"A
Ryng of Gold, Garnished with a fayr Rubie, somtyme Yeven unto Us by our
Bel Oncle the Cardinal of Englande, with the which we were Sacred in
the Day of oure Coronation at Parys, delivered unto Mathew Phelip, to
Breke, and thereof to make an other Ryng for the Quenes Wedding Ring."
There
is no mention here of any engraving on the stone of this ring, which
had been used in 1431, when Henry VI was crowned in Paris. If the
spinel in the Marlborough Collection, engraved with a head somewhat
resembling that of Henry VI on his coins, really adorned this ring, the
engraving may have been executed subsequent to Henry's marriage with
the unfortunate Margaret of Anjou.
Rings
set with precious stones were given as prizes at the tournament held by
Henry VII of England in 1494. The prize for jousting was to be a ruby
ring, while the best in the tourney and the one delivering the most
telling strokes was to be rewarded with a diamond ring. The Earl of
Suffolk, Thomas Brandon, who later married King Henry's daughter
Margaret, after the death of her first husband Louis XII of France, was
successful in gaining one of the ruby rings, bestowed upon him by the "
Ladie Margaret," his future wife, and Sir Edward A. Borough fought so
stoutly in the mêlée that he was adjudged worthy of a diamond ring. An
extra prize of an emerald ring was given to the Earl of Essex for his
valor.39
In
1681 the Duke of Norfolk presented to the College of Arms in London
the sword, dagger, and ring worn by James IV of Scotland (1473-1513) at
the battle of Flodden Field, fought August 22, 1513, in
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