Author: Mathghamhain

A Catalogue Of Period Devices

I often encourage people who are beginning the process of designing a personal coat of arms to start by looking at period rolls of arms. Doing so can help to set expectations and provide inspiration that contribute to creating a device that is plausibly medieval — especially if you focus on rolls from the particular time and place that you want to evoke for your persona.

Without this context, it’s easy to fall into the trap of recycling SCA armorial tropes, such as “per bend sinister, an X and a Y counterchanged,” which is almost never found in period coats. Continue reading “A Catalogue Of Period Devices”

Downloading the Wappenbuch der Arlberg-Bruderschaft

Having had some success with the Gelre armorial, I thought I’d take a stab at extracting another renaissance-era armorial that is only available through a “click to pan and zoom” web interface: the Wappenbuch der Arlberg-Bruderschaft, painted by Vigil (sometimes spelled Virgil) Raber around 1550 in Tyrol, on the border between northern Italy and western Austria. Continue reading “Downloading the Wappenbuch der Arlberg-Bruderschaft”

The Mystery of the Maunch Maltale

Today, I received an inquiry by email that sent me down an interesting research rabbit hole, and (with the permission of my correspondent) I thought I would share that question and my answer here:

Sir,

The arms of my Achym family of Pelynt in Cornwall, England, are recorded several slightly different ways:

  • Arg., a maunch within a bordure Sa. charged with eight cinquefoils of the field.
  • Arg., a maunch within a bordure Sa. charged with nine cinquefoils of the field.
  • Arg. a maunch maltayle S. within a border of the first charged with cinquefoils of the second (Harl. MS. 1956).

The arms as tricked on an ancient monument in the Pelynt church (ca. 1560) displays nine cinquefoils and the maunch that is shown in Maunch (2) of your online book. Both the maunch and the cinquefoils are displayed in gules.

I have searched to no avail to learn what “maltayle” means. Perhaps it is the rendering of the maunch shown as maunch (2).

Any advice or wisdom will be appreciated.

Ron Hill in Star, Idaho

Continue reading “The Mystery of the Maunch Maltale”

Downloading The Gelre Armorial

The Gelre Armorial is a medieval manuscript including over 1700 coats of arms that was painted around 1395 near Geldern, presumably by Claes Heinenzoon, herald to the Duke of Guelders.

It is kept in the Royal Library of Belgium, or KBR, and until very recently it was not available in full online, although images of several pages or noteworthy arms had been posted, such as the earliest known color depiction of the flag of Denmark.

Very recently, KBR published high-resolution images of the complete book, but they were only available through an interactive point-and-click “zoom to view” web interface, and could not be downloaded in a simple PDF format. Continue reading “Downloading The Gelre Armorial”

New Fall Illustrations

This fall, I have started to separate the largest volume of the collection, with over six hundred illustrations of man-made objects, by moving all of the illustrations related to food and farming into a section of their own, and the same for all of the military-related charges. I intend to continue this process, perhaps splitting out all of the clothing and fabric-related items into a volume of their own.

I hope that this makes it easier for folks who want to page through items related to a particular theme, while still allowing easy lookups of individual charges.

There are a hundred new illustrations that have been added to the collection since this August’s Pennsic. My thanks to the artists who have contributed new charges, including Pennsic Art Tent illustrators Bahja al-Azraq, Kryss Kostarev, and Li Xia, among others. Continue reading “New Fall Illustrations”

The Role of a Branch Herald

[Crossposted from my session notes on the Elmet site.]

On November 13, I coordinated an online meetup and chat session for heralds of the East Kingdom focused on the responsibilities of a branch herald, and figured I would share a portion of my notes here for easy reference.

Ten heralds of the East attended, nearly all of whom were branch heralds or their deputies, from all areas of the kingdom and all levels of experience — one herald had held the same position for twenty years, while another learned learned during the call that he was being promoted from deputy to take his barony’s pursuivant position. Continue reading “The Role of a Branch Herald”

Name and Device for Engel der Pfau

Engel der Pfau is a skilled fencer with a flamboyant Landsknecht persona who recently became the rapier champion of our local group.

He decided it was time to register a device, and asked for “an angry, fighting, pissed off peacock, his tail plumes out” on a red and black field. Continue reading “Name and Device for Engel der Pfau”

Traceable Art at Pennsic XLVIII

This was the third year of service for the Book of Traceable Heraldic Art at Pennsic, and once again the collection got a workout in the art tent behind Heralds’ Point.

My thanks to Muirenn ingen Dunadaig for printing all of the pages that have been added over the last year (over five hundred) and getting them added to the binders, and to everyone who provided feedback to help improve the collection.

I’m especially looking forward to importing some of the new illustrations produced in the art tent — hopefully that will happen over the coming winter. Continue reading “Traceable Art at Pennsic XLVIII”

Awards from Pennsic Provincial Court

At Pennsic, the Viceregents delivered an Award of the Golden Lyre to Godiva de la Mer on behalf of Ozurr and Fortune. Young Johanna Brandrsdottir was inducted into the Province’s Order of the Sea-Urchin in appreciation for her service at local events and the lovely jewelry she has created. Friderich Grimme was recognized for his skill in archery, and for his efforts training so many of the province’s archers, by making him a member of the Order of the Silver Sea-Lion. And the Viceregents rewarded Angelica di Nova Lipa for her many years of service to the Province — at events, in artistry, and behind the scenes — by inducting her into the Order of the Seahorse.