Knight's coat of arms and motto. Were medieval knights mottoes?

The era of the knights has always attracted special attention. The romantic image and honest fights of the Middle Ages continue to exist in literature, cinema, as well as in the new subculture of role-players.

An integral part of any knight was the coat of arms. It depicted various animals, plants, objects. His main task was to provide information about the knight who holds him. What did the coat of arms of the knight and the motto written on it mean?

How did the knight's arms appear

The custom to choose a distinctive sign and place it on your own shield appeared in ancient times. This helped to recognize their own during the battle.

Each nation had its own emblems:

• Franks depicted a cross above a circle;
• Angles - a mythical dragon, a cross with a ball or birds;
• Danes - raven;
• Saxons - a lion or a rose.

The emergence of a special heraldic symbolism associated with the crusade of the knights. Signs-symbols have become a special kind of letter. With their help, one could recognize a knight chained in iron armor.

The symbols placed on the shield were supposed to talk about the character and life path of a person. For example, the one who first went on a crusade depicted small migratory birds. By this, he showed that he does not have a home and constantly wanders.

The Crusades also contributed to the fact that the shields began to be painted in different colors, including blue. At that time in Europe there was no dye of this shade; it was brought from the East.

Over time, the coat of arms of the knight and the motto began to be placed not only on the shield, but also on the helmet. It has become a special distinction, a modern analogue of an identity card or business card.

The role of heraldry during the time of the Knights

The more emblems appeared, the more the need for their systematization increased. Codes of rules for composing emblems began to arise. Thus a new science appeared - heraldry. Her task was to describe and study the knightly insignia.

People who were engaged in this science began to be called heralds. They lived in the courts of nobles and knights and were closely associated with knightly tournaments. Were medieval knights mottoes? Of course they were. They were placed on the shield and announced before the start of the match.

Developing over the centuries, heraldry has become more and more complicated and confusing. By the 15th century, special treatises began to appear, which were difficult to understand because of the many symbols and signs intertwined with each other.

About tournaments

Knightly competitions were still in the time of Charlemagne. This is known from the chronicle of 844 by the historian Niethart ("Song of Beowulf").

It is believed that the first rules for fights were established in the 11th century by the French knight Gottfried de Preglie. By the 12th century, tournaments had spread to England.

The contribution to their popularization was made by King Richard the Lionheart. He allowed competitions to be held in five counties and took part in them himself. During their conduct, coats of arms, mottos and war cries were everywhere.

For the knight, participation in the tournament played a big role. Everyone found his own benefit in him:

• boast of armor and noble origin;
• declare to everyone about their military qualities;
• earn the favor of the lady of the heart;
• take possession of the armor and horse of the enemy;
• Get a ransom for the won armor.

To participate in the tournament it was necessary to prove their noble origin. It had to be confirmed in two generations by both the mother and father. The proof was the hereditary coat of arms of the knight and the motto on the shield and helmet.

The church struggled for a long time with tournaments, but they continued until the 16th century. They were banned in 1559 when a French king was killed due to an accidental fragment of a spear. Along with competitions, heralds became unnecessary.

At the same time, slogans and a war cry remained on the shields. The knights of the century spent in battles, but in the end they were replaced by a new kind of troops. The knight's coat of arms was transformed over time into signs of shops, cities and states.

Coat of arms classification

It has already been mentioned that heraldry is a very complicated science. She divides into separate clans all the coats of arms and mottos. Chivalry could have any of them:

1. State - represent the emblem of lands that are combined into one state. As a rule, the ruler used the same emblem.
2. Local - assigned to cities, bishoprics.
3. Communities - belonged to workshops, scientific institutions, spiritual and secular organizations.
4. 
   Surname (patrimonial) - passed by inheritance to representatives of one kind.
5. Personal - existed in Western Europe as an emblem of a particular higher clergyman, such as a bishop.
6. Allied (marriage) - obtained by combining the emblems of persons married.
7. Claims - consists of the emblem of one state and the signs of another, whose lands they plan to annex.
8. Award (patronage) - the sovereign grants to another clan a sign from his coat of arms for a certain merit.

An interesting example is the story of the coat of arms of Aragon. Initially, it was in the form of a golden shield. In one of the battles, the king was struck by the courage of Gottfried of Aragon. After the battle, he went to the warrior and, wetting his fingers in his wound, ran them over the shield. So on the golden emblem of the Aragon clan began to depict four vertical scarlet pillars.

What was painted on the billboards

The shield consisted of honorable heraldic figures: head, belt, tip, pillar, border, rafters, bandages, crosses. There were secondary heraldic figures, for example, columns, girdles, rhombic fields.

The largest group was non-heraldic. It included natural, artificial and fantastic elements. It could be animals, plants, people, body parts, weapons, mythical animals, natural phenomena.

Heraldic mottos

The coat of arms of the knight and the motto were one. A short saying was supposed to explain the idea of ​​the logo.

What can emblems tell

Medieval heraldry can be compared with the architecture of that time. Therefore, it is quite easy to determine which state the emblem belongs to.

For example, the French are very fond of luxury, so their noble symbols are decorated with a lot of precious metals and furs. The Burgundian emblems were dominated by red due to imitation of the Dukes of Burgundy.

All countries of Western Europe had their own characteristics in heraldry. This allows you to learn about how the borders of states were redrawn, about conquered lands, concluded or terminated unions, and other important events of that time.