JIKRALDIC SCIENCE. 3 ,, 



hogs) xnlik ; the Gourdins, three gourd*, or ciilitlmxlir*, or; the Guitons, a 

 guitar or. Upon the same principle, the city of Rheims, then written 

 Jifiinx, took in its arras two rainseaiue, or nihix, intertwined branches, &c. 



The close of the thirteenth and the whole of the fourteenth century were 

 the most brilliant in the history of heraldry. It was a metaphorical language 

 which at that time every one spoke and understood, from the highest to the 

 lowest. Armorial bearings were placed everywhere, with the dead as with 

 the living, for they were used to decorate tombs and epitaphs. They were to 

 be seen sculptured, engraved, or in relief, designed or painted, in the great 

 castles and in the modest manors, upon the lintels of doors, upon the locks, 

 upon the weather-cocks, upon the brick pavements, upon the window-glass, 



fig. 252. The Orsini (Roman) Family (Fourteenth Contury). A Bear crouched (the moaning of 

 the name), holding a Sand-glass. Motto, " Tempus et hora." 



upon the chimneys, upon the tapestry, and upon all the pieces of furniture 

 (Fig. 253). They were even reproduced, in many different ways, upon the 

 dress of the nobles and of their wives and families, as well as upon their 

 servants' liveries, upon the trappings of their horses (Fig. 254), upon their 

 dog-collars, and upon the hoods of their falcons and hawks. 



Towards the fifteenth century the blazons were made more complex by 

 the addition of the helmet or distinctive sign ; that is to say, above the shield 

 there was placed the hcaume (chevalier's helmet), either full-face, three- 

 parts face, or in profile ; and according to its shape and the way in which it 

 was made, it indicated exactly, and at a single glance, the condition and title 



