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Danielle's GardenThe World in a Garden |
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EUROPE
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Object d’Art |
Historical Date |
Cross-Related Dates and Events |
Comments Related to Objects d'Art |
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HERALDIC SHIELD AND SWORD |
1100 to 1300 |
· Marco Polo born 1254 |
· Medieval birth of heraldry in Western Europe about 1150 · Baron Ulrich von Lichenstein dies 1257 |
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Copyright © 2001 Danielle's Garden Educational Fund |
Heraldry is the study of armorial bearings. (The old French was 'armoirie', and armoury was the medieval term for heraldry). Heraldry developed in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, and it evolved as a method of identifying individuals by reference to medieval military markings, which in European feudal societies became specifically designed hereditary insignia. The Herald in European medieval society was the person on the battlefield who could recognize an opponent's coat of arms on a shield, helmet, banner or on the trappings of his horse. This was the way that a person in those times was distinguished from other combatants on the battlefield.