amID

MILITARY MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES 99

MEDIEVAL HERALDRY

TERE:\CE 'VISE RICH~\RD HOOK \VILLL\l\1 'V~\LKER

 Medieval Heraldry

abolition of the Colleges of Heralds and the

Introduction scattering or loss of their records. (The records of
Polish medieval heraldry, for example, were
destroyed during the Second World War.) It
It i not the aim of this book to describe in precise should also be remembered that most publications
detail the rules of heraldry, but rather to intro- on European heraldry have not been translated
duce the reader to the role of heraldry and to into English, rendering much information in-
provide examples of how it was used in the 14th accessible, for although many people can read
and 15th centuries. Therefore, it is recommended French or German, and perhaps some Italian or
that any reader lacking knowledge of the basics Spanish, few can read Dutch, Polish, the Scan-
hould have at hand an introductory book on the dinavian languages, or medieval Latin.
subject, such as the Observer Book of Heraldry, English writers also usually overlook the fact
publi hed by Warne. that, once coats of arms had been adopted by the
It is anticipated that most readers of this book nobility, the lower orders in some European
will b military enthusiasts, moddlers and war- countries also began to assume coats of arms, and
gamer, and therefore I have concentrated on the continued to do so until heraldry no longer had a
purely military aspect of medieval heraldry.
Thi i appropriate, as we arc concerned here
with a period of history during which heraldry
retained one of its original functions -the identi-
fication of individuals and their followers on the
field of battle. Matters such as mottoes, supporters,
a hievements, the arms of unmarried ladies,
hatchment, and civil, ecclesiastical and corpor-
ate oats of arms have been omitted. Readers
wi hing to learn about these facets of the subject
are referred to the Observer title, and to an in-
tere ting booklet en ti tled Civic Heraldry, published
by hire Publications. In place of these subjects
reader. will find more information on military
matter, such as liveries, badges, crests, surcoats
and horse trappers, than is normally found in
book on heraldry.
Mo t books written by English authors almost
totally ignore continental heraldry, and therefore
an attempt has been made to include at least
orne European examples. However, almost
inevitably the emphasis will be found to be on
Engli h heraldry, mainly because the various
sources are more readily available to an English The effigy of John Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, in Westminster
author, but also because drastic political changes Abbey, circa 1334. He was the son of Edward II and bears the
arms of England differenced by a bordure of fleurs-de-Iys,
in many European countries have caused the his mother being Isabel of France. His shield is heater type.

3
 the nobility and bourgeoisie were not rigidly separ-
ated, but it should be remembered that the bearing
of arms did not convert a bourgeois into a noble.
Some 'nobles' were indeed bourgeoisie, but they
had to be sure to state their origins. One definite
form of distinction was that neither bourgeoisie nor
peasantry were entitled to wear hclmet crests.
Portugal and Germany were two other countries
in which burghers and peasants were allowed to
bear arms: in the latter even the Jews were per-
mitted coats of arms, an unusually liberal practice
in those days of rabid bigotry. Members of the
lower classes in Portugal were forbidden the use
ofsilver.ot gold in their arms, and in 1512 King
Manuel I forbade the use of arms by all those not
classed as nobles.

On Heraldry andHeralds
It is as well to begin by defining precisely what is
meant by the word heraldry. Dictionaries usually
refer to it as the art of the herald or, more helpfully,
the art or science of armorial bearings, armoury
being the medieval term for heraldry (Old
French armoirie); but heraldry is perhaps best
described as a system for identifying individuals
by means of distinctive hereditary insignia, this I
system originating in western Europe during the
Middle Ages. From archaeological sources we
know that insignia have been used on the shields of
warriors to identifY individuals in battle since
classical times-as early as circa 800 B.C. the
Another form of shield which remained in continuous use
throughout the medieval period was the pavise, which could Phrygians were using geometric and stylized
be propped up to provide cover for an archer or crossbow-
man. It was normal to paint these shields, and this example
floral designs on their shields -so what is it that
bears the arms of the town of Zwickau: St George bearing a makes medieval heraldry unique? The phrase
shield on which are painted three swans. It is dated circa 1480.
'distinctive hereditary insignia' contains the key,
for all true heraldry is hereditary, that is the in-
purely military role. French sources quote many signia are inherited without alteration by the
examples of bourgeois bearing arms in the 13th heirs of the former bearers.
century, and by the cnd of that century this As far as can be ascertained, heraldry first ap- I

practice was widespread. From the bourgeois of peared about the middle of the 12th century and
the towns the bearing ofarms spread to the peasants flourished during the 13th and 14th centuries.
of the country ide, and the earliest known example The shapes of the shields used during these cen-
of such arms in France occurs in 1369 (the arms turies made it necessary for the heralds and
ofJacquier lc Brebiet the shepherd: three sheep painters to adapt the natural forms used as in-T
held by a girl). signia to fit irregular spaces, and the insignia ~
nlike the class system of England, in France therefore assumed a symbolic rather than natur- E 'I
 alistic appearance. Any study of heraldry soon
reveals a considerable difference between the
simple forms used in the early days and the more
perfect and intricate forms of the later days. The
almost ascetic style of the early years identifies
the true medieval heraldry.
As more and more knights, and their sons, were
granted the right to bear arms, so the insignia
became by necessity more complex. However,
by circa 1500 the original purposes for which
heraldry had been in trod uced (on shields, sur-
coats, horse trappers and banners, to distinguish
combatants in war and in tournaments, and on
seals as marks of identity instead of signatures)
were becoming obsolete. After the turn of the
century the insignia began to be more and more
complex, assuming naturalistic forms rather than
the traditional symbolic ones. When this oc-
curred, by about 1550, the era of true heraldry had
ended and thereafter the science declined: seals
were no longer so important because ofthe spread
of literacy, and identification was now achieved
on the battlefield by the use of flags, and in the
tournament by the use of crests.

* * *
Coats of arms were at first used only by kings and
princes, then by their great nobles. By the mid-
13th century arms were being used extensively
by the lesser nobility, knights and those who later
came to be styled gentlemen, and, as mentioned
above, in some countries the use of arms spread to
merchants and townspeople, and even to the
peasantry. Anyone who wished to have a coat of
arms just invented one, though often it would be
based on the arms of his overlord.
All these arms were assumptive arms, i.e.
assumed without reference to any higher authority
by the bearer in order to distinguish his person
and property. This practice inevitably led to a
certain amount of duplication of armorial bear-
ings, and as more and more men assumed arms
so matters became more confused.
Heralds had existed since possibly as early as
The effigy of a member of the Bowes family in the church of 1132, but their duties in the beginning had con-
Dalton.le.Dale, Co. Durham, showing the tight-waisted sisted only of extolling the deeds of knights at
jupon. The arms are another example of canting arms:
Ermine, three bows bent and stringed, paleways in fess gules. tournaments. They were soon responsible for
 proclaiming and orgamzlOg these tournaments,
so popular in the 12th century, and consequently
became heraldry experts whose job it was to
identify the contestants by the insignia painted on
their hields and banners. These heralds were
more akin to minstrels at this date, wandering
from country to country in pursuit of the tourna-
ment , and so getting to know everyone of im-
portance throughout Europe. From this famili-
arity with the great men of their time sprang their
usefulness to military commanders, and medieval
manu ripts mention heralds being present at
the battles of Drin court (1173) and Las avas de
Tolosa (1212), though there is no mention of
An inn sign (the Tabard Inn in Gloucester) illustrating the
heralds in royal service until the end of the 13th fonn and decoration of the tabard of an English herald. Such
exatnples of heraldry tnay be found all around us even today.
century.
The military value of men who could identify
the contingents of an opposing army by the shields the arms,of the lord they served. Later they were
and banners of their lords speaks for itself, and also to become responsible for organizing the
almost every knight was soon employing a herald, marriages and funerals of the nobility, as well as
no maller how small the force he commanded. other ceremonies and pageants. Nevertheless,
The duty of these heralds was to be near their lord despite their status and undoubted importance
constantly (on campaign they lodged in their in all matters related to heraldry, until the late
lord's tent) so as to be on hand to answer at once 14.th cen tu ry the English heralds at least had no
any qu ryon the identity of a knight, and by the control over the design of arms or who bore them,
beginning of the 14th century this had caused being responsible only for recording and identify-
their elevation from wandering minstrels to ap- ings the various coals of arms.
pointcd officials and confidants of the nobles' By the first quarter of the 14th century two
households; by the middle of the century heralds trains of thought appear to have emerged con-
in Francc and England had acquired a settled cerning the use of armorial bearings: firstly, that
tatus. However, in Germany heralds were slow such arms might be assumed by any man; and
to acquire any om ial recognition and as late as at secondly, that the bearing of such arms must be
least 1338 no clear division existed between the excl u ive righ t of the nobility ifheraldry was to
minstrels and ht'ralds; a ward robe account of that function. The first known reference to a challenge
year records payments to the King of Heralds over the right to bear particular arms occurs in a
of Gt'rmany and ten other minstrels of Germany German document of 1286. In England the first
for making minstrelsy before the king at Christmas. such dispu te was in 1348, before a Court of Law.
By the mid- 14th century heralds were being This dispute was between Nicholas, Lord Burnell,
continuously employed by the kings and princes and Robert, Lord Morley, and was tried by the
of Europe, both in peacetime and in time of war. Lord High Constable and Earl Marshal of Eng-
In fact their dual role as herald and envoy with land during the siege of Calais. I

diplomatic immunity was to become incompatible A more famous and prolonged case occurred
by the end of the century. A letter written circa between the years 1385 and 1390 when the Gro .
1400 by tht' Anjou King of Arms highlights the venor, Scrope and Carminow families all claimed
problem, for it deplores the way in which pur- the ancient right to bear Azure, a bend or. No
suivants (literally the rank below herald) abused mention is made of heralds being involved in the
their immunity to spy out the military plans of allocation of these arms, or being involved in the
their master's enemies. dispute over them; the case was tried by the Courl 1
To mark their office heralds wore on their livery of Chivalry, a pre-heraldic court presided ovel f
 b the onstable and Marshal, whose original the bearing of arms, assigning arms when ap-
ral had been to deal with military matters and plications were considered worthy, and prevent-
di put affi ting dignity and honour. Grosvenor ing the unlawful assumption of those arms by
won and arminow conceded defeat, but Scrope others.
appeal d to the sovereign, Richard II. In France a College of Heralds was created in
Ithough heralds were not involved in this Paris by Charles VI in 1407, the head of this
ca e w know that from at least the 14th century organization being known as Montjoie, King of
the Engli h Kings of Heralds (later called Kings
of Arms) and their heralds were making surveys
or ollections of the existing arms wi thin thei r
provinces, and the a e of Scrope v. Grosvenor
rna well have arisen from such a survey, which
would have revealed the duplication of arms and
call d for a settlement. The English Kings of
\rms at thi time were Clarenceux, responsible
for all England south of the Trent, and Torrey,
re pon ibl for all England north of the Trent.
The anonymous Rolls of Arms which have been
handed down to us were probably compiled by the
early herald and Kings of Arms when they were
att rnpting to regularize English heraldry.
B th 15th century the Kings of Arms were
r quired to take an oath on assuming office to the
effect that they would do their utmost 'to have
knowl dg of all the noble gentlemen within
their marches and them with their issue truly
regi t r such arms as they bear'.
The disl ute mentioned above, and no doubt
man olhers or shorter duration, made it neces-
ary that some authority should be set up which
could relieve the. overeign of the task of regulating

The Tudor badges of rose, portcullis, pomegranate and A pavise of circa 1490 bearing the arms of Ravensburg in
neur-de-Iys on the Houses of Parliament. Wiirttemberg: Argent, a castle sable.
 King of Arms of Englishmen, whose province
was the whole of England and Wales and who was
responsible for issuing Patents of Arms for peers.
Shortly after these steps, Thomas, Duke of
Clarence and brother to Henry V, appears to
have issued ordinances which granted to the Kings
of Arms the right to assign arms to persons within
their provinces. The oldest known Patent issued
by a King of Arms is dated ro March 1439, and
was issued by Sir William Bruges, first Garter
King of Arms, to the Drapers' Company of
London.
In 1484 Richard III by Royal Charter in-
corporated the College of Arms, or Heralds'
College, which controls the use of armorial bear-
ings in England (and Wales officially) to this day.
The College of Arms is presided over by the Earl
Marshal and apart from the three Kings of Arms
The rising sun badge of Edward III, still in use today as an
it has six heralds-Somerset, Chester, Windsor,
inn sign. Richmond, Lancaster and York; and four pur-
suivants-Rouge Croix, Rouge Dragon, Port-
Arms, with ten heralds and pursuivants under cullis and Bluemantle. The Court of Lord Lyon
him. We know Ja ques de Heilly held the post of (King of Arms) in Scotland is in fact pre-heraldic.
Montjoie at Agincourt nine years later, and wore It has three heralds-Albany, Marchmont and
the arms of France on his herald's coat. A Marechal Rothesay; and three pursuivants-Carrick, Uni-
d' Armes des Franfais was appointed by Charles VIII corn and Kintyre. The office of Ulster King of
in 1489. However, the French heralds were always Arms was insti tu ted in 1553 and existed until
trictly controlled by the king, who was the only 1940, when it was amalgamated with orrey
person allowed to grant a coat of arms, while King of Arms. The office oflreland King of Arms
Parliament decided ca es of heraldic disputes, existed for a short period only prior to 1553.
thus relegating the heralds to the role of technical In Portugal heralds were introduced during
advisers. By the beginning of the 17th century the the reign of James I (1385 1433). 1\ complete
College had become totally ineffective and was record of the arms of the nobility was drawn up in
abolished in 1792 owing to the Revolution, as was 1509 by the King ofArms, and Portuguese heraldry
the science of heraldry itself. This has led to the continued to be regulated by the heralds until
anomaly ofFrance, whose language is the language 19 ro, when the monarchy was replaced by a
ofheraldry, having no regulated system ofheraldry republic.
today. German heralds were active and effective in
In 1417 Henry V of England sent Letters the medieval period but had become extinct by
Patent to sheri ITs of three coun ties declaring that the 1700s. It is significant that there was no word
'whereas in recent expeditions abroad many in the German language for herald until the
persons had taken to themselves Arms and tunics Renaissance, the term Knappen von der Wappen
of rms called "Cotearmures" which neither (esquires of arms) being used instead. The Ger- 1
they nor their ancestors had used in time past, no man' Knappen' only broke from their wandering
man of whatever rank should henceforth take life by taking employment with the Tourney 1
arm unless he possessed them by ancestral right Societies, and in many German states the heralds
or by the grant of some per. on having authority never attained a position at court, the regulation (
sufficient thereunto'. That same year Henry of heraldry being handled by clerks under the s
created a new heraldic officer, Garter Principal court chancellor. r
 2 3 4 5

6 7

The pani h heralds, like the French, seem to heraldry was evolving, but soon after the middle
have been relegated to a secondary role by the of the century the curved top was replaced by a
kings of the various ki ngdoms, arms being gran ted straight one. Infantry continued to use this type
by the kings and cases of duplication of arms being of shield in Italy until as late as the 15th century.
ettled by the kings, the heralds playing only a The kite shield was not Rat, as it appears in books
con ultant rOk. This was also the case in on heraldry, butsemi-cylindrical, 'so as to embrace
Denmark, where there was no official body of the person of the wearer'. This meant that not
herald, and arms were assu med or gran ted by much more than half the shield could be seen from
the king by Letters of Patent. anyone anglc, and this greatly influenced the
way in which insignia were placed upon the
shield, since a man might need to be identified in
battle or at the tourney by only half of h is coat of
The Shield arms.
At the beginning of the 13th century the kite
B cau e the shape and con truction of the shield shield was shortened to form what is now caIfed
so clearly played an im portant part in the develop- the heater shield, so named in the 19th century
ment of heraldic de igns, it is necessary to take a because it resembled the base of the flat iron or
brief look at the types of shields used in Europe heater then in general use. This shield, Fig I,
during the period 1150-1550. The kite-shaped 13th century, and Fig 2, 14th century, also curved
hield always associated with the Normans re- round the body for greater effectiveness. The
mained in use throughout the 12th century, when heater was the commonest type of shield in most
 8 9 10 II

12 13 14 15

parts of Europe during the 13th and 14th cen- being for the lance. Fig 5 shows a purely decorative
turies, but was unknown in Spain and Portugal. shield of the same century. Late 15th- and early
In these two countries shields were more rec- 16th-century shields were of a similar design but
tangular, with a curved base, Fig 3, and this so often had a central ridge or a number of Autings
inAuenced the number and placing of insignia at top and bottom. These more decorative shields
in m dieval times that the arms used in these became popular for ornamental purposes, par·
countries orten had their charges arranged in a ticularly in architecture; but the simple lines of the
completely different manner to other parts of 13th- and 14th-century shields remained popular
Europe. for the display of heraldic art, and are still used in
Shields had begun to diminish in size in the heraldry to this day.
13th century, as plate armour was introduced to In heraldry the face of the shield, on which the
protect arms and legs, and in the following century arms are painted, is known as the field or ground.
they were employed less frequently by mounted In order to determine exactly w hereabou ts on the
men as the use of plate armour increased. Thus field the various colours and devices should be
the all-enveloping plate armour of the 15th placed, and to be able to blazon a coat of arm~
century made shiclds obsolete for knights at least, correctly (that is to describe it verbally) the field
and in thc 1360-1400 period the shield gradually is divided into a num bel' of points. It is necessary
went out of usc by knights in battle. By the 15th here to know only that the top part of the field is
century knights rarely used the shield except for called the chief, the central area the fesse, and the
display purposes in parades and at tournaments. bottom the base. Because the shield is always
As a con equence the shields of the 15th century viewed as seen from the position of the bearer, the
had more fanciful shapes, as shown by Figs 4 and 5. dexter (righ t) side of the shield is that which
Fig 4 show a typical 15th-century tournament coincides with the right side of the bearer, and the
shield, called abouche, the notch on the right side sinister (left) side is that which coincides with the
 left ide of th bearer. into the 15th century and although it occurs in
.\lthough I have already stated that it is not the arms as early as the 13th century, it was not in
intention of thi book to describe the rules of common use until the late 15th century. So far
heraldry it is important that the reader be able to as purple is eoneerned, there was no distinction
di tingui h between those rules and practices made between it and red in early medieval times
which weI' particularly applicable in medieval and therefore we are not really concerned wi th
time, and tho e which were not in use at this early it here.
tage. Th ne t headings therefore provide brief
ummari of the basics of heraldry as used in the As heraldry became established, more coats of
I.j.th and 15th centuries. arms were recorded and it beeame necessary to
increase the tinctures in order to avoid duplica-
Tinctures tion of arms. Thus by the 15th century tenne
The fi Id of the hiekl and all devices painted upon (orange) and murrey (a mulberry or reddish-
it are oloured, and the di fTerent colours employed purple colour) had been added to the colours.
in heraldry are referred to as tinctures. I n the These new colours were mainly confined to con-
medieval period the designs on shields were tinental heraldry, though they do occasionally
imple and the eolours employed were bold, the appear on English flags or liveries; for example
aim being to create arms which were clearly the livery colours of the House of York were
vi iblc and identifiable at a distance. The prin- murrey and azure, while the pages of the Earl
cipal tinctures used are divided into metals of Nottingham wore tenne edged with sable
ilver and gold), colours (red, blue and black), during the reign of James I. The colour russet is
anclfurs, ermine (Fig 6) and vail' (Fig 7). Both the also found on rare occasions in continental heral-
furs were based on furs in usc at the time, ermine dry from the 15th century on, and appears in
being the white winter coat of the stoat, with the English heraldry on the flags and livery of the
black tip of the tails sewn on, and vail' (from the great Percy family.
Latin varus, variou. or varied) being the name The number of furs was also increased in the
given to quirrels' fur, much used for the lining of 15th and 16th centuries by depicting ermine and
cloak which was bluish-grey on the back and vail' in different colours: ermines, white tails on
white on the belly. As the coats of western Euro- black; erminois, black tails on gold; pean, gold
pean toats do not normally turn white in winter, tails on black. Yair was termed vairie if colours
the e kin had to be imported from as far away as other than argent and azure were used: for ex-
tllu covy, at great expense, and were conseq uently ample, vairie of or and gules.
u ed only by the great nobles, such as the Dukes of
Brittany, whose coat was ermine. Divisions of the Shield
Th following table shows the colours, their In addition to the tinctures there are also several
heraldic name, and the abbreviation normally
found on drawings of arms:
Tincture Heraldic name Abbreviation
Gold or yellow or 0
ilver or white argent Arg or Ar*
Blu azure Az
Red gules Gu or G*
Black sable Sa or S*
Greent vert Yt or y*
Purplet purpurc Purp or p*

*The e contractions arc normally used for trick:

ing: see under Blazon.
Another example of ancient heraldry still being used-the
tTher was an an ti pathy towards green un til well white hart badge of Richard II as an inn sign.
methods of dividing the field by a single line in which always consist of an even number of pieces,
order to increase the number of coats of arms for example, barry, bendy, paly, per pale and
possible without duplication. A field thus divided barry, paly wavy, chequey, lozengy, and fusily,
is de cribed as 'parted' or 'party', although the illustrated in that order by Figs 28-35.
word party is orten omitted in blazon. There are
eight main divisions of this nature: per pale, fess, Partition Lines
bend (dexter and sinister), chevron, saltire, So far it has been assumed that all the lines dividing
quarterly, and gyronny. These divisions have the field are straight, but in fact irregular parti-
been ill ustrated for clarity and appear in the order tion lines were soon introduced to provide scope
Ii ted: Figs 8-15. In the early days of heraldry for more coats of arms. In the very earliest Rolls of
'party' meant simply the division of the field per Arms only three such variations are listed: En-
pale, and other division lines had to be named in grailed, Indented or Dancetty, and Undy or
full. Wavy, and of these Engrailed was by far the
Continental, and particularly German heral- most common. Fig 36 illustrates the use of an en-
dry contains many other field divisions unknown grailed line: Or, a cross engrailed sable, the arms
in England. One of the divisions most commonly of John de Bohun, temp. Edward 1. Fig 37 is Or,
u ed, e pecially in Italy and Germany, is a tri- a chief indented azure, the arms of John Butler,
partite division of the field by two lines running Earl of Ormond, killed at Tewkesbury in 147 I.
horizontally, vertically, diagonally from top left, Nebuly and Embattled (or Crenelle) were added
or diagonally from top right, across the shield. later, wi thin the period which concerns us here:
These are referred to as tierced in fess, pale, bend Fig 38, Barry nebuly ofS, or and sable, the arms of
and bend sinister respectively. Fig 16 illustrates Sir Humphrey Blount, 1422-77; and Fig 39,
tierced in fess, the arms of the Venetian family of per fess embattled or and azure, the Barons von
Franchi; and Fig 17, tierced in bend, the arms of Preysing.
the Amici family, also Italian. Another variant of
this style i tierced in pairlc, best described by the Charges
illustration of the arms of the Saxon family of von Charges are the devices used upon shields. In the
Briesen, Fig 18. Another curious partition, unique 14th century by far the commonest types of
to Germany, i that oftierced in gyron gyronnant, charges were those listed in all books on heraldry
known in German heraldry a Sclzneckenweise. This as Ordinaries and Subordinaries. The Ordinaries
i illu trated by the arms of the von Megenzer are known as the Chief, Fess, Pale, Chevron,
family, Fig 19. Bend, Saltire, Cross, Pile, and Quarter or Canton.
The divisions known in Engli h heraldry are The Chiefis rare in Spanish and Portuguese arms.
al 0 occasionally employed in a different form on Each of these Ordinaries is illustrated here by a
the Continent. Quarterly, for example, sometimes coat of arms: Fig 40 (Chief) the arms borne by
appears a a most curious arrangement, best William de Fortz of Vivonne in France. Fig 4/
described by Figs 20 and 2/, the arms of the Bruns- (Fess) the arms of Walter de Colville. Fig 42
wick family of von Tule and the Lowenstein (Pale) the arms of Hugh de Grentmesnil, Lord of
family respectively. Party per fess in German Hinckley, High Steward of England in the time of
heraldry sometimes has a left or right 'step', Henry 1. Fig 43 (Chevron) the arms of the French
known as mit linker stuJe. This is illustrated by family of Gorrevod, Ducs de Pont de Vaux and
the arms of the Aurberg family of Bavaria, Fig 22.
Other continental partition lines are difficult to (16) Franchi: chief vert, fess argent, base gules. (17) ARlici:
sinister chief or, bend gules, dexter base azure. (18) Von
blazon in English, nor can they really be cate- Briesen: dexter or, sinister gules. (19) Von Megenzer: the
upper part of the shield is gules, the lower is or. (20) Von Tule:
gorized. Examples of these unusual divisions are upper dexter and lower sinister divisions are gules. (21)
shown in Figs 23-27, the arms of Lang von Lowenstein: sable and or. (22) Aurberg: argent and sable.
(23) Lang von Langenau: a 'chief' or, lozengy argent and
Langenau, Stauffeneck, Marshalek von Stunts- gules. (24) StrauJfeneck: a 'chief' argent, barry argent and
berg, Kirmreitter, and i\ltorf. gules. (25) Marshalck von Stuntsburg: gules, a 'chevron'
argent. (26) KirRlreitter: sable and or. (27) Altorf: sable and\
Varied fields are made by further divisions arl?;ent.
 princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Fig 44 (Bend) escutcheon, orle, tressure, flanches, gyron, lozenge,
the arms borne by the French knight Guillaume fusil, mascle, rustre, fret, billet, annulet and
de Trie. fig 45 (Saltire) the arms of the great house roundcls: these may be found illustrated in any
of eville. Fig 46 (Cross) the arms of the Portu- book on heraldry.
guese family of Teixeira, also the Spanish family ext in popularity after the Ordinaries and
ofOluja. Fig 47 (Pile) the arms of Sir John Chan- Subordinaries came what are known as the
dos, Knight of the Garter, died 1370. Fig 48 animate charges, the various animals, with the
(Canton) the arms of Bertram de Criol!. Of these lion rampant well ahead of all others, followed at a
Ordinaries the most popular in the early period considerable distance by the lion passant. Less
was the Fess and its diminutives, namely the Bar, popular still in our period was the eagle, which
Closet and Barrulet, which were almost always was the most common charge in the bird category,
used in series; i.e. Fig 49 Barry of 6, argent and and was followed by a relatively few examples of
azure, the arms of Henry de Grey of Cod nor, who martlets, popinjays, crows, swans and herons.
fought at Falkirk (1298) and at the siege of Cae 1'- The inanimate charges were mostly everyday
laverock in J 300. A Seigneur de Grey also bore objects from medieval life in Europe, such as
these arms at the siege of Rouen in J 418. staves, water buckets, arrows, axes, horseshoes,
In modern heraldry the Chief, Fess, Pile, spurs, hammers, various flowers, stars and cres-
Chevron, Bend and Pile all occupy one-third of cents, etc. Tt was not until around 1500 that the
the area of the field, but during the period with human body, monsters and fabulous beasts,
which we arc dealing they were somewhat smaller, birds and reptiles became common in heraldry,
unless they bore a charge, and the Fess of ancient and by then the science had already begun its
heraldry would now probably be termed a Bar. decline into ostentatious ornamentation.
The Canton occupies a third of the Chief, always
on the dexter side, except in Spanish heraldry,
where it appears on either the dexter or sinister Blazon
side.
The ubordinaries include the bordure, 111- When a knight entered the lists at a tournament,
he was announced by the sounding of a trumpet
and the calling out of his coat of arms. This was
known as blazoning. Thus the principal terms and
order of description employed in blazon have
been in existence since the early 13th century,
by which date heralds were finding it necessary
to describe a coat of arms in such a way that there
could be no shadow of doubt as to what and whose
it was, and they are readily understood through-
out western Europe. The language of the early
blazons was French or Latin, but this was later
replaced by the language of each nation, and in
English heraldry the language of blazon has
become anglicized except for a few technical
terms.
Some attention to fine detail has been applied
in the following description of blazon, as it is
essential that the reader be able to interpret
blazon if he is to be able to study more complex
The reverse ofthe sixth Great Seal ofEdward III, used between books on heraldry, where the arms arc frequently
1340 and 1372, showing shield, surcoat and trapper bearing described in this manner. However, it should be
the quartered arms of England and France, and the lion crest
of the kings of England. remembered that blazon was invented in order
 28 29 30 31

32 33 34 35

to d .nibe arms precisely, clearly and brieny, lines, describe the lines engrailed, nebuly, etc.
and is therefore n'asonal Iy easy to understand. (3) If'the charge is placed in the centre of the field
To write or read a blazon it is necessary to and faces the dexter, no further description is
know the order in which the description is set out. necessary, otherwise the position (in chief, in fess,
Thi. oreler is therefore listed fully here. in base) and whether afTrontc (showing full face)
The Field or contournc (facing sinister) must be stated.
1 De cribe the tincture of the field. Other Charges
2 If the field is divided into two or more tinc- If there arc any secondary charges these must be
ture, de cribe the line or lines which divide it, mentioned in order of importance, stating posi-
followed by the tincture : Quarterly, or and gules, tion on the shield and the tinctures used: Or, a
the arms of Sir Geoffrey de Say (baron 13 I 3) cross gules between sixteen eaglets azure, the
and his son Geoffrey at the siege of Calais in 1348. arms of the lords of Montmorency.
(3) If the parti tion lines are not straigh t, describe Charges upon Charges
them: Per pale indented, argent and gules, the Describe any charges placed upon an Ordinary,
banner of Simon de Montfort. upon a principal charge, or upon a secondary
4 If the field is seme with small charges this charge.
mu t al 0 be mentioned: Azure billety, a fess Differences
dancetty or, the arms of Sir John D'Eyncourt. Describe any charges used for differencing or
The Principal Charge cadency, such as the bordure, label, canton,
1 Describe the principal charge on the field and crescent, mullet, etc.
its tincture. Overall Charges
(2) Ifthe charge is an Ordinary and it has irregular When an Ordinary is placed across a coat of arms
 it i preceded by the word surtout or overall, i.e. bull and unicorn, which also have horns and
overall a bend azure. hooves, are blazoned Armed and Hoofed, bu t
Quartering stags and deer are Attired, not Armed. Birds
If a shield is quartered this fact is stated before all without claws are blazoned Beaked and member-
the above categories, and mention is made at the ed. There are many more such complications, but
end of this Ii t only because quartering, except the majority arose after the period with which we
for royal alliances, was comparatively rare in the arc dealing, when arms had become complex and
period with which we are concerned. Quarters heraldry was mainly decorative.
are numbered I to 4 thus: top left, top right, bottom
left, bottom righ t, as viewed. If the 4th quarter is a Tricking
repeat of the l. t, and the 3rd a repeat of the 2nd, There is another method of describing a coat of
as in th arms of England circa 1400-1603, this is arms, found in Rolls of Arms dating back as far as
blazon d as Quarterly 1st and 4th France modern ; the mid-13th century. In this method the oat is
2nd and 3rd England. drawn in outline in ink and the various tinctures
The normal reading and writing rules of indicated by words or abbreviations of those words.
working from left to right and top to bottom apply Such a coat, known as tricked, is illustrated to
in heraldry, so that per pale gules and or means indicate the simplicity of this method: Fig 50, the
the left ide i red, and per fess argent and azure arms of Sir John Fortescue, circa 1394-1476.
mean the top halfis argent. Gyronny commences Neatness and accuracy are, of course, vital with
with the top left-hand segment and the number of this method to prevent confusion.
gyron i tated: Gyronny of 8, or and sable, the
arms of the Campbcll family. Surcoats
Ifa tincture i used more than once in a coat it is At the beginning of the 14th cen tury it was com-
usual not to repeat its name but refer to it as 'of the mon practice for knights to wear a surcoat over
fir t' or 'of the second', depending when it first their armou~. On the front and back of this coat
occurred in the blazon. For example, in the would often be displayed their arms, though
Luterell arms the colour of martlets and bend is other heraldic devices might also be used: for
only mentioned once: Azure, a bend between example, Edward II of England (13°7-27) wore
6 martlet or. This could equally be blazoned four lions on his surcoat, while at Poi tiers Sir
zure, a bend or between 6 martlets of the second. John Chandos had the figure of Our Lady,
When a charge is rcpcatcd the number of such dressed in blue, within a golden mandorla, em-
charges mu t be stated and their arrangement broidered on his surcoat. Lord Jean de Clermont,
on the shield described. Thus nine roundels, one of the French marshals at the battle, bore the
3, 3, 3· It i not necessary to blazon six roundcls same device on his surcoat.
3,2, I, as this is the standard arrangement for such At this date the surcoat was full length, reaching
a number of charges. almo t to the ankles, but sleeveless, and was split
Correct punctuation is not vital and many at front and back almost to the waist to allow the
authorities disagree over the way blazon should material to hang freely when the wearer was in the
be punctuated, but it helps to remember that saddle. These gowns, typical examples of which
there should always be a comma after each tinc- are illustrated by Figs 5f and 52, were gathered at
ture except where alternate colours are used, as the waist by a belt 01' cord.
in Barry of6, argent and azure (de Grey). This full-length surcoat remained popular
The natural colouring of animals, birds, plants, until about 1320-3°, when the front skirts were
etc., is always referred to as 'proper', but if they cut off at mid-thigh level, as in Fig 53. This edge
vary from their natural colours then the tinctures was sometimes straight, sometimes scalloped or
mu t be named. Birds and beasts having claws, embattled. Prior to this change, introduced for
beaks and teeth in a different tincture to that of practical reasons, the ends of the front skirts had
their bodies arc blazoned Armed. If their tongues frequently been tucked through the belt to loop
protrude they arc Langued. Animals such as the them up and so allow greater freedom of move-
 elderly Sir John Chandos, whilst attempting to
dismount to fight on foot, caught his spur in the
skirts of his surcoat and was slain whilst thus
rendered helpless. This event, and perhaps others
like it, did more to end the wearing of the long
surcoat than the fashion for the jupon. From this
date no more examples of the surcoat appear in
the sources consu Ited.
The jupon was in turn discarded about 1425,
although isolated examples continue to occur as
late as the end of that century, and for some con-
siderable time armour was as a general rule un-
covered. Some knights had their heraldic devices
engraved and gilded on their plate armour, but
this was a comparatively rare occurrence, govern-
ed by the cost of producing such armour.
The tabard, a short, loose-fitting garment,
open at the sides and with broad, short sleeves,
had been worn in isolated examples from about
1425, and coat" of arms continued to be em-
broidered on these and on cloaks, but both these
garments were more for parades and tournaments
than warfare. The tabard became more popular
at the end of the century and remained in general
ment when on foot. Some examples of sureoats at usc until the middle of the 16th century, when it
about this date appear to have had the skirts cut went out offashion. The tabard has survived in the
back at an angle, as in Fig 54. The rear skirts wereform of the herald's coat, embroidered with
cutofTin about 1340-5°, reducing the length here heraldic devices on front, back and sleeves.
tolevcl with the back of the knees. This shortened Examples of the tabard occur in the colour plates.
rer ion is referred to as the eyclas coat, and an
example occurs on the effigy of Henry, Duke of Ailettes
Lancaster, dated 1347, on the Hastings brass at Ailettes (little wings) were small pieces of leather
EI yng in Norfolk: Fig 55. or sometimes parchment, usually rectangular or
orne time between 1350 and 1360 the shortened square but occasionally round. diamond- or even
urcoat or eyclas began to be replaced by the cross-shaped, which were laced to the point of
jupon, another hip-length garment but much each shoulder so as to stand upright above the
more close-fitting and often of leather, or of shoulders. Some sources state that they were
padded or qui Ited fabric, to provide extra protec- designed to prevent a sword cut to the side of the
tion for the wearer in battle or tournament. Its neck, but many of the examples studied were
lower edge was usually scalloped or fringed. The much too flimsy for this, and they are more likely
jupon was also sleeveless, laced up at the sides, and to have been purely heraldic or ornamental,
in England almost invariably bore the arms of the serving as extra identification 'panels' to identify
wearer on front and back. In Europe the wearer's the wearer from the sides. As such they were
arms did not normally appear on the jupon. A superfluous, since the curved shield and the crest
number of jupons are illustrated in the colour already fulfilled this role, and the ailette was
plate. probably more of an affected fashion than any-
That the long form of sureoat had continued to thing else.
be worn alongside the cyclas and jupon is illus- Ailettes first appear about 1270, and it is known
trated by the fact that as late as 1370 the now that leather ailettes were used at a tournamen t
(40) WilliaDl de Fortz: argent, a chief gules. (41) Walter de
Colville: or, a fess gules. (42) Hugh de Grentmesnil: gules, a
pale or. (43) Gorrevod: azure, a chevron or. (44) Guillaume de
Trie: or, a bend azure. (45) Neville, Earls of Warwick, also of
the Van Eyck, Van Jutphaas, Borgharts, Oultre and other
Low Country families: gules, a saltire argent. (46) Teixeira
and Oluja: azure, a cross argent. (47) Sir John Chandos:
argent, a pile gules. (48) BertraDl de CrioU: or, a canton and
two chevrons gules. (49) Henry de Grey: barry of six, argent
and azure.
held in Windsor Park in 1'278. This surely indicates
their true role. During the first quarter of the 14th
century ailettes appear to have reached the peak
of their popularity and many examples of them
being worn may be seen on monuments and in
documents. However, by about 1340 they seem
to have declined in popularity and they do not
appear much after 1350.
Ifa man's shield bore, say, six cinquefoils, then
one cinquefoil might be painted on each ailette,
but this was not always the case and in the Luterell
S3
Psalter (circa 1340) Sir Geoffrey Luterell is por-
trayed bearing his full coat of arms on his ailettes :
see photograph elsewhere in this book.

The Livery
flndMaintenance System
At the end of the Hundred Years War with France
(1337-1453) large numbers of professional sol-
diers returned to England. Many of these men the baron's livery, i.e. a tunic in his livery colours
were organized into private armies by the great and bearing his badge, and fight for him in time
baron, and to these armies flocked many of the of need, while in return they would receive his
yeomen and lesser gentry who needed the protec- protection whenever they needed it.
tion of the barons against the injustices common By 1453 the administration ofjustice had largely
at that time of unrest. These yeomen and gentry collapsed and the barons were settling their
entered into a contract known as Livery and quarrels by direct action-private wars-against
Maintenance, whereby they undertook to wear each other, while the rivalry between the Houses
ofYork and Lancaster led to the Wars of the Roses
(1455-85). The armies of these wars were formed
mostly from the private armies of the great barons,
the Livery and Maintenance men, and contract
---I...-Az troops, that is troop~ raised for the Crown by
contract with the king's nobles, usually a set
number of men for a year's service and at an
agreed wage.

Badges
The fashion for badges rose to its zenith with these
large private armies of the 15th century, but
badges had been used to a lesser degree in the
previous century, and by royalty and a few great
lords since the earliest days of heraldry. However,
the badge may be said to have come into general
use in the reign of Edward III, risen to its greatest
 his banner is blazoned on the Caerlaverock Roll.
Lord Talbot raised 1,800 men from the Shrop-
shire hills for the expedition against Harfleur and
the battle of Agincourt; and Edward, Duke of
York and Aumerle, cousi n to Henry V, raised
no less than 4,000 men for the same expedition
from the great Yorkist holdings ofthe Plan tagenets.
However, by the 15th century the badge had
risen to such popularity and was so necessary for
the identification of troops in battle, that all com-
manders, no matter how small their following,
began to adopt badges. Thus in the late 15th
century Sir John Ferrers, who had a retinue of
only two lances (one of whom was himself) and
fifteen archers, had his own badge.
Because these badges were widely displayed on
property, flags and liveries, they were far more
The seal of the great BeauchalYlp family, Earls of Warwick, widely known amongst the common people
showing shield, surcoat and trapper all bearing the falYlily than the coats of arms of the lords, which were
arms (Gules, a fess between six cross crosslets or) and the
distinctive swan's head crest. only displayed on a lord's person, his lance pennon
and banner. In battle a lord's retainers and
importance in the 15th century, and gone out of followers wore his badge on thei r clothes and
use in the reign of Henry VIII. rallied round a standard beari ng that same badge,
These badges were never of any fixed form, nor and consequently, unlike heraldry, the badge
was there any fixed manner of usage, as with was a method of identification which was rec-
coats of arms. Also, unlike arms, they were never ognized and understood by the masses.
worn by the owner; rather they were his mark of The badge is variously described as being worn
ownership, and were therefore stamped on his on the sleeve or shoulder, but by the time of the
belongings and worn as a sign of allegiance by his Wars of the Roses it was more frequently worn
servant, dependants and retainers, who had no on the breast.
arms of their own and no righ t to bear the arms of After the Wars of the Roses a new class of nobles
their lord. If a lord was powerful enough to lead a rose from the lower ranks to replace the great
party in the State, then adherents of his party number of nobles killed in the wars. At the same
might also wear his badge, and colours. (This is time heraldry appears to have begun its decline,
the origin of modern political party colours.) and almost all badges were transformed into
uch badges were generally but not always dif- crests. By the time of Henry VIII the crest and the
ferent to the charges borne on the lord's coat of badge had come to be regarded as synonymous.
arms. The decline in importance of the badge is, of
Badges were originall y gran ted by the sovereign course, directly linked to the creation of the stand-
only to those heads of great families who could ing army, which was begun in the reign of Henry
field a large force of men. Such great lords nor- VIII, for with the creation of this army the prin-
mally had the right to bear a standard granted by cipal use of the badge on the livery of retainers
the king at the same time, for the badge was used as a distinguishing mark of allegiance came to
on the livery colours to form a standard. At the an end.
battle of Bannockburn in 1314, for example, Possibly the oldest badge is that of Geoffrey of
Thomas, Lor I Berkeley, had 200 retai ners and was Anjou, father of Henry II, who used the broom-
entitled to usc a badge to distinguish them. plant or planta genista the origin of the name
Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, raised 80 men Plantagenet. The rose came to English royal
for the siege of Cacrlaverock castle in 1300 and heraldry via Eleanor of Provence, queen of
Henry Ill, and was chosen as a badge by their through clouds, Fig 56, and Richard II used both
heir, Edward I, who used a golden rose. His the planta genista and the sun burst, and added a
brother Edmund Crouch back, Earl of Lancaster, personal badge ofa white hart, Fig 57. Edward III
had a red rose and this became the badge of the also used an ostrich feather as a badge, Fig 58,
Earl and Dukes of Lancaster, and of the three which was probably derived from the arms of
kings of that house Henry IV, Henry V and his wife, Philippa of Hainault. One or more
Henry VI. It was also the badge of the Beaufort ostrich feathers were used as badges by all of
family, descendants of the illegitimate son of Edward's son, but notably by the Black Prince,
John ofCaunt, Duke of Lancaster. When Richard, who had three white feathers; and it was probably
Duke of York, claimed the throne in 1460 he the use of this badge on a black shield and ofa black
chose a white rose as his badge, and this became sureoat to match which gave rise to the name
the badge of his son, Ed ward IV, and of the Black Prince. From this sprang the famous Prince
Yorkist forces. Edward IV in fact placed the of Wales badge of three feathers encircled by a
white rose on a sun, another Yorkist badge, and it coronet, used by the Heir Apparent since Tudor
was the confusion between this badge and the times. Henry V used as badges the antelope,
silver star of de Vere, Earl of Oxford, which cost
the Lancastrians the baltle of Barnet in 1471, an A miniature of Sir Geoffrey Luterell taken from the Luterell
Psalter, written around 1340, illustrating the placing of
example of the importance of distinctive badges charges on the right side of the trapper. Compare trapper,
at that ti me. ailette, horse crest, helmet crest and pennon with the shield
and saddle arc;ons, where the martlets all face the dexter and
Edward TTl had as a badge a sun bursting the bend is not sinister.
 badges are therefore standards and guidons, or
monumental work in places such as Westminster
Abbey. The bear and ragged staff of the Earls of
Warwick, and the swan of the Earls and Dukes of
Buckingham, will be familiar to many readers,
but it is hoped the illustrations of badges accom-
panying this section will provide examples which
are new to some. Figs 62-73 are taken from a
broadsheet published in 1449, Figs 74-79 from a
manuscript of the reign of Edward IV (1461-83).
Badges occurred in European countries, al-
though their use never became so widespread or
so important as in England, and therefore a small
selection of the more famous badges of France and
Italy has been included; Figs 80-85.
Because they were not bound by the rules of
heraldry, badges were not truly hereditary, al-
though there are a number of well-known cases
of the same badge being used by generation after
generation. In these cases it is believed that marks
of cadency were used to distinguish between the
Tudor badges on the gates of Henry VII's chapel in West- badgesoffather and sons. For example, Humphrey
minster Abbey, including the crowned portcullis ofthe Beau- Talbot, son of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury
forts; entwined white and red roses of the Houses of York
and Lancaster; crowned marguerites for Henry's mother (whose badge is shown in Fig 69) had as a badge a
(Lady Margaret Beaufort); and the falcon and fetterlock of talbot or hound with a mullet on its shoulder.
the House of York; all interspersed with the 8eurs-de-lys of
France and lions of England. DifTerencing by tincture, as with the roses of
Edward I and his brother Edmund, may have
Fi~lt 59, and the swan, Fig 6/, which were derived been another method of denoting cadency. Sons
from his mother's family the Bohuns, apd a cresset also occasionally adopted a slightly different
or beacon, Fig 60. form of their father's badge. Other examples of
Royal badge became numerous under the differencing by cadency marks and other means
Tudors but rarely occur after that period (1485- may be found in the list of liveries and badges
1603). Henry Tudor's badges included the red below.
rose of Lancaster and the Beaufort portcullis, Fig
62. The Beau forts were excluded from the royal Liveries
succession but, after his victory at Bosworth Field, Liveries werc the forerunners of military uniforms,
Henry had the ban lifted by an Act of Parliament and the term livery means those distinguishing
and the portcullis crowncd became one of his marks on the dress of individuals which marked
badges as Henry VII. He also united the red and them out as servants, retainers or followers of
white rose' into the Tudor rose when he married certain knights. In addition to this distinctive
Elizabeth of York. The Tudor rose is found in two mark, the tunics of these men were usually of a
distinct forms; a rose divided vertically or, more
commonly, a double rose with the outer petals (56) Edward III: a golden sun bursting through white (shaded)
cloud. (57) Richard II: white hart with gold chain and crown.
red and the inner ones white, or vice versa. (58) Edward III: white feather with gold quill and rear faces
of scroll. (59) Henry V: white antelope with gold crown and
No official records of the badges used by the chain. (60) Henry V: beacon with red flames. (61) Henry V:
king's subjects were kept until late in the reign of white swan with gold crown and chain. (62) Henry VII: port-
cullis. (63) John, Duke of Bedford: golden tree stump. (64)
Henry Vlll, by which time their use was rapidly Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester: white duck with gold crown
declining, and therefore it is not possible tocompile and chains. (65) de la Pole, Dukes of Suffolk: white bollard
with gold strap and ring. (66) Mowbray, Dukes of Norfolk:
a complete list. Our only sources for the earlier a lion. (67) Holland, Dukes of Exeter: a beacon on a mound.
56 57 58

60

62 63
 di tinctivc or uniform colour or colours. Some- Bemers, Lord (Bourchier): Or & vt. The Bourchier knot.
times these tunics were of the principal tincture or Brown, Sir We tyn: Gu. A lion's gamb erect and erased
argent, winged sable.
tincture of the arms of the leader, but livery Buckingham, Duke of (Edward Stafford): Gu & s. Stafford
colour. were not necessarily derived from coats of knot.
arm: retainers of the house of Percy, for example, Carew, Sir William, of Devon: Four stripes s & or. A falcon
collared and jesscd gules, bells on neck and legs or.
wore three stripes ofru set, or and tenne with the Cholmondeley, Sir Richard: Gu. A helmet per pale or and
blue lion rampant of the family arms on their argent, chargcd with five torteaux.
houlders a a badge. However, where the arms Clifford, Sir Henry: Argent. A wyvern's wings endorsed gules.
Constable, Sir Marmaduke, of Everingham, Yorks: Gules.
did provide the colour, the tincture of the field
Ancient three-masted ship headed with a dragon's head and
normally determined the colour of the tunic, and sailed furled or, charged with a crescent sable.
that of the principal charge on the field deter- Conyers, Lord of, Co. Durham: Arg. A lion passant azure.
min d the colour of the edging and sometimes, C01'llewall, Sir Thos.: Arg. A lion passant gules, ducally
crowned and seme of bczants.
on the more elaborate tunics, the lining. Curzon, Lord (Robcrt): Or & gu. A wolf's head crascd gules.
om' modern writers believe that where two Darcy, Thomas, Lord: Vt. An heraldic tiger argent.
tinctures are listed as the colours, then the livery Dorset, Marquess of (Thos. Grey): Arg. & pink. A unicorn
ermine, armed, unguled, maned and tufted or.
wa divided per pale, half the coat being in each Ferrel'S, Lord: Arg. & guo A grcyhound courant argcnt,
colour. There i no contemporary confirmation ducally gorged or.
of this theory: in fact, in contemporary manu- Ferrel'S, Sir Edward: Vt. A unicorn courant ermine, charged
on the shoulder with a crcscent sable.
script listing colours, the liveries are frequently
FitzUryan, Sir Rees ap Thomas: Arg. A raven sable standing
de cribed as being of one colour and embroidered on a turf vert.
in the second, or divided into four stripes. Pre- FitzUryan, Sir Griffith ap Rees: Gu & az. A quatrefoil slipped
sumably tunic were only per pale, or indeed argent, leavcd vert, charged with a raven sable.
Foljambe, Sir Godfrey, of Walton, Derby: Four stripes gu. &
quartered, if the lord so wished it, and particularly argo A Chatloupc passant quarterly or and sable, armed or.
if the field of his arms was th us divided. Grey, Lord, of Cod nor: Az & argo A badger and crown argent
The liveries of the English sovereigns during the and or.
Guljord, Sir Henry: Arg & s. A ragged staff inflamed, charged
medieval period were as follows: with a mullet sable.
The Plan/agene/ kings: Henry 11, Richard I,John, Guljord, Master: Four stripes wavy az & argo A ragged staff
Henry III, Edward I, and Edward 11 white inflamed at top and sides all proper.
Hastings, Lord: Purp & az. A bull's head erased sable, ducally
and red. Edward III blue and red. Richard gorged and armed.
II white and green. Howth, Lord (The Lord Howth ofIrland): Fourstripes arg &
The Lancas/riall kings: Henry IV, V and VI- gu. A wolf statant of a dark tawny, with fins along back and
belly and upon hind legs 'of a water colour'.
white and blue. Kent, Earl of (William Neville, Lord Fauconberg): Arg & az.
The Yorkis/ kings: Edward IV and Richard IIT- A fish-hook.
blue and murrey. Kent, Earl of (Geo. Grey): Gu. In /475 a black ragged staff.
Kirkham, Sir John, of Blakedon, Devon: Gu. A lion's head
The Tudor kings: Henry VIT and Vl11-white erased argent.
and green. Lancaster, Duke of (Henry): Arg & az. A red rose crowned.
A select list of liveries and badge worn by Leicester, Earl of (Robert Dudley): Or & az. A ragged staff
argent.
retainers of knights during the '300-1550 period Mas~ngberd, Sir Thos. of Gunby, Lincs: Four stripes gu & or.
is gi\'Cn below. Names are listed under title, not Two arrows in saltire argent.
family name; i.e. Shrewsbury, Earl of, not Talbot. Norfolk, Duke of (John Mowbray): Az & tawny. A white lion.
Norfolk, Duke of (Thos. Howard): Arg & gu. A silver sallet.
:-'lany of the knights listed had more than one Northumberland, Earl of (Henry Percy): Three stripes russet,
badge: for space reasons only their first badge or and tawny. A blue lion passant.
has been given: Northumberland, Duke of (John Dudley): Sable with argent
and gules embroidery. A bear argent, muzzled gules, collar
Abtrgavenny, Lord of (Geo. Neville): Vt & Arg. A double and chain or, supporting a ragged staff of the first.
staple interlaced, Arg & or. Norton, Sir John: Gu. A greyhound's head erased in front of
Arundel, Earl of (Thos. FitzAlan): Az & G. A branch of oak two wings erect all or.
vert, fructed or. Paston, Sir William, of Paston, Norfolk: Gu. A circular chain
Audley, Sir John: Or & guo A moor's head in profile propcr, or.
filleted round the temples, charged with a crcscent for dif- Pierpoint, Sir William: Four stripes purp. & argo A lion passant
ference. sable grasping in dexter paw a cinquefoil or.
 Ray"sforth, Sir John: Four stripes or & guo A greyhound cour- century the red cross or St George on a white
ant ru et, plain collared or.
background, first adopted for the crusades, was
RIchmond & Somerset, Duke of (Henry Fitzroy, natural son of
Henry VIII): Three stripes arg, az & or. A lion passant the recognized badge of the English soldier, worn
guardant, ducally gorged and chained. ei ther as a coat or as a disti nctive part of a coat, and
Roos, Lord (Geo. Manners): Az & or. A bull's head erased by the time of Agincourt Henry V had ordained
gules, armed, ducally gorged and chained or.
&rope, The Lord: Arg. A Cornish chough. that 'every man, of what estate or condition, that
tymour, Sir John: Gu. A leopard's head or. be of our partie, beare a bande of Seinte George
hrewsbury, Earl ofUohn Talbot): Gu & S. A talbot dog argent. sufficient large' upon his clothes (on the chest and
merset, Duke of Uohn Beaufort): Bendy gu, vt & argo An
trich feather erect argent, the quill componi' argent and back). Nobles, bannerets and knights also wore
azure. their jupons bearing the ramily arms, and there
omerset, Duke of (Edward Seymour): Or & guo A phoenix. are many references to them putting these on at
lourton, Lord of, in Wiltshire: Arg & s. A gold sledge.
uffolk, Duke of (William de la Pole): Az & or. A bollard the king's or other leaders' commandjust before a
argent with chain or. battlc was joined, and taking them off im-
Tyler, Sir William: Four tripes arg & az. A crescent, and mediately arter the battle. Some form of'uniform'
i uant therefrom a cross patel" fitche gules.
was obviously desirable in the battles now being
I'aughan, ir Hugh, of Lytylton: Four stripes or & vt. A fish-
head erased and erect or, 'ingullant' of a spear's head argent. fought.
Vernon, Sir Henry: Arg & or. A fret sable. By 150 I the 300-strong Yeomen of the Guard
Warwick, Earl of Salisbury and (Richard Nevill): Gu (1458). (archers of the King's Bodyguard, formed in
White ragged starr.
Willoughby, Lord: Arg & guo A moor's head full faced, the 1485 by Henry Tudor) were dressed in the Tudor
tongue hanging out. Ii very colours of whi te and green in vertical stri pe ,
Willshire: Earl of (Henry): S & guo A Stafford knot charged embroidered on chest and back with a red rose
with a crescen t gu les for d irrerence.
ouche, John, son and heir of Lord Zouche: S & purp. On the within a vine wreath. This coat would have been
branch of a tree or, sprouting vert, an eagle rising argent, the ordinary horseman's coat of the period,
gorged with a label of three points. probably sleeveless and close fitting but with a
~ouche,John, of Cod nor: Gu & vt. On the stump ofa tree or,
branching vert, a falcon, wings elevated argent, charged on wide skirt. Under Henry VIII (1509-47) these
the breast with a crescent gules. (Also the badger and crown Yeomen still wore white and green for the 1514
ar ent and or of I.ord Grey of Codnor.) campaign in France, but arc shown to have worn
The War or the Roses virtually extinguished the at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 a red tunic
Livery and Maintenance system the greater with black bars at the edges and on the arms,
part of the baronage was dead and the whole with the rose surmounted by a crown in gold on
country was sick or war-and under the strong chest and back. Hose and doublets were white.
rule or Henry Tudor (14851509) such private (The Field of the Cloth of Gold painting was
armies were at last made illegal. Nevertheless the finished circa 1538 and in fact the Tudor rose
y tem orraising an army in time orneed by calling remained uncrowned un till 527 or possi bly later.)
on nobles to supply men was retained, and so Red gradually replaced the white and green as
thererore were many or the individual liveries or dress uniform ror ceremonial occasions, but the
th se lords. Under this ontract system, nobles white and green tunics persisted for everyday usc
were obliged to supply men by the hundred, until about 1530.
depending on their status: gentlemen or ordinary Similarly the various companies of the English
knights had to supply two men, and a squire army of the 16th century and the shire and city
one man. levies (or trained bands) now wore some form of
As early as 1345 Parliament had enacted that 'uniform', basicallystill theirlord's (or captain's
troop rai cd for the French wars were to be often the same thing) livery colours and badge.
dressed in a unirorm manner, and cleven years Thus in 1554 the men of the Earl of Pembroke
later, at the battlc or Poi tiers, the army or the wore blue coats with a green dragon badge; the
Black Prince did in ract wear a uniform of /-i;l'('cn men-at-arms of the Marquess of Winchester had
and white the livery colours adopted by the embroidered coats of red and white in about
next king (Richard il) and subsequently used by 1570; while those of the Earl of Suffolk in 1597 had.
Henry VII and Henry VIII. By the late 14th blue coats faced with sea-green taffeta, with
 68

71 72 73

74 75

77 79
 feathers of the same colours and 'many chains of for English military headgear in the 16th century
gold'. Even in the early 17th century such livery and these two colours remained the most
uniform persisted: in 1603 the men of the Earl of popular in the latter halfofthe century.
. orwich wore blue livery coats with white doub- All these examples illustrate early attempts to
let, hats and feathers, and those of the Earl of identify troops in battle by means of uniform dress.
\Tottingham in 1605 had cloaks of orange-tawny, However, at this stage only the tunic or livery was
edged with silver and blue lace. This earl's trum- normally affected; hats and hose of various hues
peters wore orange damask clothing, with cloaks were worn by men within the same companies,
of the same colour. and there was not yet any such thing as a universal
In the trained bands some attempt was also uniform or a national colour for coats.
made to wear a distinguishing dress in battle. In
1513 the men of Canterbury wore the chough,
from the city's coat of arms, on their chest and Crests
back. Tn 152'2 the men of Shrewsbury were issued
with coats bearing leopards' heads. The soldiers Some forms ofhelmet crest seem to have come into
raised by the City of London in 1539 had white use towards the end of the I '2th century and be-
coats beari ng the arms of the ci ty on fron t and ginning of the 13th century, but it is not until the
back, and in 154-2 the cavalry raised by Coventry beginning of the 14th century that heraldic crests
had an elephant badge on their coats. The men of began to come into general usc and take on a
Norwich in 154-3 wore a blue coat edged and three-dimensional form. From this date on crests
decorated with red and, for the first time on arc often referred to as 'true' crests, in that they arc
record, their hose was also regulated: all red for free-standing, three-dimensional constructions.
the right leg, blue with a broad red stripe for the These 'true' crests were rather splendid, often
left leg. fantastic objects, made of a fairly lightweight
I n 154-4- Henry V III is portrayed landi ng in material such as moulded leather, parch men t,
France wearing over his armour a tunic of white whalebone, beaten copper sheet, plumes and
and gold with a red cross in the centre, and ap- feathers, canvas stretched over a wicker frame,
parently the traditional red cross ofSt George on a thin wood, or papier mache. Leather was probably
white background was now usually worn together the most prevalent, in the form of cuir bouiLLi, that
with the company's badge, either with the badge is leather soaked in hot wax and ben t to shape
et somewhere on a white tunic bearing the red while still hot. This had the advantages of being
eros, or the red cross on a white background seton light yet strong, and could be shaped easily. (Cuir
part of'the company's coat. However, in 1556 the bouilli was also used to cover shields, with heraldic
men of Reading were still wearing blue coats with charges embossed upon it, and for making a form
red crosses, their hose being in various colours, so of body and horse armour.)
true 'national' uniform docs not appear to have The feathers of cockerels, swans and peacocks
been adopted at this date. In fact, although all were also used extensively. They were usually
men of each county now wore one distinctive arranged as a panache, particularly in the earlier
livery, the various counties were still dressed in crests, thatis risingin tiers to a point, asin the crests
different 'uniforms', and some of the counties of Edmund Mortimer (1372), Fig 86, Sir Edward
even went so far as to vary that 'uniform' from Thorpe (14-18), Fig 87, and John, Lord Scrope,
year to year. Fig 88; or as a plume, in which only one or two
Red and blue were the predominant colours of tiers were employed, as in the crest of the Earl of
these county li\"Cries red was also a usual colour Hereford in 130 I, Fig 89. The panache sometimes
spread ou twards instead of rising to a poi n t, as in
(68) de Vere, Earls of Oxford. (69) Talbot, Earls ofShrewsbury. the crest of Sir Simon de Felbrigge, Fig 90, and
(70) Neville, Earls ofWarwick. (71) FitzAlan, Earls of Arundel.
(72) Courtenay, Earls of Devon. (73) Richard, Duke of York: that of John, King of Bohemia, Fig 91. On oc-
a golden fetterlock. (74) Scales, Earl Rivers. (75) Earls of casions kathers were also dis pIayed ina cI uster,
Douglas. (76) Lord Scrope of Bolton. (77) Lord Grey of Codnor.
(78) Sir Ralph Hastings. (79) Sir John Astley. as in the brass to Sir Thomas de St Quintin (14.20),
 80 81

85

83 84
(80) The ermine of the Dukes of Brittany. (81) The porcupine The human figure is another favourite crest in
of the House of Orleans. (82) The winged hart of the House of
Bourbon. (83) The salal1lander of the House of Angoulel1le. German heraldry, usually shown half-length and
(8'll The serpent and child of the Dukes of Milan. (85) The sometimes with the arms replaced by horns, as in
knot of the House of Savoy.
Fig 97, the crest of the Count of Mont beliard. The
Fig 92. The kathers were occasionally coloured hat is ano~her common crest in German heraldry,
in the principal tinctures of the arms, as in the Fig 98, the crest of the 14th-century knight,
crest of the Comtc de amur, Fig 93, (irw 1295, Casteln.
whose arms were Or, a lion rampant sable, armed, The heads of heraldic beasts such as lions,
crowned and langued gules, overall a bend gules. boars, hounds, and of heraldic birds such as
Horns were another popular form of crest in eagles, swans and cockerels, accounted for many
Germany and to a lesser extent in England: of the other crests. In some cases these consisted of
Figs 94 and 95 show two German examples, a repetition of a charge in the wearer's arms, but
Fig 96 the crest of Si r J oh n Plessis ( [3 th cen tury). often the charges in arms did not lend themselves
I n the earlier crests these horns were simply to usc in crests, and consequently it became
curved and pointed in their natural form but
in the later, more elaborate crests they arc some- The bronze effigy of Georg Truchsess von Waldburg (died
times recurved (as Fig 95) and have an opening 146,) in St Peter's Church, Bad Waldsee in Wurttel1lberg,
showing a crest of green peacock's feathers in a panache and
into which arc sometimes inserted tufts or plumes a second crest of a fir tree, as well as his banner and shield,
ofrcathers. The e horns arc usually painted in the bearing his arl1lS, Or, three lions sable. The arl1lS of the
princes zu Waldburg had originally been Azure, three pine
tinctures of the shield. cones or, and this is probably the origin of the second crest.
common practice for many knights to use a crest In Germany and the Low Countries crests were
which was in no way linked with their arms. regarded by the heralds as being of great impor-
part from Richard I, who is shown wearing a tance from an early date (certainly by the early
fan-shaped cre t on his Great Seal of 1194, no 13th century) and the crests used in these countries
English monarch wore a crest until Edward III, in the 14th and 15th centuries were also directly
who wore a lion on a chapeau, Fig 99. He also had linked to the tournament and were often extremely
a 'per onal' crest ofan eagle. The crest of Henry V tall and fanci ful as a resul t. See Figs 95, 103 and
in Westminster bbey is an uncrowned lion on a 104; 103 being the crest of the lord of Baden-
chapeau, Fig 100, the lion being passant: that of weiler in Baden, and 104 of the knight Aeschach.
Richard II is an uncrowned lion, passant guard- Crests were seldom used in France, Italy,
ant, Fig 101. II other English kings have used a Spain and Portugal, and in Spain especially
crowned Iion, passan t guard an t, as in Fig 99. In examples of crests arc almost unknown even
Tudor times a crown was substituted for the amongst the greatest families. A rare example of
chapeau, and this has been the English royal an Italian crest is given in Fig 105, that ofMastino
crest ever since. II other members of the royal 11 (died (351) of the della Scala family, from the
family in England also bore a lion crest, with the tomb in Verona. Examples of French crests are
single exception of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, also rare, and those which do survive usually
who wore a wyvern, Fig 102, circa 1347. This, belong to the highest in the land, for example
combined with Edward HI's personal crest, is Fig 106, crest of the King of France in the 14th
interesting in that amongst English chivalry in century; Fig 107, that of the Duc de Bourgogne
particular it is known that the crest was con- circa 1295; Fig 108, that of Philip IV, King of
sidered a personal rather than a hereditary device, France 1285-1314; and Fig 109, the crest of
and was therefore subject to change, different Bertrand du Guesclin. (See also Fig 93, the crest
members of the same family normally using dif- of the Comte de Namur circa 1295.)
ferent cre ts. In Poland all nobles wore the same type ofcresl,
Crests were worn primarily at the tournament, three ostrich feathers, irrespective offamily arms.
or other pageants and parades, and by the 14.th
century were not designed for the battlefield. It is The Scarf
believed that by this date the 'true' crest may have The scarf or conloise was a piece of cloth, possibly
been a mark of special dignity, possibly only originating from a lady's favour or in imitation
awarded to persons of' rank and entitling them to of the turban, which presumably had some
take part in tournaments. Certainly in the 15th practical purpose, such as protection from the
cen tury the u. e of crests was al most en ti rel y linked weather, although it is hard to see exactly what its
to tournaments, and as the armour and equip- value would have been. Illustrations of the scarf
ment had by this date become so elaborate and show it to have been of various lengths (see Figs
costly, onl y the weal th y could afford to partici pate. 94 and 102), sometimes reaching only to the
The jousting score-sheets kept by the English neck, other times capable of reaching halfway
heralds of the time confirm this, the names oi"the down the back. In some examples it is fastened to
same men recurring time after ti me. This si tuation the top of the hel met, in others it emerges from
had probably existed since the late 14th century. beneath the edge at the rear of the helmet.
The elaborate and Oamboyant crests worn by Although the scarfis believed to have originated
knights for the tournament were therefore duri ng the crusades period, it does not appear
heraldic status symbols which indicated both frequently in illustrations until the early 14th
that the wearer was of tournament rank and that century, and it was replaced soon after this date by
he could afTord to I articipate! This explains why the wreath and mantli ng descri bed over.
so f'cw of the Ics er gentry in England had crests
before 1530, and it i mai nl y as crests that the more See body of text for identifications; note details: (86) Blue
fabulous and chimerical creatures of heraldry feathers. (87) Peacock's feathers. (93) A seme ofgold hearts on
the mantling. (96) Peacock's feathers. (97) Gold hair, crown
appear. and 'horns', with red gown as mantling.
 88
87

89 91

92

96
A horse armour, known as the Burgundian bard, probably extravagant fashion of having coats of arms engraved and
Flemish, circa 1510. This bard is heavily embossed with the gilded on arlDOur after jupons had gone out of fashion.
emblems of the Order of the Golden Fleece and reflects the

The Wreath 101. After the reign of Edward III a coronet was
The wreath developed li'om thescarfand appeared worn by dukes, princes and the king.
by the mid-14th century. Unlike the scarf, which In a few examples a wreath is used as a 'crest',
had served a u. eful purpose, the wreath was or crest-wreath, as Fig 110, that of Lord Wil-
purely ornamental. It was made of two skeins of loughby d'Eresby, 14.09. See also the cluster of
silk or other material, in the tinctures of the field feathers held by a brooch on the helmet of Sir
and principal charge of the wearer's arms, twisted Thomas de St Quintin, Fig 92.
together to form a ring. The crest was laced or
bolted to the helmet and the wreath was attached Mantling
to the base of the crest to conceal this joint. Ex- The mantling was merely a larger version of the
amples of the wreath appear in Figs 107 and 109. scarf, originally designed to protect the helmet
A cap or chapeau, an ancient cap of dignity and its wearer from the elements. It was mainly
worn by dukes and made of scarlet fur with p- a form of decoration, however, and was probably
turn-up of ermine, was worn instead of a wreath only used for the tournament. The mantling was
by the high ranking nobles. It is illustrated in the in the principal colour of the wearer's arms, its
crests of the ki ngs 01" England, Figs 99, 100 and underside the colour of the principal metal or fur.
It was sometimes decorated with charges from the near Coventry, his horse wore a trapper of blue
arms, or the wearer's badge. For example, John and green velvet, embroidered with golden swans
D' ubynge, circa 1345, had a seme of mullets on and antelopes, and that when Henry V's body
his mantling (Fig 111) ; George, Duke of Clarence, was returned to England after his death in France,
a seme of the white roses ofYork ; Henry Bourchier, the horses conveying the body wore trappers of
Earl of Essex (died 1485), billety, with the lining blue and green velvet, embroidered with ante-
having a semc of water budgets. I n some cases the lopes.
material of the crest, especially if that material The actual designs on trappers needs a little
was a textile or feathers, was continued down- clarification. A knight bearing, for example,
wards to form the mantling, as in the crests of the Gules, three water budgets argen t (the arms of
German knights Badenweiler (Fig 103), Chur William, Lord Ros, temp. Edward I) would
(Fig 112), Hevtler (Fig 113), and in Sir Simon de probably have a red trapper with three white
Felbrigge's ermine panache (Fig 90). The black water budgets on each side of the rear half, and
boar's head crest of Sir Ralph Basset (Fig I 14) three more water budgets on each side of the front
also continues into a sable mantling. half. However, he might choose to use only one
water budget on each sideofeach half, or to employ
his entire coat of arms on a shield as a device, that
Horse Trappers shield being perhaps repeated three times on each
side of each half of the trapper, or as a single de-
While all horse trappers, or caparisons, are divided vice on each side of each half.
into two halves which meet at the saddle, they There is also the problem of which side is dexter,
differ in the forward half, some completely cover- which sinister, when applied to the two sides of a
ing the horse's head, others ending behind its horse. From the examples studied it would seem
ears, ancl still others end ing a tth e shou Iders to leave that the horse's head was regarded as being on the
neck and head free. Tn the early examples the dexter side; and therefore on the left-hand side,
trappers arc of cloth, full and loose, and reach or shielded side as we view it, the trapper bore the
to the fetlocks: some of these have a dagged edge, arms exactly as they appeared on the shield. On
though this is not common. the other side of the trapper, the charges of the
By the mid- 15th century the trapper had begun coat of arms were reversed, so that they still faced
to be inA uenced by the general increase in the use towards the horse's head. A study of the photo-
of plate armour, but because the cost and weight graph of Sir Geoffrey Luterell mounted, on
of such armour was prohibitive, leather armour page 21, should make this point clear, for in
was commonly used for horses. This was painted this example the right-hand side of the horse is
with the rider's arms in the same way as the now shown and Sir Geoffrey's trapper, crest and
purely ornamental cloth trapper. The great lords ailettes all bear the charges of his arms reversed.
who did usc plate on their horses for the tourna-
ment covered these bards with richly embroidered
cloth trappers, secured in place by laces.
The basic colour of a caparison was normally
the principal tincture of the rider's arms, with the
TheP/ates
principal charge or charges repeated on each side A: German knight (minnesanger), early J 4th century
of each half of the trapper. Livery colours were This figure is taken from the famous Manesse
ometimes used instead of the tinctures of the Codex at Heidelberg, compiled at the beginning
and green velvet, embroidercd with golden swans of the 14th century. The minnesanger was the
had no connection at all with the rider's arms approximate equivalent of the French troubadour
particularly in Germany. It is interesting to note and usually came from the lower nobility. In this
in this context that when the Duke of Hereford example he and his horse are decked in the full
(later Henry IV), rode to fight a duel (a duel panoply of a medieval knight: horse trapper,
stopped by Richard IT) with the Duke of Norfolk surcoat, crest, lance banner, and shield bearing
98 99 100

101 102 103

104 105 106

109
hi coat of arm. It wa normal practice for the same colour as his helmet mantling, and each half
urcoat, crcst and trapper to be ei ther in the bore on each side a shield displaying his arms.
colours of the arms or to bear the charges shown
on those arms, but, as may be seen from this illus- C I : Mathieu de Montmorency, /360
tration, this was by no means a hard and fast rule. This illustration of the Chevalier Mathieu de
The symbol on the surcoat is believed to be a Montmorency is based on the effigy on his tomb
stylized letter 'N, for Amor, and in the original at Tavergny in France. There is no heraldry on
manuscript this minnesanger is shown receiving the jupon and he would have been identified in
his helm from the lady he i wooing. battle solely by his shield and lance pennon. I O
helmet is shown on the tomb effigy, but it would
BI: Ulrich von Lichenstein, died /275 probably have been of the general type shown on
1\s in the preceding plate, this figure is taken from Plate D3. Note the difference of a three-pointed
the :\1anes codex. Ulrich von Lichenstein was a label over the arms, indicating this particular
tyrian poet who died circa 1275, but the armour warrior was a cadet of the great Montmorency
and crest he wears arc typical of those worn by the family.
lesser German knights in the first half of the 14th
century. Hi sureoat is unrelated to his arms, but C2: Bertrand du Guesclin, died /380
docs bear his coat of arms on a shield. His horse One of France's greatest military leaders during
trapper was of the same green material and bore the Hundred Years War, du Guesclin was made
three shields wi th his arms on each side of the front Constable off ranee in October r 370, thus placing
and rear halves. even the royal princes under his command. In
Both thi and the figure in Plate A are dressed the contemporary print upon which this illustra-
as iffor the tourney, and von Lichenstein is in fact tion is based, du Guesclin carries a shield bearing
armed with a tourney lance with three-pointed a lion and with the arms of France (modern) in
coronel) head. chief, but we have shown his personal arms. It is
worth pointing out that his arms are not repeated
B2: Bohemian knight, second half oJ 14th century on his jupon, nor docs he wear an elaborate crest.
By this date the close-fitting jupon had replaced (His tourney crest is shown in Fig /09.) Li ke the
the surcoat. nlike the surcoat, the jupon rarely figures shown in B2 and Cr, du Guesclin is dressed
bore the wearer's arms (except in England) and for battle: it was only at the tournament that
in this example the knight is portrayed with only a elaborate jupons, crests and trappers were used.
hidd bearing arms (of the Holy Roman Empire)
and holding a lance with a pennon bearin~ the C3: Jean de Crequy, circa /44°
Hungarian colours. The figure is based on an illu- Jean, Seigneur de Crcquy, was ambassador to
stration in a Bohemian chess book of 1350-1400. Spain and France for the Duke ofBurgundy and is
shown here dressed for the tourney with elaborate
B3: Count Frederick von CiLIi, 1415 crest and tabard. The charge on his arms is a
Based on a contemporary illustration which shows stylized wild cherry tree, in French crequier, and
the count outside the walls of Coutances on 20 his arms arc therefore of the type known as canting
;\larch 1415, waiting tojoust with Duke Frederick arms. Jean de Crequy was a knight of the Orderof
of Austria. Hisjousting shield bears the arms of the the Golden Fleece (instituted in 1429 by Philip
von Cilli family and the crest is the one used by the Good, Duke of Burgundy) and this illustra-
all members of that family. His trapper was of the tion is based on an original in the 15th-century
ArmoriaL of the Knights oj the GoLden FLeece. His
See body of text for identifications; note details: (103) Gold
father Jacques de Crcquy was taken prisoner and
hair and chevron, red gown and mantling. (104) White fish put to death at the battle of Agineourt.
with red gills. (106) Gold fleur-de-Iys and crown, blue mantl-
ing. (107) Gold fleur-de-lys, blue mantling edged red, upper
wreath blue and yellow, lower wreath red and white. (109) D I :John Plantagenet, Earl oj CornwaLL, /3/6-36
White eagle, yellow beak, red tongue, wreath of black and
white. John Plantagenet bears the arms of England dif-
A horse armour made for Otto Heinrich, Count Palatine of ferenccd with a bordure of France -a combina-
the Rhine, between 1532-36. The arIns of the Palatinate and
Bavaria appear on the rear half of the bard and are repeated tion of the arms of his [ather, Edward II, and
on a small shield on the front ofthe chanfron. The lion appears
again at the side of the head, while the tinctures of the arms of
mother, Queen Isabel o[ France. He was created
the Palatinate are employed on the border of the bard. Earl of Cornwall in 1328, was regent for Edward
ITT while that king was in France (1329-3I) and
commanded the English army in Scotland. His
arms are repeated on his cyclas. This figure IS colours but replaced the crosses crosslet with
based on the effigy in Westminster Abbey. different charges. The figure is based on the
brass at St Mary's Church, Warwick.
D2: iT Oliver D'hzgham, died 1344
ir Oliver had a distinguished career in the reigns £2: Sir John Say, 1420-78
of Edward II and Edward III, and was Seneschal SirJohn was probably a son ofJohn Say ofPoding-
of Aquitaine in 1325-26 and 1333-43. He gained ton in Bedfordshire, and possibly a kinsman of
a deci ive victory over the French at Bordeaux Lord Saye and Sele. Although brought up a
in 1340. The early arms of the Ingham family Lancastrian, he became a Yorkist in 1460 and on
appear to have had a white field and the party his tomb brass wears round his neck a Yorkist
field shown here wa probably derived from the collar of alternate suns and roses. He was a pro-
arms ofBigod, Earls of orfol k, where th e Ingham minent figure in Parliament and was knighted in
lands lay. The illustration is based on the effigy in 1465. His tabard bears his arms, which arc re-
Ingham Church, though the arms on the cyclas peated on each sleeve. The figure is based on a
arc after Stothard (181 I). The helmet with crest brass made during his lifetime (in 1473) and
at the head of the monument is now mutilated which is in Broxbourne Church, Hertfordshire.
beyond reeognition, but John Weever, writing
in 1613, stated that the crest was an owl on a £3: Sir Edmund de Th01jJe) died 1418 ( ?)
thorn bush. Sir Edmund was a prominent soldier i n the wars of'
Henry V, and is believed to have been killed at the
D3: Sir Hugh CalvelC], died /393 siege of Louviers in 1418. Hisjupon bears the arms
ir Hugh was one of the most famous captains of of Thorpe (Azure, three crescents argent) quar-
the free eompanies in the Hundred Year War. tered with those of his mother, daughter and
He erved in Spain with Henry of Trastamare in heire s of Robert Baynard (Sable, a fess between
1366, and later joi ned the army of the Black two chevrons or). He is shown wearing his tour-
Princc. He was appointed deputy of Calais in ney helmet with crest, this and other information
1377, and in 1380 took part in the unsuccessful ex- shown here being taken from his effigy in Ash-
pedition to france led by the Duke of Gloucester. well thorpe Church, Norfolk.
He was governor of the Channel Isles, 1376 88.
He is shown in a jupon bearing his canting PI: Robert de Mamines, died 1431
arms and wearing his tourney helm with crestofa Robert de Mamines was a leading Flemish
caIr's head. The arms are an early example in soldier who followed Jean 'Sans Peur', father of
Engli. h heraldry of the use of two differently Philip Ill. He was killed at Liege in 1431. He
coloured charges on one field. This illustration appears here attired for the tourney, in blazoned
is based on the effigy in Bunbury Church, Che- tabard and highly decorative crested helmet, as
shire. ill ustrated in the Armorial of the Knights oj the Colden
Fleece. He was created a knight of this Order in
EI: Thomas Beal/chamjJ, Earl of Warwick) 1345- 1430 at the siege of Melun.
14°1
Thomas Beauchamp was a warrior and military F2: Jacopo dei Cavalli, died 1384
governor throughout the reign of Edward III, Based on an effigy in SS Giovanni e Paolo, Venice,
but in the follo\\'ing reign he joined various plots this is another example of canting arms. ate
against the king and was imprisoned in the Tower. the knight's arms do not appear on hisjupon.
He \\'£1. released an I had his honours restored on
the acees.ion of' Henry IV. His jupon bears the F3: !AII'd oj Crulll11yse, first half ~/ 15th century
arms of the Beauchamps, while the plates at his This Flemish knight is thus portrayed in the
elbows, on the sword-belt and scabbard arc famous 15th-century Livre des Tournois. The same
decorated with the ragged stli rrbadge of Warwick. manuscript shows this lord's herald, wearing a
Other branches of' the (amily used the same tabard bearing his lord's arms, and his trumpeter,
whose trumpet has a banner bearing the same (1I0) Lord Willoughby D'Eresby. (Ill) John D'Aubynge.
(1I2) 14th-century Gennan knight narned Chur: red jester's
arm. The family name is alsospclt Groothuys and cap with gold edge and white balls. (1I3) 14-century German
knight naOled Hevtler: red edging to mantling, red beak and
Gruthu e in contemporary sources, and in the embattled upper half to spinal crest. (1I4J Sir Ralph Basset,
Armorial ojthe Kizights oJthe GoLden Fleece (compiled Knight of the Garter 13li8-9o: gold tusks and coronet. (1I5) de
Montacute, Earls of Salisbury, 1337-44, 1397-1400: gold
between 1430 and 1440) is listed a Monsieur de griffm and coronet. (1I6) HUOlphrey, Earl of Stafford, Knight
Grutusse, who bears these same arms but with of the Garter, 1429: white swan, red beak, gold coronet. (1I7)
The Burgrave of NureIDburg: the IDantiing was probably
the quarters reversed. Gruthuse served in the black. (1I8) 14th-century knight frOID Basle named Schaler:
white lozengy on red. (119) Nicholas de Borssele, 15th-century
army of the Duke of Burgundy in 1417. French knight. (120) Charles, Comte de Valois, circa 1295.
(121) 14th-century GerIDan knight naIDed Bretsla: green
peacock's feathers with red eyes on yellow, yellow back.
G1: English herald, first half oj 16th century ground to eagle, white crescent, red mantling edged yellow.
This figure is taken from a parade of English
officers of arms, illustrated in a tourney book of G3: Brandenburg pursuivant, 15th centmy
the time of Henry VIII. The pursuivants had a German pursuivants wore their tabards In the
similar tabard but wore it askew, that is with the same fashion as the heralds. The one illustrated
short arm panels over chest and back, and the here was pursuivant of the Elector Frederick II of
longer panels over their arms. Brandenburg (1413-71). His official title was
Burggraf, because his master, as a Hohenzollern,
G2: Spanish herald, circa 1420 was also the burgrave of uremburg.
The Sicily herald illustrated here served the king
of \rag-on, to whom icily then belonged, around H: Jean de Dillon, died 1481 or 1482
'4'20. He wear the arms of Sicily and Aragon. Jean de Dillon was the king of France's rep-
Thi particular herald, Jean Courteois, was resentative in Arras, and this portrait of him is
re ponsible for the most authoritative written based on amille-fleur tapestry made there, probably
record of the rights and duties of a herald. in 1477. Note that by this late date the knight does

A GerOlan sallet for a light horseman, circa 1490, painted

with heraldic charges. In the early days of heraldry 'crests'
were often painted on helmets before the true crest devel-
oped: this example suggests 'crests' for the lower nobility
may have corne full circle by the late 15th century.
 111 112
110

114 115
113

117 118

120 121
119
 not wear any heraJdi devices on his person and,
a shields were no longer carried in battle, he tary role of heraldry had come to an end, to be
could only be identified by his lance pennon or superseded by the age of the military Rag, at least
banner. Thus from circa '45 0 at the latest the until the reintroduction of heraldic symbols in
nag became the ole means of identifying in- the form of formation signs in the First World
War.
dividual lords on the ficlcl of battle, and the miJi-
 German knight (minnesanger), early 14th century

r
,'- "
-, "'J
, , ... ),

t:
.J

,
,f
.,
,
I ,
I'
1. lrich von Lichenstein, died 1275
2. Bohemian knight, second half of 14th century
3. Count Frederick von Cilli, 1415
 ..,

..,

I. Mathieu de Montmorency, 1360

2. Bertrund du Guesclin, died 1380
3. Jean de Crequy, circa 1440
1. John Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall, 1316-36
2. Sir Oliver D'Ingham, died 1344
3. Sir Hugh Calveley, died 1393
1. Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, 1345-140]
2. Sir John Say, 1420-78
3. Sir Edmund de Thorpe, died 14] 8 (?)

3
 1. RObert de Mamines, died 1431
2. Jaeopo dei Cavalli, died 1384
::I. Lord of Gruthnyse, first half of 15th century
1. English herald, first half of 16th century
2. Spanish herald, circa 1420
3. Brandenburg pursuivant, 15th century
.JeRn de Dillon, died HilI or 1482