Escutcheon (heraldry) - Varying Shapes

Varying Shapes

The almost full body-length shield used by the Normans at the Battle of Hastings and seen depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry (c.1066), occasionally with proto-heraldic cognizances painted thereon, pre-dates the era of heraldry proper, which commenced during the first quarter of the 13th century. By about 1250 the shields used in warfare were almost triangular in shape, referred to as heater shields. Such a shape can be seen on the effigy of William II Longespee (d.1250) at Salisbury Cathedral, whilst the shield shown on the effigy of his father William Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (d.1226) is of a more elongated form. That on the enamel monument to the latter's grandfather Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou (d.1151) is of almost full-body length. This heater-shaped form was used in warfare during the apogee of the Age of Chivalry, at about the time of the Battle of Crecy (1346) and the founding of the Order of the Garter (1348), when the art of Heraldry reached its greatest perfection. The almost triangular shape is therefore used as a setting for armorials from this "classical age" of heraldry, in the sense that it produced the best examples of the art. In the Tudor era the heraldic escutcheon took the shape of an inverted Tudor arch. Continental European designs frequently use the various forms used in jousting, which incorporate "mouths" used as lance rests into the shields. Such escutcheons are known as a bouche. The mouth is correctly shown on the dexter side only, as jousting pitches were designed for right-handed knights. Heraldic examples of English a bouche shields can be seen in the spandrels of the trussed timber roof of Lincoln's Inn Hall, London.