Chapter 12: The Rise of Medieval Europe "Heraldry"

Introduction
Students have read that in battle and in tournaments knights wore suits of armor in an effort to protect all parts of their bodies. To identify themselves, knights had individual designs painted on their shields and tunics. These designs became known as the knight's coat of arms.

Lesson Description
Students will go to the Heraldry Web site. They will then answer four questions about what they have read.

Instructional Objectives
1. Students will learn about the science of heraldry.
2. Students will learn why heraldry is still of historical importance.

Student Web Activity Answers
1. There were so many different types of arms that a system was needed to make sense of them. Only the monarch could grant an armorial bearing, and in England, all arms had to be registered with the College of Arms.
2. Founded by Richard II of England in 1488, the Herald's College traced ancestry, approved coats of arms, confirmed titles of honor, and examined claims to armorial rights.
3. Impaling was the practice of placing side by side the arms of a woman's husband and those of her father.
4. Some students may feel that it is appropriate if someone is of direct descent from arms-bearing ancestors, or that it shows family pride. Others may feel that arms are not necessary or that they are too elitist in a democratic society.

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