John Mollo

These prints were drawn by John Mollo [1931-2017] who was also responsible for our prints of Royal Navy Uniforms during the Napoleonic Wars and The Light Cavalry Brigade in 1864 (The Charge of the Light Brigade). Mollo had been a military historian and was an adviser to Tony Richardson, the Director, when making the film The Charge of the Light Brigade in 1968. He subsequently won 2 Oscars as a costume designer, firstly for Star Wars Episode IV, directed by George Lucas, in 1977 and again for Gandhi, Directed by Richard Attenborough, in 1983. He also won 5 BAFTAs and 3 Primetime Emmys.

Heraldry for Knights of the Middle Ages
These wonderful sepultures (literally, burial concepts in image form) were created by John Mollo working with John Brook-Little (1927-2006), Bluemantle Pursuviant at the College of Arms in London. Brook-Little’s detailed description of each Knight is shown beneath each image. We have added footnotes to explain some of the armory and heraldry words.  The prints depict gloriously coloured contemporary ecclesiastical tomb decoration (or potential stained-glass imagery) of the armor and known heraldry of 12 of the leading barons of the middle ages.
They lived during a tumultuous 300 year period between Richard Cœur de Lion (Richard I, 1189-1199) and Richard of York (1411-1460) also known as Richard Plantagenet. Great grandson (and, through his mother, great, great grandson) of Edward III, he fathered two monarchs culminating in the restoration of the House of York when his sons, King Edward IV (1442-1483) and King Richard III (1452-1485) successively ascended the throne after the Wars of the Roses.  He would have been a king himself had he not been killed in December 1460 at the Battle of Wakefield just a few weeks before Henry, by now mad, escaped to Scotland with his wife, Margaret of Anjou.
The Oxford English Dictionary lists, under “armor” and “armour”: “coat armour = ‘coat of arms,’ originally a vest of silk or other rich material embroidered in colours, worn over the armour of a knight, to distinguish him in the lists or on the field of battle”. For the art and science of armory, more generally called heraldry, these 300 years were the period of its maximum development.
The College of Arms officers are appointed by the King and are delegated to act on behalf of the Crown in matters of heraldry, coats of arms, genealogy and recording pedigrees. The College is also responsible for the flying of flags on land, and maintains the official registers of flags and national symbols. Founded by royal charter in 1484 by Richard III, it is one of the few remaining heraldic authorities in Europe. Bluemantle Pursuviant is an officer of arms of the College of Arms.