A Starry, Starry Knight
A Starry, Starry Knight By Benjamin Nossiter It was a dark night with battle raging in the Middle East. A conflict of religious beliefs and ambition. The first crusade. There were decorated and quartered shields “ of diverse cognisances ” as Turold says, or as Anna Comnena described them, “ not round but long, broad at the top and tapering to a point”. Swords versus sabres, crossbow versus composite bow. The hauberks, helmets, plate armour and those colourful shields witness to the brutal reality of hand to hand combat. In the darkness the patterns on the shields could scarcely be made out. An angel is said to have intervened, throwing a bright white star onto Aubrey de Vere ’ s standard. If these decorated shields and standards are what we picture when thinking about heraldry, we are a little too early. Although symbols were present and held meaning, the idea of heraldry, or correctly armory, as an identifier of an individual and his descendants comes a generation or so lat...
