Rosaries were in use from the 13th century. They came in many different forms, with various ways of saying the 'Hail Mary' ( Ave Maria) and 'Our Father' (Paternoster) prayers. Their form, and the order in which the prayers were said, became standardised during the 15th century. The Langdale rosary dates from around 1500 and is the only medieval English rosary to have survived the Reformation. It is also one of the few medieval rosaries in Europe to be made of gold. The gold is enamelled. The rosary consists of 50 oval 'Ave' beads, 6 lozenge-shaped 'Paternoster' beads and a large rounded knop (knob). Each bead is engraved with two saints or scenes, with the titles written around the edges in black letter.
During the Reformation, rosaries, as part of the cult of the Virgin Mary, were frowned upon. Opposition to the Reformation in England was fiercest in remote places like Cornwall and the north of England, but it is rare for tangible evidence such as this rosary to survive.
It is exceptional to be able to link such evidence to individuals.This rosary was owned from the 17th century until 1934 by an old Roman Catholic family, the Langdales of Houghton Hall in Yorkshire. It is thought that it may once have belonged to Lord William Howard (1564-1640), third son of Thomas, 4th Duke of Norfolk (1536-1572). The Duke, a devout Roman Catholic and an ancestor of the Langdales, was attainted for treason and beheaded in 1572. The rosary has two extra beads, added around 1600. They depict three St Williams - of Norwich, of Rochester and of Maleval - and St Endellion, a little known Cornish saint. This choice of saints points to a link with Howard's friend, Nicholas Roscarrock (about 1584-1634), a Cornish Catholic and author of Lives of the Saints. Roscarrock's book includes a life of St Endellion. It seems likely that the rosary was owned by Lord William Howard and modified under his patronage, because it depicts several of his name saints as well as the saint dear to Roscarrock. Modifying the rosary would have been quite simple since medieval rosaries varied greatly and could have any number of beads.