Book of Arms

Book of Arms
Name	Book of Arms
Caption	Medieval illuminated folio from a typical armorial manuscript
Date	Various; earliest extant ca. 13th century
Place	Western Europe; later examples from Byzantine, Ottoman, Iberian, Italian states
Language	Latin, Old French, Middle High German, Italian, Spanish
Genre	Armorial; heraldic register; treatise on heraldry and martial practice
Material	Parchment, paper
Size	Variable

Book of Arms A Book of Arms is a class of armorial manuscript and printed armory that records coats of arms, martial insignia, tournament devices, and practical instructions for armored combat. These compilations functioned as registers, manuals, and visual catalogues used by nobility, heralds, chivalric orders, and royal courts such as the Plantagenet kings, the Capetian monarchy, and the Holy Roman Empire. Throughout the late medieval and early modern eras Books of Arms intersected with institutions including the Order of the Garter, the Order of Santiago, and municipal heraldic offices.

Definition and Purpose

Books of Arms served multiple purposes: identification of lineages for House of Plantagenet, House of Valois, Habsburg dynasties; adjudication at tournaments convened by figures like Edward III of England or Philip IV of France; codification of heraldic law in jurisdictions such as England, France, Castile and León; and preservation of martial knowledge relevant to Battle of Agincourt-era warfare. They functioned as reference works for heralds attached to courts of the Papacy, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Teutonic Order, and as didactic manuals for squires and knights serving patrons like Richard the Lionheart or Ferdinand II of Aragon.

Historical Development

Early antecedents include catalogues of banners and insignia compiled at crusading courts under leaders like Baldwin II of Jerusalem and documents kept by chanceries of the Capetians and the Angevins. A systematic proliferation occurred in the 13th–15th centuries alongside the institutionalization of heraldry under figures such as Hugues Capet-era heralds and the heraldic ordinances of Edward I of England. Renaissance humanists in courts of Lorenzo de' Medici and collectors like Federico da Montefeltro expanded Books of Arms into antiquarian compilations that circulated among scholars including Petrarch and Erasmus. The Reformation and the rise of centralizing monarchies such as Louis XIV of France and the Habsburg Monarchy transformed some armorial registers into state archives and heraldic corps records like those maintained by the College of Arms and the Court of the Lord Lyon.

Types and Formats

Books of Arms appear in formats ranging from early illuminated folios commissioned by patrons such as John of Gaunt to printed armorials sold in market towns like Ghent and Bologna. Categories include pictorial armorials (e.g., tournament roll-style illuminations used at events in Amiens and Saint-Denis), genealogical armoria documenting the pedigrees of houses like the House of Lancaster or the House of Bourbon, and technical manuals with directions for harness, spear shafts, and the use of polearms employed by forces under commanders like Joan of Arc or Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba. Some served as municipal armories for cities such as Venice, Florence, and Nuremberg, while others functioned as chivalric compilations for orders like the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Contents and Organization

Typical Books of Arms combine painted blazons, emblazoned shields, heraldic descriptions in languages of chancelleries such as Latin or Old French, and chapters arranged by rank or geography—examples include divisions for French peerage, English counties, Iberian kingdoms, and German principalities like Saxony. Entries often present a shield image alongside a caption naming holders from dynasties such as the Plantagenet, Capetian, Habsburg, Trastámara and referencing events like the Battle of Crécy or the Sack of Constantinople (1204). Many include appendices with heraldic rules (tincture rules associated with Stemma practice), registers of pennons and banners used in sieges like Siege of Orléans, and marginalia with notes by heralds serving courts of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor or Isabella I of Castile.

Heraldic and Military Use

In heraldic practice Books of Arms were authoritative references for granting or confirming arms by institutions including the College of Arms in London, the King of Arms offices on the Continent, and municipal councils in Lübeck and Bruges. Militarily they informed identification on the battlefield during engagements such as the Hundred Years' War, guided livery and device for retinues under captains like Ferdinand Magellan’s patrons, and influenced standards used aboard galleys commissioned by the Republic of Genoa and the Ottoman Empire-encountered fleets. Tournament commissioners, marshals, and heralds used Books of Arms to police the use of devices at events hosted by Charles VII of France and Henry V of England.

Notable Examples and Manuscripts

Prominent armorials known to scholars include illuminated rolls commissioned for Edward III-era tournaments, composite armorials assembled in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Wijnbergen Armorial associated with Louis IX of France, the Gelre Armorial compiled in the Low Countries, the Pedigree and Arms of the Kings of Aragon held in Iberian archives, and printed compilations circulated in Renaissance Italy tied to collectors like Cosimo de' Medici. Surviving manuscripts reside in national collections including the British Library, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, the Escorial, and municipal archives of Nuremberg and Bruges. Later modern catalogues of nobility and armory, produced by heraldic authorities such as the College of Arms and the Court of the Lord Lyon, trace their institutional lineage to these Books of Arms.

Category:Heraldry Category:Manuscripts