General Overview of the English Rolls of Arms during the Thirteenth Century

Abstract

The English heraldic system was taken over from the French heraldry. Heralds and the compilers of the armorials used the language of the French system, but it wasn’t fully adopted and a special English terminology was born to blazon the shields. This present paper aims to give a general overview of the main differences, although it also points out an English speciality in the case of lions. Equally interesting is the usage of the eagle, fish, plants and instruments.