Heraldic Literature

The large corpus of heraldic writing falls into two general categories: treatises on the origins and duties of heralds and the symbolism of heraldic design; and narrative accounts of both war‐ and peace‐time events witnessed by heralds themselves. Heraldic treatises, written in French, Latin, and English, first appear in the fourteenth century, but flourished in the fifteenth century. There are several English authors (most notably Johannes de Bado Aureo and Nicholas Upton), but most heraldic treatises are anonymous translations and adaptations of French models. Heraldic narrative is similarly multilingual. Describing battles, diplomatic maneuvers, tournaments, marriages, coronations, and pageants, heraldic narratives were intended to spread detailed accounts of great events and to act as source material for civic and national chroniclers.