Up in arms

Recently, I finished my big database transfer of my genealogical research of my family, from ancient software to more modern software. Actually it wasn't so much a transfer as a complete re-do of all my work, in order to use the better research techniques I've been honing over the past several years. Anyway, it was quite a triumph to be finished, but that just meant that I needed to turn around and do the same thing for the research on my husband's family. That's going to take way longer, because he's from more easily-researchable parts of the world.

One of those parts of the world is England, and one of his lines actually links up with Burke's Peerage, which lets me go even further back. It also lets me use other toff-centred documentation, such as Arthur Collins's "The peerage of England".

And this is where my story begins.

Hubby's 16th-great-grandfather is Sir Robert le Grosvenor. Collins talks quite a bit about this guy - he was Sheriff of Cheshire at least twice; served as harbenger to Sir James d'Audley; served as lieutenant to the Black Prince; was present at the battle at Nájera in Spain; basically everything a 14th-century nobleman is supposed to be.

But also, he was involved as the defendant in an extensive trial that lasted for four years. Why? What had he done?

Apparently, in 1385, when King Richard II invaded Scotland, it was finally discovered that the Grosvenors and another noble family (represented by the plaintiff, Sir Richard le Scrope) had been using the same arms FOR CENTURIES.

The heraldry in question: Azure, one bend or

Le Scrope freaked out and brought the case to a military court - apparently one of the first cases of heraldic law to be raised in England. An unbelievable number of witnesses were called, and reams of documents were consulted. Grosvenor's position was that his family had been authorized to bear those arms since William the Conqueror rose to power in 1066. Scrope claimed that his family had borne the arms since the time of King Arthur (shyah, right).

After years of all this, the judges finally decided that Scrope could keep his arms, and Grosvenor had to change his to also include a Bordure d'Argent (specifically, a silver border).

Grosvenor went into a complete snit over this judgment and appealed his case to the King. This meant having to review the entire proceedings all. over. again! Finally, the King gave Grosvenor the option of either doing the bordure thing, or, instead of that, substituting the bend with a garb. Grosvenor chose to go with the golden sheaf of wheat, and the family has apparently never looked back.

Sir Robert de Grosvenor's new arms: Azure, a Garb Or

Actually, I shouldn't say that. There have been a few passive-aggressive bitter references to it over the years. For example, apparently the first Duke of Westminster, a Grosvenor, won The Derby in 1880 with a thoroughbred racehorse named Bend Or.

(lol)

Feel like reading all about it? And I do mean all about it - there are five hundred and eleven pages to go through; you can check out The Controversy between Sir Richard Scrope and Sir Robert Grosvenor in the Court of Chivalry, A.D. MCCCLXXXV - MCCCXC Volume II containing A History of the Family of Scrope, and Biographical Notices of the Deponents. (And oh mah gawd, if that's volume 2, that means there's a volume 1 out there as well.)