In the same way that the lion asserted its pre-eminence among heraldic beasts the Eagle, the most powerful of birds of prey, was adopted as the symbol of victory from a time so early that one hesitates to set a period to it, for in Chaldea and Assyria, 4000 B.C., the eagle typified conquest, even as it did in the Middle Ages. The especially characteristic attitude of the heraldic eagle when it is said to be displayed is first found in these early picture writings of the East, and from thence through countless stages comes to adorn the surface of the shields, to whose decoration its spreading form and radiating lines so admirably lend themselves. The pose is, of course, a natural one, as one may see when a gull hovers and backs in the air; but its decorative power and its adaptability to a shield shape are so striking as to suggest its invention for the purpose. The same necessity for clear definition that influenced the drawing of the mediaeval lion caused the eagle to be treated in a somewhat similar way, and the feathers of the wings being wide spread with ample clear space between them, while the body became to some extent attenuated, made the figure as conventional as the lion, and similarly adaptable to decorative distribution on a surface.
A good example of the heraldic eagle of the Middle Ages is on one of the shields that decorate the tomb of Edmund Plantagenet at Kings Langley, Herts (Fig. 105). This, the eagle with two heads of the Holy Roman Empire, alludes to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who though he was never actually Emperor, got so far as to be elected King of the Romans in 1257, and the arms of the Empire are constantly ascribed to him.
The skeleton sketch that is useful in blocking out an eagle in its space will take some such form as Fig. 106.
In the mediaeval period eagles were always shown on shields in the pattern-like displayed position, whether they were single or double headed, until Renaissance heraldry in its reversion to classic types introduced the eagle of the Roman Ensigns and Monuments, which thenceforth has had to be taken into account when eagles are described in blazon. Thus it is now necessary to state whether the bird is displayed, is close or is rising. An eagle is close when it stands in profile with its wings folded, and is rising when it stands in the same general position but with its wings raised. An eagle in the position of that of the Roman Ensign is sometimes blazoned “an eagle with wings displayed,” and must not, of course, be confused with “an eagle displayed.” When they are flying they, like other birds, are said to be volant. They are armed and membered as to their beaks and feet when difference of colour renders it necessary to mention those details. Other birds are rarely if ever displayed.
Falcons usually have bells strapped to their legs with thongs called jesses, and then are blazoned as jessed and belled. They are sometimes hooded also. The hood covering the eyes has an opening for the beak and is usually decorated with a tuft of feathers.
A cock is said to be armed with his beak and spurs, crested as to his comb, and jowlopped of his wattles.
A peacock when it carries its train raised and fully spread is blazoned, with great and obvious propriety, “a peacock in his pride,” but simply as a peacock, without qualification, when the tail is trailed.
The pelican, the well-known emblem of maternal love, is shown standing in her nest and feeding her brood with blood from her breast, and with her wings in a displayed position with the points downward in an attitude of protection. In this position she is called a pelican in her piety.
As an imaginary variant of an actual thing it may be convenient to refer here to the martlet, the very distinctive heraldic bird without feet, the “martlette of the sunne,” as old armorists call it. It is shaped like a swallow but without feet, for it was believed to live entirely in the air. Hence it was assigned as a mark of cadency to the fourth son, who, being so far from succession to the land, had only his own powers to sustain him (see Fig. 294).
Martlets form part of the arms that are ascribed to Edward the Confessor, though in the example at Westminster Abbey the birds distinctly have feet and may perhaps have been meant for some other bird altogether, perhaps doves, whose symbolism of peace caused their early appearance among Royal insignia.
Of imaginary birds the phoenix is most interesting as a symbol of the perpetuation of life, and early writers never tired of describing in elaborate detail how the fabled bird, which they, however, accepted and believed in as a natural fact, effected his rejuvenescence through fire of his own kindling. Therefore the phoenix is represented in heraldry as resting upon its pyre. In recent times it has been customary to depict the bird as shaped like an eagle, but in earlier examples the head was crested like a peacock. Its proper colour was purely fanciful, some examples of great beauty being blue and gold, the preponderance of tincture varying with the fancy of the artist.
The Harpy of classic story appears in heraldry in the shapes of eagles with the faces and breasts of women, and this appears to have been the only figure, with one exception, which combines the human form with that of a bird, for the bird-headed beings of the Assyrian bas-reliefs and other forms of Eastern art were not among those adopted into our heraldry, though there are a few instances in German work. The exceptions are the swans with women’s faces that in the fourteenth century decorated some of the hallings, of hangings of tapestry or embroidery, as especially emphasized versions of the chivalric symbol of womanhood that the swan was considered to be. For this reason it was adopted as a badge at a time which assiduously fashioned its manners after the traditionary chivalry of King Arthur and his knights, and when every kind of poetic and symbolic heraldry reached its fullest development.
Fish.—Of heraldic fish the Dolphin may perhaps be considered the most distinguished, mainly from its association in former times with the heir to the throne of France; but it is occasionally met with in our heraldry, generally perhaps as typical of fish in general, as in the arms of the Fishmongers Company of London. It is represented with its body curved, and is then said to be embowed, and it also occurs in the other position referred to below. When it is blazoned proper its colour, heraldically, is green with red fins and tail.
Other fish occur as punning allusions to their owners’ names, e.g. the Lucies (pike) of the family of Lucy, whose arms are one of the quarterings of the Duke of Northumberland.
A fish when placed horizontally across the shield is blazoned naiant, or swimming, and when perpendicular as though breathing on the surface it is hauriant.
Human Figures.—The human figure appears heraldically as representing religious or symbolic persons, and in combination with other forms it makes those composite figures which express a conjunction of symbolic ideas. A woman’s head and breasts joined to the body of a lion made the well-known Sphinx, a figure closely associated with Egypt, to which country and to services rendered therein it usually alludes in modern heraldry. The Greek sphinx is composed of the head and bust of a woman joined to the body and legs of a dog, and in addition is winged. Its occurrence is rare in heraldry, a recent instance being the Greek sphinx sejant, which is the crest of the University of Leeds.
In conjunction with a fish’s tail the body of a woman forms the Mermaid, the beautiful Syrena of old writers, who never tire of telling how, like the harpy, she charms the shipmen with her song. Nevertheless, she was of sinister character, “glad and merry in tempest and heavy and sad in faire weather.” She is usually represented holding a looking-glass in which she regards herself while she combs her long hair. The male of the species is called a Triton, and usually holds a trident as the symbol of naval dominion. Indeed he is sometimes called Neptune, and crowned with a spiked crown, the form known as an Eastern crown that is described and illustrated under that head. Another semi-human form is the Centaur, the favourite badge of King Stephen, the classic monster, half man and half horse and armed with a bow, that is sometimes called a Sagittarius.
Male figures were frequently described as Savage Men, and were represented rough and shaggy with hair, and with wreaths of oak about their loins, the blazon being: a savage man ppr. wreathed about the loins with an oak wreath vert. In some instances they were wreathed about the temples also.
Heads of both sexes, arms and legs, are used as charges and more frequently as crests, and are described as couped or erased, at the shoulder or the neck, as the case may be.
The whole Arm from the shoulder is shown bent and is then blazoned, an arm embowed. It should also be stated in the blazon whether the arm is dexter or sinister, and whether, if not naked, it is vested (and if so of what colour), or in armour, when it is described as an arm vambraced. In armour is often substituted for the later term. Pairs of arms grasping an object, drawing a bow or wielding a hammer, are also met with. When the arm does not extend beyond the elbow it is blazoned a cubit arm, and its position, whether erect or otherwise, must be specified.
Human hands are borne by several families into whose name “Main” enters, either as Tremaine, Maynard, etc., and among other families by the O’Neils, and in the well-known badge of Ulster, the distinguishing badge of a baronet. They are usually depicted erect and couped at the wrist, and are assumed to be open unless it is otherwise stated.
Anything depictable may be used as a charge, but in this wide field there are still certain particular objects, that single themselves out for more detailed treatment than the rest, and of these the cross in its many varied forms, the rose and the fleur-de-lis are the principal.
Crosses.—In a system of heraldry which took its rise from a military Christianity the cross naturally became a much-employed symbol under the various forms which the necessities of distinction or decoration suggested. Although it has been dealt with to some extent under the head of ordinaries, it is as a charge that it reaches its greatest variety and beauty. The plain cross with limbs of unequal length, which is called a passion cross, is sometimes placed upon steps or degrees, as in Fig. 107, when it may be described as a cross calvary.
Of the more decorative varieties those which terminate in a manner suggested by the fleur-de-lis are among the most usual and beautiful. Probably many of them were decorative before they became distinctive, for among the early sculptures are many examples of decorated crosses with foliated ends which follow none of the familiar forms and are obviously purely ornamental.
Crosses in general are drawn with limbs of equal length except where the shape of a shield suggests the lengthening of the lower limb in order to satisfactorily place the object in its field, but the intention is that the limbs are to be considered equal and not like those of the passion cross. The width of crosses may be considerably varied, for difference consists not in the proportions of parts to each other but in essential variations of form. The floriated, or otherwise varied, cross may therefore be made of any proportion that the arrangement of the shield may suggest; that is to say, the same adaptability exists in these crosses as in the ordinaries, and their proportions may and should be varied in relation to the field they occupy and the charges with which they are associated. Though the floriated crosses are all derived from one source, their various shapes have long become fixed and now constitute heraldic difference. It will be useful therefore to observe that the end of a cross flory (Fig. 108) may approach very closely the form of a fleur-de-lis so long as confusion is not caused with the cross fleuretté (Fig. 109), in which the fleur-de-lis appears joined to the cross, rather than as though developed from it. The cross patonee (Fig. 110) differs from the cross flory merely in that the limbs of the former increase in width outwards, the lines radiating from the centre in a very pleasant way. In early shields the two latter forms are used indifferently for each other, as in the arms ascribed to Edward the Confessor, and in such cases choice may, of course, be made of one or other form; but it is obvious that when definite distinction between similar forms has been arrived at it should be observed and followed in later renderings.
The cross moline (Fig. 111) has ends like a fer-de-moline or millrind. A very beautiful example occurs on the seal of Anthony de Bec, Bishop of Durham at the end of the thirteenth century (Fig. 112). This form of cross moline was distinguished by writers of a late time from the ordinary form with more pointed ends as a cross recercelée, but it was really the same thing under a different name.
The cross patée or formée (Fig. 113) is that which occurs on the Imperial crown and other Royal insignia. This is a very graceful form when the limbs are well divided and are drawn with pleasant curves, as in the crown in Fig. 164. In later examples there has been an unfortunate widening of the ends until they almost touch each other at the corners with the result that the figure has the appearance of a square that is pierced with four radiating vesica-shaped holes and hardly that of a cross at all.
The cross crosslet (Fig. 114) becomes (in Fig. 115) a cross crosslet fitchée by its lower limb being pointed, in allusion to the temporary cross thrust upright into the ground in order, it may be, to serve as a symbol of hope and consolation to a dying soldier. It must not be supposed, however, that every coat with a cross crosslet fitchée originated in the Crusades. Other crosses may be fitchée in a similar way, the point taking the place of the whole lower limb as in the example, but in some cases it is made to merely continue the lower limb, or, in the case of a cross patée fitchée, to issue from the middle of the lower end, and in such cases the cross is said to be fitched at the foot.
The eight-pointed or Maltese cross, a development from the cross patée (Fig. 116), is one of the forms most used in the insignia of Orders of Knighthood, the Order of the Bath, for example, and of St. John of Jerusalem among others, and is one of a group of crosses distinguished from each other by the number of their points. A cross of fourteen points occurs in the badge of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, and consists of seven limbs of two points each.
The cross bottonée (Fig. 117) is sometimes thought to be a corruption of the cross crosslet, whose corners are frequently rounded in early examples, or it may indeed have been designed to represent buds, as old armorists say, and if so is a perfectly intelligible and expressive symbol.
Crosses pomell (Fig. 118), urdée or clichée (Fig. 119), potent (Fig. 120), furchée (Fig. 121), are some of a large number of crosses that are but rarely used.
The cross tau, derived from the Greek letter of that name, is the cross of St. Anthony (Fig. 122).
Crosses may at any time be represented as in relief, which again may be accented by means of a central arris or ridge which gives lines of light and shade; and this treatment is especially suitable to metal work, as is witnessed by many beautiful examples on church bells among other things.
Care is necessary, however, in black and white drawing that the indication of an arris does not suggest that the cross is “party” in any way.
The Fleur-de-lis is one of the forms derived from a remote antiquity to become a widespread symbol throughout the whole of mediaeval heraldry. Probably derived from the iris or some similar flower form, it is found in the most ancient and the most modern decoration. Even the recent excavations of the palace of King Minos at Knossos in Crete disclosed forms of this figure on the wall frescoes. Its ornamental beauty as well as its spiritual symbolism easily account for its heraldic prevalence, and even before regular heraldry was formulated the emblem had a quasi-heraldic existence on the crowns and sceptres of the Royal seals. Its decorative value needs no pointing out, for its graceful lines are not only beautiful in themselves but are easily adapted to harmonize with almost any form with which they may be in ornamental or heraldic relation.
Of the examples that are given here Fig. 123 is taken from the seal of King Louis VII of France, early in the twelfth century, on which it appears as the termination of a sceptre. The more distinctively heraldic form occurs on the oval counter-seal of his successor, Philip II, on which it appears as a badge without a shield, about the year 1180 (Fig. 124). A very beautiful form of the thirteenth century (Fig. 126) is also of French origin, and that which occurs on the shield of the Black Prince may be considered typical of the fourteenth century (Fig. 127). As in all these instances, the fleur-de-lis generally has but three leaves, but in some early examples the whole five petals of the iris are suggested by the inclusion of intermediate forms between the three principal ones (Fig. 125). These were sometimes leaflike, as in Fig. 128, an example of the fifteenth century, but more usually are thin stems which terminate in small flowerlike forms. A further beautiful example is the common seal of Godmanchester, co. Hunts (Fig. 129). Fleurs-de-lis are then said to be seeded (a term that was probably made by some late armorist in giving a meaning to a form he did not understand) or florencée, from the invariable character of the fleur-de-lis, the “Lily of the City,” in the Arms of Florence (Fig. 130). The elaboration of the simple leaflike forms began as early as the middle of the fourteenth century at a time when the decorative sense was untrammelled, and it is in the freely designed illustrations of the MSS. that the first examples are found. The illustration (Fig. 131) is after one of a number of them that are repeated in various colours, but of similar form, in a book of the poems of Convenevole da Prato, Petrarch’s tutor, which was made and painted with miniatures and other ornaments for Robert of Anjou, King of Naples, about the year 1340, and was probably executed in Florence. It is somewhat surprising to find at so early a date an example of the highly elaborated form which became very general in the later Italian decoration.
A beautiful example of the decorated fleur-de-lis of the fifteenth century has already been referred to (Fig. 128).
About this time also instances occur of fleur-de-lis of the simpler form but with decorated surfaces, as in that from a fifteenth century book of the hours that is one of the illustrations to the Comte de Laborde’s treatise on “Les Fleurs-de-lis Heraldiques et les Fleurs-de-lis Naturelles,” Revue Archaelogique, in which the conventional fleur-de-lis (Fig. 132) is decorated with natural lilies.
Like other decorative details the fleur-de-lis rapidly deteriorated in the general artistic decadence that followed the Tudor period, and during and after the latter half of the sixteenth century the beautiful and characteristic grace of line was lost, and the form became blobby and heavy, as in the eighteenth century French example (Fig. 133), while the coarse and ugly shapes that are commonly seen in ordinary modern work make it difficult to believe that they could have been derived, even remotely, from so beautiful a source.
Roses.—As a Royal badge a golden rose was used by Edward I, and was depicted with a stalk and leaves similar to the badge of the Malatesta in Italy in later times. In such cases it must be blazoned “leaved and slipped,” otherwise it would be rendered as the conventionalized flower alone, the only leaves shown in the latter being those of the calyx, which appear between the petals and are heraldically called barbs. These are frequently mentioned on the blazon, e.g. a rose gules barbed and seeded ppr., the seeds being the centre. Of the conflicting roses that brought such ruin on the gentry of England the red rose of Lancaster had been the badge of Henry IV, as the white rose irradiated was that of Edward IV, the latter badge resulting from a combination of the rose with the sun, which was another Yorkist emblem. Henry VII united the red and white rose badges, as he had united the great rival houses that they symbolized. Sometimes a single rose was made per pale gu. and ar., or else quarterly of those tinctures (in the former case the white half retained the rays that usually surrounded the white rose of York), but the method which has come down in general use is that of a double rose, the white within the red, or vice versa. In this form Henry VII made it part of the collar of the Order of the Garter, and thus it appears sculptured on the walls of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor. In many instances the York rose retained its rays and the rose of Lancaster was placed within it, as in Fig. 134, which is sculptured on the exterior walls of the choir. In many of these the ends of the petals do not turn over as is most usual, but the modelling indicates a somewhat similar form. An interesting example of the Tudor rose as used by Queen Elizabeth is that which was found deeply incised in the wood of her coffin in Westminster Abbey (Fig. 135). This Queen signified the union of the Roses in yet another way in the badge that had been her mother’s, in which the tree-stock which supports the white falcon sprouts with red and white roses on the same stem.
The Tudor rose has been united by dimidiation to many other badges, to the pomegranate and to a sheaf of arrows by Queen Mary, and to the thistle by James I and his successors, of whom Queen Anne used the two emblems growing from one stem, as in the present Union badge of the rose, thistle and shamrock. The Tudor rose crowned still remains the Royal badge for England.
The Harp.—As the Arms of Ireland as well as for the beauty of form with which it may be invested, the harp is of the greatest interest both generally (as the symbol of minstrelsy) and appropriately; for the fame of the Irish as harpists was widespread even in the early Middle Ages, when they were among the finest of the world. And although any symbol, whatever it may be, becomes hallowed by association, it cannot but be felt that the harp is peculiarly fitted to be the emblem of a people so full of artistic and romantic enthusiasm.
The heraldic harp was at first very simple and always graceful in form, following that of the minstrels, the small harp that was played resting on the knee or held suspended from the neck. Examples of the minstrel’s harp are Fig. 136 from a thirteenth century French MS. and Fig. 137 from a Tudor MS.
As a device for Ireland, it first appears on the Great Seal in that of Queen Elizabeth (Fig. 138), when it was used as a badge and was ensigned with the Imperial crown, as are all Royal badges.
This type of harp is the same as that in the Wappen und Stammbuch by Jost Amman, 1579, and was evidently the shape that was in heraldic fashion at that period.
In the next reign it became definitely the Arms of Ireland, as is so quartered on the Royal Shield by James I, where it has occupied the third quarter unmoved throughout the changes of its fellow quarterings.
Its form continued to follow more or less that of the minstrel’s harp until the time of Charles II, when the familiar winged figure was made its principal characteristic (Fig. 139). This, however, has no special heraldic significance, but is merely a variety of ornamental treatment.
While it presents opportunities for the highest efforts of art in the treatment of its figure, as is evidenced by Mr. Alfred Gilbert’s beautiful harp on the tomb of the Duke of Clarence at Windsor, in the majority of instances it is altogether without the grace which is its reason for existence, even when it does not quite descend to the unlovely lumpiness of Georgian and later times. The possible advantages of its greater weight in the design as compared with the slighter form, a weight which tends to effect satisfactory balance with the other quarters, are counterbalanced by its disadvantages, while the addition of Celtic tracery to the minstrel’s harp makes it more completely allusive and helps the composition at the same time. Nevertheless the figure harp may be very beautiful.
The simpler form is now very generally reverted to, and when artistic reasons direct the choice, there are no heraldic considerations that need fetter it. The Arms of Ireland are blazoned: Az. a harp Or stringed Arg.
Before leaving for a time the further consideration of the shield it will be convenient to refer to the very beautiful method of relieving and enriching surfaces which is called Diapering, and is a notable feature of the more elaborate kinds of heraldry. Numerous and excellent examples of its use may be found on the sculptured shields of the monuments and chantries, as well as on incised brasses, in enamels and in stained glass.
Coming into heraldic use in the thirteenth century, it was soon extensively applied to the decoration of armorial shields and especially of their fields and ordinaries. In some instances charges also were diapered, but only when they were flat in character and when the general treatment and material lent themselves to the method. In most cases it was confined to plain surfaces. The patterns were in many instances derived from those that had been employed from ancient times in textile decoration.
Whenever diapering is applied to a shield it is purely ornamental in character, and in many instances is geometrical in plan, having no forms that could possibly be mistaken for charges, and so be likely to interfere with the clear statement of the arms. The example is one of the many beautifully diapered shields that decorate the shrine of the Percies in Beverley Minster. In sculpture proper, when the design was cut out of the surface, a pattern such as that of Fig. 140 was found very suitable to the material and to the method of working it; when, however, the diaper was modelled up, as in the gesso decoration of ceremonial shields, or was incised in reverse, as in a seal, the design frequently took the form of flowing lines as the readiest means of getting the ornate effect that was required. An example of this latter method may be referred to in the Great Seal of Henry IV at p. 18, Fig. 2.
In the early examples the diaper, like the semée already referred to, was treated as though it were a piece of an ornamental fabric stretched over the shield and passing behind the charges without being affected or displaced by them. The Renaissance work shows the diaper more especially adapted to the occasion, as in a Florentine shield from the Palazzo Guadagni and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is beautifully decorated in raised lines of gesso which follow the outline of the figure at a little distance from it, and the rest of the decoration accommodates itself to the shape of the spaces in a manner that is especially satisfactory, as conveying the impression of being carefully designed for its particular purpose, with each part in due relation to the others.
The illuminations of the manuscripts were frequently diapered with designs drawn in lines of gold on the ground colour, and a lighter or darker tint of the ground colour was similarly employed, sometimes also in combination with gold. Indeed, the possibilities of diapering as surface decoration are almost without limit if it is reasonably handled. Its effect in enriching and adding interest to simple forms and spaces is shown in the treatment of the Arms of Henricus de Erskine (Fig. 141) and the shield of John, fifth Lord Erskine, and his wife, Lady Margaret Campbell (Fig. 142), two of the series of shields executed in painted gesso for the hall, Alloa House, Clackmannanshire. It is very useful in monochrome, as in engraving for instance, as a means of distinguishing contiguous spaces; in the way that line tints were employed to do before a colour value was ascribed to them. Being, of course, completely under control to be employed or omitted at will, it has none of the objections of the tincture lines.
The tone effect of diapering must be taken into account, and the consequent emphasis of the charges, unless their character is very elaborate and broken up, and in that case there may be a tendency to confuse their lights and thus obscure and spoil the whole effect. Discretion is therefore very necessary in applying that which properly handled is a very useful and decorative device. It has been said that diaper must have no design of heraldic significance, and this must be so wherever it is employed on the actual armorials. When, however, it is used as a background or other extra-armorial decoration the converse is the case, and badges and charges of an allusive character become the most suitable motives that can be employed.
Diapers of complete arms occur on a box of champlevé enamel in the Victoria and Albert Museum, whose decorations consist of lozenge-shaped spaces filled with the arms of de Valence and others, and in the similar work on the table of the tomb of William de Valence in Westminster Abbey. In the portrait medals the background was often enriched with armorial diapers of distinctive charges, such as the fleur-de-lis background to the head of Louis XII and the ermine one of Anne de Bretagne, both of which are excellent examples (Fig. 143). Similar diapers applied to architectural features are alluded to at p. 205.