Chapter XXII

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[Footnote 6: In No. 319 the bordure of _De Dreux_ in the roundle in base is charged with Lions of England, as borne by JOHN DE DREUX; but the presence of these in the Seal of the Countess is uncertain. See No. 322.]

[Illustration: No. 319.--Seal of Mary, Countess of Pembroke.]

[Illustration: No. 320.--Seal of Matilda of Lancaster.]

Marshalling by Aggroupment was practised under another form by placing Shields of arms in the different panels of the same architectural monument.

MARSHALLING _by Combination_ is effected by actually forming, for the blazonry of a single Shield, a composition which includes the principal charges of two or more allied Shields. The composition of the Shield borne by the house of DE DREUX, to which I have just referred in describing the Seal of the Countess of Pembroke, No. 319, is a most striking example of this variety of Marshalling: and this Shield was borne by JOHN DE DREUX, created Earl of RICHMOND by his uncle King EDWARD I., who lived and died in England, as it is represented in No. 322--the _field, chequée or and azure_, being for De Dreux; the _canton ermine_ for Brittany; and the _bordure, gules charged with golden lions of England_, representing the royal Shield of England, and showing the close connection existing between the Earl of Richmond and his Sovereign. The shield of Prince JOHN of ELTHAM (No. 24), _England within a bordure of France_, is another characteristic example of this Marshalling by Combination.

[Illustration: No. 321.--Seal of Oliver de Bohun.]

[Illustration: No. 322.--Shield of Earl John de Dreux.]

For many reasons, except in particular instances, these methods of Marshalling were not considered to be altogether satisfactory. Accordingly, a fresh arrangement was devised which would preserve intact the original integrity of each coat of arms, would imply a definite systematic method of arrangement, and would admit into a single composition any required number of distinct coats. This MARSHALLING _by Quartering_, naturally suggested by such simple bearings as Nos. 16 and 17, consists in dividing the Shield, as in No. 30, into four parts, and placing in each of these divisions or quarters one of the coats to be marshalled on a single Shield. If two coats only are thus to be "_quartered_," the most important of the two occupies the first quarter, and is repeated in the fourth; and, the other coat is placed in the second quarter, and repeated in the third. The earliest example known in England is the quartered Shield of _Castile and Leon--quarterly: first and fourth, gules, a castle triple-towered or; second and third, argent, a lion rampant gu._, No. 323. This shield is sculptured upon the monument in Westminster Abbey to ALIANORE, daughter of FERDINAND III., King of CASTILE and LEON, and Queen of EDWARD I.: the date is 1290. This form of Marshalling began gradually to be adopted during the first half of the fourteenth century, and in the second half of that century it became generally adopted. Other examples of quartered shields I have already given in Nos. 252 and 253.

[Illustration: No. 323.--Shield of Castile and Leon.]

Should there be _three_ Coats to be quartered, they would severally occupy the first, second, and third quarters of the Shield, in due order, and the first quarter would be repeated in the fourth. In quartering _four_ coats, no repetition would be necessary. If more than four coats would require to be quartered, the Shield would be divided into whatever number of sections might be necessary, as in No. 36, and the required arrangement would be made; should any repetition be necessary, the first quarter is to be repeated in the fourth. This process, whatever the number of the coats thus marshalled (and their number sometimes is very great), is always entitled "_quartering_"; and each of these divisions of a Shield, for the purpose of Marshalling, is distinguished as a "Quarter." Occasionally a _quartered coat_ would have to be marshalled with others. In the "grand quartering" which then takes place, the quartered coat is treated precisely as any other member of the group. See No. 37. For example, the Shield, No. 324 (R. 2), of HENRY, first Earl of NORTHUMBERLAND, is--I. and IV. Grand Quarters,--_first and fourth, or, a lion rampt. az._, for Louvaine, or Percy modern: _second and third, gu., three lucies haurient arg._ (No. 164) for Lucy: II. and III. Grand Quarters,--_az., five fusils conjoined in fesse or_, for Percy ancient.

[Illustration: No. 324.--Shield of Henry, Earl of Northumberland.]

When a Shield to be quartered has a very numerous array of Quarterings, Grand Quartering is seldom adopted; but, in its stead, the new quarterings are marshalled in their proper succession, with the original quarterings of the Shield.

In this Marshalling the first quarter is occupied by the most important quartering, which is determined (without any fixed rule) by the original grant or licence: the other quarterings follow, in the order in which they may have been "brought in" to the composition.

[Illustration: No. 325.--Shield of Mayor of Winchelsea.]

[Illustration: No. 326.--De Valence, dimidiating Claremont Nesle.]

To denote and record ALLIANCE BY MARRIAGE, two distinct Coats were first marshalled upon a single Shield by _Dimidiation_. This process is accomplished in the following manner. The Shield to be charged with the two Coats in union is divided _per pale_, as in No. 28: on the dexter half the corresponding half, or generally somewhat more than that half, of the arms of the husband is marshalled: then, in like manner, the sinister half is charged with the corresponding portion of the arms of the wife. In the Shield, No. 250, from another Seal of Queen MARGARET, _England_ dimidiates _France ancient_, Nos. 187 and 247. This Dimidiation in most cases produces a singular effect; as in No. 325, a Shield from the Seal of the Mayor of Winchelsea, one of the famous Sussex Cinque Ports, which bears _England_ dimidiating _azure, three hulls of ships, in pale, or_: here the dimidiated lions and ships appear to unite for the purpose of forming the most extravagant of compound monsters. The Seal of the Borough of Great Yarmouth substitutes _three herrings_, in allusion to the staple fishery of the port, for the ships, and dimidiates them with the national lions. In the central Shield of the Seal, No. 319, I have shown _De Valence_ dimidiating _De Chastillon_. In No. 326, from the monument of WILLIAM DE VALENCE, _De Valence_ appears dimidiating the French Coat of _Claremont Nesle_--_gu., semée of trefoils, two barbels haurient addorsed or_: the Dimidiation here cuts off and removes one-half of the De Valence martlets and also one of the two barbels of Claremont.

[Illustration: No. 327.--Camoys, impaling Mortimer.]

The characteristic features of one or of both of the united Coats, as I have just shown, being commonly rendered indistinct and uncertain by Dimidiation, that form of marshalling was generally superseded by IMPALEMENT in the course of the third quarter of the fourteenth century. This process, at once simple and effectual, marshals the whole of the husband's arms on the dexter half of a Shield divided per pale, as No. 28; and the whole of the arms of the wife on the sinister half of it. Such an impaled Shield is borne by a husband and wife during their conjoint lives; and should the wife become a widow, by her the impaled arms are borne during her widowhood charged upon a lozenge. The dexter half only--the husband's arms--of an impaled Shield is hereditary. Fine examples of Shields that are both impaled and quartered, are preserved in the monuments of EDWARD III. and his Queen PHILIPPA, in the Brass to ALIANORE DE BOHUN, and in the monument to MARGARET BEAUFORT, all in Westminster Abbey. Other fine examples occur on the monument of Earl RICHARD BEAUCHAMP, at Warwick. No. 327, from the Brass to THOMAS, LORD CAMOYS, K.G., and his wife, ELIZABETH MORTIMER (the widow of HENRY HOTSPUR), at Trotton, in Sussex, A.D. 1410, marshals _Camoys_--_arg., on a chief gu. three plates_, impaling _Mortimer_, No. 131. Again, at Warwick, the Brass to Earl THOMAS DE BEAUCHAMP and his Countess, MARGARET FERRERS of Groby, A.D. 1406, has a Shield of _Beauchamp_--_gu., a fesse between six crosslets or_, impaling _Ferrers_--_gu., seven mascles, three three and one, or_.

[Illustration: No. 328.--D'Aubigny, impaling Scotland.]

It is to be observed that _Bordures_ and _Tressures_, which are not affected by Quartering, are _dimidiated by Impalement_,--that is, that side of both a Bordure and a Tressure which adjoins the line of Impalement is generally removed: thus, one of the small Shields sculptured upon the canopy of the monument of Queen MARY STUART, at Westminster, is charged with _D'Aubigny_ impaling _Scotland_,--that is, _az., three fleurs de lys or, within a bordure gu. charged with eight buckles gold_, impaling No. 138. This Shield, represented in No. 328, has both the bordure on its dexter half, and the tressure on its sinister half, dimidiated by the impalement. There are other excellent examples of this partial dimidiating in the monuments of MARGARET TUDOR and MARGARET BEAUFORT, in the same chapel of Westminster Abbey.

The husband of an _Heiress_ or a _Co-heiress_, instead of impaling the arms of his wife, marshals them upon his Shield charged as an _Escutcheon of Pretence_. The son of an heiress, as heir to his maternal grandfather through his mother, as well as to his own father, _quarters_ on his Shield, and transmits to his descendants, _the arms of both his parents_, his father's arms generally being in the first quarter. The Shield of RICHARD BEAUCHAMP, K.G., Earl of WARWICK (died in 1439), is a good example of the use of an Escutcheon of Pretence; it is represented in No. 329, drawn from the garter-plate of the Earl, in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The Earl himself, as his hereditary coat, quarters _Beauchamp_ with _Newburgh_--_chequée or and az., a chevron erm._: upon this, for his Countess, ISABELLE, daughter and heiress of THOMAS LE DESPENCER, Earl of GLOUCESTER, he marshals an Escutcheon of Pretence charged with _De Clare_, No. 124, quartering _Le Despencer_--_quarterly arg. and gu., in the second and third quarters a frette or, over all a bend sa._ In the monument of this great Earl, at Warwick, upon the Escutcheon of Pretence the arms of Bohun are quartered with those of Clare and Despencer.

[Illustration: No. 329.--Shield of Earl Richard Beauchamp.]

[Illustration: No. 330.]

[Illustration: No. 331.]

[Illustration: No. 332.]

[Illustration: No. 333.]

[Illustration: No. 334.]

[Illustration: No. 335.]

A few very simple diagrams will clearly elucidate the principle of Marshalling the arms of Husband and Wife. Suppose B (_Baron_) to represent the Husband, and F (_Femme_) the Wife: then, No. 330 B may represent the arms of the Husband, and No. 330 F the arms of the Wife. If F be _not_ an heiress, the arms of B and F, as husband and wife, are borne impaled, as in No. 330 B F; and their son bears No. 330 B only. If F _be an heiress_, the arms of B and F, as husband and wife, are borne as in No. 331--the arms of the wife on an Escutcheon of Pretence; and, in this case, the son of B and F quarters the arms of both his parents, as No. 332. Now, suppose this son, whose arms are No. 332, to marry a lady, _not_ an heiress, whose arms are No. 330 F F, he would simply impale the arms of his wife, as in No. 333, and his son would bear No. 332 only, as his father bore that quartered shield before his marriage. But if the wife of the bearer of No. 332 were to _be an heiress_, he would charge the arms of his wife in pretence upon his own hereditary paternal Shield, as in No. 334; and his son, by this heiress, as before, would quarter the arms of both his parents, as in No. 335. It is obvious that Marshalling on this system (of which I here give the general outline) admits of a widely-extended application. Younger sons in all cases place over all the quarterings of their Shield their own distinctive Mark of Cadency, until they inherit some different quartering from those to which the head of their house is entitled, and the quartering itself then forms sufficient difference.

A _Widower_ who marries again places the arms of both his wives upon any permanent record, but for ordinary purposes of use, _e.g._ on a seal or carriage, bears only the arms of his living wife.

An _Unmarried Lady_ bears her paternal arms on a _lozenge_, without any Helmet, Crest, or Motto.

A _Widow_ bears on a _lozenge_ the arms borne by her husband and herself. Should she marry again, a Widow ceases to bear the arms of her former husband.

A _Peeress in her own right_, if married to a Peer, has both her own arms and those of her husband fully blazoned, and the lozenge and the Shield, with all their accessories, are marshalled to form a single united group, the achievement of the husband having precedence to the dexter. If married to a Commoner, a Peeress in her own right bears her own arms on a lozenge as before, and her husband marshals her arms ensigned with her coronet in pretence on his Shield: and this lozenge and Shield are grouped together, the lozenge yielding precedence.

_Prelates_ bear the arms of their see impaling their own paternal and hereditary arms, the insignia of the see occupying the dexter half of the Shield, this Shield being ensigned with a mitre only. A married Prelate bears also a second Shield, placed to the sinister of the other, on which are marshalled, in accordance with ordinary usage, his own personal arms with those of his wife. The mitre then is placed over the conjoined shields.

The _Kings of Arms_, in like manner, bear two Shields, disposed to form a single group: on the dexter Shield their official arms impale their personal; and on the sinister Shield their personal arms are marshalled with the arms of their wives.

Again, the same usage obtains in marshalling the arms of _Knights of Orders of Knighthood_ who, when married, bear two Shields grouped together. On the dexter Shield are blazoned the arms of the Knight himself alone; and around this Shield are displayed the insignia of his Order, or Orders, of Knighthood: and on the sinister Shield the arms of the Knight and of his wife are marshalled, but without the knightly insignia. This second Shield is generally environed with decorative foliage. This usage, prevalent in England, is not accepted or adopted by foreign Heralds: nor does it appear to be required by true heraldic principle, or to be strictly in accordance with it. The wife of a Knight shares his knightly title, and takes precedence from her husband's knightly rank; and a knight, with perfect heraldic consistency, might marshal his own knightly insignia about the Shield which is charged with his own arms and those of his wife, whether united by impalement, or when the latter are borne in pretence: and thus a single Shield would be borne, and there would cease to exist any motive for endeavouring to impart to a second Shield some general resemblance to its companion by wreaths or other unmeaning accessories. There are ancient precedents for the use of a single shield.

_Official Arms_ are not hereditary.

_Royal Personages_, when married, bear their own arms on a separate Shield; and a second Shield bears the arms of the husband and wife conjoined.

The circumstances of every case must exercise a considerable influence in determining the Marshalling of the Accessories of any Shield, Lozenge, or Group. As a general rule, however, the _Helm_ always rests on the chief of the Shield: Commoners, Knights, Baronets, and Peers place their _Crest_ upon the Helm: Peers and Princes place their _Helm_ upon the Coronet, and their Crest is placed upon the Helmet. The SOVEREIGN places the Crest upon the Royal Crown, which is a part of the Royal Crest, and it is unusual to duplicate the Crown by repeating it below the Helmet. The _Mantling_ is displayed from the back of the Helm: it is most effective when simple in its form and adjustment, and when it droops behind the Shield. The _Motto_ is usually placed below the Shield; but if it has special reference to the Crest, above the Crest. A Scottish motto always goes over the Crest. _Supporters_ are usually placed erect, as if in the act of really supporting the Shield: they ought to stand either on an appropriate ground, or on a Gothic basement to the entire Achievement. _Badges_, with all _Official_ and _Knightly Insignia_, and all other _Honourable Insignia_ of every kind, are rightly marshalled in an Achievement of Arms.

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