England
Coke–Villiers of Purbeck — Frances Coke, Viscountess Purbeck, marital impalement
- Family / house
- Coke; Cecil; Villiers
- Family / cadet branch
- Coke–Villiers of Purbeck; collateral issue of Elizabeth Cecil
- Armiger / bearer
- Frances Coke, Viscountess Purbeck, and John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck
- Entity type
- cadet_branch
- Social rank / class
- peer
- Heraldic authority
- Peerage and early Stuart biographical record
- Record basis
- recording
- Issued / first recorded
- 1617
- Until / superseded
- 1645
- Historical period
- Early Stuart England
- Blazon
- John Villiers: Argent, on a cross Gules five escallops Or, impaling Frances Coke's paternal Coke achievement, Quarterly: 1st, per pale Gules and Azure, three eagles displayed Argent; 2nd, Argent, a chevron Azure between three chaplets Gules; 3rd, Sable, a chevron Argent between two covered cups Or; 4th, Gules crusily fitchy, a griffin segreant Or.
- Plain-English description
- The Villiers arms—a silver shield with a red cross carrying five gold scallop shells—are joined to the quartered Coke arms of Frances's father. Through Frances, this is a direct marital continuation of Elizabeth Cecil's Coke collateral line.
- Tinctures
- Argent; Gules; Or; Azure; Sable
- Charges / ordinaries
- cross; escallop shells; eagles displayed; chevron; chaplets; covered cups; griffin segreant; crusils fitchy
- Difference / variant
- Marital impalement created by Frances Coke's marriage to John Villiers in 1617. The relationship later became genealogically controversial because of the disputed status of their son Robert.
- Source reference
- Frances Coke biography
- Source
- Open source
Genealogical context
- Father
- Sir Edward Coke
- Mother
- Elizabeth Cecil, Lady Hatton
- Spouse(s)
- John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck
- Children / next generation
- Robert Danvers, alias Wright, Howard and Villiers
Documented depiction
Notes / sources
The impalement is a reconstructed marital form from the documented arms of each spouse. No directly located surviving panel or monument image has yet been tied specifically to Frances Coke and John Villiers.