Page 388 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

382 History and Science of Knots

alogue and often grant heraldic insignia; because of the hereditary nature of
the insignia, they became deeply concerned with genealogy. Tournaments
are no longer held, message-carrying has been taken over by diplomats and
politicians, and only a few countries still use heralds to conduct ceremonies.
But many countries, even those with no trace of feudalism in their republics,
maintain an interest, and often some measure of legal control, in the use of
the colourful heraldic devices.
The rapid adoption of heraldry throughout western Europe in the early
12th century seems to have had several causes. The feudal leaders returning
from the First Crusade (1096-1099) had had their first experience of truly large
armies, involving hundreds of thousands of men instead of their accustomed
hundreds or thousands. They had found confusion and a need for rapid identi-
fication of friend or foe as they faced the highly skilled and organised Saracens
[18]. Throughout the 12th century Renaissance, an exuberant delight was
taken in personal adornment and colourful decoration; and those military in-
dividualists, the armoured knights, with their individual fights and massed
tournaments, gave ample scope for heraldic display. Monks, knights, minstrels
and scholars wandered over a Europe before the rise of the nation states [14].
All these factors combined in the development and spread of heraldry.
At first, the feudal nobles and knights invented their own heraldic de-
vices, but the need to prevent two people adopting the same device and bring
order to the system encouraged the growing power of heralds. Lists or rolls of
coats of arms of people associated with particular battles or tournaments were
compiled from the early 13th century [2] and a technical jargon was developed
to describe or blazon the numerous arms. Complex rules were devised to
control inheritance, to differentiate the arms of close relatives, or to mark the
acquisition of new property by marriage or conquest, or the award of higher
rank or honour.
From the 14th century, corporate bodies, such as towns or boroughs, uni-
versity colleges, craft guilds, merchant companies and cathedrals and churches
began to gain coats of arms, and new rules had to be devised [2][6)[151. These
arms were all called impersonal arms, to distinguish them from the per-
sonal arms of individual persons.
Different parts of Europe adopted different conventions and rules. Partic-
ular designs became much more popular in some regions than in others [2][25].
In the context of this book, the different uses of knots as heraldic devices
in England and in Continental Europe is noteworthy. The practice of using
heraldic arms has now spread through most of the world, particularly in the
ex-colonies of European powers.
Scotland is the only country that still has a functioning court of heraldry
with powers of imprisonment and fine. Arms in Denmark are legally protected
by registering them as family trademarks. Some countries still have a legal