Charge (heraldry)

“ Many of the nobility who had heretofore borne ensigns consisting of the honorable ordinaries, the simplest figures of heraldry, now began to charge them with other figures. Some few families, however, never adopted what are called common charges, but retained the oldest and simplest forms of bearing, such as bends, cheverons, fesses, barry, paly, chequy, &c.; and, as a general rule, such coats may be regarded as the most antient in existence. ”

“ All the sons of a family being equally entitled to bear their paternal arms, some mark is required by which they may be distinguished from each other.
In the early days of heraldry, differences were effected by a variety of arbitrary methods, such as changing the tincture of the original coat, adding or suppressing some minor charge, enclosing the shield within a bordure, &c. ”

“ But so long as the Sovereign has the power to create a new order of Knighthood, and attach thereto Heraldic insignia, so long as the Crown has the power to create a new coronet, or to order a new ceremonial, so long as new coats of arms are being called into being,—for so long is it idle to treat Armory and Heraldry as a science incapable of further development, or as a science which in recent periods has not altered in its laws. ”

“ Careless treatment of the heraldry, with which it is, nevertheless, obliged to deal more or less, sooner or later, seems to pervade applied art and to spoil what is otherwise meritorious work. Doubtless much of the mischief arises from fear lest improving the drawing or composition may violate heraldic rules ”

“ No one who has had occasion to examine any series of old wills and inventories, especially those of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, can fail to have noticed what a large part was played by heraldry in the household effects of our forefathers. ”

“ The world-wide existence and remote antiquity of heraldic insignia—before heraldry emerged from its infancy, and developed into a science—is an established fact. To enter exhaustively into this branch of my subject, its historic and artistic interest, and valuable practical uses; its institution by Divine ordinance; together with its various accessories—comprising war-cries, badges, mottoes, seals, and devices—would demand far more space than could be allocated in a weekly magazine. ”

“ Nothing is more fascinating in the study of heraldry than the cunning fashion in which it tells the history either of a single individual or of a family, of an institution, [pg 9] or of a city—sometimes even of an empire—all within the space of one small shield, by using the signs which compose its language. It is astounding how much information can be conveyed by the skilful arrangement of these signs to those who can interpret them.
For armorial bearings were not originally adopted for ornament, but to give real information, about those who bore them. ”

“ In {427}my opinion the common-sense rule is that the chief armorial dignities should follow the more substantial rights and dignities of the family. If the heir male succeed to the title and estates, I think it reasonable that he should also succeed to the armorial bearings of the head of the house. I would think it a very difficult proposition to establish that the heir of line, when denuded of everything else, was still entitled to retain the barren honours of heraldry. ”

“ In royal bindings at all times heraldry has played an important part, but from the middle of the sixteenth century onwards it plays an equally important part on bindings made for ordinary armigerous people. ”

“ Victorian heraldic artists, ignorant alike of the actual and the ceremonial, reduced the size even further, and until the recent revulsion in heraldic art, with its reversion to older types, and its copying of older examples, the helmets of heraldry had reached the uttermost limits of absurdity. ”

“ Any person in this country holding a Royal Licence to wear the insignia of any foreign order is permitted to adopt any heraldic form, decoration, or display which that order confers in the country of origin. ”

“ A crest is never used with a mitre or ecclesiastical hat. Many writers deny the right of any ecclesiastic to a crest. Some deny the right also to use a motto, but this restriction has no general acceptance.
Therefore ecclesiastical heraldry in Britain is summed up in (1) its recognition of the cardinal's hat, (2) the official coat of arms for ecclesiastical purposes, (3) the ensigns of ecclesiastical rank above alluded to, viz. mitre, cross, and crosier. ”

“ CHAPTER X. Distinctions of Rank and Honour.
Any treatise on Heraldry, whatever its scope or its design, would certainly be deemed defective if it did not embrace this subject. Heraldry consists of two distinct parts, namely, first, the knowledge of titles and dignities, the proper sphere of each, and the ceremonials connected with them; and, secondly, the science of blazon, or the rules by which armorial insignia are composed and borne. One treats of honours; the other of the symbols of those honours. The first, though some will refuse to concede it that distinction, is a science ”

“ Unofficial heraldry had sunk to an even lower style of art, and {399}the regulation heraldic stationer's types of shield, mantling, and helmet are awe-inspiring in their ugliness.
The term "mantle" is sometimes employed, but it would seem hardly quite correctly, to the parliamentary robe of estate upon which the arms of a peer of the realm were so frequently depicted at the end of the eighteenth and in the early part of the nineteenth centuries. ”

“ The rules, however, for such marshalling are well known and logical. A very good summary of this important part of a herald's duty can be found in Mr. A. C. Fox Davies's Art of Heraldry, in the chapter on Marshalling. A coat-of-arms is, however, sometimes found with many quarterings which only show the successive alliances, but in such a case the facts should always be stated. In default of such explanation the existence of the proper heraldic heiress rights must always be presumed. ”

“ A Bishop has: (1) His official coat of arms, (2) his mitre, (3) two crosiers in saltire behind his escutcheon.
The Bishop of Durham has: (1) His official coat of arms, (2) his coronetted mitre, which is peculiar to himself, and (which is another privilege also peculiar to himself alone) he places a sword and a crosier in saltire behind his arms. Reference should also be made to the chapter upon Ecclesiastical Heraldry.
A Peer has: (1) His coronet, (2) his helmet of rank; (3) his supporters, (4) his robe of estate. ”

“ At the end of the fifteenth century panelling was superseding the decorative draperies and sculpture was taking the place in domestic buildings that it had long held in ecclesiastical ones, the heraldry which had been displayed in beautiful needlework being executed in carving that was no less beautiful in another way. ”

“ Without even suggesting now to our Ladies any revival of heraldic costume, properly so called—such as dresses, mantles, or shawls emblazoned with the bearings of armorial shields—I certainly do desire to see Heraldry exercising a powerful influence in all designs for personal ornaments, the works of the goldsmith and the jeweller more especially. ”

“ At the present day, several Crests, each with its own helm and mantling, are occasionally represented above a Shield of arms: but, in England, by strict heraldic rule, two (or more than two) Crests can be borne by one individual, only when he has obtained the Royal licence to bear and use the Surname and Arms of another family in addition to those of his own family, or, by a special grant from the Crown. ”

“ In one instance, at least, the arms of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria were drawn on a lozenge, in spite of the undoubted fact that “the Royal state is masculine.” It is also for this reason that a Crest is borne by the Sovereign even when a lady occupies that exalted position.
The immense scope that is afforded by the variety of shield shapes is extremely valuable in adapting heraldry to general design, in fitting a shield to its space, in adapting it to its bearings, and in bringing its lines into proper relation to those of accompanying figures or ornament. ”

“ Heraldic emblazonment was plentifully strewed over the mantles of the nobility when they assembled on state solemnities. Nor was this ornament confined to the garments of males. Ladies delighted to appear in the cognizances of their lords, or in their own paternal bearings. Armourists that have amused themselves by treating on the curious and obsolete terms of heraldry, have supposed that the flanch and flasque represent that part of female attire which covered the body from the lower part of the neck to the waist, and that this part of the ladies' dress contained the heraldic bearing. ”

“ A grant of arms to a clergyman at the present day depicts his achievement with helmet, mantling, and crest in identical form with those adopted for any one else. But the laws of armory, official and amateur, have always denied the right to make use of a crest to bishop, archbishop, and cardinal.
At the present day, if a grant of arms is made to a bishop of the Established Church, the emblazonment at the head of his patent consists of shield and mitre only. ”

“ Hitherto each period of heraldic art has had its own peculiar style and type, each within limits readily recognisable. Whether that style and type can be considered when judged by the canons of art to be good or bad, there can be no doubt that each style in its turn has approximated to, and has been in keeping with, the concurrent decorative art outside and beyond heraldry, though it has always exhibited a tendency to rather lag behind. When all has been said and done that can be, heraldry, in spite of its symbolism and its many other meanings, remains but a form of decorative art ”

“ In dealing with those charges which may be classed under the above description one can safely say that there is scarcely an object under the sun which has not at some time or other been introduced into a coat of arms or crest. One cannot usefully make a book on armory assume the character of a general encyclopædia of useful knowledge, and reference will only be made in this chapter to a limited number, including those which from frequent usage have obtained a recognised heraldic character. ”

“ In many cases they allude to the name or occupation of the bearer: the motto is probably a pun upon the figures contained in the shield, or some technical expression used by the parties in their agricultural or commercial pursuits.
No person, when heraldry was in its greatest repute, dared assume any cognizance or bearing without permission of the Earl Marshal or the Kings-at-Arms. Any individuals, who presumed, by assumption, to offend the laws of the court of honour, were liable to heavy fines and personal duresse, which in many instances have been rigidly enforced.
THE END. ”

“ A Badge, like a Coat of Arms, is an armorial ensign that is complete in itself, and possesses a definite signification of its own. In use with a decided heraldic significance long before the adoption of systematic Heraldry, Badges have always held a conspicuous position in the estimation of Heralds. ”

“ Too great freedom of natural treatment is not desirable, for it is out of harmony with the especial decorative quality of heraldry, so that one objects to the natural animal supporters that characterized the illustrations of the eighteenth century, prowling from behind the shields, not as heraldic error, but as wanting in dignity as decorative design. ”

“ Thirdly, the association of certain insignia with a Shield of arms, so as to produce a complete heraldic achievement.
The association of “Arms” with Names, Dignities, and Estates would necessarily require, at an early period in the history of Heraldry, the establishment of some regular and recognised system for the combination and aggroupment of various distinct coats and insignia, whenever a single individual became the representative of more than one family, or was the hereditary possessor of several dignities and properties. ”

“ It is a cardinal rule of armory that save for the single circumstance of attainder no man's armorial insignia shall be degraded. Whilst any man's status may be increased, it cannot be lessened. Most heraldic books quote the coronet of crosses-patée, fleurs-de-lis, and strawberry leaves as the coronet of the "grandsons" of the sovereign, whilst the coronet of crosses-patée and strawberry leaves is stated to be the coronet of "nephews" or cousins of the sovereign. ”

“ The centre is filled with a row of French knots, the tassels are worked in close lines of stem stitch, [Pg 267] and the petals of the small flowers in satin stitch, finished off with a French knot at the centre.
Fig. 146.
[Pg 268]
Another mark of proprietorship and origin was the shield of arms of the owner, which introduces the subject of heraldry. A shield executed with the needle is often seen, and looks particularly rich. Heraldry is an intricate science, full of pitfalls for the unwary, and demands an earnest study of its complex rules and regulations. ”

“ Royal cadency follows a method apart, and when arms are assigned by the Sovereign to the various members of the Royal Family, as is done by warrant on their arrival at full age, the proper individual mark of cadency is assigned at the same time. At the present day it always takes the form of a label ”