This collection of articles on medieval and renaissance heraldry is intended
to help historical re-creators to choose authentic armory. This archive
was created as a parallel to Arval Benicoeur's
Medieval Names Archive,
and as with that site, the articles published here
were gathered from various places, and some of them appear
elsewhere. In all cases, the copyright on each
article belongs to its authors.
What's New
Everything is new. Have a look around!
A few notes on medieval heraldry
Heraldic arms were invented in northwestern France in the mid-12th
century. The custom of using arms spread rapidly through western Europe,
and was well-established in most western cultures by the end of the 13th
century. It spread into eastern Europe by the 14th and 15th centuries,
though some cultures there did not develop native heraldry until well after
the 16th century.
Many medieval re-enactors portray characters derived from cultures that
didn't use heraldry, but because of the customs of the organizations in
which they participate, they want to use arms anyway. We've written a
short article
on different approaches to this dilemma. Some other articles discuss
approaches for specific non-heraldic cultures.
You can help!
If you have any questions or comments, or if you have an article that you
would like to contribute to this library, please
let us know.
Table of Contents
- A list of articles we definitely want to use, sorted by general
type and geographical focus. This is based on Aryanhwy's
Medieval Rolls
of Arms on the Web & Articles on Medieval Arms
- Collections of Armory, mostly medieval
- England
-
Nine European Rolls of Arms of the Thirteenth Century, including names,
blazons, and emblazons of the arms in the Falkirk Roll, the Caerlaverock
Poem, and Glover's Roll, Walford's Roll, the Bigot Roll, the
Chifflet-Prinet Roll, the Camden Roll, St. George's Roll, and the Wijnbergn
Roll. The illustrations are in modern style, and we've noted some errors
in emblazoning. The author has some other material of possible interest at
his site.
-
Arms from the Siege of Caerlaverlock. Compiled by the shire of
Adamastor. The artwork is very modern; Iago's version (below) is a
better guide to the armory of the period.
- A
Caerlaverock Roll of Arms, by Iago ab Adam. Master Iago is a
Society herald who researched the arms mentioned in the poem and
constructed a roll of arms. Absolutely lovely!
-
Treatises on Heraldry, in Latin and English. A 15th century English
text.
-
The Edward IV Roll, titled Chronicle of the History of the World
from the Creation to Woden with a Genealogy of Edward IV. MS Lewis
E201, Free Library of Philadelphia Rare Book Department,c.1461. The
manuscript is gorgeous; the armory is
discussed and
isolated in images of
banners and
badges.
- The
Arms of the Livery Companies of the City of London, by Key West
Telecommunciations Limited.
-
Arms from Parker's Glossary, compiled by Saitou and published at the
Shire
of Adamastor Heraldry site. Not all the arms date from our period, and
all the emblazons are modern, in modern style.
- An
Elizabethan Armorial. The arms of some Elizabethan peers and gentry.
- A Display
of Heraldrie by John Guillim. A transcription of the 1611 edition,
published by Paul Grant. The work is in progress.
- The English Emblem
Book Project. A collection of 16th and 17th century on-line books of
pseudo-heraldic insignia.
- Scotland
- France
- Low Countries
- Germany
-
Manesse Codex, with
137
plates. A collection of early 14th century illuminations that
includes many examples of heraldry.
- The Zurich Roll of
Arms, by Gerrit Bigalski and published by Ivanor of Sighty Crag.
Facsimile of a German roll of arms from about 1340. It starts with a collection of flags
and then a catalogue of the arms of royalty, some of them fictional. The
useful material for re-creators starts with the second row of arms on
the front of Strip II.
- Ordinary
of Das Wappenbuch des Reichsherolds Caspar Sturm. A German collection
of arms from 1400-1600. Who created this list?
- Spain
- Italy
- Viking
- Eastern Europe
- Middle East
- Japan
- China
- Academy of Saint Gabriel
report 2346 discussed the use of banners and standards in Han culture.
The Chinese apparently did not use anything like European inheritable personal
arms, nor anything analogous to Japanese kamon.
- General Articles on Medieval Heraldry
- Pedro de Alcazar
- Late Mediaeval
Oaths for Kings of Arms, Heralds, and Pursuivants
- Oaths for the creation of heralds, from medieval England.
- The Mediaeval
Herald
- An essay on the duties of a medieval herald.
- Tournaments
at the Dawn of the Age of Chivalry
- A brief discussion of early tournaments.
- The Law of Arms
in Mediaeval England
- A brief discussion of the law as applied to heraldic arms.
- Labels and
Cadency
- How family relationships were indicated in heraldry in the Middle
Ages.
- Beyond
Belts
- A brief article on other ways to indicate family and feudal
relationships.
- Abatements and
Augmentations of Honor
- A short discussion of these two aspects of heraldry.
- Precious Peers
and Planetary Princes
- A discussion of an alternate system of blazon used in the late Middle
Ages.
- An
Investigation into the Symbolism of Heraldry in the Legend of Tristram and
Isoud
- Cadency in the
Matter of Britain
- Heralds' Staves of
Office
- Lothar van Katzenellenbogen
A collection of articles written by Lothar,
mostly posted here in plain text. A few have been HTMLed and are listed
above. Some are definitely worth presenting to the public, others are not.
Please offer suggestions.
- Modar Neznanich
Modar's heraldry page. Lots of stuff; I'm not sure which bits we
want to include here.
- Other articles at the Laurel website
- Other stuff on the web
-
Héraldique Européenne, by Arnaud Bunel and Luca Gallo.
- A collection of period rolls of arms,
illustrated and published on the web. Unfortunately, their
illustrations are in a very modern style. This source must be used with
great care. It includes:
- Francois Velde's Heraldica
- A large collection of material on real-world armory. Most of it is
modern, but there are some useful articles. Please point out the ones that
we ought to link directly.
- British Medieval
Seals, by Gryphon Design
- A discussion of the use of seals on medieval English documents.
-
A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry, by James Parker
-
Frequently Asked Questions on Italian Heraldry, Louis Mendola. A
guide to modern Italian heraldic practice.
- Blasonario
Pietmontese. A roll of Piedmontese arms, unfortunately undated, by
Federico Bona.
-
The Heraldry and Coats of Arms Webring. Obviously we don't want to
include this link in our site, but there may be sites in the ring that
are useful. Please go hunting.
The Medieval Heraldry Archive is published by
The Academy of Saint Gabriel.
© 2000. Copyright on individual articles belongs to their
authors.
http://www.s-gabriel.org//armory/index.shtml.2