Early Blazon

'Early Blazon' traces the evolution of heraldic terminology from its beginnings - the second quarter of the 12th century to about the year 1300. It analyses the use of coats of arms in literary texts of the period and elucidates such phenomena as allusive, canting and symbolic arms, studying the semantic evolution of the terms and phrases which have survived in today's blazon, and establishing that coats were consistently attributed to certain Arthurian characters from the early 13th century onwards. The glossary defines and gives complete references for every word and phrase utilised in heraldy down to 1300; each term, with its synonyms and its phraseology, is analysed historically and philologically. The introduction covers related topics like heraldic art and pre-classic blazon, the emergence of classic blazon, literature and heraldry, heraldic flattery, plain arms, and history and heraldry. Reissued to coincide with the publication of Professor Brault's edition of 'The Rolls of Arms of Edward I (1272-1307)', this new edition of 'Early Blazon' includes in a new appendix additions and corrections reflecting more than a quarter of a century of advances in the study of heraldic terminology. GERARD J. BRAULT is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of French and Medieval Studies at the Pennsylvania State University.