Ha! Think you got your fill of medieval history yesterday? We’ve only just begun. I’m barely getting started, wait until we get to the Knights Templar!
I picked this one up at a cute, little museum in NYC1, after they reopened their arms and armory exhibit. I liked it because it was so funny – and because I learned things.
This is the kind of book that will appeal to that little kid that, when you take them to the museum, will drag you into the room with suits of armor and battle-axes, and drown out your thoughts with a steady stream of facts and trivia that you may never use again2 such as that kings had helmets Affronte (all of gold which faces forwards) and peers had Melee helms (steel with gold bars covering their face).
Carlson talks about shields (the shapes changed over time), partitions (how shields are divided up), tinctures (the colours of heraldry), charges (the use of shapes or animals on shields – sejant means the animal is sitting down, statant means the animal is standing on all fours), coronets (how to tell the difference between an earl and a viscount without being introduced, just by what they’re wearing), orders (such as the order of the garter, the thistle, or the bath), and how to use your coat of arms.
This is, if you are not a small child obsessed with arms and armory who avidly watches Bedknobs and Broomsticks over and over and over again3, or someone who plans to write a novel set in the middle ages (or a fantasy novel set in an imaginary version of the middle ages), you can still use it to design your own heraldic shield, to be one step ahead of other watchers when King Charles finally kicks the bucket and you are sitting through the coronation of whichever of his sons is still alive enough to take over, to impress people with your expansive vocabulary, or to bore your fellow museum goers with facts and factoids they will never use again whenever you visit The Met.
And it’s a fun book to have on your shelf.
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