Stall-Plates of the Knights of the Garter

Contents

Introduction

This catalogue is taken from Edmund Horace Fellowes: The Knights of the Garter, 1348-1939. With a complete list of the stall-plates in St. George's chapel; London, Published for the dean and canons of St. George's chapel in Windsor castle by the Society for promoting Christian knowledge, 1939.

St. George's chapel is the home of the Order of the Garter.  The stalls that line the walls of the 14th c. choir are reserved for the knights of the order.  Each of the 26 knights is assigned to a stall.  By tradition, the knight's banner hangs above the stall, and his crest and mantling are placed on top of the helm surmounting the stall's canopy.  At the knight's death banner, crest and mantling are taken away.  However, a small brass plate enameled with his arms is also affixed to the stall, and remains in perpetuity (in principle).

At present, the oldest plates still in place date from the late 14th c.  Many of the plates representing the early knights date from later periods.

The number of knights was originally 26, and accordingly the stalls were numbered from 1 (Sovereign's stall) to 26, with the odd numbers on the south side and the even numbers on the north side (that is the system used in earlier reference works such as Ashmole and Joseph Pote, 1749). In the 19th century, with the admission of foreign knights and Princes of the Blood Royal, the number of stalls in use increased. Fellowes decided to number the stalls on each side, S1 to S27 on the south side and N1 to N27 on the north side. The older number, when applicable, is between parentheses.  The dates are those of investiture or installation, unless followed by el, in which case they are the date of election.

Originally a knight was assigned to a stall and remained there. Starting in the 16th century, knights changed stalls based on seniority as vacencies opened among better-positioned stalls. Up to the early 16th c., documents exist that list the succession of knights for each stall. Fellowes publishes that list.

The next section lists the knights for which no plate is found in the chapel. In most cases this results from the fact that they were never installed (during the Commonwealth period, for example, or during George III's madness). In other cases, the plates simply went missing. Finally, Fellowes lists the Ladies of the Garter.

Note: The text is pretty much as it stands in Fellowes' 1939 publication (I have omitted references to Pope's publication.) It contains a number of errors. Corrections are made to the separate chronological list of Knights of the Garter.

Three knights are missing from Fellowes' list: number 289 (William Blunt, Lord Mountjoy), number 294 (Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland), and number 631 (George Legge, earl of Dartmouth).

On the chapel, see also:

South Side

The Sovereign's Stall (1)

No plates

Stall S2

Stall S3 (3)

Stall S4

Supernumerary Stall on the Screen

Stall S5 (5)

Stall S6

Stall S7 (7)

Stall S8

Stall S9 (9)

Stall S10

Stall S11 (11)

See a detail of this stall.

Stall S12

Stall S13 (13)

Stall S14

Stall S15 (15)

Stall S16

Stall S17 (17)

Stall S18

Stall S19 (19)

Stall S20

Stall S21 (21)

Stall S22

Stall S23 (23)

Stall S24

Stall S25 (25)

Stall S26

Stall S27

North Side

The Prince's Stall (2)

Stall N2

Stall N3 (4)

Stall N4

Supernumerary Stall on the Screen

Stall N5 (6)

Stall N7 (8)

Stall N8

Stall N9 (10)

Stall N10

Stall N11 (12)

Stall N12

Stall N13 (14)

Stall N14

Stall N15

Stall N16

Stall N17 (18)

Stall N18

Stall N19 (20)

Stall N20

Stall N21 (22)

Stall N22

Stall N23 (24)

Stall N24

Stall N25

Stall N26

Stall N27

Stalls of the Earlier Knights

These lists show the succession of the knights from 1348 to 1509 in each stall.  The dates are those of election, since rarely are investitures and installation dates known.  When a knight was transferred to a different stall, the original date of election is between square brackets.  Those knights whose plates are still in the stall are marked with a * (113 out of 264).  The stalls are numbered the old way, with Fellowes' numbering between parentheses.

The Sovereign's Stall 1 (S.1)

No plates

Stall 2 (N.1)

Stall 3 (S.3)

Stall 4 (N.3)

Stall 5 (S.5)

Stall 6 (N. 5)

Stall 7 (S.7)

Stall 8 (N.)

Stall 9 (S.9)

Stall 10 (N.9)

Stall 11 (S. 11)

Stall 12 (N. 11)

Stall 13 (S.13)

Stall 14 (N.13)

Stall 15 (S.15)

Stall 16 (N.15)

Stall 17 (S.17)

Stall 18 (N.17)

Stall 19 (S. 19)

Stall 20 (N.19)

Stall 21 (S.21)

Stall 22 (N. 21)

Stall 23 (S.23)

Stall 24 (N.23)

Stall 25 (S.25)

Stall 26 (N.25)

Later Knights without Stall-Plates

Reign of Henry VIII

Reign of Edward VI

Reign of Philip and Mary I

Reign of Elizabeth I

Reign of James I

Reign of Charles I

Reign of Charles II

Reign of James II

Reign of George II

Reign of George III

Ladies of the Garter