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The Lions of England Part 2

What is the origin of the second lion in the Royal Arms of England? Some historians suggest that it came into the Arms through Henry I’s marriage to Adeliza, daughter of Godfrey of Louvain, who bore a lion in allusion to his name (Leuwon : Leones). But there is no proof that the second lion was intended to commemorate this union, it may indeed have been added purely for artistic effect. From his grandfather Henry II is supposed to have inherited two gold lions on red, but they first appear as an undoubted shield of arms in the seal of his son John. But Prince John’s lions looked not out of the shield but over their shoulders (reguardant). This may have been deliberate, to distinguish the son’s Arms from those of his father. Two lions differently placed were probably used by Henry’s eldest son, Richard I, during his crusade.

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Crusades, Genealogy, heraldry, history, medieval, Norman conquest

The Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest Part 5

The badge of Sagittary or Sagittarius, the centaur armed with a bow and arrow is attributed to Stephen of Blois and it is thought that this emblem commemorated a victory won by his archers. An alternative theory is that he took his badge from the sign of the zodiac under which his reign began. Another badge said to be used by Stephen was a plume of three ostrich feathers, with the motto, Vi nulla invertitur ordo, “ By no force is their form altered.” This is not to be confused with the ostrich plumes on the Coat of Arms of the Prince of Wales, which are of different origin.

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Crusades, heraldry, history, medieval, Norman conquest

The Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest Part 4

Historically, the dragon is more properly regarded as William of Normandy’s emblem than the two lions posthumously conferred on him by the heralds. There is evidence that the Dragon standard was used by four of William’s successors, namely, Richard I, Henry III, Edward I and Henry V. In his account of Richard’s crusade, Richard of Devizes wrote: “ The terrible standard of the dragon is borne in front unfurled.” Henry III is recorded as having issued a mandate “ to cause a dragon to be made in fashion of a standard of red silk sparkling all over with gold, the tongue of which should be made to resemble burning fire and appear to be continually moving, the eyes of sapphires or other suitable stones.” It is recorded that at Crécy King Edward raised “ his unconquered standard of the Dragon Gules,” and that it made its appearance again at Agincourt.

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Crusades, heraldry, history, medieval, Norman conquest

The Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest Part 3

The actual Norman conquest which followed the Battle of Hastings occurred in a piecemeal fashion. This is suggested by the similarity between the Coats of Arms of certain cities and towns in widely disparate parts of England. For example, the gold and blue checkers of the Warrennes, Earls of Surrey appear in the shields of places ranging from Lewes to Dewsbury and including Lambeth. This indicates not only the possessions granted by the Duke of Normandy to William de Warrenne, ancestor of the checker-bearing family, but also the scattered nature of their territory, and indirectly the manner in which Duke William distributed the spoils of his conquest

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Crusades, Genealogy, heraldry, history, medieval, Norman conquest

The Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest Part 2

Duke William of Normandy had the sanction of the church for his expedition, and this is shown heraldically by the banner depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry; a red cross on a white background with a blue border. This was the flag that received the blessing of Pope Alexander. Although enjoying the support of the Church, William was by no means subservient to the Pope’s wishes, as in later years he said the following to Pope Gregory: “ Fealty I never willed to do, nor do I will to do it now. I have never promised it, nor do I find that my predecessors did it to yours.”

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Crusades, Genealogy, heraldry, history, medieval, Norman conquest

The Arms of Edward the Confessor

A familiar site in Westminster Abbey is the Coat of Arms of Edward the Confessor which stand in many places in his greatest monument. Edward the Confessor (1003-1066) was the son of Aethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy and is widely acknowledged as the last king of the House of Wessex. He ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward’s successor Harold Godwinson was defeated by William Duke of Normandy, which led to the England’s domination by the Normans. Edward the Confessors Arms consist of a golden cross”flory” and five gold doves on a blue shield; Azure, a cross flory or between five doves of the same.

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Crusades, Genealogy, heraldry, history, medieval

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Heraldry and personal honor

Today most people who posses a Coat of Arms regard it as no more than an interesting relic of an ancestral past; privately they may feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in the evidence of noble forbearers. However personal Heraldry is no longer indicative of class or privilege.

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Crusades, Genealogy, heraldry, history, medieval

The Limitations of Heraldry Part 3

Since Heraldry first flourished at the height of feudalism, it naturally occurred that many men acknowledged their feudal dependency by basing the Coat of Arms on those of their overlords, introducing differences of color and detail. For instance the cinquefoil ( five leaved flower) in the Fitzpernell, Earl of Leicester, Coat of Arms, is also found in the Arms of several old Leicestershire families, and still forms the Arms of the city of Leicester. Three chevrons derived from the great House of Clare variously colored and sometimes borne with other charges appear in the Arms of many families that were connected with them feudally, such as the Fitzralphs, who placed three fleur-de-lis upon each chevron to differentiate.

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Crusades, Genealogy, heraldry, history, medieval

The Limitations of Heraldry Part 2

Arms of casual origin include the basic ordinaries of the chief, fesse, chevron, and pale and they probably owe their origin to the bands of metal added to a shield for the sake of increasing its strength. A very early instance is the gold pale (vertical band) on a red shield Gules a pale or, belonging to Hugh de Drandemesnil, in the reign of Henry I. Banded and studded shields appears on the pre-heraldic Bayeux Tapestry. Such shields became heraldic in character when the strengthening pieces were colored differently from the surface (field) of the shield upon which they were laid.

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Crusades, Genealogy, heraldry, history, medieval

The Limitations of Heraldry Part 1

The writer Planché memorably described Heraldry as “ the shorthand of history,” but in quoting that phrase the limitations of Heraldry and the dimensions of history must not be overlooked. The idea that every Coat of Arms has a symbolic meaning is false; it is not true of Heraldry, as in commercial advertising, that “every picture tells a story.”

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Crusades, Genealogy, heraldry, history, medieval

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