The Beaumaris Carvings

The church of St. Mary and St. Nicholas in Beaumaris, Anglesey, where the Llan-faes carvings are preserved, was built to serve the burgesses of the walled town founded there after the building of Beaumaris Castle, begun in 1295. According to An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Anglesey (The Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments in Wales & Monmouthshire, 1937), the nave, the north and south aisles, and the west tower were built in the early fourteenth century; the chancel was re-built c. 1500 (AMA 3).

In the modern south porch is housed the coffin of Princess Joan, who died in 1237. She was the natural daughter of King John and the wife of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, the Prince of North Wales known as Llywelyn the Great, who won concessions from the King in the Magna Carta of 1215 and subsequently acted as overlord of other native rulers of Wales. He came to style himself Prince of Aberffraw (the ancient royal court of Wales in Anglesey) and Lord of Snowdonia (OCLW 372). It was his grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, who would claim the wider title of Prince of Wales, the last native prince to hold that eminence, which was lost in the English conquest of 1282.

Princess Joan's effigy is carved on the coffin lid. The Inventory describes the design as showing "a floriated stem and branches springing from a stock which is grasped by the head of a wyvern on the lower part, while the upper part is occupied by the half effigy of the Princess with hands raised. She wears a wimple and a tight-fitting long-sleeved gown clasped at the throat by a circular brooch. On her head is a coronet from which a veil falls to her shoulders" (AMA 5). Llywelyn the Great founded the Franciscan Friary at Llan-faes (a manor of the Welsh princes to the west of Beaumaris) as a memorial to his wife and a resting place for her body. The presence of her coffin in Beaumaris Church is another consequence of the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century, when monastic treasures were displaced.

An alabaster tomb of William Bulkeley, who died c. 1490, and his wife, Elin, daughter of Gwilym ap Gruffydd of Penrhyn, is at the west end of the north aisle. The tomb and the effigies upon it are discussed in Charles Hand's article, "Llanfaes Friary and its Mystery Monuments," Archaeologia Cambrensis, 7th series, vol. 4 (1924), pp. 125-88. The Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Anglesey records that the effigies show a man in armor whose head rests on a tilting helmet, with his feet against a lion; and a woman wearing a high cap with a veil, her feet resting against two dogs (AMA 6). Hugh Bulkeley, son of William and Elin, is addressed by Guto'r Glyn in a poem (GGG 97) in which Guto requests a hawk for the Dean of Bangor Cathedral. William Griffith of Penrhyn, the brother of Elin, is addressed in a poem by Guto= r Glyn (GGG 19) paying tribute to William's leadership and to his family's eagle-nest of a court, built overlooking the sea near Bangor.

That the choir stalls in the chancel of Beaumaris Parish Church were brought from Llan-faes Friary at the dissolution of the monasteries is a tradition confirmed as probable by H. Harold Hughes in Archaeologia Cambrensis 85 (1930) p. 265. They have been partly restored; twelve original misericords survive. There are twenty misericords in all, eight of the present ones being replicas of eight original ones. A misericord is a slanting board on the underside of a choir-stall seat. The hinged seat can be folded back so that a person standing in the stall can rest against the misericord. The name, from the Latin word for "mercy," means that this half-seat provides merciful comfort for one engaged in the lengthy chants of a medieval choir. The Inventory describes the underseats of the misericords as "supported by angels carrying blank-shields and flanked on either side by human heads and busts bearing milk pails, barrels, sheaves of corn, etc.; c. 1500" (AMA 8).

In his article, "Screens, Lofts, and Stalls Situated in Wales and Monmouthshire (Part 2)," Fred H. Crossley, F.S.A., gives a fuller description of the misericord carvings: "The carved decoration in every case is a demi-angel, feathered, ascending out of clouds, with wings half-spread and holding a blank shield. There is a fillet round the head, and the hair is bunched out on either side. The main interest, however, is in the supporters carved as a series of busts, of both sexes, taken from life, showing head-gears, fashions in hair dressing, bearded and capped men, ecclesiastics in their miters, ladies in their wimples, and a number carrying upon their heads barrels, butter-tubs, sheaves of corn, etc. The stall fronts and ends have been much renewed. . . . These are all to one design, having a foliated ogee arch with grid tracery above in four lights. The whole of the work in spite of much repair and reproduction is thoroughly interesting and good" AC 98 (1944-45), p. 68. Charles R. Hand gives a numbered description of each of the heads or busts in the concluding section of his article, "The Chancel of Beaumaris Church," AC 79 (1924), pp. 373-80; his numbering, the opposite of mine, begins on the north side.

The identity of the craftsmen who made the carvings at Beaumaris has not been determined. Peter Smith observes that the building program launched by Edward I in 1282 had brought numerous craftsmen to North Wales from England. Those who settled in Wales, together with native workers, would have formed a local body of skilled carpenters (HWC 104). Elsewhere he notes that some decorative work found in buildings of the region appears to have been the work of itinerant master-craftsmen (HWC 499, 503). His findings indicate that the Franciscans of Llanfaes could have commissioned either local carpenters or itinerant artisans who were active in the area to fashion the misericord carvings.

These portraits in wood are a gallery representive of society, on the order of Chaucer's nine and twenty pilgrims. The faces are vividly expressive, like those of the array of fifteenth-century wooden statues in York Cathedral representing the rulers of England. While they may be typical rather than individual or historical, the figures have authentic detail. In this especially do they resemble the praise poems of Guto'r Glyn. Like Chaucer's General Prologue, both Guto's poems and the Beaumaris misericord carvings reflect a whole world, differentiating individuals by role and function, while implying through their pairings and groupings a society's complex balance. Old and young alike are animated, and the working men and women present themselves with as much gusto and dignity as the nobility, as if to make the point that carrying a sheaf of grain on one's head rivals wearing a crown.

Numbering from the stall nearest the altar on the south side of the chancel, around the bend in the stalls and continuing to the stall nearest the altar on the north side of the chancel, the following are the subjects depicted on the misericords, the first in each pair being the head on the left as shown in a photograph, the second the head on the right; numbers in brackets identify the eight misericords with modern replicas of the same subjects; nos. 3, 7, 13, and 19 are originals without a matching replica.

Misericord 1 [11]:

L A woman wearing a large crown, in a full veil, hood, and wimple.

R A clean-shaven man wearing a wide high cap with a jewel at the front, his robe fastened by a large jeweled brooch.

Misericord 1 represents a man and woman of high rank. The man's jeweled cap is a version of a cap shown in contemporary paintings of the fifteenth century to have been worn by rulers such as the Duke of Burgundy or the Duke of Urbino. The man's features bespeak authority. One is reminded of Richard, Duke of York, and his son Edward, who succeeded him as Duke of York and was later crowned King Edward IV. In a poem of tribute and counsel to Edward IV, Guto'r Glyn adds the title of "emperor" to the king's honors: "You were honored by eight kings,/ you're emperor of all in battle,/ the schoolmaster of France and Germany/ who'd chastise York and Spain" (GGG 59.25-8; translated in MWP 91.25-8). In a poem addressed to Ann, Countess of Pembroke (GGG 52), who fostered the young Henry Tudor, Guto'r Glyn associates Ann with St. Helen, mother of the Emperor Constantine. Misericord 1 depicts such persons of imperial bearing and aspiration.

Misericord 2 [12]:

L A man wearing the triple crown or tiara of the papacy; he has a full beard and moustache, with hair bunched at the sides covering his ears.

R A clean-shaven man with hair bunched at the sides, wearing a large crown with raised center.

Misericord 2 shows a bearded pope and a youthful clean-shaven man wearing a crown, his hair bunched over his ears. The bunched hair at the sides of the head appears in many of the carvings on the Beaumaris misericords; it is worn by the angels at the center of each composition. This is the style worn by the Squire in the Ellesmere miniatures of Chaucer's pilgrims and was evidently popular in the early fifteenth century. Do the figures in this misericord depict a pope of that time paired with King Henry V, renowned for youthful valor and piety?

Misericord 3:

L A man shown in three-quarter view, hair drawn back off his ear, with a long moustache and beard, wearing a cap folded to a long braided end that falls to his right.

R A woman with long hair flowing over her shoulders, with a chaplet or crown of roses on her head, wearing a necklace with a large round pendant.

Misericord 3 depicts a noble man and woman, the man's look of assertive command and the woman's elegance conveying the militancy and grace attributed by Guto'r Glyn to aristocratic patrons.

Misericord 4. Replica of 14.

Misericord 5 [15]:

L A young man, clean shaven, without headwear, having short tightly curled hair, not covering the ears.

R A young woman with her hair wound into a large bun on either side, covering the ears, topped by a turban wider than her trussed hair, her chin and neck unveiled, and wearing a gown with a low open collar.

Misericord 5 is of a younger noble couple, the man bareheaded but with his hair in tight curls (like Chaucer's Squire, "with lokkes crulle as they were leyd in presse"). The woman has a spectacular style, smart and bold, with open neck.

Misericord 6. Replica of 20.

Misericord 7:

L A bearded man in a cowl, wearing a turban over the hood, its end folded under at his forehead.

R A man with hair thickly bunched, just covering his ears, with a long moustache and beard, wearing a turban on which he carries a tied sack.

Misericord 7 is of two men of substance, perhaps merchants or middle-class traders. The first wears a cowl that may indicate he is on pilgrimage. The second carries a sack of goods on his head.

Misericord 8 [17]:

L A mature bearded monk or cleric, with tonsure.

R A young beardless monk or cleric, also tonsured.

Misericord 8 shows two monks or clerics, with tonsure, the first with full beard, the second shaven. The strong features and buoyant spirit accord with Guto'r Glyn's praise for monks who gave him their patronage, like the abbots of Strata Florida and Valle Crucis.

Misericord 9. Replica of 16.

Misericord 10. Replica of 18.

Misericord 11. Replica of 1.

Misericord 12. Replica of 2.

Misericord 13:

L A woman carrying on her head two mugs held together by a rope, wearing a low-necked dress buttoned down the front.

R A woman in a low-necked gown with her head draped and carrying a bound sheaf on her head.

Misericord 13 is of two working women. The first carries mugs on her head, suggesting that she works in a tavern or kitchen. The second carries a sheaf of harvested stalks of grain.

Misericord 14 [4]:

L A man having a long full head of hair, with moustache and beard.

R A man with his hair cut so as to show his ears, having a moustache and beard, and wearing a cap with a tippet or trailing end falling to his right.

Misericord 14 shows two laymen, the first with full beard and long hair, but no headwear, the second wearing a cap often shown in fifteenth-century male portraits. They evince vigor and accomplishment.

Misericord 15. Replica of 5.

Misericord 16 [9]:

L A woman wearing a simple veil, with an open collar on her gown.

R Another veiled woman, this one wearing a fuller veil over her head and shoulders and with a wimple covering her chin, neck and breast.

Misericord 16 is of two veiled women, perhaps nuns, the first with open collar, the second with a full wimple. Their expressions are alert and poised, but not inhibited. Nuns had training in the arts and cultivated manners, accomplishments shared by several women Guto'r Glyn praises, such as Jane, the wife of Geoffrey Cyffin, Gwenhwyfar of Chirk, and Countess Ann of Raglan.

Misericord 17. Replica of 8.

Misericord 18 [10]:

L A bishop or abbot, clean-shaven, wearing mitre and vestment.

R A tonsured priest, clean-shaven, wearing collar and vestment.

Misericord 18 shows a mitered bishop and a tonsured and vested priest.

Misericord 19:

L Woman carrying a pail, perhaps a milk pail, on her draped head.

R Man with moustache and beard wearing a hood and carrying a barrel on his head.

Misericord 19 shows a working pair, a woman and a man who may be meant to represent proprietors of a tavern. She carries what appears to be a milk pail on her head, he carries a barrel or small cask on his.

Misericord 20 [6]:

L Bald man with prominent cheekbones, large ears, and moustache and beard.

R Man with long hair and moustache and beard.

Misericord 20 shows two men without distinctive dress or gear but with striking features. The first is a bald man with high cheekbones, large ears, and a full moustache and beard. His expression is calm and powerful. The second man has a full head of curly hair, with long moustache and beard. His face radiates energy.