IL: Portcullis Productions, 1980 (1979). p. 16, 25. Horowitz, Mark R. The Monumental Brasses of England. The Horowitz Collection. New Edition, 2002. p.28-29.