HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 93 



lances ; jig. 3, contest with axe and mace in France ; jig. 4, judicial combat 

 with shields ; fig. 5, the same with swords ; Jig. 6, the same with lance 

 points ; ji^. 7, carrying the ring in the carrousel ; jig. 8, squire taking the 

 oath on the sword. PI. 26, Jig. 2, young knight at the altar, vowing to 

 serve God, honor, and the ladies ; Jig. 2, ceremony of dubbing a knight. 

 PI. 36, Jig. 1, French knights and ladies hawking. 



Heraldry. 



The full suit of armor being entirely closed, left no trace by which the 

 knight who wore it might be recognised. To obviate this difficulty special 

 marks of distinction were introduced on different parts of the armor. They 

 consisted of differently shaped and colored plumes on the helmet, of par- 

 ticular colors or forms of the sashes or shoulder knots, but most especially 

 of various designs on the shields. These latter designs were worn by the 

 descendants of the knights in commemoration of their ancestors ; and thus 

 originated the distinction of families by their coats of arms, which at first 

 consisted only of the private mark or motto adopted by a knight for the 

 decoration of his shield. 



Heraldry is the science treating of the various coats of arms, which soon 

 became manifold, partly by the combination of several family escutcheons by 

 marriage, partly by being made indicative of the various possessions and 

 dignities of the owner. Coats of arms were also bestowed by j^rinces upon 

 the nobility, upon cities and corporations. 



The figures which ancient heroes engraved upon their shields, helmets, 

 and other arms, were entirely arbitrary, each individual selecting such 

 symbols and devices as best suited his fancy. About the tenth century, 

 and certainly in the eleventh, these representations began to take certain 

 fixed forms, though the fiincy of the wearer still had an important share in 

 determining the inscriptions. Among the uses to which these figures were 

 applied, we may mention their aid in testing the claims of a knight at the 

 tournaments, and in the Crusades they were universally adopted in the 

 Christian lands. In the progress of time the shield proper formed no 

 necessary part of the armorial bearings, as the figures could as well be 

 etched upon seals, &c. The classes of persons entitled to wear them 

 were increased, the princes bestowing them as badges of honor on the 

 learned bodies, philosophers, or artists ; and families whose nobility was 

 extinct retained their coats of arms. 



So long as the armorial bearings indicated precisely the rank of the 

 wearer, the rights of nobility were thereby discerned. The heralds before 

 described were required to be quite familiar with the laws of heraldry, as it 

 was their duty to ascertain and announce the rank, country, and dignity of 

 the knights who signified their desire to take part in the tournaments. 

 Heraldry first became a science in France, then in Germany, Eng- 

 land, &c. Heraldic tables are still of vast importance, not merely to 

 titled families, in order to establish their origin and rights, but also to 



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