Livery collar

Aliverycollarorchain of officeis acollaror heavychain,usually ofgold,worn as insignia of office or a mark offealtyor other association inEuropefrom theMiddle Agesonwards.

Sir Thomas Morewearing the Collar of Esses, with theTudor rosebadge ofHenry VIII,byHans Holbein the Younger(1527)

One of the oldest and best-known livery collars is theCollar of Esses,which has been in continuous use in England since the 14th century.

History

Origins

Various forms ofliverywere used in theMiddle Agesto denote attachment to a great person by friends, servants, and political supporters. The collar, usually of precious metal, was the grandest form of these, usually given by the person the livery denoted to his closest or most important associates, but should not, in the early period, be seen as separate from the wider phenomenon of livery badges, clothes and other forms. From the collar hung abadgeor device indicating the person the livery related to; the most important part of the ensemble for contemporaries. Equally gold collars that had no livery connotations were worn.

Livery collars seem to be first recorded in the 14th century.Charles V of Francein 1378 granted to hisChamberlainGeoffrey de Bellevillethe right of bearing in all feasts and in all companies the collar of theCosse de GenesteorBroomcod,a collar which was accepted and worn even by the English kings,Charles VIsending such collars toRichard IIand to his three uncles. Although he distributed "genet" badges much more widely, only about twenty collars per year were given out, and it was treated somewhat as the sign of a pseudo-chivalric order, although no such order formally existed.The collar of Esses is first recorded earlier than this, as being given byJohn of Gaunt,and remained in use by theHouse of Lancasterthroughout theWars of the Roses.

This French type of collar, a chain of couples of broomcods linked by jewels, is seen in the contemporaryWilton Diptychportrait of Richard II, with Richard's owndeviceof the whiteharthanging below (the angels accompanying the Virgin also wear Richard's livery badges). The same collar was worn byHenry IVon the way to hiscrowning.During the sitting of theParliament of Englandin 1394 the complaints ofRichard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundelagainst Richard II are recorded, one of his grievances being that the king had been wearing the livery collar of his uncleJohn of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster,and that people of the king's following wore the same livery. To which the king answered that soon after the return fromSpain(in 1389) of his uncle, the duke, he himself took the collar from his uncle's neck, putting it on his own, which collar the king would wear and use for a sign of the good and whole-hearted love between them, even as he wore the liveries of his other uncles. Livery collars of the king of France, of QueenAnneand of the dukes ofYorkand Lancaster are recorded amongst the royal plate and jewels which in the first year of Henry IV had come to the king's hands. The inventory shows that Queen Anne's collar was made up of sprigs ofrosemarygarnished withpearls.The York collar hadfalconsandfetterlocks,and the Lancaster collar was doubtless thatCollar of Essesused by the duke's son,Henry of Bolingbroke(Henry IV), as an earl, duke and king.

Collar of Esses

This famous livery collar, which has never passed out of use, takes many forms, its Esses being sometimes linked together chainwise, and sometimes, in early examples, as the ornamental Boss es of a garter-shaped strap-collar. The oldesteffigybearing it is that in Spratton church of SirJohn Swynford,who died in 1371. Swynford was a follower of John of Gaunt, and the date of his death easily disposes of the theory that the Esses were devised by Henry IV to stand for his motto or "word" of Soverayne. Many explanations are given of the origin of these letters, but none has as yet been established: for example:Souvent me souvienor "Think of me often."During the reigns of Henry IV,his son (Henry V) and grandson (Henry VI), the collar of Esses was a royal badge of the Lancastrian house and party, the white swan, as in theDunstable Swan Jewel,usually being its pendant.

In one of Henry VI's own collars the S was joined to thebroomcodof the French device, symbolizing the king's claim to the two kingdoms. The kings of the house of York and their chief followers wore the Yorkist collar ofsunsandroses,with the white lion ofMarch,the Clare bull, orRichard's white boar for a pendantdevice.Henry VIIIbrought back the collar of Esses, aportcullisor aTudor rosehanging from it, although in a portrait of him, in theSociety of Antiquaries,he wears the roseen soleilalternating with knots, and his son (laterEdward VI) had a collar of red and white roses. It was presented to ministers and courtiers, and came to represent more a symbol of office by the time ofElizabeth I.

In modern times the Collar of Esses is worn, on state occasions only, by the Kings and Heralds of Arms, by the Lord Chief Justice and by Serjeants-at-Arms.

The term "Collar of SS" was preferred by Victorian antiquaries.Since World War II, as "SS" is usually associated with theSchutzstaffel,the term is less often used because of itsNaziconnotation.

Private livery collars

Drawing of detail of mermaid collar ofThomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley(d. 1417), from hismonumental brassatWotton-under-Edge,Gloucestershire

Besides these royal collars, the 14th and 15th centuries show many private devices. Amonumental brassatMildenhallshows a knight whose badge of a dog or wolf circled by a crown hangs from a collar with edges suggesting a pruned bough or the ragged staff.Thomas of Markenfield(d.c. 1415) on his brass atRiponhas a strange collar of park palings with a badge of ahartin a park, andThomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley(d. 1417) wears one set withmermaids,the Berkeley familyheraldic badge.

Renaissance chains

In the Renaissance, gold chains tended to replace collars, andportrait miniatureof the donor tended to replace the earlier badges with symbolic devices, although "picture boxes" containing miniatures could be highly extravagant pieces of jewellery. The Elizabethan artistNicholas Hilliardwas both a goldsmith and miniaturist, and so produced the whole of pieces like theArmada Jewel,given byElizabeth I of Englandto a courtier. When theEarl of Rutlandreturned from an embassy to Denmark, sixteen members of his party were given chains of gold with theJames I of England's picture, and others received just a picture.During the sixteenth century collars became marks of a specific office or Order, and subsequently remained so.

Mayoral collars

Susan Fennell, mayor ofBrampton, Ontario,Canada from 2000 to 2014, pictured wearing a modern mayoral collar

Most English, Welsh and Irishmayors,and Scottishprovosts,wear a collar/chain of office, and new ones are still designed for new municipalities. The mayor's or provost's spouse may have a much smaller version. These are worn over normal clothes when on official duties. Following British practice, mostCanadian,Australian and New Zealand mayors also wear chains of office. The custom also spread outside the Commonwealth, to Germany (originally only Prussia) in 1808, to the Netherlands by royal decree in 1852 and to Norway after the mayor of Oslo received one as a gift in 1950, and most Norwegian mayors now have mayoral chains.

The design of modern mayoral chains mimics the ancient gold collar of Esses worn by theLord Mayor of Londonwhich was bequeathed to his successors by Sir John Aleyn (who died in 1545) and which has a large jewelled pendant added in 1607.

Collars of orders of knighthood

Main article:Collar (Order of Knighthood)

Collars of various devices are worn by the knights of some of the Europeanorders of knighthood.The custom was begun byPhilip III, Duke of Burgundy,who gave his knights of theGolden Fleece,badges of a golden fleece hung from a collar of flints, steels and sparks. Following this new fashion,Louis XI of France,when instituting hisorder of St. Michaelin 1469, gave the knights collars of scallop shells linked on a chain.

The chain was doubled byCharles VIII,and the pattern suffered other changes before the order lapsed in 1830.

At the end of the 18th century, most of the European orders had only one rank—that of knight—and although they usually had collars the cross or badge was now worn on a ribbon around the neck or over the right shoulder. When the orders became more democratic, several ranks were introduced and only the highest grade, the Grand Commanders or Grand Crosses, wore collars. The Netherlands never had collars, but several Belgian, most of the Austrian and Prussian orders and several Portuguese orders had collars. In Portugal all the members of these orders of knighthood wore a collar, but the collars of the Grand-crosses were more elaborate.

In England, until the reign of Henry VIII, theOrder of the Garter,most ancient of the great knightly orders had no collar. But theTudorkingmust needs matchin all things with continental sovereigns, and the present collar of the Garter knights, with its golden knots and its buckled garters enclosing white roses set on red roses, has its origin in the Tudor age.

Knights of most of the British orders have collars which are worn on special occasions, but not the Knights Bachelor or holders of decorations such as theDistinguished Service Order,theOrder of Merit,theOrder of the Companions of Honourand theImperial Service Order.TheRoyal Victorian Chainis a collar and there are no other insignia.

In France, EmperorNapoleon Iintroduced the "Grand aigle" collar as the highest rank in hisLégion d'honneur.It did not survive his downfall.

Sometimes the collar is the insignia of office of theGrand Masterof the order; the French president therefore wears the collar of the Order of the Légion d'honneur. In other countries such as Brazil the collar is a rank above that of a Grand Cross and it is reserved for the president and foreign heads of state.

• 
  Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, shown in theSchatzkammerinVienna,Austria
• 
  Charles d'Amboisein the cockleshell collar of the Order of Saint Michael, 1507
• 
  The insignia of a knight of the Order of the Garter

Collars of Freemasonry

Collars also have a long history withinFreemasonry.Collars are often worn by officers of high rank. Nearly all Grand Lodge officers wear collars as an emblem of their office. In history, many such collars are quite valuable, featuring gold and precious jewels.

Collars vary widely among Masonic Grand Lodges. While those Lodges working under the Grand Lodge of England have fairly uniform designs, Grand Lodges in the United States vary widely, employing collars made from metal chains backed by velvet, to those made of velvet and embroidered with gold and silver bullion thread.

Today, English lodge officers wear a fabric collar with a simple jewel of their office pendant to it. Each jewel represents a skill or virtue which he possesses and instructs the brothers of Masonry in. In some jurisdictions, these jewels are silver-plated for the Craft or Blue Lodges under 100 years old, or gold-plated for lodges older than 100 years. The collars generally sit on the wearer's shoulders and fall over the chest, ending in a point between the breasts.

See also

• Collar (order)
• Heraldic badge
• Livery
• Necklet
• Orders of chivalry
• Presidential sash

General and cited references

• Purey-Cust, Arthur Percival.(1910).The Collar SS: A History and a Conjecture.Leeds, Richard Jackson.OCLC7504736
• Strong, Roy. (1975).Nicholas HilliardLondon: Michael Joseph.ISBN978-0-718-11301-8;OCLC1622631

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Collar".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 684–685.

Further reading

• Ward, Matthew,The Livery Collar in Late Medieval England and Wales: Politics, Identity and Affinity(The Boydell Press: Woodbridge, 2016).

External links

• Collars of Orders of Knighthood and Livery Collars