Towards the middle of the thirteenth century, the proliferation of heraldic devices gave rise to the first rolls of arms, or lists of names with accompanying descriptions in formulaic language (blazon) or painted shields. Some 350 rolls of arms (130 for England alone) survive from the middle ages, and often provide the only means of identifying individuals and their possessions. This third ...
Manufacturer: Boydell PressWritten By: Gerard J. Brault
Manufacturer: Oxford University PressWritten By: Gerard J. Brault
Early Blazon traces the evolution of heraldic terminology from its beginnings - the second quarter of the 12th century to about the year 1300. It analyses the use of coats of arms in literary texts of the period and elucidates such phenomena as allusive, canting and symbolic arms, studying the semantic evolution of the terms and phrases which have survived in today's blazon, and establishing that ...