Bradbury Jim. The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare

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Jean Courtois, Sicily Herald for the King of Aragón, c.1420

Medieval armour 271

Heraldry

A–Z OF TERMS

Achievement, blazon, cadency, canting arms, charge, colours, crest, difference, field,

furs, herald, metals, motto, ordinaries, pursuivants, quartering, rebus, rolls of arms, shield

and its divisions, supporters, tinctures, visitations.

OUTLINE HISTORY

A complete history of heraldry would continue up to the present time showing its

continued influence. Heraldry was a medieval invention and the Middle Ages its great

time, when it was functional as well as decorative. It was essentially a military

development, although it soon had other applications.

The origins of heraldry are obscure and there are virtually no records on how and when

it began. Its probable line of development was from a fashion in decorating shields as one

felt inclined, to the identification of individuals who always used a specific shield

decoration, to the claim of such a design as exclusively the property of that individual and

his family.

The first source for heraldry is literary, where coats of arms are described in words.

Since the art of blazon was not developed these do not provide accurate information. The

second, and perhaps most important, source is the armorial on a personal seal. This is

usually an accurate source though for administrative not military purposes, and the use o

seals may post-date that of coats of arms. Seals are also monochrome, lacking

information on tinctures. The third source is manuscript illustrations, some in colour, but

with relevant material even later than from seals. Many illustrations also related to

fictional or pre-heraldic figures whose arms were invented.

A study of sources suggests some facts that can be accepted, but first we must

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distinguish between true heraldic arms and pre-heraldic. There are, for example,

decorated shields on the

Bayeux Tapestry

but they are not heraldic. Heraldic arms follow

certain rules of composition. To be heraldic there must be a hereditary element.

It is said that heraldic arms appear in the middle of the 12th century but we would

ropose a slightly earlier date. The earliest known arms show similarities between lateral

members of families (such as brothers). This could be due to lateral borrowing but it

seems more likely that the similar arms of brothers or cousins derived from a common

ancestor. So if in the second quarter of the 12th century we find lateral arms it seems

robable that the origin is a generation back, that is at the start of the 12th century. The

shields depicted in the

Stephen Harding Bible

of c.1109 would support this proposition.

They are not truly heraldic, portraying biblical and not contemporary figures, but they

seem to follow heraldic rules of composition. Recognisances were mentioned in a

chronicle source at Tinchebrai in 1106. John of Marmoutier recorded that Henry I gave

arms to his son-in-law Geoffrey of Anjou in 1128. This is often discredited as written

later but may be confirmed by the enamel of Geoffrey at Le Mans, showing armorials

with lioncels. That the arms borne by Geoffrey were lioncels suggests possible evidence

for the early use of what became the English royal arms.

We should investigate the origin of heralds, later the arbiters of heraldic disputes over

the right to bear particular arms and the rules of heraldic design. The term herald (Old

French

herault/hiraut;

Old German

heriwald/hariwalt;

Latin

praeco

) was applied to men

who announced tournaments, made announcements for rulers or carried messages for

commanders. Orderic Vitalis referred to a herald

(praeco)

at Jerusalem in the First

Crusade in 1098, who made a proclamation through the Christian camp. He was called

ala Corona,

which has the ring of a herald’s title.

It is probable that armorials became important for identification though there is little

evidence to prove it. Armour became more enclosing and its wearer less visible in the

12th century. Armorials on a shield, helmet or coat could distinguish the individual. This

had not happened by 1066 when William the Conqueror removed his helmet at Hastings

to show his face in order to prove he was alive. Through the Middle Ages armour

rogressively covered more of the body. Armorials became fashionable with the growing

popularity of tournaments, where heralds took charge.

The linking of relatives through their arms in heraldry developed at the same time as

the emphasis on hereditary right. By the end of the 12th century the passing of armorials

to sons was well established, along with differences to distinguish one member of the

family from another. It is the family possession of armorials that marks heraldry—the

idea that a particular design belonged to a family. There were later legal cases when two

or more claimed the same arms—showing that the concept of exclusivity had developed.

In the 13th century the use of armorials became virtually universal among the aristocracy.

By the end of the Middle Ages lesser men could also bear arms. In England there was

more social exclusivity than in most regions, where tradesmen and peasants might be

allowed arms.

The collection and illustration of coats of arms was undertaken (often by heralds) and

rovides evidence of individual arms and the extent to which the rules had become

established by the central Middle Ages. Armorial Rolls, showing coats of arms belonging

to individuals, were kept from the 13th century. Heralds became recognised

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experts and

arbiters, with their own uniform of tabards by the 14th century. In Europe by the late

Middle Ages some million individuals had armorials.

The earliest known treatise on heraldry, by Bartolo de Sassoferrato, dates from c.1356.

Edward in created Windsor Herald, Lancaster Herald and probably some pursuivants (the

lesser heralds)—including Blue Mantle. Henry V created Rouge Dragon. The English

College of Arms was founded in 1484 under Richard in.

A–Z OF TERMS

ACHIEVEMENT

The display of armorials in full, including crest and supporters.

BLAZON

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The description of armorials in words. Emblazon is the painting of armorials—though

the word blazon originally covered this sense too. Blazon means accurate heraldic

language, describing the arms in full so that they might be emblazoned. The development

of blazon came with the development of rules for heraldry. In England the language o

blazon is largely Anglo-

orman. The blazon follows clear rules that must be obeyed with

regard to layout and tinctures. The term comes from Old German

blasen

(to blow a horn),

from the function of a herald. Initially it was more common to speak of blazing arms than

of blazon.

CADENCY (SEE ALSO DIFFERENCE)

Marks of cadency distinguish or difference similar armorials within a family. The

marks may be in the upper part of the shield, the crest or the supporters. Strict rules came

to apply. For example the mark for the eldest son became the label, for the second son the

crescent and so on. The label first appeared in the 13th century. Cadency is from Latin

cadere

(to fall), and means descending in order through the family cadets.

CANTING ARMS

Armorials where the choice of motif has a pun or play on words on the bearer’s name.

Examples are sheaves of cumin for Comyn, lucies (or pikes) for Lucy, a castle for

Oldcastle, the fleur-de-lis (lily) for the city of Lille. A common reason was that the bearer

had an easily portrayed name such as of an animal or bird, say Fox or Swan. The Italian

Prince Orsini had a bear device because in Italian

orso

meant bear. The arms that

Shakespeare had approved for his father bore a spear. The term is from Latin

cantare

(to

sing), meaning repetition.

CHARGE

Whatever was placed on the field of a shield other than ordinaries and lines o

artition. A shield could be charged with a chevron or other similar mark. A charge could

e virtually anything. Common charges were animals such as a lion, plant or star. A

charge could be placed on a crest or upon another charge.

COLOURS

Colours in heraldry are specific colours opposed to the metals. The permitted colours

are gules (red); sable (black), azure (blue), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Certain

colours were more favoured in certain countries, for example azure in France and sable in

Germany. Gules was the most used colour and azure next.

CREST

An addition to the armorials on the shield, in origin the crest placed upon a helmet.

Arms might be painted upon the helmet itself. A crest appears on the 1197 seal o

Baldwin of Flanders, Latin emperor. Though not precisely a crest, the charge of lioncels

on the arms of Geoffrey V of Anjou is depicted upon his hat in the enamel at Le Mans. In

rolls from the 14th century the

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crest was depicted above the shield in a complete

achievement. Crests were popular additions to armorials for tournaments, when many

weird and wonderful examples were produced, including models of beasts, winged birds,

trees and horns—not unlike fashion hats at Royal Ascot. The crest was attached to the

helmet by mantling, sometimes seen as part of the crest, or sometimes as a separate

entity, but in any case part of the full achievement.

DIFFERENCE

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Distinguishing similar coats of arms within a family. The differencing might be in

tincture of either shield or charge, or in additional charges. The major example is

cadency, distinguishing the sons from the father. Other means of differencing were to

move the charge on the shield or add a border. Medieval differencing was freer. More

restrictive rules of cadency were enforced in the 16th century.

FIELD

Surface of the shield, or any other object, on which all other parts of arms were placed.

Shields were never blank, having at least a surface tincture. In general the field was the

ackground to the arms. It could be divided but is the whole shield surface. The field o

royal prerogative was entirely gules, as in some royal arms.

FURS

Tinctures deriving originally from furs used for armorials in the field. The two furs are

ermine and vair. Ermine is the fur of the arctic stoat as it turns in winter, white with a

lack tip to the tail, an expensive fur. Ermine is shown as argent with sable spots or other

shapes, placed in rows. Vair was shown as alternating blue and white bell shapes in rows,

alternating as upright and upside down. Vair was a term for various furs for lining

garments, particularly Siberian squirrel with its blue-grey and white.

HERALD

Initially the speaker for an important person such as a king (Old French

heraut;

Old

German

heriwald

), meaning messenger or crier. He made announcements and delivered

messages. Heralds were often involved in military affairs, where announcements and

exchanges with the enemy could be vital, giving them a diplomatic function. They took

on an important role in tournaments, making announcements, dealing with entries, and

enforcing regulations. Heralds had to describe arms and regulate them. They became the

experts on arms and the arbiters. Heralds made records of armorials for rolls of arms.

They later conducted visitations on correct usage. They gave their name to the practice o

heraldry. They have remained historians of heraldry, from William Dugdale and Elias

Ashmore to Sir Anthony Wagner. From the 14th century heralds had their own ‘uniform’

in the tabard—a tunic bearing the arms of their lord. The College of Arms was set up in

1484. In England the College of Arms has three kings of arms (Clarenceux, Garter and

orroy), six heralds (Chester, Lancaster, Richmond, Somerset, Windsor and York) and

four pursuivants (Blue Mantle, Rouge Croix, Rouge Dragon and Portcullis). These

offices were established by medieval and Tudor kings, notably Edward III, Henry V and

Henry VIII.

METALS

There are two metals in heraldry, or and argent (gold and silver), which may in practice

e represented by yellow and white. They are tinctures and treated as separate from

colours and furs. A basic rule is that a metal must not be placed upon a metal or a colour

upon a colour. Thus if the field is argent the charge upon it, say a lion, must not be in or.

This rule may have originated for visibility, so that the charge would stand out.

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MOTTO

Words on an armorial, probably originating from personal war cries. The cry of the

individual was transferred to his coat of arms. Later, phrases were invented to apply to a

earer, perhaps with a pun on his name. In depicted armorials the motto is sometimes

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laced above the arms, but more usually in England in a scroll under the arms. The

exclusive rules of the shield do not apply to mottoes, which may be altered at will.

Famous mottoes included those of the English kings,

Dieu et mon droit

(God and my

right) and the Prussian kings

Gott mit uns

(God with us).

ORDINARIES

Charges on the shield made from geometric shapes by horizontal, vertical or diagonal

lines. Ordinaries are distinct from lines of partition, which are simply a division of the

field. A charge could be placed upon the ordinary. There is some debate over the number

of ordinaries but it is generally thought there were nine honourable ordinaries. The

rincipal ordinary is the chief, taking up the upper third of the field. The pale is a band,

taking up one-third at the centre of the shield from top to bottom. The bend is a band

taking up one-third of the shield from the dexter chief—right top—to the sinister base—

left bottom (left and right on the shield are always seen from the bearer’s point of view).

The bend sinister (not an honourable ordinary) is reversed, beginning top left. The fess is

a horizontal band taking up a third of the shield at its centre. The chevron is a band at the

centre of the shield shaped like an upside-down letter V. The cross is in effect a pale plus

a fess, as the saltire is a bend plus a bend sinister. The escutcheon is a shield within the

shield, one-fifth of the width of the main shield. When this is in the exact centre it is

called the inescutcheon. The bar is the same as the fess, but smaller, taking up a fifth o

the shield. There were variations on all these major or honourable ordinaries. There are

some dozen sub-ordinaries or general ordinaries, sometimes combining two honourable

ordinaries—thus the gyron is a combination, quartered and divided per cross and per

saltire, the result being an eight-fold division of the shield from a central point. The pile

is a wedge, with point usually downwards—like an upside-down pyramid, but the

osition can vary. The quarter takes up a fourth of the shield in the upper dexter of the

shield. Other general ordinaries are orle, canton and flaunch.

PURSUIVANTS

Initially apprentices who attended the heralds, from the French for candidates for office

or followers. In practice, pursuivants were lesser heralds. The English pursuivants are

Blue Mantle, Rouge Croix, Rouge Dragon and Portcullis. Edward III probably created

Blue Mantle and Henry V Rouge Croix. The other two were established by Henry VIII.

QUARTERING

The division of the shield to represent the armorials for a different branch of the

family. The proportion of the shield for this purpose may in practice be less than an

actual quarter. The son of a father and mother both of whose families have arms may

quarter his shield, with the mother’s family arms in the second and third quarters. Edward

III claiming to be King of France as well as England quartered the royal arms of England

with those of France. This process continued after the 15th century and could lead to

multiple quarterings—Queen Victoria had arms with 256 quarterings.

REBUS

Pictorial pun on the bearer’s name, sometimes with an object to portray each syllable.

Abbot Islip’s arms had a man falling from a tree calling ‘I slip’. It was usually a simple

device; the more subtle efforts being known as canting arms.

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ROLLS OF ARMS

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Collections of arms, usually with illustration, the best evidence for medieval armorials.

A roll was a convenient reference for the identification of arms, and rolls became

important evidence in family claims to hold certain arms. One reason for the early

making of rolls was to identify combatants in a tournament. Another purpose was to list

those appearing in a royal army. In England such rolls exist from the 13th century. There

are about 30 medieval rolls for England, though most survive in later copies. Glover’s

Roll dates from c.1245. The Falkirk Roll lists those serving Edward I against the Scots in

1298. The Roll of Caerlaverock is unusual in its context, the poem

The Siege o

Caerlaverock

(1300). It describes over a hundred coats of arms. A French royal herald,

Gilles le Bouvier, made one compilation in the 15th century, recording arms for France

and other western nations including England and Scotland. His method was by visitation

of the bearers in their homes, which became practice in England for visits by heralds to

check and correct claims to arms.

SHIELD AND ITS DIVISIONS, THE

The shield was probably the first area to be covered in heraldic arms, and the normal

means of displaying them. To distinguish individual arms, one could add charges or make

artitions of the shield in geometrical lines. Some of these divisions were known as

ordinaries and sub-ordinaries, which were themselves charges. Others were simply

artitions of the shield. The divisions were made apparent by the use of different

tinctures. The upper third of the shield was chief, the central third fess, the lower third

base. The right-hand third of the shield (to the bearer) was dexter, the left hand sinister,

the central section pale. Such divisions could make patterns. A multiplication o

horizontal bars made the shield barry. The use of horizontal and vertical lines produced

the chessboard pattern known as checky. A multiplication of diagonal bends made a

shield bendy

;

of the horizontal pale made paly; and of chevrons chevronny. A band

around the edge of the shield is the bordure. A shield covered with regular diamond-

shaped lozenges is lozengy. Quartering the shield was the means of adding family arms

in separate partitions. These are only a few of the more common methods of dividing a

shield.

SUPPORTERS

The figures or designs added on either side of the shield. They appear to be holding up

the shield, so the term is literal. They appeared in the 14th century on seals, probably as

an artistic fancy to fill out the space. Another, less likely, theory is that they came from

human supporters dressed in fanciful costumes, carrying the shield at tournaments.

Supporters are usually seen as an extra ornament and not a fundamental part of the coat

of arms—

ut the right to use supporters is considered more exclusive than the right to

coats of arms. In France supporters are divided into

tenants

(human),

supports

(animals)

and

soutiens

(objects and plants). Lions are particularly popular. Supporters are

associated with the arms of peers and certain knightly orders.

TINCTURES

Overall term for all the colours, metals and furs that may be used on a shield.

VISITATIONS

A largely post-medieval development in England, whereby heralds made tours to

record, check and correct the use of arms, beginning in the 15th century as part of an

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attempt at central, royal control of the use of arms. From the 14th century kings of arms

made surveys of arms borne. William Ballard, March King of Arms, made a limited

visitation in 1480. Such local visitations began in the 15th century but became more

official and thorough from 1530 under royal commissions. The last visitation occurred in

1686.

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14th-century Flemish infantry on the Courtrai Chest

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