From 1462 until her death in 1478 Margaret, Lady Hungerford and Botreaux, chose a striking image through which to denote her authority. On her seal a woman kneels, surrounded by flowers and foliage. To her right a lion rampant holds a standard bearing the arms of her late husband, while to her left a griffin displays those of her father. A now indistinct scroll encircling the kneeling figure seems to have borne Margaret's motto, ‘Myne trouth assured’ and her head is bowed, as she looks down at the pages of a book open upon her lap (see plate 1). As an image it is richly suggestive, if ambiguous. What is it intended to convey to those who encountered it as a public statement? What is the attitude of the woman towards the book – reverential, or proprietorial? What kind of text is it meant to contain, and in what language?

The posture of the woman recalls contemporary Continental representations of the Virgin of Humility, in which Mary sits or kneels in a garden, surrounded by flowers symbolising her various attributes. The presence of the book is reminiscent of Annunciation scenes in which the Virgin is shown at her devotions, although by the fifteenth century other female saints, such as Mary Magdalene and Barbara, could be depicted in similar positions of humility, again holding, or reading, an open book.