Herald :: Essays Papers

Herald The Websters dictionary defines a herald as an authoritative at a tourna workforcet of arms with duties including the making of announcements and the marshaling of combatants. This simple(a) description further barely scraps the surface of what a herald genuinely is. The office of herald has changed immensely oer the centuries, as they became more honour figures in the chivalrous world. The earliest record of a herald just mentions him as a messenger in war. He was a mediaeval officer in charge of carrying messages to and from the commanders of opposing armies. As we will see, this simple office turns into a complicated agate line that is still around in todays society. In the twelfth deoxycytidine monophosphate, the heralds job grew to consist of announcing and conducting tournaments. This include announcing the proclamation of individually joust and the name of each combatant. It became essential for the herald to be able to recognize the arms of the local anesthetic nobles and thus become familiar with their family lineage. This ability became useful in combat, comprehend how the heralds could recognize the opposing armies leader from the coat painted on his vindication. The shield was the obvious place to paint the coat of arms since it had the largest surface area. With this association of the different coats, one of the original roles of heralds was to identify and catalogue the arms of the men who had gathered at tournaments. Thus, heralds made a living by the hazardous favorite sport of the nobility. Throughout the thirteenth century heralds began to serve nobles on a more permanent basis. They even wore the coat of arms of their master. Then, in the fourteenth century, heralds achieved an established position and were dignified figures in the chivalric world. Heralds of this century were acknowledged experts in armory and in all matters of secular ceremony. These ceremonies included displays of jousts and tournaments, i n the judgement of prowess, in the ceremonial attire of coronations and in knightings and funerals. Officials in tournaments even trusted heralds with the vital task of deciding whether or not a contestant had a valid claim to knighthood. Their job overly included recording promotions to knighthood on the eve of battle, and to search after it was over among the dead to note the names and arms of those who had shown prowess in the field.