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At least two distinctive features of heraldry are generally accepted as products of the Crusades: the surcoat, an outer garment worn over the armor to protect the wearer from the heat of the sun, was often decorated with the same devices that appeared on a knight's shield. It is from this garment that the phrase "coat of arms" is derived.
The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the second sense, an escutcheon can itself be a charge within a coat of arms. Escutcheon shapes are derived from actual shields that were used by knights in combat, and thus are varied and developed by region ...
These instruments were described in heraldic terms and treated as personal to Christ much as a coat of arms. [27] An early example in a seal from c. 1240 includes the Cross, nails, lance, crown of thorns, sponge and whips. The instruments of the Passion were sometimes split between a shield and crest in the form of an achievement of arms. [28]
Heraldry developed in the High Middle Ages based on earlier traditions of visual identification by means of seals, field signs, emblems used on coins, etc. Notably, lions that would subsequently appear in 12th-century coats of arms of European nobility have pre-figurations in the animal style of ancient art (specifically the style of Scythian art as it developed from c. the 7th century BC).
The German Hyghalmen Roll was made in the late 15th century and illustrates the German practice of repeating themes from the arms in the crest. (See Roll of arms).. Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree.
A knight with an eagle crest at the Saracen Joust in Arezzo, Tuscany. A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm . Originating in the decorative sculptures worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, battles, crests became solely pictorial after the 16th century (the era referred ...
In the same way, the terms per bend and per bend sinister are used to describe a heraldic shield divided by a line like a bend or bend sinister, respectively. This division is key to dimidiation, a method of joining two coats of arms by placing the dexter half of one coat of arms alongside the sinister half of the other. In the case of marriage ...
Knights are generally armigerous (bearing a coat of arms), and indeed they played an essential role in the development of heraldry. [50] [51] As heavier armour, including enlarged shields and enclosed helmets, developed in the Middle Ages, the need for marks of identification arose, and with coloured shields and surcoats, coat armoury was born.