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Post by Sir Didymous LaRoth on Jul 12, 2011 19:47:27 GMT -5
When portraying any historical knight or noble the subject of heraldry comes up. Many people today can't tell the difference between one order or another, and wouldn't be able to tell the arms of an actual person from something you made up. So just how important is heraldry in creating a persona? If the person is made up is it still as important? Lets hear some thoughts and opinions.
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Post by Frere Reynald de Pensax on Jul 13, 2011 3:31:36 GMT -5
Speaking personally, heraldry has always been of vital importance to me when I'm creating a character. This is possibly because I have a background in military modelling, and my personas tend to be historical. Having said that, it is my firm conviction that heraldry went far deeper than just an outward display. For example, I'm currently researching the Combat of the Thirty; and it's always been my ambition to re-create this legendary encounter. One of the best sources for the Combat is the epic poem that was wriiten by an anonymous Breton Troubadour a few years after the event. This poet was of the pro-Blois camp; so the poem reflects his political affiliations and his prejudices. He describes the English team as being a rag-bag assortment of mercenaries and thugs, while the pro-Blois team members were all gentlemen. Researching the heraldry of all the combattants actually proves that everyone that took part came from a gentle background.
From the point of view of the public's awareness of the finer points of heraldry: well' I've been to events where people didn't even know what a knight was, much less be able to tell a bend sinister from a bent hat-pin. I think, though, that if you're going to do a job: do it properly. When you're working on a persona, I think you should be happy with the end result; so getting the heraldry right is important (although with some historical characters it's still a matter of debate as to their precise arms). When creating a fictional persona, I still feel that it's important to put a lot of thought into the heraldry, because it can say a lot about your character. And, the public will notice how much work you've put into your persona's look; even if they don't know that much about heraldry. It also gives you the opportunity to introduce the subject to anyone that you're speaking to about your character, and to talk about your arms and their significance. One of my personas bears a maunch as his arms, and most people don't really understand what this device is until I explain; but I make this topic an integral part of my presentations.
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Post by Sir Didymous LaRoth on Jul 13, 2011 22:06:34 GMT -5
Heraldry is one of the things that got me into the reenactment of he middle ages. It is such an important thing in our group that we actually had to establish the office of herald. We have three main things that the herald regulates: Arms of the members them selves, badges (house and family), and Civic arms (which is the genaric term applied in our group to any arms that are used for regions of the various lands held by peers, or chapters of the Order. Eg: Northfeld) www.orderoftherouseclan.org/Heraldic-Writ.htmlwww.orderoftherouseclan.org/Heraldry.html
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Post by Frere Reynald de Pensax on Jul 14, 2011 2:13:09 GMT -5
I think that that's a good idea. It's an area that needs regulation.
For me, heraldry is a way of identifying more closely with a character. I can't give some of these people faces, but I can bring them to life through their arms. Recently I went to the village of Locksley in Warwickshire (a few miles outside Stratford-on-Avon). I've passed the signpost to the place endless times; but I made a point of making a detour this time. In the reign of King Richard Coeur de Lion, the lord of the manor was Sir Robert de Lockeselai; and there is an obvious possibilty that he is connected to the legend of Robin Hood (but that's another story, and a long one). Anyway; there is a tombstone in the churchyard that is almost identical to the supposed tombstone of Robin Hood at Kirklees; and it was this that I wanted to see. Later I was able to trace de Lockeselai's arms, and I felt pleased that I was able to flesh out his character in this way, as it's not always easy to find arms from the XII century - especially as Sir Robert was not a major league knight.
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