Vestments of Hubert Walter (1205)

Mitre and slippers flound in the tomb of Archbishop Hubert Walter, who died in AD 1205. Canterbury. Mitre and slippers flound in the tomb of Archbishop Hubert Walter, who died in AD 1205. Canterbury. Copyright 2016 Dean and Chapter of Canterbury.

The medieval tomb of Archbishop Hubert Walter in Canterbury Cathedral was opened in 1890. The tomb contained silver items and the remains of the garments in which the Archbishop had been buried. Hubert Walter was an important royal advisor in the time of Richard I (1157-1199) and his succesor, John (1166-1216). He accompanied Richard on the Third Crusade.

Some of the textiles were extremely fragmentary, and may have been part of the alb and dalmatic. Far better preserved were an apparel (for an amice); a pair of buskins (embroidered stockings); a stole; a mitre; a braid, and a pair of slippers, most of which were heavily embroidered. 

The apparel was worn attached to the amice, around the neck. The embroidery is worked in underside couching using a silver-gilt thread, and stem stitch using silver thread. The designs include seven circles with foliate scrolls in between: Christ is positioned in the centre, with the symbols of the Evangelists on either side. In the outer circles are the Archangels St. Michael and St. Gabriel.

The pair of slippers (28 cm long) have silk uppers, which are embroidered with metallic thread and garnets. The soles are also made of silk. The embroidered designs include two lion-type animals and two dragons.

The buskins, or episcopal stockings (69 cm high, 28/29 cm wide) were made of silk and decorated with silver-gilt and silver thread (this is not certain) and coloured silk threads, with underside couching and stem stitch, with applied glass or stone cabochons.

Source: BROWNE, Clare, Glyn DAVIES, and M.A. MICHAEL (2016). English Medieval Embroidery: Opus Anglicanum, exhibition catalogue, Yale University Press (Catalogue number 11, pp. 126-127).

Digital source (retrieved 9 November 2016).

WV

Detail of the apparel found in the tomb of Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in AD 1205.

Last modified on Saturday, 11 March 2017 19:21