Heraldic case
In 1385, Richard II led his army on a punitive expedition to Scotland. During the military campaign, two of the king's knights, Richard Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton, from Bolton in Yorkshire, and Sir Robert Grosvenor from Cheshire, both realised they were using the same coat of arms, blazoned Azure, a bend Or . When Scrope brought an action, Grosvenor maintained his family had worn these arms since his ancestor had come to England with William the Conqueror in 1066.
The case was brought before the Court of Chivalry and presided over by Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, the Constable of England. Several hundred witnesses were heard, including John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, [1] : 163 Geoffrey Chaucer (who spoke on behalf of Sir Richard Scrope), himself a close friend of the Duke of Lancaster and a sometime member of his court; [1] and a then little-known Welshman called Owain Glyndŵr, who gave his evidence with others at the Church of St John the Baptist in Chester on 3 September 1386. [2]
It was not until 1389 that the case was finally decided in Scrope's favor. Grosvenor was allowed to continue bearing the arms but they had to be within a bordure argent for difference.
Neither party was happy with the decision so King Richard II was called upon to give his personal verdict. On 27 May 1390 he confirmed that Grosvenor could not bear the undifferenced arms. His opinion was that the two shields were far too similar for unrelated families in the same country to bear. The king nevertheless decided to uphold Grosvenor's request to annul the original decision, and accordingly Grosvenor's right to bear the new arms was denied. [3]
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings, as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch of heraldry, concerns the design and transmission of the heraldic achievement. The achievement, or armorial bearings usually includes a coat of arms on a shield, helmet and crest, together with any accompanying devices, such as supporters, badges, heraldic banners and mottoes.
His Majesty's High Court of Chivalry is a civil law court in English and Welsh law with jurisdiction over matters of heraldry. The court has been in existence since the fourteenth century; however, it rarely sits. The sole judge is now the hereditary Earl Marshal of England, the Duke of Norfolk, though if not a professional lawyer, he normally appoints a professional lawyer as his lieutenant or surrogate.
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Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton was an English soldier and courtier, serving Richard II of England. He also fought under Edward the Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy in 1346.
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Cornish heraldry is the form of coats of arms and other heraldic bearings and insignia used in Cornwall, United Kingdom. While similar to English, Scottish and Welsh heraldry, Cornish heraldry has its own distinctive features. Cornish heraldry typically makes use of the tinctures sable (black) and or (gold), and also uses certain creatures like Cornish choughs. It also uses the Cornish language extensively for mottoes and canting arms.
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Warbelton v. Gorges was one of the earliest heraldic law cases brought concerning English armory, in 1347. It concerned the coat of arms blazoned Lozengy Or and azure, that is a field of yellow and blue lozenges. The arms were borne by the unrelated families of Warbelton, from Hampshire, and Gorges, from Somerset, apparently without knowledge of each other or their common usage, until John de Warbelton and Theobald de Gorges served together in the English army at the Siege of Calais in 1346/7. A gentleman's armorial bearings represented his very identity and were of enormous importance to him, both as a matter of family pride and for practical purposes of personal recognition in battle and in legal seals. Warbelton made a formal complaint to the officer appointed by the king to resolve such matters, namely Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Lancaster, seneschal of England, who was commanding the English forces. A 6-man court of honour was convened and the pair were cross-examined, with evidence being sought from knights of their own localities also serving at the siege.
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Ancient and modern are terms used in heraldry to differentiate two different coats of arms used at different periods by a family or other bearer. Reasons for changing arms have been numerous, the most famous being the 1376 change in the French royal arms by Charles V of France to show three fleurs-de-lis instead of semee de lis, possibly to symbolize the Holy Trinity. The reasons for other changes were more prosaic, for example where a court of chivalry ordered a change or differencing where two families claimed the same arms, as in the famous case of Scrope v Grosvenor. The resulting two versions of arms are referred to as "France ancient" and "France modern", "Grosvenor ancient" and "Grosvenor modern".
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Grey v Hastings (1410) was a heraldic law of arms case brought in England. The case resulted from two different families found using the same undifferenced coat of arms.
