Heraldry

Illustrated manuscripts and ceremonial guides recording medieval and Renaissance tournaments.

At his coronation, Erec wore a richly decorated robe and held a single-emerald scepter carved with all creatures, gifts that celebrated knowledge, power, and kingly virtue.

Messengers of kings and keepers of arms, heralds maintained the dignity of tournaments and the order of war. In their knowledge of lineage and honor, they were historians of knighthood itself.

The meaning and mystery of medieval coats of arms — from their historical role as symbols of identity and lineage to their legendary use in Arthurian romance as instruments of disguise, humility, and transformation.