Editing Heraldry (section)

===Heralds and heraldic authorities===
The spread of armorial bearings across Europe gave rise to a new occupation: the [[herald]], originally a type of messenger employed by noblemen, assumed the responsibility of learning and knowing the rank, pedigree, and heraldic devices of various knights and lords, as well as the rules governing the design and description, or ''blazoning'' of arms, and the precedence of their bearers.<ref name="CGH 27–29">{{harvp|Fox-Davies|1909|pp=27–29}}</ref>  As early as the late thirteenth century, certain heralds in the employ of monarchs were given the title "King of Heralds", which eventually became "[[King of Arms]]."<ref name="CGH 27–29"/>

[[File:Pursuivant.JPG|thumb|upright|Two [[pursuivant]]s wearing [[tabard]]s, [[Windsor Castle]], 2006]]

In the earliest period, arms were assumed by their bearers without any need for heraldic authority.  However, by the middle of the fourteenth century, the principle that only a single individual was entitled to bear a particular coat of arms was generally accepted, and disputes over the ownership of arms seems to have led to gradual establishment of heraldic authorities to regulate their use.  The earliest known work of [[Law of Arms|heraldic jurisprudence]], ''De Insigniis et Armis'', was written about 1350 by [[Bartolus de Saxoferrato]], a professor of law at the [[University of Padua]].<ref>[http://www.heraldica.org/topics/bartolo.htm ''De Insigniis et Armis'']</ref><ref>George Squibb, "The Law of Arms in England", in ''The Coat of Arms'' vol. II, no. 15 (Spring 1953), p. 244.</ref>  The most celebrated armorial dispute in English heraldry is that of ''[[Scrope v Grosvenor]]'' (1390), in which two different men claimed the right to bear ''azure, a bend or''.<ref name="CGH 21–22">{{harvp|Fox-Davies|1909|pp= 21–22}}</ref>  The continued proliferation of arms, and the number of disputes arising from different men assuming the same arms, led [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] to issue a proclamation in 1419, forbidding all those who had not borne arms at the [[Battle of Agincourt]] from assuming arms, except by inheritance or a grant from the crown.<ref name="CGH 21–22"/><ref>{{harvp|Woodward|Burnett|1892|p=35–36}}</ref>

Beginning in the reign of [[Henry VIII]] of England, the English Kings of Arms were commanded to make ''[[heraldic visitation|visitations]]'', in which they traveled about the country, recording arms borne under proper authority, and requiring those who bore arms without authority either to obtain authority for them, or cease their use.  Arms borne improperly were to be taken down and defaced.  The first such visitation began in 1530, and the last was carried out in 1700, although no new commissions to carry out visitations were made after the accession of [[William III of England|William III]] in 1689.<ref name="CGH 21–22"/><ref>Julian Franklyn, ''Shield and Crest: An Account of the Art and Science of Heraldry'', MacGibbon & Kee, London (1960), p. 386.</ref> There is little evidence that Scottish heralds ever went on visitations.

In 1484, during the reign of [[Richard III of England|Richard III]], the various heralds employed by the crown were incorporated into England's [[College of Arms]], through which all new grants of arms would eventually be issued.<ref>{{harvp|Fox-Davies|1909|p=38}}</ref><ref name="Pastoureau 39–41">{{harvp|Pastoureau|1997|pp=39–41}}</ref>  The college currently consists of three Kings of Arms, assisted by six Heralds, and four [[Pursuivants]], or junior officers of arms, all under the authority of the [[Earl Marshal]]; but all of the arms granted by the college are granted by the authority of the crown.<ref name="CoA Official Site">[http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/about-us/heralds-officers College of Arms official website], accessed 3 March 2016.</ref>  In Scotland Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms oversees the heraldry, and holds court sessions which are an official part of Scotland's court system.
Similar bodies regulate the granting of arms in other monarchies and several members of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], but in most other countries there is no heraldic authority, and no law preventing anyone from assuming whatever arms they please, provided that they do not infringe upon the arms of another.<ref name="Pastoureau 39–41"/>