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

KNIGHT
The secular orders each
had their own robe, like
this one worn by the
Garter knight Nigel
Lorning. They were,
however, for particular
occasions and normally
only the Order's badge
would be worn.
(Bridgeman Art Library)
well legislate for him, and place him in a particular stratum ol society, they were
primarily aimed at ensuring that the ignoble but wealthy were distinctively less well
dressed in terms of colour, cloth, decoration and fur linings than their noble and
therefore social superiors.
Even when not wearing the full liveries that marked their membership of an Order,
members were expected to wear that Order's badge as a display ol their membership.
Badges were common wear, being worn as souvenirs of visits to saints' shrines, as
keepsakes and love tokens but also, more importantly, as devutej denoting political and
social affiliations. Such badges worked alongside heraldic display on the battlefield
and in society in general from an early period. One ol the earliest of these cognizances
was the broom pod (plantagenutta in Latin) used by the Plantagenets, from which the
dynasty's sobriquet was derived. The myth of
its origin states that the badge came into use
because Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count ol
Anjou and father of Henry II of England, had
the habit of wearing a sprig ol broom in his
hat when he went out hunting. This badge
remained with the Plantagenets into the late
14th century and is to be seen around the
neck of Richard II in his portrait in the
Wilton diptych. The importance of such
badges is shown by the fact that in the other
leaf of the altarpiece the angels attending the
Virgin and child are wearing the same badge,
and both they and Richard also wear the
king's own badge of a white stag. Thus
Richard is displaying his piety and humility
in his kneeling before Christ, but also the
divine nature of his authority by having the
heavenly host wear the badges of himself and
his dynasty.
During times of political instability, such
as the struggle between the Armagnac and
Burgundian parties for control of the French
throne in the late 14th and early 15th
centuries, or in England under Richard II and
again during the Wars of the Roses, the
wearing of such badges became emblematic