This demi culverin, cast in 1537 by Robert and John Owen, bears the inscription HENRICVS OCTAVVS DEI GRACIA ANGLIE ET FRANCIE REX FIDEI DEFENSOR DÑS HIBERNIE ET IN TERRA SVPREMV CAPVT ECCLESIE ANGLICANE – ‘Henry VIII, by the Grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, and in Earth of the English Church Supreme Head’
Four of the ten bronze guns recovered from the Mary Rose wreck site were decorated with lion’s head “dolphins” – the term used for the lifting lugs which were used for manoeuvring the guns on and off their carriages because they were often ‘fish like’ in appearance, although that is clearly not the case here!
The lion has been used in English heraldry since the reign of Richard I, better known as Richard the Lionheart. Officially adopted in the English coat of arms in 1200, the lion represents courage, nobility, royalty, strength and valour.
