Coat of Arms of Saint Wilfrid Archbishop of YorkThis coat of arms has been regarded, at least since the fifteenth century, as those of St. Wilfrid one time archbishop of York. It is not easy to say just why it was assigned to him, perhaps; however, it is more than fancy which sees in this reticulated charge some suggestion of a fishing-net. For St. Wilfrid was not only a great fisher of men. The tale of how in the days of his banishment he showed the starving Sussex folk the plenteous store of food that the sea held for them is well known. Perhaps too in the seven sharp summits of the lozenges of his shield there may be a hint of our saint’s devotion to the See of Rome, as if those points referred to the seven hills of the eternal city.
