Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Roll Of Arms Of The Rocarian Empire(A work in progress)

I found this bit of moldy parchment, written in the hand of Brother Godfrey himself. Here is the first part thereof. I will add to this record as I discover more rolls of arms.

I have endeavored to record the heraldry of the sovereign Kings and Crown Princes of the Vermandois Dynasty, from the first, unto the current monarch, His Highness King Bohemund IV. in order that memories of their past and present glories will inspire those who succeed them.

Duke Roger de Vermandois.
 The most powerful of the family. He asserted his primacy after the last Bouregaise King, Guillaume II, died without issue. Duke Roger defeated the rival claimant, Georg von Valkenburg, at the battle of the Green River in early March 594, and marched to Paulinopolis, where his holiness, High Patriarch Uriens, crowned him King.

Per Pale Gules et Vert.




King Roger V.
After his victory at the Green River, the newly crowned King Roger added three crowns to his coat-of-arms, symbolizing his new reign over the three Rocarian peoples, which lasted until his death at the ripe age of fifty-one, in the year 611.



Per Pale Gules et Vert, Three Crowns in Chief Or.


Prince Tancred de Vermandois.
The first son of King Roger V, the Crown Prince was handsome, intelligent, and ambitious. He was also brooding and paranoid. However, it was not his father's enemies, the Valkenburgs, who laid him low, but the tusks of a wild boar. He died in 601 at twenty-one, before his arranged marriage to Alys, daughter of Lord Bedwyr of Selkirk, could take place.

Per Pale Gules et Vert, A Crown in Chief Argent.



Prince Lancelin de Vermandois.
The second son of King Roger V. After his brother's untimely death, he became Crown Prince, a responsibility the artistically and romantically-inclined fifteen-year-old did not want. The Dragon was added to his father's arms in reference to the comet which flashed across the sky on the chilly November night his rebellious middle child was born.

Per Pale Gules et Vert, A Dragon Rampant Sinister Or.



King Lancelin I.
Upon his coronation in 611 at age twenty-five, His highness added a single crown to his arms, to symbolize his desire for all the duchies to be united in peace. This rankled some of his father's followers, chief among them Duke Robert of Marechal, who still clung to the elitist attitudes of  the Western Rocarians. His Highness' dream did not come true, as he perished in battle while putting down an uprising by Duke Otto of Grensmark, a mere fourteen years after his coronation.

Per Pale Gules et Vert, A Dragon Rampant Sinister Or, a Crown in Chief Or.

Prince Roger de Vermandois.
Upon his coronation, His Highness King Lancelin held a great hunt, and a celebratory feast. The Prince, it is said, was conceived the night after the hunting trip. Given the tendency of the Rocarian Kings to flaunt their virility, It was only appropriate for His Highness to add a fur to his first son's arms, in celebration of the hunt.


Per Pale Gules et Vert, A Chief Ermine.


King Roger VI.
Thrust into the throne as a minor, His Highness King Roger VI ruled by regency of his Uncle, Parzifal Goldpalm, Lord of Tramsberg Castle. Both the new king and his uncle were subject to numerous assassination attempts during the four years of his minority. His Highness added the Sword and Crown upon his coronation in 629, to symbolize his incredible survival.

Per Pale Gules et Vert, A Chief Ermine, Sinister A Sword Or, Dexter A Crown Or.




Prince Roger de Vermandois.
The Prince vehemently objected to the marriage of his sister Regina to The Prince's childhood rival, Lord Llewelyn of Mandrogar, son of Grand Duke Gawain Bentback of Rhosmawr. His Highness made the mistake of informing his royal father of this. After the violent argument, he promptly changed his arms to include black fur, in reference to the black fur that Regina had worn the day she was given to her Husband.

Per Pale Gules et Vert, A Chief Ermines.


King Roger VII("The Short").
 His Royal Father having journeyed to the afterlife in 652, Roger "The Younger" took the throne and began his rather brutal reign. His Highness was killed in battle after the (inevitable) Baronial Uprising of July 667, leaving his Infant Son, Prince Bohemund, with the Throne.


Per Pale Gules et Vert, A Chief Ermines, Two crowns in Fess Or.


King Bohemund IV("Ironheart").
When his Highness was but an infant, his Uncle, Sir Gerard Greenshanks, rescued him from an attempt to kidnap him by his Uncle Hugh de Vermandois, in the power struggle following the uprising of 667. He added the black band to his father's arms upon his coronation.


Per Pale Gules et Vert, A Chief Ermines, A Fess Sable Two Crowns Or.




Prince Guy de Vermandois.
His Highness King Bohemund did not want his Son's arms to bear the marks of past sorrows, so he added a simple star to the arms of the first Vermandois King. His son's reign, His Highness vowed, would be the dawn of peace after generations of war. This, history has yet to see.


Per Pale Gules et Vert, An Estoile in Chief Argent.



 Bishop Gerard of Othinar, Grand Master of The Ordo Talonius.
Upon His Highness' rescue from the clutches of his grasping and treacherous cousins, King Bohemund's Uncle, Sir Gerard was rewarded by elevation to the status of Grand Master of The Knights of Saint Talonia of Metz, The Church of Vengar's Knights. The post had recently been left vacant upon the death of Grand Master Adolf in 668. Gerard is a fiery and devoted man, and gives his entire life to the service of Church and Realm.

Champagne Argent et Sable, A Cross Maltese in Chief Sanguine.

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