Heraldry in Religion, Education and Sports

Jul 6, 2007 by El Heraldo

The power of the king during the middle ages was not absolute. Gentleman feudales possessed great power too. These feudales had their own army and used their power to their own benefit. They utilized this power to go against the royal authority when needed.

The feudal lives in a castle surrounded by the lands he owns so he can know what happens in those lands. The señor de Horca y Cuchillo is the one that decides how to solve any problem in those lands.  He can decide on the life or death of its vasallos, without having to report to anyone. He does not know what happens in the Supreme Court and he does not care.  He only cares about keeping up with the wars among the landlords and get back what they took away from him or acquire more lands.  The Royal authority does not have any power over these landlord wars.

The crusades are the ones that bring the change necessary to turn Spain into a solid state.  Since all Knight and Noble have a common enemy, they show up in Tierra Santa to battle against the sarraceno conquistador from Jerusalem.  The Knights of the Military Order swear to serve God, fight the unfaithful, and protect the King.  These events bring peace and security to kings.  The Knights go through great efforts to bring glory to his lineage.  These achievements are represented with blazons (coats of arms) for everyone else to take notice of their glory.  A great number of coats of arms were produced during those times.  Since too many unregulated coats of arms were created, the authorities had to establish rules and procedures to bring these coats of arms into legitimacy.  The Heraldry Code was born.  This is how heraldry became stronger during the crusades.  After these times, the sons and family members of the Knights started to inherit the coat of arms.

As time passed, societies started to take notice and appreciate men involved in science, learning, and religion.  The kings decided to honor these men with nobility titles and special privileges.  This is how heraldry was implemented in religion, education and sports.

To me, it is interesting and exiting to learn about the world of heraldry since there is so much history in it.  I think of the history behind entire nations and small towns that have their own coat of arms.  Or just the idea of the coats of arms of our past relatives might have acquired.  How did they earn it?  What battles or good deed they had to perform in order to deserve a coat of arms? What the symbols in the shield mean?

Written by Eduardo Jesus Farias Ramos
Translated by EJ Jr.