catherine of aragon's pomegranate, revisited

Cambridge Bibliographical Society

CATHERINE OF ARAGON'S POMEGRANATE, REVISITEDAuthor(s): Hope JohnstonSource: Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, Vol. 13, No. 2 (2005), pp. 153-173Published by: Cambridge Bibliographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41154945 .

Accessed: 28/06/2014 18:48

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Cambridge Bibliographical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toTransactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 46.243.173.158 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 18:48:30 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cambibsoc

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41154945?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


CATHERINE OF ARAGON'S POMEGRANATE, REVISITED

Hope Johnston

K. P. Harrison contributed a note to the Transactions in 1954 examining book decoration in the years before and after Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon in 1533.1 He demonstrates that carvings of the queen's pomegranate badge continued in use even after her fall from favour: rolls, panels and blocks were not summarily discarded when Anne Boleyn came to power, although some designs were altered to remove Catherines emblem and printers wisely decided against ordering new pomegranate cuts in the years immediately following the divorce controversy.2 The argument relies primarily on bindings for evidence, drawing on a small number of printers' devices for additional clues; however, the author remarks that these devices 'are not very numerous, and can only supplement the information from bindings'.3 Since then, James Carley has completed a significant survey of books belonging to Henry VIII and his wives, shedding new light on the use of the pomegranate badge in Tudor books.4 It might therefore be useful to revisit Harrison's note and offer additional examples of the pomegranate in sixteenth- century England.

The pomegranate, rich in symbolism, has appeared in art for millennia. In the Greek myth of Persephone, it represents fertility and regeneration; the Old Testament associates its many seeds with God's commandments, and it became a symbol of the Resurrection in Christian iconography.5 English Crusaders would have seen pomegranate trees during their travels to the Holy Land: native to Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated throughout the Mediterranean region since ancient times.6 During the late fifteenth century, artists continued to incorporate the pomegranate in their work for religious, mythological and political purposes. Devotional

1 K. P. Harrison, 'Katherine of Aragon s pomegranate', Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, II (1954), 88-92. 2 Harrison 91. 3 Ibid. 90. 4J. P. Carley, The books of King Henry VIII and his wives (London, 2004), 63, 84, 109-23. 5 P. Langley'Why a pomegranate?', British Medical Journal, 321 (2000), 1153-4. 6J. Morton, 'Pomegranate', Fruits of warm climates (Miami, 1987), 352-5.

153



paintings by Lorenzo di Credi (с. 1475/80) and Sandro Botticelli (с. 1487) show the Virgin holding the Christ Child and a pomegranate.7 The Unicorn tapestries from the southern Netherlands (c. 1495-1505) feature the pomegranate as part of a central fountain.8 A portrait by Albrecht Dürer of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) shows him holding a pomegranate, which was his personal symbol; another artist associated with the emperors court, Albrecht Altdorfer, included it in his design of an early sixteenth-century goblet.9 In fact, the pomegranate can be found in a variety of heraldic arms, hardly surprising given the pomegranate s ancient symbolism.10

Catherine s choice of the pomegranate can be traced specifically to her upbringing in Spain. Born 16 December 1485, Catalina would have been a young child when her parents Ferdinand and Isabella celebrated their conquest of Granada in 1492. This victory by the 'Catholic Monarchs' over the Moors was felt to be so momentous that the pomegranate, or granada, became part of the royal arms of Spain.11 Thus the pomegranate badge testified to Catalinas identity as a Spanish princess even as she became Catherine, the queen of England. Heralds officially acknowledged the pomegranate as her personal emblem when she married Henry VIII in June 1509. In honour of their double coronation, Sir Thomas More presented a manuscript featuring the kings Tudor rose and the queen s pomegranate entwined under a single crown.12 The pair of devices can be found in other manuscripts belonging to the royal couple: London, British Library, Royal MSS 8.G.VIII (fo. 2v-3r), 11.E.XI (fo. 2r) and 15.D.IV (fo.

7L. di Credi, Madonna and Child with a pomegranate, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; S. Botticelli, Madonna della melagrana, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. 8 The Unicorn is found, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; E. С Marquand, 'Plant symbolism in the Unicorn tapestries', Parnassus, 10 (1938), 7-8. 9 A. Dürer, Emperor Maximilian I, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; A. Albrecht, Goblet with pomegranate on the knob, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 10J. Papworth, An alphabetical dictionary of coats of arms belonging to families in Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1874), 888-9;T. de Renesse, Dictionnaire des figures héraldiques, iii (Bruxelles, 1897), 588-91. 11 С. S. L. Davies and J. Edwards, 'Katherine (1485-1536)', Oxford dictionary of national biography (Oxford, 2004; online edn., January 2007), doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4891; The Royal Household of His Majesty the King, Coat of arms of His Majesty the King, http://www.casareal.es/sm_rey/armas-iden-idweb.html. 12 London, British Library, Cotton MS Titus D.iv, fo. 12V; Carley 111.

154



219r).13The rose and pomegranate also embellish documents proceeding from their authority: a charter granted to Chichester on 6 November 1526 is heavily ornamented with royal symbols, including the pomegranate (plates 1 & 2). Thus, while the pomegranate possessed a range of symbolic meanings, in sixteenth-century England it filled a specific role, serving as a visual shorthand for the reigning queen.

Much as the rose and pomegranate can be found decorating More s coronation verses, they also appear in two printed books dating from the same year. Wynkyn de Worde published a collection of commemorative verses in 1509 by Stephen Hawes with a woodcut showing the two monarchs at their coronation, seated on thrones beneath their respective emblems (plate 3; Cambridge, University Library, Sel.5.55; Hodnett 883). 14 Heraldic practice assigns positions from the perspective of the object being described: thus, while it would seem to the reader that Catherine is seated on the right-hand side of the page, Henry is in fact gazing to his left at the queen, who is seated in the sinister position. This formal hierarchy is reinforced by the fact that the retinue behind Catherine is significantly smaller than the assembly of men behind the king seated dexter, or to the right of the queen. Another book published in 1509 by the royal printer, Richard Faques, offers a joint dedication to the king and queen, but once again Henry is given precedence. His arms appear on the recto side of the title-page, while Catherine s shield, including a pomegranate in its base point, is printed verso (British Library, C.37.f.8).15 Catherines position as queen consort is reinforced visually in these three books celebrating the double coronation, from More's manuscript to the works printed by de Worde and Faques. Indeed, while Henry's arms and emblems might appear in a book independently, Catherine's are usually shown paired with the king's.

This same principle holds true on the outside of books as well as the inside. J. Basil Oldham describes three similar blind panels which merge Henry's arms dexter with Catherine's arms sinister under a single crown

13 Ibid. 113, 118. 14 A ioyfull medytacyon (STC 12953); E. Hodnett, English woodcuts: 1480-1535 (Oxford, 1973). 15 G. da Saliceto, Salute corporis &J. de Torquemada, Salus anime (STC 12512) shown in Carley 112.

155



чО CM LO

H- I I- I

>

5-1

X о и <u и aí

ü

ì tí

H oj

il 'S E § E c^

оо ьо

tí i

^ I îi а 1 S3 I •si Ü ^

156



чО <N LO

>

и tí <D I о U <ü и п

и Î CN си п s

« fe Й °

•S §

oc" 03

< g

11 ^ I о £

•si ö!

157



I I О

<D

'C

CO и -о ев

h- H h- H

>

С D DC о

о 'О s 2 о Ü СО

(U

s

. Î а, ̂ ai LO ^

ел ^

СГ^ Ö .S ^ 1 a d ■g ̂ s « .£ -s tí 5 О 1

li S ä

158



(HE. 2, HE. 4 and HE. 8) and gives a tally for the number of examples found for each. The twenty-three noted for HE. 4 outnumbers examples of HE. 2 and HE. 8 combined.16 Interestingly, HE. 4 exists in a second state, HE. 4a , which substitutes the arms of Anne Boleyn for those of Catherine (British Library C.40.e.2); he finds few examples of the panel in its second state, perhaps unsurprisingly, since Anne was only queen for three years before being executed in 1536.17 Oldham establishes that in both states the panel would be paired with another showing the king's arms, entire. Unfortunately, he does not provide a comprehensive index of shelfmarks so one cannot readily determine which panel most often served as the front cover. Cambridge, University Library, Rel.c.52.3 places the combined arms of Henry and Catherine on the top board (HE. 4), and British Library C.40.e.2 likewise puts the combined arms of Henry and Anne on the front (HE. 4a); by contrast, British Library C.38.f.2O relegates the combined arms of Henry and Catherine to the backside of the book (HE. 4), and British Library C.69.e.l also places the queen's arms on the rear cover (HE. 2).18 In any case, the pairs of armorial panels support the idea that the arms of his queen consort would not normally appear alone.

The pomegranate is usually a detail in binding decoration rather than a featured element.19 The exception to this might be HE. 38; however, according to Oldham it exists in just one example (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS 523), and even here the pomegranate appears at the bottom of the panel while Henry's rose is given pride of place at the top.20 Other panels express hierarchy through the positioning and the relative size of the two emblems. HE. 11 and HE. 13 show a crowned rose and a crowned pomegranate side by side, with the queen's emblem sinister; again, these panels are paired with a cover showing the king's arms,

16J. B. Oldham, Blind panels of English binders (Cambridge, 1958), 23, plates XV, XVII. 17 Oldham 23; see the British Library Database of bookbindings: http://www.bl.uk/ catalogues/bookbindings/ . 18 British Library C.38.f.2O is the book referenced by С Davenport, English heraldic book- stamps (London, 1909), 92-3, with a description and line drawing of the panel showing Catherines arms (HE. 4). 19 Oldham 26, plate XXIV. 20 Reproduced in Carley 84.

159



entire.21 In six panels of similar design (HE. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20) the king's arms, encircled by the Garter, take the central position under a large crown; in all six, a smaller image of the Tudor rose is given the top dexter position, while a pomegranate of equal size appears in the bottom row of emblems, either directly under the rose or in the lower sinister position.22 In the sole head in medallion design to include a pomegranate, HM. 21, the rose is found in the top dexter corner and the pomegranate is in the corner beneath it.23 Other blind panels differentiate rank by size as well as placement: HE. 9 and HE. 21 show a large Tudor rose encircled by a ribbon, with a small pomegranate where the knot would be.24 Much as HE. 4 was altered to replace Catherine's arms with those of her successor, the pomegranate in HE. 21 was exchanged at some point for a rooster, one of Henry's emblems. Establishing the date of these panels can be difficult since works printed years earlier might be rebound in the latest style, or old bindings might be salvaged and reused at a later date; Oldham also observes that someone like John Reynes (HE. 21 and 22) would be subject to much greater scrutiny and therefore would be more amenable to changing his materials than the relatively obscure binder who continued to use HM. 21 after the divorce.25 The pomegranate was generally a small enough detail, in any case, that it might have been overlooked once the immediate controversy passed.26

Small details can nevertheless carry symbolic meaning in manuscript illuminations. The picture on fo. 2r of Royal MS ll.E.XI shows three large roses centred at the top of the page; far below, inside a walled enclosure, a small tree sinister is laden with even smaller pomegranates.27 The fecundity of the image is appropriate for a manuscript prepared in 1516, the date noted on a front fly leaf: Catherine gave birth to Mary on 8 February

2i Oldham plate XVIII. 22 Ibid, plate XIX. 23 Oldham plate XXX. 24Ibid.platesXVII&XX. 25 Ibid. 24-5, 28. The three dated examples of HM. 21 are from after Catherine of Aragon s death (7 January 1536) and Anne Boleyns execution (19 May 1536). 26 The three dated examples of HM. 21 hold books printed after Anne Boleyn was executed in 1536. 27Carley 118.

160



1516, and while this was not the male heir Henry desired, he hoped that the next child would be a healthy son.28 The tree with eleven ripening pomegranates, and the rosebuds nearby, are suitably optimistic for what Carley calls 'a year of general rejoicing for the king and queen and the Tudor dynasty in general'.29

Panel no. No. of examples Dates HE. 2 5 1517-1532 HE.41 23 1508, 1509, 1513-1533 HE. 4a2 2 1534 HE. 8 4 1510, 1516, 1529, 1530 HE. 9 4 1510, 1516, 1529, 1530 HE. 11 4 n.d., 1517, 1518, 1565 HE. 13 2 n.d., 1528 HE. 15-16 14 1513-1529 HE. 17-18 1 1509 HE. 19-20 4 1529-1531 HE. 21 54 1522-1530, 1532 HE. 223 9 1529, 1535-1542 HE. 38 1 1519 HM.21 4 n.d., 1537, 1538, 1541

1 Higher than initial estimate in Harrison (p. 90), with more dates 2 Catherine s arms replaced by Anne Boleyn s 3 Catherine's pomegranate replaced by Henry s cock badge

Table 1: Sixteenth-century panels with Catherines arms or pomegranate.

Yet supremacy clearly rests with the reigning king in the iconography of Royal MS II.E.XI, which places a jewelled crown atop the central rose. The highest, central position is given to the kings rose again in Henri

28 Ibid. 117-19; D. Starkey, Six wives: the queens of Henry VIII (London, 2003), 197-203. 29 Carley 119.

161



Jacobi's device no. 34a.30 A crowned fleur-de-lis and a crowned pomegranate appear in the top corners, slightly lower than the rose, with the pomegranate in the sinister position; plumes traditionally affiliated with the heir apparent, the Prince of Wales, appear a tier lower still. A king holding a sword and orb stands dexter aligned with the fleur-de-lis; a shorter knight with a shorter blade stands sinister under the pomegranate. Because Jacobi sold books at the Sign of the Trinity, a depiction of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost occupies the central position of the device. His successor, Henry Pepwell, continued using the device with the surname cut away (no. 34ß), leaving 'Henricvs' alone on the dexter banner. Fortuitously, not only did Jacobi and Pepwell share the same Christian name, 'Henricvs', of course, was the king s name as well. Standing alone without Jacobi's surname, it almost certainly would have resonated with the royal imagery in the device, one detail interacting with the others nearby.

Jacobi also used royal insignia in a device appearing on the 1512 Diurnale Sarum (STC 15861.7), now held at Lambeth Palace Library. It is not listed by McKerrow or Harrison; however, a close copy adopted by John Siberch in 1521 is identified as device no. 57, so Jacobi's earlier version will be referred to here as no. 57 [a] even though a careful examination reveals that they are in fact distinct cuttings rather than variant states of the same device (plate 4). The punctuation between the words on the scrolling banner and garter are not identical in no. 57 and no. 57 [a]; a flower by the tip of the greyhound's tail in the early version is absent in the later one, and the faces of the supporters betray subtle differences as well. Siberch operated at the Sign of the Royal Arms, so it was a well chosen device, and copying an existing design may have been a good financial strategy for a minor printer, rather than commissioning an entirely new piece. Because the device lacks the name of either man, no major alterations were necessary. Indeed, Catherine remained in favour during the period when Siberch was printing, so her pomegranate suitably remains sinister of the central crown, a matched pair with Henry's rose, dexter. Smaller versions of their emblems are reversed in the opposite top corners, while a fleur-de-lis and Beaufort portcullis appear beneath the royal supporters. Once again, as with the blind panels

30 E. G. Duff, English provincial printers to 1557 (Cambridge, 1912), plate opposite 26; R. B.

McKerrow, Printers' & publishers' devices in England & Scotland, 1485-1640 (London, 1949).

162



о СЛ ел V U <L>

й Он ел

со

Г^ LO

ó z ì и

& U

i Л ei tt -Ž" v) I -Ž"

I oo .tí g Sa "s

¡ait -Ö л) -U ,-

^ »-i -S

■a -gs 8 I 1 Ö U|

Г^ (L) -o h 60 ̂ J 00 94 ^ Sil и -S -i ел ^ | - CM ы

3 ^

l|l

163



described by Oldham, the king's arms unquestionably assume the centre of attention, while the pomegranate appears as a complementary detail among a constellation of other royal symbols.

Device no. Dates of imprint Printer 34a 1513 H.Jacobi 34ß 1519, 1520, ?1525 H. Pepwell 36 1514, 1515 R. Copland 39 1516 U. Mylner 57 [a] 1512 H.Jacobi

_57 1521,1522 J. Siberch

_59 1521, 1522, ?1525, 1531, ?1532, ?1535 J. Skot 71a ?1523, 1524, 1528, 1530, 1535, ?1536 R. Copland

71ß ?1555, 1557 W. Copland 73 1534 R. Copland 77 1530 R. Copland 135 1562, 1563 J. Rowbotham

Table 2: Sixteenth-century pomegranate devices (additions in bold).

Years Printer Device(s) Location(s)

1512-1513 H.Jacobi 57[a], 34a London, Oxford

1514-1535 R. Copland 36, 71a, 77, 73 London

1516 U. Mylner 39 York 1519-1520 H. Pepwell 34ß London

1521-1522 J. Siberch 57 Cambridge 1521-1531 J. Skot 59 London

1557 W. Copland 71ß London

1562-1563 J. Rowbotham 135 London

Table 3: Known device imprint dates, in chronological order.

164



Harrison's original list of pomegranate devices can be expanded beyond Jacobi's no. 57 [a] to include three additional designs found in sixteenth-century books. Dating, as with the bindings, can be a matter of conjecture if the title-page and colophon remain silent as to the year of imprint. The dates given here follow the revised STC, unless otherwise noted. From the subset of books with known imprint dates, one can see that the pomegranate occurs in devices spanning roughly twenty years, from 1512 until at least 1531. It resurfaces during the reign of Catherine's daughter Mary and again in the time of Elizabeth, though presumably with different connotations. The fifty-year timespan between Jacobi and Rowbotham was a tumultuous one in English history: political and religious policy shifted repeatedly. Consequently, it is not unreasonable to assume that the pomegranate changed in significance by Elizabeth's reign. The symbol carried multiple layers of meaning during its long history.

Visual representations of the pomegranate vary widely, too. Artists usually signalled the pomegranate's identity through an oval incision meant to reveal its most recognisable feature, the seeds inside, and many times its crown serves as an additional clue, but the shape of the fruit can be variously round or square. Thus it is not surprising that McKerrow and Harrison overlook the pomegranates in device no. 36, which was used by Robert Copland from 1514-15. His shop could be found under the Sign of the Rose Garland, and a wreath of roses serves as the focal point for the device. It is supported by a stag and a hind wearing collars that resemble crowns.31 Two small pomegranates are set on either side of the central rose of the garland: they are difficult to see in the profusion of leaves, but they do have distinctive tufted crowns and slivers cut away to suggest seeds inside. Device no. 59 has also been overlooked before now: McKerrow reports that the object at the top of the device reminded William Herbert of a stork's nest, but in fact the branches bear ten pomegranates, each with a tufted crown and a cut to reveal the inner seeds. John Skot used it for at least a decade (1521-31) along with a companion device, no. 75, showing Tudor roses in lieu of the queen's pomegranates. His use of a rose tree in no. 75 strengthens the case for

31 So identified by McKerrow, but the dexter figure could be a dog rather than a hind: the shape of its feet are different from the cloven hooves of the stag.

165



seeing branches in no. 59 as bearing pomegranates, even though the square fruit bear little resemblance to round pomegranates seen elsewhere. Oldham finds similarly square pomegranates in rolls and blind panels, providing a third and final reason to include no. 59 among the pomegranate devices.

Date I Title 1 STC I ' McK 1521 The body of poly eye 7270 59

1521 The boke of iustyces of peas 14866 59

1521 Carta feodi simplicis cum lettera atturnatoria 15580.5 59

1522 Thystory of Jacob & his, xii. sones 14324 59

?1525 The boke of may d Emlyn 7681 59 ?1525 Modus tenendfi] curfiam] baron[is] 7709.7 59

1528 Co [m] mendacious of matrymony 12799 75

?1528 [Everyman] 10606 75

?1529 Vulgaria 23199 75

1531 Gradus comparati [on] и [m] 23162 59

?1532 Agaynst the possessyons of the clergye 1148932 75

?1533 Enormytees vsyd by the clergy 10421.5 75

?1535 [Everyman] 10606.5 59

?1537 Nychodemus gospell 18570a 59

Table 4: Skot imprints with device no. 59 (pomegranate) or no. 75 (rose tree).

The addition of device nos. 36, 59 and 57[a] expands the range of evidence, but it should be noted that many of the pomegranate devices listed in Table 2 are simply alternate versions of the same design. No. 34a and no. 34ß differ with respect to Jacobi's surname, and the forename varies from no. 71a to 71 ß after 'Robert' handed the family business to a relative named 'William' Copland. The similarity of no. 57 [a] and no. 57

32 The dating given for STC 11489 and 10421.5 follows R. Rex, 'Jasper Fyloll and the enormities of the clergy', Sixteenth Century Journal, 31 (2000), 1043-62.

166



has already been discussed; likewise, Ursin Mylner's 1516 banner device (no. 39) is very similar to one used by Robert Copland in 1530 (no. 77), although as with the Jacobi-Siberch copies, these banners are also distinct cuts. No. 73 is a copy of no. 71, which predates it by roughly a decade (plate 5). No. 73 (95 X 70 mm) is slightly smaller than no. 71 (78 X 96 mm), and it is oriented vertically rather than horizontally. The banner of no. 73 lacks a small rose separating the names in no. 71. The most notable difference, however, is the square cut away from the top sinister corner of no. 73, where a pomegranate appears in no. 71. Harrison writes that the version lacking a pomegranate is extant in only one book, STC 13608, but a second example of no. 73 can be found in STC 10453.5, also printed by Copland in 1534.33 It is also interesting to note that STC 13608 in fact contains two Copland devices: the first part of the Tree [and] xii. frutes of the holy ghoost concludes with its own colophon dated 1534, suggesting it might have been sold independently with device no. 73 soon after the divorce; the second part, finished 29 October 1535, uses no. 71 at the end of the combined volume. Tracing additional occurrences of pomegranate devices hopefully provides a more thorough picture of how they were used in sixteenth-century books, but the scope of evidence should not be overstated: nine of the examples listed in Table 2 merely represent different versions of four designs.

Wynkyn de Worde and Richard Pynson have been notably absent from the discussion so far. As the royal printer from 1512, Pynson might be expected to have used the monarchs' badges: his device nos. 9 and 44 do include queens in their lower corners, styled similarly to a woodcut of St Catherine (Hodnett * 1354a), but the rose and pomegranate are absent from Pynson's devices. The title of king's printer did not carry with it an exclusive right to print material relating to royal events during the reign of Henry Vili.34 De Worde printed an elegy for Henry VII (STC 10900 & 19001) and celebratory verses on the coronation of Henry VIII (STC 12953), but his chief claim to royal authority was through Margaret Beaufort. De Worde styled himself as 'prynter vnto the excellent pryncesse Margarete, Countesse of Rychemonde and Derbye,

33 Harrison 90-1; McKerrow 25. 34 P. Nevile-Sington, 'Press, politics and religion', in L. Hellinga and J. B. Trapp (eds.), The Cambridge history of the book in Britain 1400-1557 (Cambridge, 1999), 576-607.

167



т - I

й CO |>

d Z

g & и

LO

В

fi ~> О ^

О -о 'О |

1 : g Ъ ^ * i 'о 'й ^

До-I

ìli ^ as ^ as g

P

168



and grandame vnto our moost naturali souereyne lorde kynge Henry J)e viii' (sig. Gg6r, STC 3547). Indeed, if the inquiry is expanded to include decorative initials, both men printed works with a T combining Henry's rose dexter with Catherine's pomegranate, sinister.

Date Printer Title STC Sig. 1516 R. Pynson Leteltun tenuris new correcte 15724 A2r ?1518 R. Pynson Moretu[m] me[n]dicantiu[m] 1833.5 A2r

isagogicon in grammaticam 1519 R. Pynson Vulgaria uiri doctissimi Guil. 13811 Alr

Hormani Caesariburgensis 1520 R. Pynson Missale ad vsum insignis ac 16202 E5V

preclare ecclesie Sarum ?1520 R. Pynson Tenir p[er] seruyce de chiualer 23879.5 АГ 1522 W. deWorde Mirroure of golde for the synfull 6895 A2r

soule 1522 J. Skot Mirroure of golde for the synfull 6896 A2r

soule 1523 R. Pynson The crony cle of Froissart 11396 f6v 1524 R.Copland The ordre of the knyghtes 15050 A3r

hospytallers 1535 R. Copland The xii. frutes of the holy ghoost 13608 a2v 1550 W. Copland The prouerbes of salomón 2757 A2r ?1550 W. Copland The treasurie ofhealthe 1461.5 Blr ?1553 W. Copland The treasury ofhealthe 14651.7 A4r ?1556 W. Copland The history ofHerodian 13221 Blr ?1556 W. Copland The treasuri ofhelth 14652 Blr 1558 W.Copland The treasuri of helth 14653 Blr ?1560 W. Copland The treasurie of health 14653.3 blr

Table 5: Occurrences of the half-rose, half-pomegranate T.

169



The earliest occurrence found so far is in Pynsons 1516 Tenuris (STC 15724). The capital recurs in other works until 1523, when the right border shows signs of wear (STC 11396). The copy used by de Worde (STC 6895) and Skot (STC 6896) for the Mirroure of golde in 1522 has no border, and the border of R. Copland's version is thicker than Pynson's. The border remains intact as late as 1535 (plate 6a), but when it resurfaces in the work ofW. Copland from 1550, a break is visible in the top border. The known imprint dates happen to coincide with the years of Mary s birth and death (1516-1558), but by the later years the pomegranate may have brought different connotations to mind. The Royal College of Physicians, founded in 1518, adopted the pomegranate as part of their arms in 1546.35 Arms granted to Elizabeths physician, Dr Lopus, also include a pomegranate tree.36 It therefore seems quite possible that the pomegranate 'T' was considered an apt symbol for the Treasurie ofhealthe because of its contemporary association with the medical profession.

Other decorative initials from the sixteenth century incorporate the pomegranate in their design (plate 6). R. Copland uses an initial 'O' in his 1528 Secrete of secretes ofArystotle (STC 770) on sig. D2r, Flr and G3r, and again in his 1530 Pomander of prayer (STC 25421.3) on sig. A2r. It is not as finely cut as the Pynson 'T' By contrast, a pomegranate 'T' used in Pep well's 1521 Cyte of lady es (STC 7271) seems to have been commissioned expressly for aesthetic reasons. The book uses a copy of the King Henry 'H' used by Pynson between 1520-5; however, Pepwell decided against using the standard half-rose, half-pomegranate 'T' copied by other printers, opting instead to use a 'T' that is more stylistically consistent with the 'H'. It balances an entire rose and an entire pomegranate, both crowned, on either side of the stem of the capital (sig. C3V). Adding decorative initials to the survey is perhaps useful on two counts: doing so reveals that Pynson and de Worde made use of Catherine's pomegranate badge, even if they elected not to add it to their devices; it also furnishes additional evidence from works by the two Coplands, Skot and Pepwell, all of whom are all associated with pomegranate devices.

35 Royal College of Physicians, http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/college/. 36 A. C. Fox-Davies, Л complete guide to heraldry (New York, 1978), 263-4.

170



Woodcut illustrations provide further insight into how the pomegranate was used as a decorative feature. The emblem figures prominently in de Wordes coronation woodcut from 1509 (Hodnett 883), as mentioned previously. A second de Worde woodcut from 1519 (Hodnett 863) shows Catherine of Siena surrounded by twelve nuns: above them on a cornice, three pomegranates alternate with three roses. An outside border is laden with grapes in reference to the title, the Orcharde of Syon (STC 4815). The pomegranates are likewise a play on the name Catherine. A similar double entendre is at work in another woodcut used by Pepwell, which shows the Virgin Mary under a crowned half-rose, half- pomegranate as the frontispiece for his undated Exornatorium curatorufm] (STC 10632; Hodnett 2278). The association with the pomegranate is easily made in both cases: Catherine of Siena bears the same Christian name as the queen, and the Virgin Mary similarly shares her name with the princess. But here too, as with the Treasurie of healthe, the pomegranate might have a broader symbolism, being associated with the Resurrection in Christian thought. Harrison rightly notes that the pomegranate does not appear very frequently in woodcut illustrations; when it does, it tends to be a secondary detail.37 Yet as was the case with the pomegranate tree in Royal MS ll.E.XI, even small details can be charged with symbolic meaning. Woodcuts, decorative initials and devices furnish a modest body of evidence, but it complements the use of the queen s pomegranate documented in contemporary bindings.

The pomegranate was in fact used as a motif in other contexts, appearing in stained glass and architecture; it can even be found in the decoration of an elegant silver-gilt chape (or belt end) recovered from the Thames in 1989.38 Here, as in other engravings, the pomegranate is meant to serve as a visual shorthand for Catherine of Aragon: directly opposite the pomegranate is the Tudor rose emblem of her husband, Henry VIII. The book industry used the symbol from cover to cover, and a sense of heraldic order is maintained through its size and position: allusions to the king might stand alone, as in the 'H' used by Pynson and Pepwell, but references to the queen consort tend to be found among other royal signs.

37 Harrison 90. 38 H. Forsyth, 'An inscribed sixteenth-century English silver-gilt chape,' The Burlington Magazine, 1119 (1996), 392-3.

171



ел

"S

i о и Q чО

В S

.•lil g fu "l'a pu ci ^f ^ t- ̂

^ s S I a oil ¿ги яеос

Й Ö 00 > 'Й

ìli ü

^ 'S <N W on 0 ^ a o; o<

.• ^u и ^ H a H Z> U

•^ ̂ 1 ̂ s âí Он Й I -о

f!

l'i S3 Я 2 i ! - I «

•2 ^ ^ -tí

1 I

11 11

•s >>,

•S

172



The pomegranate, or granada, was a reminder of Catherine's heritage, and a statement of Mary's royal parentage when she revived the symbol during her reign. W. Copland printed 'God Jaue Quene | Marye' on the title-page of his undated Palis of honoure (STC 7073), adding a rose dexter and a pomegranate sinister to either side of the crowned royal arms supported by a dragon and greyhound (sig. A4V). This page has been removed from Cambridge, University Library, Syn.6.55.9, a reminder that additional examples of the pomegranate badge could have been destroyed during the tumultuous sixteenth century for political reasons. Yet W. Copland's use of the pomegranate 'T' in the Treasurie of healthe begins to move away from Mary and Catherine towards a different association with physicians; a border used by W. Copland from 1561 can be found even in distinctly Protestant works, such as the Hurte of hering masse (STC 3494). The pomegranate maintained far older associations with rebirth and fertility. As Harrison concludes, pomegranate cuttings were not summarily discarded when Henry VIII divorced Catherine of Aragon in 1533; on the contrary, the ancient symbol continued to be used in English books, with various seeds of meaning.

Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, Xlll/ 2 (2005)

173



catherine of aragon's pomegranate, revisited

Documents