The Language and Meaning of the College Motto:
‘Manners makyth man’ is the motto of both the institutions founded by William of Wykeham, New College and Winchester College. Although no contemporary record attests to this, it is often thought that Wykeham devised it himself and appended it to his coat of arms.1 We do not know when he first used either the arms or the motto, but his seal as Archdeacon of Lincoln displays the arms and he was appointed to this position in 1361. Neither is likely to predate his rise to prominence as Clerk of Works and Surveyor to Edward III in the late 1350s, and the motto, if indeed composed by him as a motto, cannot predate the arms. In English heraldry, however, mottoes are personal, they do not normally form part of a grant of arms, and their use with the coat is accordingly optional. The absence of the motto from the seal does not,therefore, necessarily indicate that the motto had not yet been devised. In 1367,Wykeham was appointed Bishop of Winchester, by virtue of which he also became Chaplain to The Order of the Garter at Windsor and entitled to the use of the famous motto, Honi soi qui mal y pense. He could hardly have felt a need to add to this a superfluous one of his own with which to clutter his arms. We may accordingly date Wykeham’s creation of his motto most probably to the period between the late-1350s and 1367.
They certainly do. That is the first thing I notice in a man-manners. It’s so attractive!
I presume you mean good manners are attractive
I do know of a fellow who (my bloggish experiences suggest) might read an awful lot into that image…
I wonder if he will comment?
Any such person would need to read the text on the panels for an explanation of the symbolism
Ah, but read into texts (and images) many thing that other do not see, perhaps.
It has been known, dear lady, and at times even by noble me…
Ah yes dear sir, we know what we know
lovely opening shot. i liked the colours of the flowing robes
It is an intriguing picture
So what’s that half-wildboar half-man creature called?
Before Manners make Man?
Why is he holding a broom, a rake, an abacus and a spade?
It does try to explain all of that in the right hand panel