Qualla: College of Arms https://qualla.com/college-of-arms en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:14 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/college-of-arms-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: College of Arms https://qualla.com/college-of-arms College of Arms: Introduction https://qualla.com/college-of-arms/ Photo credit GrindtXX, CC BY-SA 4.0. Richard III had been on the throne for less than a year when he signed the charter, and he had less than two left to live. On 2 March 1484 he created a corporation of heralds, granted them a great house called Coldharbour, and ordered that they would "in perpetuity be a body corporate in fact and name." Within eighteen months Richard was dead on the field at Bosworth, his Earl Marshal beside him, and his new College's house was given away. The College itself, somehow, survived. Six centuries later, behind a black iron gate on Queen Victoria Street, thirteen heralds still keep the records, draw up the coats of arms, and read the proclamations that begin every English reign.

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Image: GrindtXX | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/college-of-arms-wp/gcpv-college-of-arms-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full College of Arms: A King's Last Reform https://qualla.com/college-of-arms/ Photo credit Barliner, CC BY-SA 3.0. Richard, while still Duke of Gloucester, had supervised the royal heralds for his brother Edward IV from 1469. He understood their disorder. By 1484 he had decided to formalise them into something permanent: the Garter King of Arms, the King of Arms of the Southern parts, the Kin...

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Image: Barliner | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/college-of-arms-wp/gcpv-college-of-arms-a-kings-last-reform.mp3 0:06 2 full College of Arms: Mary's Forgiveness https://qualla.com/college-of-arms/ Photo credit Steve Cadman from London, U.K., CC BY-SA 2.0. The heralds had a politically dangerous habit: they proclaimed whichever monarch held London at any given moment. When Edward VI died in July 1553, two heralds with trumpets proclaimed Lady Jane Grey queen in Cheapside and Fleet Street. Days later, when popular support swung towa...

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Image: Steve Cadman from London, U.K. | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/college-of-arms-wp/gcpv-college-of-arms-marys-forgiveness.mp3 0:06 3 full College of Arms: Heraldic Visitation https://qualla.com/college-of-arms/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. In 1530 Henry VIII handed the College one of the strangest jobs in English administrative history. The provincial Kings of Arms were sent across the country, armed with royal warrants, to enter houses and churches and "deface and destroy" coats of arms used unlawfully by anyone c...

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]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/college-of-arms-wp/gcpv-college-of-arms-heraldic-visitation.mp3 0:06 4 full College of Arms: Fire, Saved by the Wind https://qualla.com/college-of-arms/ Photo credit CaribDigita, Public domain. The College's enemies have often been physical. In 1742 a sugar refinery was built against its wall, a constant fire risk that worried the heralds for nearly eighty years until they finally bought the offending building in 1820 for £1,500. In 1939 their records were evacuated to ...

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]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/college-of-arms-wp/gcpv-college-of-arms-fire-saved-by-the-wind.mp3 0:06 5 full College of Arms: The Heralds Today https://qualla.com/college-of-arms/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Thirteen officers in ordinary make up the modern College: three Kings of Arms, six Heralds, and four Pursuivants, all appointed by the Sovereign on the recommendation of the Earl Marshal, a hereditary office held by the Duke of Norfolk. They are still expected to lead the front o...

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]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/college-of-arms-wp/gcpv-college-of-arms-the-heralds-today.mp3 0:06 6 full