‘HERA 
fuch as a wolf iffuing from a cave, a cradle under a 
tree, a child attended by a goat, &c. 
It appears that the long want of furnames rendered 
• heraldic devices, or coafs of arms, extremely requifite, 
in order to diftinguifh or identify families and perfons. 
Before furnames were adopted, it was common for the 
fons of one and the fame father to aflame fuch very 
different -•appellations, that it was impoffible to know', 
by their names, that they were in any degree related. 
Such cuftoms were calculated to produce great confu- 
fion in families, and in the- defcent of eftates, which 
could not be fet right by any means fo well as by their 
armorial bearings, which each of them retained, not- 
withftanding the different names they had adopted. See 
the article Name. —The art of blazonry, by appropriate 
marks, was foon made capable of afcertaining the dif¬ 
ferent brothers or branches of the fame family; fo that 
i.t fhould appear, on the firft infpedtion of a gentleman’s 
fhield, whether he was of the firff, fecond, third, fourth, 
fifth, or fixth, branch of his houfe ; and whether the 
firft, fecond, third, fourth, fifth, or fixth, brother of 
his refpedli ve branch. Thefe marks are called “ dif- 
tindtions of houfes,” and are fet forth in the Engraving 
adapted to that fedtion of the prefent article. 
In the reign of our Edward I. who, previous to his 
afcending the throne, had taken a fhare in the eighth 
croifade, coats of arms, efcutcheons, and military equi¬ 
pages, became" more fplendid and fumptuous. Each 
chieftain was now diftinguiffied by having his arms de- 
piiSled on the furc.oat or mantle worn over his armour, 
and upon the.caparifon of his horfe; and they now af- 
fumed a particular badge placed upon the top of their 
helmet; which gave rife to the invention of crefts, 
anno 1275. 
The ufe or grant of coronets to a fubjedl, firft took 
place in the reign of Edward II. who delegated that au¬ 
thority to his fon John deEltham earl of Cornwall, who 
died in 1334. “ In molt countries, thofe elevated by their 
high rank into hereditary counsellors or peers of the 
crown, have been diftinguiffied above the inferior orders 
by an ornament refembling the diadem of royalty : but 
in Scotland the nobility fee-m not, in ancient times, to 
have been difcriminated from the commons in that man¬ 
ner. In old regifters, in old feals, in churches, the arms 
even of earls are not dignified with coronets ; a diftinc- 
tion which probably was not affigned them before the 
days of James V. and it was only in 1665, that thefe 
princely embelliftiments were granted to lords.” See 
Knapp’s Heraldry, p. 312. 
The firft inftance of quartering arms in England, was 
in the reign of Edward III. who granted that authority 
to John Haftings, earl of Pembroke. This magnanimous 
rince funk the title of “Duke of Normandy,” when 
e affumed the arms and title of “ King of France.” 
Earldoms had been the higheft dignity the younger fons 
of our fovereigns had ever borne: they were now ad¬ 
vanced to that of dukes. Knighthood alfo had become 
-too common to be confidered as any particular mark of 
diftindtion ; and therefore the conqueror of France now 
inftituted the Order of the Garter; the inffgniaof which 
the greateft monarchs in all fucceedingages have thought 
it an honour to wear. 
The numerous grants of arms that had been acquired 
in the Croilades, as well as in the conqueft of France 
under Edward III. had occafioned fo many families to 
be clafled among the nobility, that it became a moft im¬ 
portant duty of the heraldic body to prevent pretenders 
from a (filming arms, and encroachments in thofe that 
did. Augmentations and cognizances became append¬ 
ant to the arms of the moft illuftrious ;. and thefe inlignia 
ftill retain their original pre-eminence. 
It appears that the title of marquis was firft created in 
the reign of Richard H. about the year 1-390 ; and the 
Order of the Bath was revived in the reign of his 
fucceflor Henry IV. In the fplendid reign of Henry V, 
Vol.IX. No. 595. 
L D R Y. 4 i3 
though no new titles of dignity were invented for the 
nobility, yet all who had fought with fuch diftinguiffied 
bravery and fuccels in the memorable battle of Agin- 
court, were allowed to take whatever armorial bearings 
they wifhed to adume ; the title of efquire now became 
general; and an inferior race of gentry were diftinguiffied 
by the denomination o{ gentlemen^ 
The title of vifcount had its origin in the feeble reign 
of Henry VI. and was made an hereditary honour. The 
nobility, enlarging as much as pollible their dominion 
of feodal tenures, began to have a vaft nurbber of re¬ 
tainers; and the fons of inferior perfons were now edu¬ 
cated in great men’s houfes. The pompous and gaudy 
French fafhion of embroidering- efcutcheons upon their 
robes, which were ffouriflted over like their furcoats, 
and the caparifons of their horfes, was about this time in¬ 
troduced into Engla'nd, and continued to be the vogue 
for upwards of a century. Even the Britifh ladies 
adopted this Angularly prepo.fterous cuftom. In this 
reign, an inquifition was made of the gentry throughout 
the kingdom ; and a lift of the names then recorded is 
preferved in the Heralds’ College. It is to-be here ob- 
ferved, that many are mentioned who had ftooped to 
the meaneft trades, yet were ftill accounted gentry. 
Thefe are fuppofed to have been the offspring of younger 
branches, whofe fortunes were too limited to fiipport 
them in a higher ftation : fo that trade, though it might 
deprefs, did not deftroy, gentility. At this period there 
were two orders of men who ranked between the gentle¬ 
man and the handicraftfman and labourer; thefe were, 
th e franklins, or freemen, who poffelfed fufficient land 
to maintain themfelves without labour; and the yeomen, 
fignifying commoners, who refided upon and farmed their 
own lands, by which they were enabled to live without 
working for. others. -Thefe two orders of freeholders 
formed a very numerous and refpedtable race of men, to 
repreferit whom became the object of the houfe of com- 
mons; and as they proved themfelves to be the finews 
of the country, fo they claimed to be the third’power 
or eftate in the formation of our excellent conftitution : 
for the origin and principles of which, fee the article 
Government, vol. viii. p. 741-750. The gentlemen at 
this time were allowed the privilege of affirming armo¬ 
rial bearings; but thefe two claffes of freemen were not. 
The final overthrow of the houfe of Lancafter, which 
placed the crown of England upon the head of Edward IV. 
gave rife to a great number of new bearings in England ; 
but was a fatal blow to many of the nobility, who expi¬ 
ated their political attachments upon the fcaft'old, while 
their forfeited lands and honours enriched the Yorkifts.— 
Henry Holland, duke of Exeter, the hufband of the king’s 
filler, being a Lancaftrian, gained his daily bread by 
begging from door terdoor, bare-footed and'bare-legged ; 
till reaching the court of the duke of Burgundy, who had 
married another filter of Henry IV. and his perfion being 
at length recognized, that prince, during the refidue of 
his life, allowed him afmall penfion. The earl of Ox¬ 
ford alfo became literally a beggar in a foreign country; 
while his countefs obtained a fcanty maintenance by her 
needle. Indeed To abjedt was the condition of many of 
the former nobility, that a: law, palled to degrade to a 
lower rank, fuch of them who had not fortunes to main¬ 
tain their dignity in the ftate; yet adts of fuicide in 
thofe diftrefling days w’ere fcarcely ever heard of. This 
fortunate firft-reigning prince of the houfe of York, 
filled up the chafm by a number of adventurers who 
had fought under his banner ; and, as the c'ty of Lon¬ 
don was the principal means of placing him on the 
throne, by declaring in his favour, many citizens and 
merchants were ennobled, had armorial bearings granted 
them, and were made knights of the Bath. He feemed to 
feel convinced that by trade and commerce alone, the 
diftradted and deprelfed ftate of his kingdom could be 
alleviated ; he therefore fet a uotable example for its 
recovery, by becoming the principal merchant in his 
5 N dominions. 
