File:Medieval seal matrix, John de Brokas, brid in tree (FindID 432345).jpg

English: Medieval cast copper alloy seal matrix, 14th century. Hexagonal handle with sub-circular suspension loop (internal diameter 3.1mm). Circular matrix with central device of a shield bearing a tree with four branches with a bird facing left in the top right branch (in impression); inner and outer beaded circles; inscription S':IOhIS:DE:BROKAS. Length 23.5mm, diameter 21.5mm, weight 11.38g.

This appears to be the seal of Sir John Brocas, Master of the King's Horse under Edward III, who was born c.1293 or 1298 and died in 1365 or 1377. He had land in Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent and was the Warden of Nottingham Gaol from 1336 to 1344. See <a href="http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/jbrocas.html">http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/jbrocas.html</a> for more information about him.

Montagu Burrows' "The Family of Brocas of Beaurepaire and Roche Court Hereditary Masters of the Royal Buckhounds" (1886, London) (see <a href="https://archive.org/stream/familyofbrocasof00burruoft/familyofbrocasof00burruoft_djvu.txt">https://archive.org/stream/familyofbrocasof00burruoft/familyofbrocasof00burruoft_djvu.txt</a>) notes that the prefix 'de' was sometimes dropped in the first generation (that of Sir John) of the de Brocas family in England, often dropped in the second generation and lost in the 3rd generation. This lists Brokas as a variant spelling of the name.

The arms of the Brocas family are more usually, however, Sable a lion rampant Or, and these were the arms borne by Sir John. The arms borne by his grandson, however, another John (born c. 1351) are unrecorded.