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Hello and welcome to basic knowledge of heraldry on the channel "GZ Herold".
Today we'll deal with the escutcheon/shield, but for now not with the decoration of it.
Like I already told you in the last episode the shield is only a part of an heraldic achievement.
It depicts the charges and is the main pictorial part.
For better orientation I'll explain the directions of the shield.
Sides are assigned by the bearer from the rear.
Therefore the left side of the depiction is dexter ("right") and the right side is sinister ("left").
Another expression for the heraldic right is "fore"
and a synonym for the heraldic left side is "back" (these synonyms apply for german heraldry).
That comes from the shield being attached to the fighter's left arm.
Hence the enemy faced the heraldic right side .
I hope everyone got that, if not just rewind.
The shield can have many different shapes dependant on time and country.
A very common one is the heater shield.
The shapes trace back to the developmental history.
In the 11th century the almond-shaped shield evolved as an adaptation to combat on horse. It is called norman or kite shield.
It protected the fighter's side to the foreleg.
In the 12/13th century the upper curve flatened. Now the shield was nearly triangular. (heater shield)
In the 13th to the 15th century the shields became smaller and the tip was shortened.
Therefore the sides were more curved.
The reason for that was the improved armor, what made a shield unnecessary.
At the same time a semicircular shield developed, known as iberian shield or U-shield.
This shield enabled a good division of space for coats of arms with multiple fields.
Hence this shield is widespread in whole Europe.
In the 14th/15th century the bouche evolved. It has an incision as lance rest.
In the 15th century people began to roll the edges of the shield.
This influenced the cartouches of Baroque and Rococo.
In the same century the special horse-head shield developed in Italy,
but it only spread in Italy.
Another special shape is the lozenge shield, which is only used by women. It is popular in France and England.
It was invented because many heralds thought women shouldn't bear a war-like device like men.
That was it for this episode. Thanks for watching
and maybe you'll attend the next episode of basic knowledge of heraldry on "GZ Herold".
Bye!