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Version 2.6, updated 12 March 2011
The number of individuals with each rank varies somewhat by country; overall, over half (51%) the identified titles belong to pursuivants, 38% to heralds, and 11% to kings of arms. However, there are differences between regions. Scotland and England, unified before the age of heraldic titles, have relatively few kings of arms, while the several independent states found in the Iberian peninsula, the Low Countries, and Germany lead to a relatively greater number of kings of arms (18% of Iberian titles are kings of arms). Some of this may be due to differences in available data; I have been unable to find many German or Scandinavian titles, while a large number of English titles are easy to find.
One striking observation is that heraldic rank is not fixed. Several systems (English, French, and Spanish) have titles that appear with multiple ranks over time, giving the total by rank higher than the number of titles. In several cases, these reflect the changing whims of monarchs; in others, shifts in the importance of areas.
| Rank | English | Scots | French | Iberian | Other | Total |
| King of Arms | 18 | 1 | 30 | 15 | 8 | 72 |
| Herald | 59 | 13 | 105 | 41 | 32 | 250 |
| Pursuivant | 107 | 22 | 172 | 27 | 10 | 338 |
| Totals | 184 | 36 | 307 | 83 | 48 | 660 |
Kings of Arms have interestingly diverse titles; this is presumably because many of their titles were created in the early days, before the standards for the creation of heraldic titles were clearly established. The English system makes this variability clear: Garter is derived from an order name, Clarenceux from a title (Clarence), and Norroy is an oddity, derived from a word meaning "northman" combined with (or just affected by) the French roy which also led to the surname Norreys. Other period English Kings of Arms (Agincourt, Anjou, Aquitaine, Gloucester, Guyene, Ireland, Lancaster, Leicester, March, Normandy, Richmond, and Ulster) seem to have been derived from placenames (mostly royal titles). The only exception is Falcon, which is derived from the charge in a badge, and seems to have originated as a pursuivant's title. The Scottish Lyon is derived from a charge as well.
French Kings of Arms are also diverse. The title for the principal King of Arms is derived from the royal motto or warcry, Montjoy. Other kings of arms are named after orders, such as Toison d'Or or Ermine, while others are named after regions, such as Berry or Champagne. It is worth noting that, unlike England, France was not well unified in the Middle Ages. Many of these Kings of Arms, then, originated in the service of the Dukes who functioned as independent monarchs (in Brittany, Burgundy, etc.) rather than functioning as subordinate kings of arms in a unified France.
Spanish Kings of Arms are named after the kingdoms in which they were the chief heraldic officer; examples include Castilla, Aragon, and Navarra. The same is true of Portugal, where Portugal is the main King of Arms, and of Scandinavian countries. Dutch King of Arms titles are locative, including Brabant and Hainault, though the logic of labeling individuals as kings of arms instead of heralds is unclear to me here. The German King of Arms titles are also locative in origin; some are straightforward locatives, such as Preußen (Prussia), while the most famous, Romreich (essentially "Roman realm") is more complex.
Heralds have much more uniform titles, with the vast majority of titles derived from locations, whether titles, cities, or surnames that are locative in nature. In England, over 90% of heralds (by rank) have titles derived from locations: titles (mostly noble) account for half, while other locations account for the remainders. In Scotland, all herald's titles are derived from royal duchies, castles owned by the Crown, and similar locations.
In France, heralds are named after both regions (Picardy, Languedoc) and cities (Toulouse, Orleans). However, there seems to be a preference for regions. Whether these titles based on regions originate from heralds serving the nobles who ruled over these areas or not is not known at this time, but it seems likely.
In the Iberian pensinsula, herald's titles are largely derived from cities (Granada, Trastamara, Lisboa, Constantinople), though there are examples of larger regions as well (Cataluña, Peñafiel, Austurias). Some, such as the aforementioned Peñafiel, are derived from royal titles (it was a royal duchy in Aragon), while others are simply locations within the kingdom. There are some fifteenth century herald's titles in Spain that appear to originate as mottos/desirable traits: Conquista (conquest) and Avanguarda (vanguard). It's hard to say a great deal about German titles by rank, as some authors use herald for both heralds and pursuivants. Thus, my classifications may have errors. However, locative titles dominate, though all sorts are found.
The pattern of Pursuivants' titles seems to depend on the origin of the pursuivant, at least in England. Those who serve nobles, rather than the king, tend to have locative titles, derived either from the primary title of a lesser noble (who would only rate a pursuivant) or from the lesser titles of a greater noble (who would normally have both a herald and subordinate pursuivants). Those who served the king tended to have titles derived from charges and mottos/desirable traits. There are counterexamples: Il Faut Fair was the title of John Falstaff's personal pursuivant.
In Scotland, royal pursuivants tend to have locative titles (mostly derived from royal possessions, such as Carrick, Dingwall, and Kintyre), though there is one title derived from a charge (Unicorn). Most private pursuivants' titles (Slains, Finlaggin, Garioch) are derived from locations, but one, Endure Pursuivant, is surely a motto/desirable trait.
French pursuivants' titles are similarly mixed, with many derived from placenames, but also a substantial number derived from mottos/desirable traits: Joli-Couer (happy heart), Loyauté (loyalty), Doulce Pensée (sweet thoughts), and Dis-le-Vrai (speak the truth). One interesting thing is the substantial number of these derived from phrases rather than single words.
Iberian pursuivants' titles are a mixed bag. Some follow the locative pattern, referring to smaller and less signicant locations than the titles of heralds and kings of arms (Cintra, Fonterrabia, Malinas). Others follow the motto/desirable trait pattern: Desiros (desirous), Veritat (truthfulness), Paine por joie (pain for joy). One (Banda) even follows the order name pattern. There are relatively few pursuivants' titles in Iberia compared to other ranks; it's not clear if this represents a difference in structure or is simply an artifact of the data available.
We still know little about heraldic titles in Germany and the Low Countries. The few titles we have are mostly locative in nature: Romreich, Luxembourg, Gelre, Beyren. However, there are examples of titles derived from mottos, charges, and titles or terms of address (Kayser and Burggraf). I have identified five Scandanavian titles: all I have been able to locate are locative and are derived from the names of large regions. However, this sample is not large enough to draw any conclusions.
This study, then, offers the tools necessary to construct heraldic titles appropriate for a variety of places around Europe. Below is a complete list of the heraldic titles I was able to identify in their standardized forms. Most of these are suitable in spelling for at least the latter part of our period.
Locative heraldic titles have several independent origins. Many are derived from titles of nobility. Heralds who work for nobles rather than the crown often follow this pattern: Huntingdon Herald serves the Earl of Huntingdon while the Bar Herald serves the Duke of Bar. Royal titles, especially royal duchies, are an important source of herald's titles in England and Scotland: examples include Albany Herald in Scotland and Lancaster Herald in England. French titles include Berry Herald, Bourgogne (Burgundy) Herald, and Foix Herald. In Spain, the names of kingdoms, including kingdoms that had long since ceased to exist, are used as heraldic titles: Navarra, Castilla, and Aragon are all titles for Kings of Arms, while Asturias is a herald's title. German and titles include both regions and cities: Brandenburg Herald, Luxembourg Herald, Preußen King of Arms, and Beyeren Herald.
However, other heraldic titles are derived from locations that are not associated with noble titles. These include the names of both cities and regions. In England, such titles include Dublin Herald, Agincourt Herald, and Bordeaux Herald. In France, titles such as Languedoc Herald and Saintonge Herald follow this pattern. In Spain, Pamplona Herald, Toledo Herald, and Jerusalem Herald appear, while in Portugal, titles like Ceuta Herald, Lisboa Herald, and Algarve Herald are found. One must remember that medieval overlords often controlled areas that are not in the equivalent modern countries: thus Bethune, in northern France, is used as a Spanish title, because it was a Hapsburg possession. However, some titles are clearly not real claims: Portugal has a Constantinople Herald, while a German herald was known as Jerusalem.
Finally, a group of titles are derived from surnames, most of which are locative in nature; this is only clearly found in England, where knights who had no noble domains from which to derive a surname were allowed pursuivants. However, in France as well, family names are current possessions sometimes drift apart over time. Examples taken from surnames include Claveley Herald, Chandos Herald, and Mowbray Herald. There are a few heraldic titles derived from non-locative surnames in England; examples include Talbot Herald, Bardolph Herald, and Fitzwalter Pursuivant. There are a few examples from elsewhere of what may be non-locative surnames (the German Suchenwirt Herald, the French Toutain le Gras Pursuivant, and the Scottish Jop Herald), though it is possible that some of these are bynames rather than heraldic titles. The predominance of locative titles may simply reflect patterns for the formation of noble family names, which generally are derived from the lands over which the family ruled.
Locative titles are, as stated above, nearly 64% of heraldic titles identified. They are slightly less common than this in England (where they account for around 55% of titles), and are far more common in Scotland, where 83% of titles follow this pattern. In Iberia, all Portuguese titles I have identified follow this pattern, while somewhat under 70% of Spanish titles follow this pattern. This pattern is rather underutilized in the Society.
The second origin of heraldic titles is from descriptive terms and phrases: loyal, diligent, tell the truth. These seem to have two distinct origins: some are taken from the mottos of the lords for whom the herald worked, while others seem to be generic "desirable characteristics." Examples that are clearly derived from mottoes include Ich Dien Pursuivant, Il Faut Faire Pursuivant, and the French Montjoy King of Arms. Examples that do not seem to have been taken from mottos include Desirous Pursuivant, Secret Pursuivant, and the French Dis-le-Vrai Pursuivant. In England and France, there are many examples of this pattern, both as single words and as phrases. There are two examples from Scotland (Diligens and Endure), and half a dozen examples from fifteenth century Spain, such as Paine por joie and Veritat, both pursuivants, and Avanguarda, a herald. The Dutch Leal Pursuivant and German Zyt vor zyt Herald demonstrate its use elsewhere. This type of title is mainly used for pursuivants, though there are continental examples of them for all levels. Across Europe, 14.5% of titles are derived from mottos. They are most common in France, where over 17% of titles take this form, and least common in Scots, where less than 6% of titles take this form. In all areas, both single word and multi-word titles are found (except for Scandanavia, in which no examples have been found to date).
The next most common pattern for heraldic titles is charges. While there are examples of this in most countries (though not to date in the Low Countries or Scandanavia), this pattern is most frequently found in the titles of English pursuivants. In England, this pattern is more common than motto names. The majority of examples are single words: Falcon Pursuivant/Herald/King of Arms, Unicorn Herald, Fuzil Pursuivant, and Frechas (arrows) Pursuivant. Some English examples combine a charge with a color, though the color is the normal word (usually in French) rather than the heraldic tincture: Blanch Lyon Pursuivant, Rouge Croix Pursuivant, Noir Taureau Pursuivant. Sometimes the tincture comes second: Leon d'Or Pursuivant, Rose Blanche Pursuivant and Eagle Vert Pursuivant (note that vert is the French word for green). There are two French language examples of charge and color combinations from outside of England (Blanc Levrier from Navarra and Blanche and Bleu Levrier from France); Toison d'Or is added if we consider order names derived from charges. There are no examples of multi-word descriptions of charges that do not include French (or Anglo-French). While this patterns is relatively common in England, accounting for 15% of titles, they are uncommon elsewhere: 6% in Scotland; under 5% in France and Iberia, and only one example from Germany (none from the Low Countries or Scandanavia).
The names of important orders came into use as the titles of English and French Kings of Arms relatively early: Garter King of Arms (England), Ermine King of Arms (Brittany), Toison d'Or King of Arms (Burgundy). Later, the Spanish Banda Pursuivant, derived from the order name, came into use. However, this was never a common pattern, in part because the number of orders was not very large, and limited to the great princes of Europe. Other titles were related to orders without being derived from order names: the English Bluemantle and Collar Pursuivants were based on order regalia, and the German Eisvogl (kingfisher) Herald comes from the badge of the Bohemian Company of the Towel.
There remain titles that do not fit neatly into any of these categories. Some are simply unclear in origin, often because we know little about who the herald was or whom they served. However, two English heraldic titles are based on items of regalia: Bluemantle Pursuivant and Collar Pursuivant. Two titles are derived from the names of plants (Dragance 'dragonwort' and Romarin 'rosemary'). Two odd early titles are derived from locations but are not locations themselves: the English Norroy 'king of the northmen' and the German Romreich 'Roman realm' (for the Holy Roman Empire). The first reflects a style of title which appears early and then largely disappears: kings of arms described as the King of Arms of a group of people (des Anglois, 'of the English,' for example). While these sorts of descriptions mostly disappear before 1400, and never seem to have functioned as titles as such, examples such as Norroy and Ruyers retain some of this characteristic.
Some heraldic titles are unclear in origin. They may have several possible origins that cannot be distinguished or the origin may be completely opaque. If anyone has any further information about the origin and meaning of these titles, I'd like you to contact me.
| English Titles: | French Titles: | Scottish Titles: |
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Iberian Titles: |
German/Dutch Titles: (see French for additional Dutch titles) |
Scandinavian Titles: |
HTML editing by Kathleen M. O'Brien.
Medieval Scotland | Medieval Names Archive | Heraldic Titles from the Middle Ages and Renaissance
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