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Hello and welcome to basic knowledge of heraldry
on the new channel "GZ Herold"
Since this is our first episode,
we want to see about what heraldry is
and what's its origin.
Let's start with the word origin.
The word derives from the french word "héraldique",
what became "Heraldik" in german.
Synonyms are "Heroldskunst" or "Wappenwesen".
It deals with the complex symbols, we call "coat of arms".
The corresponding savants were called "heralds" and their helpers "pursuivants".
It's not difficult to realize that the channel's name "GZ Herold" derives from those savants called "heralds".
Let's talk about the development of heraldry.
In the times of the early cultures and in antiquity
it was already common to decorate shields and flags.
Just think about the roman legions
with their military standards.
I think everyone of you knows the eagle standard.
When feudalism emerged in the Middle Ages,
many nobles chose symbols
in order to stand out from the numerous other fighters.
Obviously the decoration of the shield was important again.
Since the second half of the 12th century pot helms were used.
Therefore faces weren't identifiable anymore.
At the same time enormous banns of knights from different european kingdoms fought together in the crusades.
Hence heraldry as an art of identification could perfectly evolve.
Simultaneously the individual shields, which could be redesigned several times in a life time,
became heritable shields, which were passed from one generation to the next.
Another influence on heraldry were tournaments.
These were training for combat as well as exhibition of their armor,
which was richly decorated.
Helmets were bejeweled and the escutcheon became part of the surcoat and the horse blanket.
Due to the tournaments the heraldic crest evolved
and coat of arms became popular and widespread.
With increasing distribution of coats of arms a big amount of coat of arms emerged
and savants were necessary to distinguish between all of them.
And so the herald arose, from whom derives the word "heraldry".
Part of the tasks of a herald was to perform the blazon of the coat of arms of his lord
or to collect coat of arms in rolls of arms
The fast distribution of fire arms in the 16th century started the decline of knighthood,
what also meant the end of heraldic heyday
The heyday was followed by other stilistic epochs, but these are part of the heraldic decay time.
That was it for this episode and I want to thank everyone, you managed to endure my voice until the end.
Thank you very much!