Assisted by Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely, the College was founded by the mysterious Fourth Baronet of Cambridge. His name has since been lost to time, if it were ever known. Indeed the College Charter, a contemporary document, fails to mention him by name, perhaps implying that King Henry VIII had deliberately decided to conceal his identity. Thus, the only available information on this man can be found in the arms of the College.
In the writings of Nicholas West, he notes that both he and the Fourth Baronet had petitioned the College of Arms to grant St Cedd’s an heraldic achievement. The resultant grant of arms states that the arms of the College are to be the escutcheon and supporters of the Baronet, with a mitre atop to honour the Bishop. Again, the Baronet’s name is suspiciously omitted.
However, the achievement itself with accompanying blazon yield several points of interest.
Arms: Per pale azure and sable, a phoenix vulning or, on a chief tenné, an estoile sable between two estoiles of five points or.
Helm: A Bishop’s Mitre (for West), azure and or.
Supporters: On either side, an Avatroid rampant argent.
Motto: Ձ-5 λ ϑ φ |ϒ λ φ
Firstly, the phoenix vulning is an uncommon charge, itself a combination of the phoenix, representing immortality, and the pelican vulning, a variation of the Christ-like imagery of the pelican in her piety – injuring her breast to feed her blood to her young. In the absence of the chicks, this phoenix does not appear to be sacrificing himself for anyone in particular. Rather, he seems to be bringing about his own death to trigger a rebirth.
Secondly, the rule of tincture is broken. The estoile sable upon the chief tenné perhaps points to an origin outside Western Europe, or a special occurrence leading to this violation.
Thirdly, the Avatroid supporters are utterly unique. Such a creature appears neither in known mythology nor in nature. Thus the Fourth Baronet, or an ancestor, may have been privy to mythological knowledge of an obscure or exotic culture. In addition, the granting of supporters indicates that either the Baronet or an ancestor had been in a monarch’s good graces.
Finally, the motto has yet to be translated into English. The inclusion of Greek letters, an Arabic numeral and various other symbols probably suggests that the motto is meaningless. However, this raises the questions of how and why this nonsense motto had arisen and remained in this form.