Coat of Arms of Jollan de Neville
Original link: Check the Original.
This is my recreation of the Coat of Arms of Jollan de Neville.
Jollan de Neville was born the younger son of Jollan de Neville in Rolleston in Nottinghamshire in 1187, decendant of Nevilles who were companions of William the Conquerer in 1066.
The name Neville (with all its variant spellings) comes from a town in Normandy where the family originated either "Neuville" in Calvados or "Neville" in Seine-Maritime both meaning "neu(f)" new, "ville", a settlement.
The family motto is (typically for heraldry of the time) a pun "Ne vile velis" translates as "Wish nothing base"
The coat of arms, which for most of the family appears as above without the rose, is constructed as:
Saltire - (St. Andrew's Cross) meaning Resolution
Silver or White (Argent) meaning Peace and sincerity
Red (Gules) meaning Warrior or martyr, Military strength and magnanimity
These characteristics are borne out by the familys martial history and their key role in negotiation and political manouvering to attain and maintain peace.
The addition of the rose to the coat of arms for Jollan de Neville is typical as a stylized form consisting of five symmetrical lobes, five barbs, and a circular seed. The rose in heraldry, often used as a charge or badge, has had many meanings in this case most likely refers to Jollans status as a younger son of the family.
Jollans mother was Amflicia de Rodliston. A Nottinghamshire manor (a feudum if you will) which she brought as dowry, was subsequently passed, through the hands of her elder son John to Jollan. Jollan possessed this feudum in the reign of Henry III after his elder brother John, who served for some time in Gascony, died in 1219.
Jollan was justice in eyre in Yorkshire and Northumberland variously between 1234 and 1241 and also superior justice, sitting at Westminster from 1241 until 1245. Despite his legal standing he was also in trouble at least once in his life being pardoned for some unknown offence against the king.
Jollan de Neville died in 1246 in Yorkshire, at which point his twenty-two year old son also called Jollan succeeded to his lands.
Jollan de Neville, an intelligent and educated man, was the author of 'Testa de Nevill,' an account of fees, serjeanties, widows and heiresses, and churches in the gift, of the king, escheats, and the sums paid for scutage and aid by each tenant. While this work deals with a period previous to 1250 one entry refers back as far as 1198, for which Jollan de Neville is unlikely to have been responsible. It is therefore very possible that the 'Testa de Nevill' was the work of more than one author. Jollan de Neville's father also called Jollan, who was, moreover, connected with the exchequer probably compiled the early entries. A portion of a copy made during the fourteenth century is still held in the Record Office.
The Neville family arrived in Britain in 1066 with Gilbert de Nevil, the companion in arms of William the Conqueror and also the Dukes Admiral as part of the Norman Conquest. The Nevilles remained a powerful family during the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century; Richard of Neville 16th Earl of Warwick carrying the name 'The Kingmaker' Richard was given this name due to his large part in putting Edward IV on the throne in 1461 and then deposing him in 1470 and then ... you get the picture ... Richard at his last was stuck from his horse and killed attempting to flee the field of battle at Barnet in 1471 following confusion in the literal fog of war as his own army attacked itself due to the poor visibility on the field. This returning Edward to the throne.
Kingmaker is my favorite board game with many good memories of a childhood evening planning strategies - the precursor to my interest in the genre of games that Feudums is part of. I still play occassionally. In Kingmaker Neville is one of the key families to control. This together with my families connection with Bosworth (where the War of the Roses ended dramatically in 1485) gave me the inspiration to recreate this particular coat of arms.
The inclusion of the rose charge in the center of the Neville coat of arms that is specific to Jollan de Neville (although not consistently used through his life) is obviously unconnected with the war of the roses (in which the rose emblems were only used widely in the final battle at Bosworth) as he died ~200 years before the war started but in the romantic part of my mind appears prophetic.
Thraxas