Sir Henry Guildford

Sir Henry Guildford 1489 - 1532

Over the last month or so I have been putting together a unit of Yeomen of the Guard ; being a key point of interest in the army it has taken me a while thus far but I'm more than half way. So as something of a WIP and also a moment to give some background to their Captain I present to you Sir Henry Guildford.

Guildford was appointed Captain of the YOTG in 1512 and held the post for a year - the crucial bit was nailing exactly when he passed his captaincy but eventually I learned that it was after the campaign so he was my man. Being a prominent and loyal courtier to Henry his promotion to Captain followed naturally from a combination of his connections, deeds and personal appeal - he was also a member of the King's Spears and was appointed as standard bearer to the king immediately prior to embarkation. He served in the middle

ward alongside the King.

I took some inspiration from the above Holbein portrait of Guildford which though dating from 1527 captures something of the grandeur and presence of the man. In place of the dark fur lined coat in the Holbein portrait (and typical of most Tudor nobles) I decided to paint a richly decorative coat of red damask and cloth of gold, the pattern for which is loosely based upon this renaissance portrait;

The accompanying Yeomen which Guildford will be based among are all wearing green and white livery so i'm hoping that this should also help him stand out a bit.

The figure is a Wargames Foundry Landsknecht command figure with the addition of a warhammer from the Perry men at arms boxed set.