FReeper Canteen ~ A Day of Heraldry ~ August 17, 2006

linked in thread | August 16, 2006 | Ms,Behavin

[MS.BEHAVIN]

 

The FReeper Canteen's Day of ~Heraldry~

         

 

Heraldry is the practice of designing, displaying, describing and recording coats of arms and badges, as well as the formal ceremonies and laws that regulate the use and inheritance of arms. The origins of heraldry lie in the need to distinguish participants in battles or jousts, whose faces were hidden by steel helmets.

In the U.S., the word "crest" is commonly used to refer to a coat-of-arms. However, in heraldry, a crest is just one component of a complete achievement of arms. The crest sits on top of a helmet, which itself sits on the main and most recognizable part of the arms, the shield or escutcheon. Other elements may include supporters holding up the shield and a motto beneath. Crests can in fact be used on their own (this is particularly useful when there is insufficient space to display the entire coat-of-arms); but where the shield alone is used it should never be called a "crest".

Heraldry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

       

 

The knights in the Bayeux Tapestry from the late eleventh century carry no coats of arms, yet by the mid twelfth century personal badges were being used widely by nobility. By the reign of Henry III of England, arms were inherited, thus their judicial regulation became important. The practice of using marks of cadency arose, to distinguish one son from another, and was institutionalized and standardized by the fifteenth century.

In the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, heraldry became a highly developed discipline, regulated by professional heralds. As its use in jousts became obsolete (with the exception of rare revivals), arms remained popular for visually identifying a person in other ways — impressed in sealing wax on official documents, carved on a family tomb, and so forth. The first work of heraldic jurisprudence, De Insigniis et Armiis was written by a professor of law at the University of Padua, Bartolo of Sassoferrato, in the 1350s.

"Bartolo's book became popular in legal circles, but most heralds and knights did not speak the Latinate jargon in which De Insigniis et Armiis was written. Because of this linguistic divide, the field of heraldic law bifurcated. One was vernacular, and includes the works of Honoré Bonet and Christine de Pisan. The other remained in Latin, and, in Wales and England, is represented by the works of De Bado Aureo and Upton. This Latin continuation of heraldic legal thought spawned, in England, other vernacular heraldic texts, which are the direct antecedents of Tudor and modern studies of heraldry" (C. Levin)

Throughout the existence of heraldry, coats of arms have been executed in a wide variety of media, including painted wood, embroidery, enamel, stonework, stained glass and, later, computerised media. For this reason, and because its original function was quick recognition in the chaotic conditions of battle, heraldry for the most part distinguishes only six tinctures (yellow, white, red, blue, black and green; purple is counted in theory but its use in practice is marginal) and makes no fine distinctions in the precise size or placement of charges on the field, or the number of a lion's claws. Coats of arms and their accessories are described in a concise jargon called blazon, which for the most part ignores details that are conventional, and in nearly all cases details of varying artistic depictions, which tend to be small and not to help quick visual distinction. It should be noted that the property interest, if any is recognised, in the coat-of-arms inheres in the blazon and not in the particular depiction of the arms.

It is sometimes said that each element of a coat of arms has a conventional meaning, that white stands for honour, blue for loyalty and red for courage, and so on. While the original bearer of a coat may well have had some symbolism in mind, there is no reason to expect consistency from one to the next. In general it is impossible to say what a given coat of arms "means", unless, as is often the case, it incorporates a pun on the bearer's name.

The development of portable firearms made plate armor nearly useless, and heraldry, detached from its original function, gradually became more elaborate at the expense of clarity, both in content (e.g., landscapes representing battle sites became frequent in the 18th century) and in presentation (rococo frames overwhelming the content of the shield). The 20th century's taste for stark iconic emblems made the simple styles of early heraldry fashionable again.

Heraldry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

       

More on Heraldry coming in the next few weeks!!

 

Welcome to the Free Republic Canteen ~ honoring and entertaining our military and our allies and their families 24/7 every day of the year!  A gentle reminder from Ms.B ~ please keep if family friendly and fun in the Canteen.  We're here for our heroes and we want them to have a good time and not worry about all the political stuff going on.  Pull up a chair, kick your feet up and relax! 

 

[StarCMC]

Hey cool!! I think 3rd place is the best cause it's purple! :-)

[Armigerous]

I would only add that anyone who is entitled to wear a derivative of the original family grant of arms is said to be "Armigerous".....hence my Freeper nom de plume

[darkwing104]

I like the thread and it would be cool to show off some family history. Most of us have a crests, why not do show and tell?

[StarCMC]

Good evening Gucho! Good to see ya! *HUGS!*

[StarCMC]

Hey you!! Bet the food won't disappear so quick outta the fridge now, huh?? *HUGS!*

[StarCMC]

AWESOME!!

[StarCMC]

Argh. Another Cubs fan.

;-)

[tomkow6]

How did you EVER guess???.......LOL!

[StarCMC]

I don't think we have a crest -- how do you find out??

[GummyIII]

MINE!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Thank you.

My parents have it displayed on the front of their house.

Here is how it looks.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Evening Gummy and WooHoo.

[StarCMC]

WOW!! You came outta NOWHERE! LOL

[StarCMC]

That's too cool!!

[Tanniker Smith]

Well, I could tell you about mine, but then I'd have to use my real name. I'll just say that it has a cross, a lion, a crown (or a cat) and the motto: "Ung roy, Ung loy, Ung foy" (although I might've gotten those words in the wrong order). Kinda cool looking. Once upon a time, I'd've liked to have made one of those for a SF convention, but I didn't know where to begin and I wouldn't have been able to put together a costume to go with the shield.

[GummyIII]

Hi, Star! DO you feel used? LOL! I just happened in at the "right" time. I'm probably going to post and run, but I wanted to say hi!

Thanks, Mrs. N!!

[darkwing104]

www.allfamilycrests.com

[luvie]

You'll do good. I work 10-3 tomorrow but will see them when I get a chance to get on the Canteen.

[El Gato]

Of course the family crest can only be handed down to a male descendant and displayed by a male descendant.

Guess I'm SOL then. Both my grandfather's were adopted, at least sort of. Paternal one definitely, he came west on the Orphan train. The maternal one's birth father (name unknow, although possibly Lamb) died when he was very young. His mother remarried a widower with children. Then then had children of their own. Then she died. The stepfather, whose name my grandfather bore, married yet another widow, with children. Something had to give, and it was my grandfather and his brother and sister, who were sent to relatives of their mother in a different part of the state, where great grandmother had originally lived, we think. Sister was adopted by a family in the region where their mother had lived with their birth father. Grandpa and great uncle were never adopted, and lived in virtual serfdom with "foster" families. Grandpa only went through 8th grade. Plenty for a farmer in those days though. Must not have been too hard on him though, even after falling off the horse and requiring a metal plate in his skull, since he was 99 when he passed away.

[The Mayor]

August 17, 2006

Whose Prisoner?

LISTEN TO ODB RADIO: Real | MP3 | WMA

READ: Ephesians 3:1-9

This grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. —Ephesians 3:8

A story is told of Scottish minister Alexander Whyte, who was able to look at the bleakest situation and yet find something to be thankful for. On a dark Sunday morning when the weather was freezing, wet, and stormy, one of his deacons whispered, “I am sure the preacher won’t be able to thank God for anything on a day like this. It’s absolutely horrible outside!” The pastor began the service by praying, “We thank Thee, O God, that the weather is not always like this.”

The apostle Paul also saw the best in every situation. Consider his circumstances as he wrote to the church in Ephesus while he awaited trial before the Roman emperor Nero. Most people would have concluded that he was a prisoner of Rome. But Paul saw himself as a prisoner of Christ. He thought of his hardship as an opportunity to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.

These words of Paul should challenge us: “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). Paul, a prisoner of Christ, saw himself as being given the privilege to serve God and present the “riches of Christ” to many.

Whose prisoner are we? —Albert Lee

Afflictions may test me,
They cannot destroy;
One glimpse of Thy love
Turns them all into joy.  —Willett

The trials that imprison you need not limit God’s work in you.

Bible in One Year: Bible in One Year:  Psalms 97-99; Romans 16