The Armour Archive

Hi AA, this is my first post, though I am a long time lurker.

I've been in the SCA for just over a year now and interested in history and armor since I was a kid. Recently I've become fascinated with a brass etching of Roger Grey Lord Ruthyn, found in the St Mary the Virgin Church in Elsing.

http://www.themcs.org/churches/Elsing%20St%20Mary%20the%20Virgin.html

A better close-up of the brass can be found here.

http://www.themcs.org/armour/knights/2006%20MCS%20Elsing%20St%20Mary%20the%20Virgin%20Roger%20Grey%20Lord%20Ruthyn%201340%2077.jpg

Something that has been bothering me lately are the rings and lines across his chest. By the curve of the stomach area I assume he's wearing some form of globose breastplate, but the rings and lines on the chest area vex me. The rest of the brasses surrounding him seem to be wearing jupons/surcoats over their armor with their heraldry, but his is different, and I don’t know if it was just design on fabric, or some form of ring and strap system. He's also unique because he's seen with a long axe, and to my knowledge he's one of the only ones I've seen with such a weapon in effigy. His head is uncovered as well, and he wears neither chain nor helm, and appears to only have a chain mantle while all those around him are helmed or crowned.

I've tried to research his history and I’ve come up short, the only snippets I've found so far are from 'Plantagenet ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham'

You can see the excerpt here that I was reading:
http://books.google.com/books?id=p_yzpuWi4sgC&pg=PA619&lpg=PA619&dq=plantagenet+genealogy+roger+grey&source=bl&ots=RQBO6Q0678&sig=IJcxkGcIvwIP9sWE4alO6io5uP4&hl=en&ei=k_ZVTYbgIYaKlwfzm_WeBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=plantagenet%20genealogy%20roger%20grey&f=false

I was told it may be his heraldry, but if it is his heraldry, which is shown here:

http://www.nortonfamily.net/images/arms-grey-deruthin.gif

What are the bars coming down from the rings?

Any help on this would be appreciated. I'm looking for a suit of armor to recreate for the Deed, and my eyes keep coming back to this brass, so if I can recreate it and do so well, I would like to know what I’m looking at.

It Is his Heraldry, and the bars are a Label, indicating that he is the Heir to the line, not the head of it. ie He died before his father.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Label_(heraldry)


The rough striations on his torso indicate that the whole was inlaid or enameled in coloured material to display his heraldry.

The silhouette isnt that of a globose breastplate IMO, it's just the style of the time for bendy torsos in art. I think the armour is more likely an armoured surcote over mail, with a jupon overall.

After seeing the evidence I would agree, it looks exactly like that. Thanks! learned something new!