Found 1 items, similar to College of Arms.
English → English (gcide)
Definition: College of Arms
Herald
\Her"ald\, n. [OE. herald, heraud, OF. heralt, heraut,
herault, F. h['e]raut, LL. heraldus, haraldus, fr. (assumed)
OHG. heriwalto, hariwaldo, a (civil) officer who serves the
army; hari, heri, army + waltan to manage, govern, G. walten;
akin to E. wield. See
Harry,
Wield.]
1. (Antiq.) An officer whose business was to denounce or
proclaim war, to challenge to battle, to proclaim peace,
and to bear messages from the commander of an army. He was
invested with a sacred and inviolable character.
[1913 Webster]
2. In the Middle Ages, the officer charged with the above
duties, and also with the care of genealogies, of the
rights and privileges of noble families, and especially of
armorial bearings. In modern times, some vestiges of this
office remain, especially in England. See
Heralds' College
(below), and
King-at-Arms.
[1913 Webster]
3. A proclaimer; one who, or that which, publishes or
announces; as, the herald of another's fame. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
4. A forerunner; a a precursor; a harbinger.
[1913 Webster]
It was the lark, the herald of the morn. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
5. Any messenger.
“My herald is returned.” --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Heralds' College, in England, an ancient corporation,
dependent upon the crown, instituted or perhaps recognized
by Richard III. in 1483, consisting of the three
Kings-at-Arms and the Chester, Lancaster, Richmond,
Somerset, Windsor, and York Heralds, together with the
Earl Marshal. This retains from the Middle Ages the charge
of the armorial bearings of persons privileged to bear
them, as well as of genealogies and kindred subjects; --
called also
College of Arms.
[1913 Webster]