HERALDRY: THE CLUES TO HISTORY
INTRODUCTION
A few years ago newspapers printed the story of the town which took it upon itself to design its own coat of arms, which rather high-handed action somewhat annoyed the College of Heralds. To those who know, or care little about history or our nation’s past this is probably faintly amusing and dismissed with a shrug as a storm in a teacup.
However, the Heralds are quite correct in insisting that it is their prerogative, and theirs only, to design armorial bearings. No coat of arms is granted without first researching the history of the town, family, university, city or society applying for recognition. Many people consider that the study of heraldry is antiquated and obscure, and no longer relevant in this modern age; it is not fashionable to look to the past. Our present age is very forward looking and tends to dismiss history to the extent that it is taught very differently from the way in which it was presented to former generations.
Heraldry is generally considered to have been an invention of the Middle Ages in order to be able to distinguish armies and knights in armour. However, its origins go much further back than mediaeval times, and the following series of articles will attempt to trace the origins of our arms.
Lord Macaulay (1880-1859), the historian wrote: “A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants”.
Also, the philosopher George Santayana said: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
Could this be a contributing factor to the present sorry state of our nation? The Bible also tells us to: “Look unto the rock whence ye were hewn”. (Isaiah 51:1)
This is surely advice not to lose sight of our roots and our history.
It has already been stated that some people believe that Heraldry began in the Middle Ages as a military convention, but that its origins are in fact much earlier. Others have thought that the emblems came to the British Isles with the Romans, who had their standards of the Legions, but they can be traced even further back into history than the Romans, for the Greeks and Trojans had leaders’ emblems in the Trojan Wars, and we can even trace them to the Near East in remote prehistoric times. It is quite remarkable how consistently the emblems have been handed down, and it is intended in future articles to take the symbols used in present day heraldry and to link them to the individual tribes of Israel, who all had their own ensigns and standards. This is another pointer to the westward trek of the Tribes of Israel to these islands, which in itself is a most rewarding study.
The twelve tribes were organised into Brigades during their wanderings in the Wilderness, and camped in a hollow square with their ensigns and standards. There were four main Tribes, who were arranged thus in the Wilderness Camp,
DAN
North
EPHRAIM JUDAH
West East
REUBEN
South
Each leading Tribe had two other Tribes under its aegis. Dan was joined by Asher and Naphtali, Judah had Issachar and Zebulun, Reuben was allied with Simeon and Gad and Ephraim (which was the sub-division of the tribe of Joseph) had Manasseh and Benjamin on the western side of the camp.
REUBEN: The son who lost his Birthright
Reuben, the leader of the fourth Brigade of the encampment of Israel in the wilderness was Jacob’s eldest son. This tribe of the sons of Jacob-Israel camped on the southern side of the hollow square, and was joined by the tribes of Simeon and Gad, descendants of Reuben’s brother and half-brother.
Reuben, being the eldest son, should have inherited the Birthright. His story is similar to that of Esau, Jacob’s brother, who so little cared for his inheritance that he sold it to Jacob for a meal. Reuben did not despise his birthright enough to sell it, but his sin caused him to lose the privilege. Throughout the history of Israel, God has allowed the Birthright to go from the natural heir to the man who would most value it and do His will. Sometimes it is necessary to the fulfilment of God’s Plan that a transfer should take place.
Although Reuben was Jacob’s first born, he was not the son of his beloved Rachel, but of her sister Leah. Laban, their father, had substituted Leah for Rachel at the marriage ceremony because she was the elder sister; but Rachel was the daughter whom Jacob really loved. Laban was a crafty man, and he realised that he could persuade Jacob to work a further term for him, in order to obtain Rachel as his wife. Whether this fact coloured Jacob’s feelings towards his eldest son, we cannot tell, but Reuben’s rejection was a tragic story.
As the eldest of all the sons, “the beginning of his father’s strength” (Deuteronomy 21:17), Reuben should have inherited the Birthright and the priesthood, and he should have had portions above his other brothers. Sadly, he proved himself unworthy by his sin, and lost all his honours. Genesis 35:22 tells the sorry story of Reuben’s downfall, how he had an affair with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. This revealed certain characteristics of Reuben’s nature which made him unfit for high office and responsibility, and by his recklessness he forfeited his privileges, and those of his descendants. However, Reuben was not all bad, for he showed concern for his favoured younger brother, Joseph, when the other brothers conspired to kill him. He pleaded that the boy should not be killed, but left in a pit in the wilderness, where there was some hope that he might be rescued. (Genesis 38:12 to 22).
Jacob described his son as “unstable as water”, (Genesis 49:4), which suggests a fickle nature, and Jacob also predicted “Thou shalt not excel”. This may seem a harsh judgement for a sexual crime that the modern world would not hold in such horror, but God was building the foundations of His Servant Nation, and He had to be quite sure that it would be led by the fittest.
Although the tribe of Reuben was not among the foremost of Israel, it is mentioned from time to time in the history of the House of Israel. Deborah, in Judges 5, rebuked the tribe for selfishness, so it would seem that some of Reuben’s traits were handed down to his posterity. Nevertheless, the tribe of Reuben had a role to play, and its heraldry continued down throughout the ages, so that we may still find traces today among those nations sprung from the Ten Tribes which were carried away captive and “lost” to history under the name of Israel.
When Leah gave birth to Reuben she called him by that name, meaning “See, a son” (or a “man”), because, as Genesis 29:32 explains, she gave thanks that the Lord had blessed her with a son, even though she was not so beloved as her sister Rachel, who remained barren. In consequence, the emblem for the tribe of Reuben was a man, and sometimes also, a mandrake. The root of this plant is shaped like a man, so this also became one of the tribe’s emblems. The story of Leah and the mandrakes is told in Genesis 30:14 to 18. After Jacob’s dying blessing, in which he described Reuben as “unstable as water”, the tribe also adopted water as a symbol.
Reuben’s territory in the Promised Land was in Gilead, which was on the eastern bank of the Jordan. Some people think that there is a large element of Reuben in France, surmising that the name of the Celts who were called “Gauls” by the Romans, is aderivative of the Hebrew word “gola”, which means “exile”. In Isaiah 5:13 we read, Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge:
In this instance the Hebrew word for “captivity” is “Galah”, and it is used again in Ezekiel 39:23,
And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity
This is said by some to be “Gaul”. However, the name can also be traced to “Gael” and Portugal (which is “The Port of the Gael”). Only heraldry can give a positive clue to the origins of these people.
There are many cities in Europe which have names that could be derived from Reuben, amongst them are Ravenna, in Italy, and Rouen, in France.
Where in European heraldry can we find these symbols of a man, or a mandrake and water? A man has an important place in the national arms of Denmark, Iceland and Greece. In Sweden it is the emblem of Lappland, and many towns in Denmark have it in their municipal arms, including Copenhagen and Odense. The same emblem also appears in the arms of many towns and provinces in Holland, and is in the armorial bearings of many Scottish clans. In most instances the man is a supporter of the arms. Frequently, there are two men, one on either side of the shield; however, in the case of Iceland, the man is only on one side, the other side, significantly, being occupied by a bull and an eagle!
Water, represented in heraldry by wavy lines on the shield appears in many armorial bearings; for instance, in the Province of Zeeland (Holland), and of many towns and cities in Holland. It may be objected that this appears simply because Holland is a nation in which the sea figures to a great extent, but water also appears in the Royal Arms of Sweden. In two of the quarters of the shield there are wavy bars representing water with the crowned lion rampant of the royal house of Judah. These same arms also incorporate the eagle of Dan. Towns and provinces of Sweden also have water in their arms, as have twenty five places in Denmark.
We should not be surprised to find all these instances if we are aware of the routes taken by the Ten Tribes in their migrations towards the west, and of the nations which came together in the British Isles to fuse into the Servant Nation.
In spite of his disinheritance, Reuben has played his part in the migrations, and has left his mark on the heraldry of the Israelitish nations, in the same way as those of his brothers’ tribes. In Moses’ blessing of the tribes (Deuteronomy 33:6) he gave an inkling of God’s grace towards the sinner when he said “Let Reuben live and not die”. Reuben is mentioned as being among the Israel of God in Revelation 7:5, and the story of the patriarch gives hope of redemption and salvation to sinners, especially those in the present dispensation who have the blessing of the promises and the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
AMEN
