458 The Heraldry of Wilton Church. 



the Montforts were heredifcaiy advocati or vicedomini (in France 

 similar officials were called vidames), holding certain lordships as 

 fiefs of ecclesiastical corporations by military tenure under the 

 obligation of leading to war the contingents which the ecclesiastical 

 princes were bound to provide. It is not easy, however, for one 

 not learned in mediaeval German peerage lore to understand how 

 in 1526 a Montfort could be described as Vogt of Veldkirk, 

 inasmuch as Eudolph, Count of Montfort, had sold that lordship 

 to Leopold, Duke of Austria, as early as 1375. It looks as if the 

 title had been retained and used after the loss of the office. 



5. A small shield of ancient French glass displaying the arms 

 of a Dauphin which are France — Azure three fleur-de-lis or; 

 qiiartcred with. Dauphine — Or a dolphin azure. 



6. A large heater * shaped shield charged with Barr7j or 

 a7id azure a bordiire gules. It appears to be a genuine piece of 

 decoration of late thirteenth century work. These arms are 

 attributed in a roll of arms of about the year 1262, in the British 

 Museum (Harl. MS., 6137), to " Alisander." 



7. A small shield of apparently early German renaissance work 

 with these arms : — Azure chams4-ploy6 gules three crescents argent, 

 1, 2, their horns all pointing inwards. From the helm rises a crest 

 which looks like a tall pointed cap azure. 



8. A group of three small shields, a. Or a bear rampant sable ; 

 b. Or a dog sable with a collar argent ; c. Argent a cock gules. 

 Above the group of shields is a golden mitre, and behind them 

 stand two figures of saints, a bishop and a monk, each holding a 

 pastoral staff. This group of armorials is also in the style of the 

 German renaissance, very fine and vigorous work. The conjunction 

 of these three coats presents a very tantalizing riddle to the 

 heraldically-minded enquirer, who is without books relating to 

 the intermarriages of tlie German nobility. The arms themselves 

 are well enough known. The Swabian family of vON Bernstatt 

 carried the canting arms of a black bear in a gold field. The Counts 

 von Toggenburg had as their armorials a black dog standing in a 

 golden field, while Argent a cock gules are the well-known arvies 

 parlantes of the Counts von Hahn of Mecklenburgh. Perhaps 



