Bishop Grosseteste University
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 Civic heraldry of the United Kingdom |
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BISHOP GROSSETESTE UNIVERSITY
Country: United Kingdom
Campus/location : Lincoln
Official blazon
Azure, a bend ermine; over all on a cross moline Or a leopard's face gules jessant-de-lys vert.
Crest: On a wreath Or, azure and vert, A demi lion pean, the head gules, gorged with a collar gemel and supporting a crosier the head enclosing a cross moline square-pierced Or.
Motto: No omnia sibi habeat.
Origin/meaning
The arms were officially granted on June 26, 1969 to Bishop Grosseteste College.
The ‘bend ermine’, symbolizes Ermine Street, a powerful symbol of Lincoln’s geography and Roman history. The University buildings are sited upon the area occupied, in its day, by the house of the Commander of the 9th Legion.
The cross-moline is taken from the arms of Bishop Robert Grosseteste’s which include on the dexter side a cross-moline sable on an argent field. This device can be seen on the tomb of Robert Grosseteste in the south-east transept of Lincoln Cathedral. The arms of the cross are split to resemble a mill-rind.
The jessant-delys - a leopard’s face gules with a fleur-de-lys in the open mouth - is a component of the City of Lincoln’s coat of arms.
The crest is a demi-lion, probably reflecting the family crest of the Sibthorp family who had a relationship with the college in its early days. Sibthorp was Member of Parliament for the city of Lincoln. However, unlike the Sibthorp demi-lion holding a fleur-de-lys, our demi-lion is holding symbolically a Bishop’s crozier facing outwards.
The motto, NE OMNIA SIBI HABEAT, could be taken as a play on the Sibthorp name. However, it translates as:- LEST HE SHOULD HAVE ALL THINGS UNTO HIMSELF or, in more colloquial English:- DON’T KEEP IT ALL TO YOURSELF.
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© since 1995, Heraldry of the World, Ralf Hartemink 
Index of the site
Literature: Image and information from a Bishop Grosseteste University promotional leaflet.