ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3267
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3267
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27 Mar 2007
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wanted to know if "Sable goutty, an increscent and on a chief
doubly arched argent, three mullets of eight points azure" is an
authentic coat of arms for a French woman living between 1100 and
1400.  Here is what we have found.

Unfortunately, we cannot recommend this design as good heraldic
re-creation for your place and period, for a number of reasons.  The
first is that we have not found any examples of chiefs enarched or
doubly enarched in French arms from any period.  If you want to use a
chief, we recommend that you use just a plain straight-lined chief. 
While uncharged chiefs tend to be more common than charged chiefs
during your period, we still found a number of examples of charged
chiefs, so this motif is fine. [1]

In one study of a French roll of arms from 1254, mullets and escallops
are the most common type of tertiary charge (a tertiary charge is one
which lies wholly on another charge). [2]  In French armory, mullets
were usually drawn with six points (either straight or wavy), though
five-pointed mullets are also found. [3,4,5]  We haven't found
examples of eight-pointed mullets in France, and so recommend that you
use either six- or five-pointed ones instead.

Turning to crescents, we found a few examples where the primary charge
is an increscent [1], but overall, regular crescents (with their horns
pointing to chief) are much more common. [1,2]  For best re-creation,
we recommend a crescent.

As for gouttes, with the exception of a few literary examples, we have
not found any gouttes other than gules (red) gouttes before the 16th
century. [6,7,8,9]  As we also haven't found any French arms from your
period which combine strewn charges with a primary charge, we
recommend that you do not use the strewn gouttes.

In the roll of arms from 1254 noted above, sable fields tended to be
fairly rare, and nearly three-quarters of the arms used just two
tinctures. [2]  We can therefore recommend the following designs in
keeping with early French armorial style which utilize some of the
elements of your original design: [10]

  Argent, a crescent and on a chief sable three mullets argent.
  Argent, an increscent and a chief sable.
  Argent, an increscent and on a chief sable three mullets argent.
  Sable, a increscent and on a chief argent three mullets sable.

We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't
hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have
further questions.  Research and commentary on this letter was
provided by Sabine Berard, Arval Benicoeur, Mari ingen Briain, Talan
Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, Ursula Georges, and Margaret Makafee.

For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 27 March 2007

--
References:

[1] Timms, Brian, 'European Rolls of Arms of the Thirteenth Century'
(WWW: privately published, 2005).
http://perso.modulonet.fr/~briantimms/era/early%20rolls%20of%20arms.htm

The Chifflet-Prinet Roll, late 13th century
The Wijnbergen Roll, mid-late 13th century
The Bigot Roll, 1254
Vermandois Roll, late 13th c

[2] Talan Gwynek, "The Bigot Roll of Arms, 1254: An Analysis" (WWW:
Academy of S. Gabriel, 1997).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/heraldry/talan/bigot.html

[3] Parker, James, _A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry_ (Charles E.
Tuttle, 1982), s.v. mullet.

[4] Brault, Gerard J., _Early Blazon: Heraldic Terminology in the
Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries with Special Reference to Arthurian
Heraldry_, 2nd ed. (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1997), s.v. estoile.

[5] Jequier, Leon, ed., "Armorial Bellenville", _Cahiers d'Heraldique
V_ (Paris: Le Le/opard d'Or, 1983).

[6] Legh, Gerard, _Accedens of Armory_, (London: R. Tottil, 1562)
notes that "geules is the proper coloure of drops."

[7] Bossewell, John, _Works of Armorie (London, 1572; facsimile
reprint Amsterdam and New York: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd. and Da
Capo Press, 1969).  Gules gouttes are the only gouttes mentioned.

[8] Guillim, John, _A Display of Heraldry_, (London: Printed by
William Hall for Raphe Mab, 1610.)

[9] Brault, op. cit., s.v. goute/ has the literary examples of "un
escu blanc goute/ de noir" and "cel escu noir goute/ d'or et d'argent"
from Le Livre de Lancelot del Lac, which was composed between 1215 and
1230.  In the latter coat, at least, the tinctures and charges were
apparently chosen for their symbolism, so it's anyone's guess whether
anything similar is to be found in real arms.

[10] So far as we can tell, all of these are registerable with the SCA
College of Arms.  The following color combinations all have conflicts:

"Sable, a crescent and on a chief argent three mullets sable"
conflicts with Chiara della Luna, "Sable, a crescent and on a chief
argent three ermine spots gules."

"Azure, a crescent and on a chief argent three mullets azure"
conflicts with Sofia of Sternfeld, "Azure, a crescent between
flaunches and on a chief argent five mullets azure."

"Sable, an increscent and a chief argent" conflicts with Sean
Macarailt of Sandyhume, "Sable, an increscent argent."

"Azure, an increscent and a chief argent" and "Azure, a increscent and
on a chief argent three mullets azure" conflict with Susan of
Tirnewydd, "Azure, an increscent and on a chief argent four mullets
azure."