Pedigree And Heraldry
What is a pedigree?
A pedigree is a fancy name for a family tree, and it comes out of the old heraldic visitations of the 16th century, when the king's heralds went around the country to work out what the aristocracy and the middle classes were up to, who they were related to, if they were claiming land and if they had the right to bear a coat of arms. Pedigrees were the result. They are very basic family trees that do tend to go further back in time.
Is heraldry important in a family history?
If you're lucky enough to find an ancestor that does bear a coat of arms or comes from a slightly higher rank of society then heraldry becomes all important. Because in many ways it's a fast track back through already established pedigrees. And these various coats of arms allow you to effectively have your own coat of arms. So it's quite prestigious if you can link into a heraldic family but it is much harder to prove mainly because the main heraldic families go back from the 18th century and before and the ones today are very well known about. You've got to prove quite a lot of a gap in terms of time in able to make these connections into well established pedigreed families.
What is Heraldry?
Heraldry is one of the earliest forms of genealogy. It goes back to the Norman Conquests, when the knights that came over within the first, wore various devices or signs on their surcoats to identify them as to who their main Lord would have been. These gradually developed into coats of arms. Heraldry is really the interpretation of coats of arms, and looking at these family insignia or emblem, which are passed down generation to generation.
What is a coat of arms?
A coat of arms is a device using various heraldic symbols that show you, or rather the bearer, whom they are related to. They evolved out of the middle ages when knights would wear them to identify them in battle and they show allegiance to a greater lord. They were gradually taken down through the male line of the eldest male of the family and pass from generation to generation. Occasionally, if you married into an important female family you would import some of their heraldic devices as well and this is why coats of arms would change over the centuries.
Who would have a coat of arms?
These days you can have a coat of arms commission, which are not quite the same as old style pedigrees. If you have proved your relationship with an aristocratic family then you can have a coat of arms, but for this you have to submit proof, which ultimately involves a huge amount of research on your part. When you go back into the past, for example, the 15th and 16th century, only certain classes of society were awarded the coat of arms after thorough checking by King Harold. Many people claimed they had the coat of arms because it marks a higher status, which allowed them to get better marriages and acquire land as it was the main currency for people those days. These coat of arms were removed or extinguished when we moved ahead in time, and because of this, there is only a hand full of people who have coat of arms now.
What is a Family Crest?
A family crest is an emblem or device usually linked to a motto or saying that a family had adopted that it thinks reflects its general characteristics. Quite often in the middle ages, it was very militaristic because that was the nature of society. You had lots of swords, or fighting animals, or hunting, because that was the way of life. These days it may be slightly different. But it's just basically an expression of how that family sees itself.
How old is Heraldry?
Heraldry dates way back to the Middle Ages. In fact, you could say it goes back to the date of the Norman conquest when the new regime is established and a new order is imposed upon the country. You started to get knights and aristocrats taking over land and wanting to establish themselves as the dominant force, supplanting the old Anglo-Saxon aristocracy. This is really where you start to get this whole proof of where you've descended from.
