ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3050 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3050 ************************************ 6 May 2005 From: Gunnvor Silfraharr (no address) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our help in researching and designing a variant of the arms of the Warenne family appropriate for the 12th century. Here is what we found. The basic arms of the Warenne family were "Chequy azure and or" [1]. The checkered shield design is part of a group of coats of arms borne by a group of related families descending from Isabel de Vermandois, daughter of Hugh de Crepi the Great, Count of Vermandois. These related designs can be traced to the earliest known heraldry, originating before the middle of the 12th century. The coats of arms in this line of descent show ways in which the basic design was varied as the family expanded [2]: Checky or and gules. Lozengy or and gules. Checky or and azure. Checky or and azure, a chevron ermine. Checky or and azure, a bend ermine. Checky or and azure, a chief ermine. Checky or and azure, a bordure gules. Checky or and azure, a bordure gules and a canton ermine. Other related coats of arms [3]: Checky or and azure, a bend gules. Checky or and azure, a fess gules. Checky argent and gules. Checky or and gules, a chief ermine. Per pale checky or and azure and vert, two bars argent. As you can see, in this early period of heraldry, there was a great deal of freedom in varying arms to distinguish members and branches of a family. Based on this evidence and other examples of 12th and 13th century arms, we can suggest designs that incorporate features of this distinctive group of coats of arms [4, 5]: Checky azure and or, on a chief gules three roundels or. Checky azure and or, on a chief gules two fleurs-de-lys or. Checky or and azure, a chief gules fretty or. Checky or and azure, a chief indented gules. Lozengy azure and or, a chief gules. So far as we can tell, all of these should be registerable with the SCA College of Arms. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, Gunnvor Silfraharr 6 May 2005 ----------------------------------------------------- References [1] Humphrey-Smith, Cecil R., _Anglo-Norman Armory Two_ (Canterbury: Institute for Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, 1984). Pp. 232ff and the index. [2] Wagner, Anthony Richard, ed. _Aspilogia II: Rolls of Arms: Henry III_ (London: The Society of Antiquaries, 1967). Pp. 26-7, note to item 64. Checky or and gules. Lozengy or and gules. Borne by descendants of Waleran, Count of Meulan and Earl of Worcester (d. 1166), eldest son of Isabel de Vermandois and Robert de Beaumont. Checky (tinctures unrecorded). Borne by descendants of Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester (d. 1168), second son of Isabel de Vermandois and Robert de Beaumont. Checky or and azure. Borne by descendants of William, third Earl of Surrey (d. 1148), who was the second husband of Isabel de Vermandois. Checky or and azure, a chevron ermine. Checky or and azure, a bend ermine. Borne by descendants of Gundred, wife of Roger, second Earl of Warwick (d. 1153). Gundred was the daughter of Isabel de Vermandois and William, third Earl of Surrey. Checky or and azure, a chief ermine. Borne by members of the family Clinton, descendants of Gundred's daughter Agnes, wife of Geoffrey de Clinton. Checky or and azure, a bordure gules. Borne by members of the Dreux family, descended from Robert, Count of Dreux, son of Philip I of France, who was brother of Hugh de Crepi the Great, the father of Isabel de Vermandois. Checky or and azure, a bordure gules and a canton ermine. Borne by the Earls of Richmond. [3] London, Hugh Stanford. Glover's Roll. B30, B31, B33, B50, B109. Checky or and azure, a bend gules. Walter de Clifford Checky or and azure, a fess gules. Roger de Clifford Checky argent and gules. Johan de Vaulx Checky or and gules, a chief ermine. Robert de Tatreshale Per pale checky or and azure and vert, two bars argent. Johan de Courtenay [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). Also see: Brault, Gerald J., _The Rolls of Arms of Edward I_, Aspilogia III, Vol 2. (London: Boydell Press, 1997). We found early examples of charged chiefs, including "on a chief a roundel", which appears in the Siege of Caerlaverock, c.1300. In another example we found "three roundels on a chief". We also found other charges on chiefs, including: one, two, or three roundels one, two, or three mullets an estoile a fleur-de-lys a demi-fleur-de-lis a lion passant a demi-lion a dance a fess indented a cross patonce an escutcheon a maunch one or three escallops one or three martlets two or three sixfoils two or three palets three annulets three buckles three cinquefoils three lions rampant three birds three elm leaves slipped chevrons bars [5] Brault, Aspilogia III. (see [4], above). Some other variations of chiefs that we found in your period include: "on a chief indented, a crescent" "on a chief indented, two crescents" "a chief fretty"