Background to rolls of arms We are fortunate that in England we still have well over a hundred different mediaeval rolls of arms, more than in any other country, and their value has been greatly increased by the work of Sir Anthony Wagner, firstly in his catalogue of all the different versions still extant of each roll, and secondly in his encouragement of modern critical editions of the rolls. These have so far covered the rolls from the reigns of Henry III and Edward I, i.e. much of the golden age of English heraldry. However, since Sir Anthony’s death, the study of mediaeval heraldry seems to have lost all momentum in England, although at long last the Dictionary of British Arms is now complete. Fortunately, Steen Clemmensen of Copenhagen has been carrying out an enormous amount of very valuable work on a wide range of rolls, both English and Continental. As a result, we now have access to the rolls of Edward II, Edward III, Richard II and even beyond. It should be remembered that the rolls were privately owned, and they never constituted official records. We must therefore be prepared for errors. We know very little about those who compiled them, although we can see that they often copied information from each other. Brault (Early Blazon p 5) points out that many of the charges, and the terms used for them, are derived from ‘the clichés of earlier artists and craftsmen’. By using these terms the compilers soon had a sophisticated system of blazon, used on both sides of the Channel, even by the time of the earliest rolls. However, these early rolls were only intended for the simple identification of knights actually seen at tournaments or on campaign. An approximation was often sufficient for this, and the information in the rolls is therefore not always as detailed as we might wish it to be. And whilst the compilers, with their background knowledge, may have found the names easy to recognise, we cannot always be certain which individuals are meant. Some rolls are of those who were present on a single occasion, at a particular muster or tournament, and some rolls are more general collections made over a period of time. Some consist of rows of coloured shields with captions, and some are just names with written blazons. A few rolls have survived in their original version, or at least a contemporary copy, but most exist only as copies made centuries later. Rolls of arms changed character over time. In the thirteenth century, they referred to specific individuals, suggesting that the rolls acted as aides memoires for recognising knights at tournaments, or on campaign (when quite often tournaments provided practice and entertainment between the comparatively rare pitched battles). During the fourteenth century it became more common for rolls to refer to 'le Sr de Berkeley' with perhaps an additional entry, differenced, for 'Monsr James Berkeley'. By this time, arms had become associated with land, so that when in 1337 Hugh de Audley was awarded the Clare earldom of Gloucester together with Clare lands he changed his fretty arms to the Clare chevrons. During the fifteenth century, the fashion for quartering grew, as a symbol of additional lands inherited. By 1450 Warwick the Kingmaker had quarters representing the lands he had inherited from the Beauchamp, Clare, Montagu, Monthermer, Neville of Salisbury, Warwick and Despenser families. Others found excuses for adding more quarters to their arms, whether or not they involved land, and rolls of arms often copied much of their content from the earlier rolls and merely gave family names for coats of arms as if to assist in identifying the multitude of quarterings being used by all and sundry. Peter Howarth

Thirteenth-century rolls of arms with their sigla, dates and sources 'Aspilogia II', including MP, B, C, and Additions and Corrections to Wagner's 'Catalogue of English Medieval Armorials', available as pdf from Archive CD Books http://www.archivecdbooks.org/ MP Matthew Paris Shields, various manuscripts dated between c1244 and c1259 edited by T. D. Tremlett, ‘Matthew Paris Shields’ in Aspilogia II: Rolls of Arms Henry III, ed. Sir Anthony Wagner, London: The Harleian Society, 1967 Matthew Paris was a monk who wrote chronicles of events in the world around him and who decorated the margins of his manuscripts with shields representing those people he was writing about. He worked at St Alban’s Abbey, a popular place for the King’s court to stay whenever it travelled north from London. He was therefore able to collect information both directly and from his contacts amongst the court administrators. In general, his information was good. But there are occasions where he did not know an individual’s coat of arms and was therefore reduced to making something up in order to complete his marginal decorations. B Glover’s Roll c1253-8 edited by Hugh Stanford London, ‘Glover’s and Walford’s Rolls’ in Aspilogia II: Rolls of Arms Henry III, ed. Sir Anthony Wagner, London: The Harleian Society, 1967 A lost roll in blazon only, later copies of which now exist in four versions: B I Cooke’s version (c1253), with 214 entries, includes B I(a), a copy of the text with tricks added, and B I(b), which only has tricks; B II Harvy’s version (c1310) and B III St George’s version (c1258) provide 9 additional names (Gerard J. Brault, Eight Thirteenth-Century Rolls of Arms pp 31-37 transcribes both MSS for B III); B IV Grimaldi's version (c1350) is part of Grimaldi’s Roll (v. infra). B I and B IV include material copied from an earlier collection dated c1240-42. BA Bigot Roll 1254 transcribed by Gerard J. Brault,, University Park and London: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1973 A lost roll from France of names and blazons in the Picardy dialect of 295 knights from both sides who were involved in a campaign in Hainault by Charles, Count of Anjou, against John of Avesnes. WN Wijnbergen Roll 1265-70 and 1270-85 transcribed by Paul Adam-Even and Léon Jéquier, ‘Un armorial français du XIIIe siècle: l’armorial Wijnbergen’, Archives héraldique suisses, 65 (1951): 49-62, 101-10; 66 (1952): 28-36, 64-68, 103-11; 68 (1954): 55-80, per Brian Timms, Early Rolls of Arms. An original French roll of 1,302 painted shields, in two parts, 256 from the Île de France, and 1,056 from other regions of France, from Germany and from the Low Countries. C Walford’s Roll c1275 edited by Hugh Stanford London, ‘Glover’s and Walford’s Rolls’ in Aspilogia II: Rolls of Arms Henry III, ed. Sir Anthony Wagner, London: The Harleian Society, 1967 (all three texts transcribed by Gerard J. Brault, Eight Thirteenth-Century Rolls of Arms) A lost roll, now in three different versions, with 185 names and blazons, many of them foreign. London died eight years before Aspilogia II went to press and was therefore unable to correct the inaccuracies that appear in his transcription. Brault’s transcriptions therefore make a useful control. The original compiler was quite often careless either about the Christian name or about omitting any difference used by a younger son. Not very reliable. HE Heralds’ Roll c1279 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 A lost roll of 697 painted shields, now found in four versions from twelve manuscripts: I Heralds’ Version, a 13th-c. fragment; II FitzWilliam Version, probably the most reliable, in four later copies, one of which is illustrated in its entirety (b/w) in Humphery-Smith, Anglo-Norman Armory; III Earl of Bedford’s Version, the least reliable version, in four late copies; IV Everard Green’s Version, a single 16th-c. copy. The roll contains many errors, especially amongst the foreign coats at the end, but it was of sufficient value to be used as a source by both Dering and Camden Rolls. A Dering Roll c1280 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 The earliest English roll where the original is still extant, containing 324 painted shields, many of them from Kent and Sussex. Much of it was copied from the Heralds’ Roll, including its mistakes. Denholm-Young, History and Heraldry ch. IV, has suggested that this roll was produced as a castle-guard roll for Stephen of Penchester, constable of Dover 1268-99. D Camden Roll c1280 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 Contemporary roll with 270 painted shields on the front and blazons on the back, both probably done at around the same time. This compiler also copied from the Heralds’ Roll, but appears to have been more knowledgeable than the painter of the Dering Roll. E St George’s Roll c1285 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 A lost roll of 677 painted shields, with a good number from the Welsh Marches, which suggests that it may have been compiled in that area. It has many arms (350) in common with Charles’ Roll. F Charles’ Roll c1285 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 A lost roll of 486 painted shields, many of them the same as St George’s Roll. There are also copies of a second version (FII) which omits many items in the first roll but includes 97 additional coats. G Segar’s Roll c1285 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 A lost roll of 212 painted shields, beginning with kings, many of them mythical, then earls, including some arms no longer in use, then knights. LM Lord Marshal’s Roll c1295 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 The only copy of this lost roll of 588 painted shields is unfortunately defective, with blank shields, wrong colours (argent is very often used instead of or, azure and vair), and omitted charges. The paintings in the copy are therefore very unreliable. But the list of names has proved useful in researching knights involved in Edward I’s army (see D Simpkin, The English Aristocracy at War (2008) pp 21-28). Q Collins’ Roll c1296 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 A lost roll of 598 painted shields quite possibly compiled at the ‘Parliament’ of Berwick, Aug-Sep 1296. Several of the entries differ from those in other rolls. Some of the copies include names and shields which appear to have been inserted later, probably around 1440. These additions (QII) are not included in Brault’s edition, but can be found in C Humphery-Smith, Anglo-Norman Armory Two. ChP Chifflet-Prinet Roll 1297 transcribed by Gerard J. Brault, Eight Thirteenth-Century Rolls of Arms in French and Anglo-Norman Blazon, University Park and London: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1973 A 17th-c. copy with 147 painted shields, forming a substantial part of the larger Rôle d'armes de l'ost de Flandre, a lost roll of those who took part in Charles de Valois’s campaign in 1297 against the count of Flanders. H Falkirk Roll 1298 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 A lost list of 115 names and blazons of the earls and knights banneret acting at the Battle of Falkirk, 22 July 1298, set out under the four divisions used by Edward I at the battle. J Guillim’s Roll 1295-1305 edited by Gerard J. Brault, Aspilogia III: Rolls of Arms Edward I, 2 v., London: Society of Antiquaries, Boydell Press, 1997 A lost roll of 148 painted shields now in six copies (all in trick except for Jc, a Hatton Dugdale facsimile) in four versions, I. Guillim’s Version (Ja, Jb); II. Le Neve’s Version (Jc); III. Bodleian Version (Jd, Je); and IV. Holland’s Version (Jf). The roll starts with the king and his son, then earls, and then knights. Peter Howarth