View the Manuscript: Part 3
This section continues the British and French lines of descent and the histories of the Saxon kingdoms through the reigns of Cadwallo for the British, Alfred for the Saxons, and Rollo for the Normans. Arthur appears in the line of British Kings (green box in one of the rows near the round map).
The diagrammatic map of the seven Saxon kingdoms in the shape of a rose suggest that even those ancient kingdoms were a foreshadowing of the Yorkist dynasty.
The gold-letter text is from Luke 4,30, "[Jesus] autem transiens per medium illorum ibat." (But Jesus, passing through the middle of them, went his way"). It refers to Christ's safe passage through a group of hostile Pharisees who had sought his destruction. Its placement between the banners of the Cinque Ports (the port towns of southeastern England) and Calais would evoke memories of Edward's flight to Calais in 1459 and his return in summer 1460 and would suggest that Edward's flight and triumphal return were preordained.
A series of seven charming miniature half-portraits introduces the second section of the manuscript, which presents Edward's descent from seven ancient lines. On the left the armored prince of Wales is in conversation with the green-robed Duke of Cornwall; the blue-robed King of France strokes his beard while the red-robed King of England holds orb and scepter, followed in order by the king of Castile (in purple now faded to mauve), the duke of Aquitaine in green again, and the duke of Normandy in fashionable black armor.
The genealogy resumes again with lines of descent beginning with Cadwallo for Britain (green boxes on the left); Obertus in the white boxes, leading to William Marshal and the incorporation of the Clare line, Radalphus of France in blue; King Alfred, representing a unified Saxon England, in yellow; and Rollo of Normandy in red. Because of some graphic devices used by the creators of this document to create space for additional lines of descent, it is not possible to "read across" to find contemporaries.
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