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THE HERALDRY OF YORK MINSTER.
THE FURNIVALS.
There is one other similar coat which I must mention before leaving the
subject of the bend, and that is on the sixth window east on the south side
of the nave :
Argent a bend between six martlets gules Furnival.*
Gerard de Furnival came into England from Normandy (says Burke) ;
and Powell, in his History of Wales, tells us that N. de Furnival, with
Bartholomew Mortimer, Roger de Lacy, and others, accompanied Richard I.
and fought with him in the Holy Land. His grandson, Thomas, went there
on a pilgrimage, and was slain by the Saracens, and his body brought back
and buried at Worksop.
Another, Thomas de Furnival, had summons, 22nd Edward I., to
attend the King and advise on the affairs of the realm, and having done so,
was despatched, with a full equipment of horse and arms, on an expedition
to France. In June, 1295, he was summoned as a baron, and in 1300 we
find him mentioned amongst the knights at the siege of Caerlavrock. The
chronicler quaintly describes him thus " : With them marched the handsome
" Thomas de Furnival, who (when seated on horseback) does not resemble
" a man asleep. He bore six martletts and a red bend in a white banner."
He was one of those who " sealed " the letter to Pope Boniface in February,
1301, in which he is styled "Lord of Sheffield." In the ;th and 8th of
Edward II. he again served in Scotland. His name appears amongst those
summoned to Parliament from 23rd Edward I., 1295, to 6th of Edward III.,
1332, i.e. 37 years. He died Feb. 3rd, 1332, aged 70.
Conspicuous as he evidently was, from his quaint sobriquet, in the
field, he was even more remarkable for the important benefits which he
conferred upon his dependants at home. At Sheffield he was long remembered
as "the great grantor," for he emancipated his tenants from their
vassalage ; he established a regular municipal court, with trial
by jury ;
and instituted a market and fair in his demesnes. In these quiet times
we can very little estimate the inestimable blessing of such wise, liberal, and
truly beneficent conduct, in those turbulent days of violence and oppression.
His record is that of the truly brave and strong, who is daunted by no
dangers, and dares to protect and strengthen the weak, and maintain peace,
justice, and purity
around them.
He married first Joan, daughter of Hugh le Despencer, and secondly
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Peter de Montfort, of Beaudesert Castle, Warwickshire,
and was succeeded by his son Thomas, created a baron during his
father's lifetime, and styled "Thomas de Furnival, junior."
He had also three daughters Maud, wife of John, Baron Marmion ;
Katherine, who married William de Thweng ; and Eleanor, the wife of
Peter, Baron de Mauley. * See coloured illustration.