Heraldic rules
Heraldic rules are a gradually developed, incomplete, not generally applicable and formally non-established heraldry code . The heraldry code, to which those interested in and familiar with the coat of arms orientate themselves, consists of a large number of leitmotifs, conventions, principles, guidelines, principles, recommendations, procedures and methods. These are described in the historical auxiliary science of heraldry , in statutes of heraldic associations or in other heraldic sources. They cover all theoretical and practical areas of the coat of arms, including:
- the design and shape of coats of arms
- the tinging (coloring)
- the use of the heraldic elements (heraldic symbolism)
- the blazon (description of the coat of arms)
- the authorization to use a coat of arms (coat of arms law)
The large number of heraldic subject areas and the large number of individual components of the Heraldry Code as well as the countless exceptions and contradictions within the heraldic rules prevent the drafting of nationally or internationally uniform, binding and consistent heraldic standards or a single, generally binding heraldic law.
The work manual of heraldry. Heraldic primer by Adolf Matthias Hildebrandt summarizes the heraldic rules for Germany in a very short form. Since its first publication (1887) it has advanced to become the leading German-language standard work of the Heraldry Code.
history
Originally, coats of arms were created "randomly". At the beginning of the 13th century there were no heraldic rules in the modern sense. It was only after coats of arms became widely used that the rules about their appearance and use developed. This is why the shapes and colors of some coats of arms from the early days of European heraldry do not yet correspond to the later established rules, such as the heraldic color rule that metal must not border on metal and color must not border on color. Such coats of arms representations and descriptions, which are unheraldic from today's perspective, can be found in the works of the Trojan War by Konrad von Würzburg (1220 / 30–1287), Cliperaius Teutonisorum by Konrad von Mure (around 1210–1282), in the Große Heidelberger Song manuscript (in the making between 1298 and 1304) and the Zurich coat of arms (around 1335/45).
How the change from “irregular” to “regulated” heraldry took place has not been conclusively and satisfactorily clarified in detail in the specialist world. It is undisputed that the Heralds made a decisive contribution to this process. It was through them that the heraldic rules were formed and reproduced (regardless of whether they passed unwritten or written guidelines from generation to generation).
Some authors take the view "that heraldry was still a free art in the 14th century, and indeed a very poetic one, and that at that time nothing was known about the fetters of it, the so-called heraldic rain". On the other hand, it is emphasized that at that time and later heraldic rules and laws existed, according to which the heralds were established: “For where does the great agreement, the sometimes artificial and surprising order in the old coats of arms come from ? "
What is certain is that in the 14th century scholars began to deal with heraldic rules. As early as the first half of the 14th century, for example, the Italian legal scholar Bartolus de Saxoferrato (around 1313-1357) put forward the first theory of heraldry. In Thuringia, the priest Johannes Rothe (around 1360–1434) wrote texts with heraldic content.
Heraldic books and other theoretical works that specifically address and affect heraldic rules appeared in the 16th and 17th centuries. For example, the French Marcus Vulson de la Colombière († 1658/65) invented the dots and lines to denote the colors in copperplate engravings. The German Paul Götz / Paul Jovius (1570 / 74–1633) taught in 1560 the heraldic art of foreign currency in a special script according to rules. During the reign of Louis XIV, the Abbot of Brianville invented a card game to learn about heraldic art. In Germany, the Nuremberg Senator Georg Philipp Harsdörffer (1607-1658) is considered to be one of the first "who brought heraldry into rules or rather transplanted these rules from French heraldry into German" (he dealt with the division of the coat of arms, among other things). In England, John Guillim (around 1565-1621) published the monumental heraldic rulebook A Display of Heraldry in 1610 .
The process of finding heraldic rules continued in Germany via Philipp Jacob Spener (1635–1705) and his son Christian Maximilian Spener (1678–1714). Even today it has not been finally concluded. The composition and representation of coats of arms is possible today with graphics software. This results in the need to update the heraldic rules, for example on the use of colors, contrasts, shapes and lines in this regard.
meaning
Although heraldic rules were never followed to the letter in any coat of arms, they help to unify and assess the tradition, relevance and quality of coats of arms on a broad scale. In realiter, the heraldry code serves to bring the artistic ideal of the designing heraldic artist, the coat of arms and identification requirements of the coat of arms owners / donors and the scientific demands of the heraldist to a common denominator (whereby proven coat of arms experts know when to follow the heraldic rules and when you can bend or even break a rule).
The consideration and voluntary compliance with the heraldic rules are classified as important or even necessary for the design, description, management, origin and meaning of those coats of arms that are kept for future generations and by coats of arms leaders / donors, coat of arms artists , heraldic associations and heraldists should outlast time as a historical testimony (regardless of which type of coat of arms a coat of arms belongs to).
Coats of arms that do not submit to the code or blatantly violate the heraldic rules are considered by heraldists and heraldists to be "fake coat of arms" and "unheraldic". The judgment that a coat of arms is “unheraldic” should not be interpreted as derogatory, but as “excluded from heraldry”.
Web links
- Dieter Müller-Bruns: About the principles of the so-called coat of arms law
- Bernhard Peter: Introduction to Heraldry
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Joseph Albrecht: The Hohenlohe Seal of the Middle Ages. sn, sl 1857, p. 19 (Chapter The Hohenloic Coat of Arms. ).
- ^ J. Claus Billet: The Findings of the "Heraldic Rules" forum.ahnenforschung.net
- ↑ F.-K. : Response to the treatise "The Limpurg taverns and the coat of arms of the Duchy of Eastern Franconia" by HB In: Wirtembergisch Franconia. Vol. 6, No. 1, 1862, pp. 17-38, p. 20 .
- ↑ Gustav Salzenberg: Some notes about the Gräflich Reinsteinsche coat of arms. In: Journal for coin, seal and heraldry. Vol. 2, 1842, pp. 51-58, here p. 53 .
- ↑ Friedrich Rühs : Draft of a propaedeutic of the historical study. Realschulbuchhandlung, Berlin 1811, p. 175 .
- ↑ a b Gabriel Christoph Benjamin Busch : Handbook of Inventions. Volume 12: T to Z. Bärecke, Eisenach 1822, p. 283 .
- ^ Václav Vok Filip: Introduction to Heraldry (= historical basic sciences in individual representations. Vol. 3). Steiner, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-515-07559-3 , p. 21.