House of FitzWalter

"James, 2nd Earl of Ormond has left a beautiful seal (Fig. 2) on a deed of August 20th, 1360. It is in red wax and shows a shield bearing the chief indented, which is cross-hatched to provide contrast with the plain field of the shield." *

(*)- Crotty, Gerard: Seals of the House of Ormond, Part one, 121-128. Old Kilkenny Review, Second Series Vol 3 No 2 (1985) PDF @kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie

"The seal of James le Botiller, 1st Earl of Ormond (Fig. 1) is on a deed4 dating from August 1330. It is a circular seal, about 27 millimetres in diameter, in red wax, showing an eagle-like bird bearing on its breast a shield charged with the chief indented." *

(*)- Crotty, Gerard: Seals of the House of Ormond, Part one, 121-128. Old Kilkenny Review, Second Series Vol 3 No 2 (1985) PDF @kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie

"The original arms of the Butler family consisted of the simple coat, or a chief indented azure. It is as well to explain at this point that a “chief” is nothing more mysterious than a horizontal stripe occupying the uppermost third of the shield. When “indented” its lower edge is a series of deep zig-zags. The Butler shield is therefore “or” (gold) with a blue indented chief occupying its upper portion, though naturally the colours are not indicated on medieval seals. It is almost a certainty that this coat was originally borne by Ranulph de Glanville, the great Justiciar of England during the reign of Henry II. The Butlers’ ancestor Hervey Walter married Maud de Valoignes whose sister,Bertha, was the wife of Ranulph de Glanville. The same coat of arms was borne until 1517 by the FitzRandalls of Spennithorne, who were direct descendants of Ranulph. It was also borne by Sir John de Sandwich, apparently on the strength of his brother's marriage to Joan d’Auberville, great-grand daughter of Ranulph de Glanville. It is easy to understand why so many families would wish to show their connection with the man who had virtually been viceroy of England, but of course the inheritance of these arms by the Butlers was not in accord with the pattern of heraldic succession which eventually became established." *

(*)- Crotty, Gerard: Seals of the House of Ormond, Part one, 121-128. Old Kilkenny Review, Second Series Vol 3 No 2 (1985) PDF @kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie

The Ormonde Coat of Arms Kilkenny Castle

Or, Chief Indented azure.

This is the oldest part of the family’s coat of arms or simply means gold and azure is blue. This is the simplest part of the shield and is located in the top left quarter, looking very much like a wavy line. This was given to Theobald Walter by Prince John as his personal emblem. Most likely it was inherited from Theobald Walter’s maternal Uncle, Ranulf de Glanville. This can be seen on a charter granted by Theobald Walter to the town of Gowran dated 1185 and was recorded by Carte a later family biographer. Many branches of the Butler family use the same device with subtle differences.

Peter Kenny

https://wappenwiki.org/index.php/House_of_Butler