Fragile Lords: Gender, Gentility and Coats of Arms in English Domestic Stained Glass, c.1450-1560

This is an analysis of domestic armorial stained glass commissioned by a group of families who
might be classed within the late medieval English “gentry”. The project utilises five existing case
studies of armorial glass, three in-situ and two in museum collections, to examine the ways
individuals within these families fashioned aspects of their gender and social status. As the first,
extended study to cover late medieval domestic glazing, the thesis begins in 1450 with the
earliest comprehensively surviving example of domestic glass. It finishes around 1560 when
restrictions on the use of coats of arms became unprecedentedly stringent. The case studies are
chosen either for their preservation in-situ or their survival in museum collections. Where
possible, the analysis reconstructs these latter examples to augment an appreciation of their
original spatial meanings. The analysis adopts an interdisciplinary approach to assess the
meanings and perceptions of domestic glazing, probing the meanings of language as well as the
surviving glass itself. To explore the case studies, the thesis explores contemporary descriptions
of domestic glazing and accounts books. However, due to the general lack of useful primary
evidence relating to houses, the analysis supplements this with evidence from ecclesiastical
glazing - such as wills, preliminary sketches and glazing contracts. As a relatively untapped
source of evidence, domestic armorial glass provides further insights into scholarly debates on
expressions of male gentry identity and masculinity, the role and autonomy of women in artistic
commissions, the pliable status of coats of arms as a visual system during this period and the
function of windows and their suitability for expressing certain social ties.