The head of the College of Arms is the Duke of Norfolk by virtue of his hereditary office of Earl Marshal. This office has been in the family of Howard, of which the Duke is the head, since 1677. An Act of Parliament made this hereditary function after the Howard family had held the Marshalship intermittently since 1483. Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk is pictured to the right.Under the Duke are three kings of Arms – Garter, Clarenceux, and Norroy; six Heralds – Windsor, Chester, Lancaster, Richmond, Somerset and York; four Pursuivants or followers, the lowest of the Heralds who were originally attendants upon the Heralds as they in their turn were upon the nobility and the Sovereign. The...
England, in the Middle Ages, was prone to imitate many of the diplomatic customs of France. In 1406 Charles VI of France had made the heralds of his household into a close body, giving them a charter of incorporation. Perhaps Henry V was influenced by the action of the French King. Possibly, if there had not been such troubled times in the 15th century, the French example would have been followed earlier in England. It was not until 1484 that Richard III incorporated the heralds of his court. They were given a charter with privileges and duties. They were also given a building in Cold Harbour, London, though on the accession to the throne of Henry VII a year later...
One of the first European instances of Sovereigns attempting to gain control of Heraldry occurred in England in 1418, when Henry V, about to set out for France issued a writ to various sheriff’s of counties in his domain. The translation of this writ from Latin is as follows.“ Whereas as we are informed of diverse men , who on our journeys heretofore made, assumed, unto themselves arms and coats of arms called coat armour, in cases where neither they nor their ancestors in times gone by used such arms and coats of arms, and proposed to make use of them in our present journey, now, God willing, just about to be made; and although the Almighty distributes his favours...
The Sovereign of Britain is known as the Fountain of Honour, dispensing titles and honours at his or her pleasure. The King or Queen alone has the power to dispense these honours. This concept is not found throughout Europe. In Poland for example the representatives of the great families always contested very strongly the power of the Crown to create titles. In Poland a kind of aristocratic anarchy or self government prevailed. The nobles prided themselves on being noble from the beginning, as if they were descended from aristocratic cavemen, and they therefore refused to accept any new nobility created by the king. New nobles could only come in through adoption gradually through generations. Now in England titles were at...
On the southern side of the Dordogne River, between Domme and Beynac, Castelnaud is a magnificent castle, with splendid views across miles of rolling countryside. It is is built on a rocky outcrop and offers a splendid panorama on the Dordogne valley. The Château de Castelnaud is a medieval fortress that was erected to face its rival, the Château de Beynac. The oldest documents mentioning it date to the thirteenth century, when it figured in the Albigensian Crusade; its Cathar castellan was Bernard de Casnac. Simon de Montfort took the castle and installed a garrison; when it was retaken by Bernard, he hanged them all. During the Hundred Years War the castellans of Castelnaud owed their allegiance to the Plantagenets,...
