Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

marriage, such quarterings could become increasingly complex, the shields divided
and divided again in order to show the full family tree of the knight who bore it.
Heraldry, therefore, came to serve an important social function. Worn on clothing
and jewellery, displayed on the stone work of the knight's home and the churches and
chapels he endowed, it announced to all viewers the pedigree and social connections
of the knight who bore it. These same social and familial ties were of equal importance
on the battlefield, however. Martial prowess was believed to be inherited, and passed
down through the generations, in a similar way to good bloodstock in the breeding of
horses. Orderic Vitalis says of the knight William son of Giroie 'whilst he fought in the
battles of the world, [he] had been a knight of great renown, formidable to his enemies
and faithful to his friends. His sons and brothers and many nephews were redoubtable
warriors, who struck terror into the hearts ol their enemies far and near.' The family's
reputation for prowess reflected on each individual and, equally the individual bore
the family's arms onto the field and in doing so increased the honour and reputation
of the family by his deeds.
The importance of the hereditary aspect of heraldic display, and of displaying one's
lineage on the field of battle, is shown by the fact that as they became more complicated
and complex, with a greater number of divisions, there arose a distinction between a
knight's arms of war and arms of peace. The latter, reserved for the tournament field,
comprised his badge or devise, a personal emblem of which the knight might have many,
whilst the full coat of arms was to be worn in
war. Thus the Black Prince had a black shield
adorned with three ostrich feathers as his arms
of peace, but in war he carried the royal arms of
England, quartered with those of France — as his
father had adopted them when he commenced
his claim to the throne of France - distinguished
by a white 'label', a tabbed strip across the top
of the shield to mark him as the eldest son of
Edward III, who bore the arms 'undifferenced'.
II the function of heraldry had been purely
one of identification then it would have made
more sense lor the simpler and more readily
recognizable 'arms of peace' to be worn on the
battlefield whilst the full heraldic achievement
was reserved for the tournament field, where the
distinction of one knight from another, of friend
from foe, was a less immediate concern.
CHIVALRY: THE KNIGHTLY CODE -