Roger Machado ( Portuguese: ''Rogério Machado''; died 6 May 1510) was an English

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and

officer of arms An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: * to control and initiate armorial matters; * to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state; * to conserve ...

of Portuguese extraction. He lived among the Portuguese merchants at

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

in 1455.

Early heraldic career

The first reference to Machado's heraldic activities is as Leicester Herald on missions to the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

in 1478 and 1480. As Leicester he also participated in

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

's funeral in April 1483. Although an inventory of his household goods in 1484 shows that he was living a comfortable married life, his failure to pay debts forced him to flee the country. Thus in 1484—the year of the incorporation of the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

—Machado was importing wine from Spain. From January 1485 Machado took part in various missions abroad in the service of the

Marquess of Dorset The title Marquess of Dorset has been created three times in the Peerage of England. It was first created in 1397 for John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, but he lost the title two years later. It was then created in 1442 for Edmund Beaufort, 1s ...

. These were most likely missions to help the exiled Henry Tudor. Just before the

Battle of Bosworth Field The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of House of Lancaster, Lancaster and House of York, York that extended across England in the latter half ...

, Henry made him his own personal officer of arms as

Richmond Herald Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms of the College of Arms in England. From 1421 to 1485, Richmond was a herald to John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, and Henry, Earl of Richmond, ...

. Machado came over to England with Henry and on 21 September, as Richmond Herald, was appointed searcher of customs at Southampton. By the end of October he had been appointed Richmond King of Arms. On Christmas Day he was promoted to

Norroy King of Arms Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is the provincial King of Arms at the College of Arms with jurisdiction over England north of the River Trent, Trent and Northern Ireland. The two offices of Norroy and Ulster were formerly separate. Norroy King of ...

even though the present incumbent officer, John Moore, continued in that office until his death in 1491. On 24 January 1494 Machado was appointed

Clarenceux King of Arms Clarenceux King of Arms, historically often spelled Clarencieux (both pronounced ), is an Officer of Arms, officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial King of Arms, kings of arms and his juri ...

Later heraldic career

In June 1498, Machado and John Writhe,

Garter King of Arms Garter Principal King of Arms (also Garter King of Arms or simply Garter) is the senior king of arms and officer of arms of the College of Arms, the heraldic authority with jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The position ha ...

, were granted a joint licence to make visitations. There is no evidence that they or their deputies undertook these journeys. Machado wished to concentrate on his trading activities and diplomatic missions rather than on his heraldic duties. In 1505, the king offered Machado the office of Garter King of Arms, but he declined on the grounds that he was too old and weak. Machado also handed over to Thomas Writhe, the new Garter, many of the duties of Clarenceux. In January 1509 the two formalised an agreement where Machado handing over substantial powers as Clarenceux in return for a payment of £4 a year from Garter Writhe.

Diplomatic career

In spite of his long heraldic career, Machado is best remembered as an accomplished

. He was involved in numerous missions and many were of a highly sensitive nature. He described three of these missions in his journal. The first was to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in 1488 and 1489 and the other two were both to

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in 1490 when he took a much larger part in the negotiations. In August 1494 he was dispatched to the court of

Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His elder sister Anne acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Du ...

to discuss Charles's offer of aid to Henry should the emperor Maximilian support

Perkin Warbeck Perkin Warbeck ( – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, would ...

's claim to the English throne. In 1495, 1496 and 1497 he again visited Charles. On the last occasion he may have had with him Warbeck's confession since he had been involved in the impostor's recent surrender. Machado is known to have spoken

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and Portuguese, and probably he also spoke

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. The

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

ese ambassador considered him wise, endowed with wit and discretion, a man who saw everything. He was clearly an old friend and faithful servant of Henry VII. In June 1483, Machado was described as late of Southampton and formerly of London. He died on 6 May 1510.

Arms

Notes

References

* *Walter H Godfrey and Sir

Anthony Wagner Sir Anthony Richard Wagner (6 September 1908 – 5 May 1995) was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as Garter Principal King of Arms before retiring to the post of Clarenceux King of Arms. He was one of ...

, ''The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street: being the sixteenth and final monograph of the London Survey Committee''. (London, 1963). *M. Jones, ''Les Ambassades de Roger Machado'', 147–60. *Sir Anthony Wagner. ''Heralds of England: a History of the Office and College of Arms''. (London, 1967). *B. André, ''Historia Regis Henrici Septimi'', (1858). *F. Madden, ''Documents Relating to Perkin Warbeck with Remarks on His History'', Archaeologia, 27 (1838), 153–210. *I. Arthurson, ''The Perkin Warbeck Conspiracy, 1491–1499''. (1994).

External links

The College of Arms
{{DEFAULTSORT:Machado, Roger 1510 deaths English officers of arms English genealogists Year of birth unknown 15th-century English diplomats English people of Portuguese descent People of the Tudor period