Brothers in Arms

Speaker: Nathaniel Nagar

Two factors have acted in the sacred space in Early Modern England to erase the historical memory: Time, which has gnawed and defaced monuments, epitaphs, and coat of arms; and Iconoclasts, who have done the same during the long reformation, but faster.
Against these have stood two groups of people: Antiquarians and Heralds. They have worked together to save the historical memory by wandering between churches, taking notes of monuments and heraldry using the same conventional notations, and by sharing information. Seemingly obsessive, but crucial to establishing credible pedigrees and the right to bear arms.