RE: matching arms on the field (fwd)

[E L Wimett <SILVERDRAGON@Charleston.Net>]

Poster: E L Wimett <SILVERDRAGON@Charleston.Net>

clevin@ripco.com (Craig Levin) wrote:

>> A coat of arms is more than a "dress code." There's rather a
>> tidy body of law behind it-which was enforced, btw-that make it
>> more than just a fancy suit. Besides, I'd prefer it to be a
>> formal court hearing, not a drumhead decision by the autocrat.
>> That's more or less the whole reason why _curiae_ _militaris_
>> were established in the 1300's.

You're not kidding!!! In many cases, assuming the arms of a particular fief or jurisdiction was considered de facto (and often de jure) tantamount to filing formal claim to that property.  It could be quite controversial and even a formal casus belli (as in the assumption of the arms of France as a component of the arms of the King of England).

Alisoun, Quondam Lecturer in Medieval History
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