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- From: aa565@Freenet.carleton.ca (Lorne Gray)
- Subject: "Arms devised without authority"
- Message-ID: <1993Jan27.211131.18846@freenet.carleton.ca>
- Sender: news@freenet.carleton.ca (News Administrator)
- Organization: National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Canada
- Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 21:11:31 GMT
- Lines: 24
-
-
- Henry VIII, in his commission to his Heralds authorizing
- them to start the Visitations, gave them the power to
- "reform all false armory and arms devised without authority"
-
- What is meant by "arms devised without authority"?
- I have read that this shows the Royal intent that
- only arms granted or confirmed by the Royal Heralds were lawful.
-
- I remain sceptical. I prefer the reading that the
- Heralds were to weed out arms assumed by social climbers trying
- to pass themselves off as members of the Gentry without being
- up to snuff. I think Rodney Dennys, on page 146 of "Heraldry
- and the Heralds" bears this out. Arms assumed by real
- "Gentlemen" were in theory, OK, though the Heralds would
- want to check their credentials. Does anyone have anything
- that would support or demolish either interpretation?
- --
- Lorne Gray, Ottawa, Canada. aa565@freenet.carleton.ca
-