View source for Abatement (heraldry)

{{short description|Defacement of a coat of arms}}
[[Image:Brasão Castelo Rodrigo.jpg|thumb|right|185px|The old coat of arms of the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] [[town]] of [[Castelo Rodrigo]], consisting of the [[coat of arms of Portugal]] inverted for the town's treachery in the [[1383–1385 Crisis]]]]

An '''abatement''' (or '''rebatement''') is a modification of a [[coat of arms]], representing a less-than honorable [[augmentation of arms|augmentation]],<ref>{{Cite book
 | last1=Boutell
 | first1=Charles 
 | last2=Fox-Davies
 | first2=Arthur Charles
 | name-list-style=amp
 | title=The handbook to English heraldry
 | publisher=Reeves & Turner
 | year=1914
 | quote=Abatement is a term which was unknown until it made its appearance in certain heraldic writings of the sixteenth century, when it was used to denote such marks or devices as, by the writers in question, were held to be the reverse of honourable Augmentation—Augmentations of dishonour indeed, and tokens of degradation.
 | page=[https://archive.org/details/handbooktoengli00uttigoog/page/n235 207]
 | url=https://archive.org/details/handbooktoengli00uttigoog
}}</ref><ref>{{ Citation
 | last1=Boutell
 | first1=Charles 
 | title=Heraldry, historical and popular, With 975 Illustrations
 | publisher=Richard Bentley
 | edition=3rd
 | year=1864
 | quote=Abatement: - any sign of degradation
 | page=77
 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w6RAAAAAcAAJ&q=abatement&pg=PR3
}}</ref> imposed by an heraldic authority (such as the [[Court of Chivalry]] in England) or by royal decree for misconduct.  The practice of inverting the entire [[escutcheon (heraldry)|escutcheon]] of an [[armiger]] found guilty of high [[treason]] has been attested since the [[Middle Ages]] and is generally accepted as reliable, and medieval heraldic sources cite at least one instance of removing an honourable charge from a coat of arms by royal decree as an abatement of honour.  Other abatements of honour implied by the addition of dishonourable [[Stain (heraldry)|stains]] and [[Charge (heraldry)|charges]], appearing in late 16th-century texts, have never been reliably attested in actual practice.  Additionally, as many heraldic writers note, the use of arms is not compulsory, so armigers are more likely to relinquish a dishonored coat of arms than to advertise their dishonor.

==Inverted arms==
The earliest mention in heraldic writing of a dishonorable display of arms (and, according to [[Arthur Charles Fox-Davies|Fox-Davies]], the only one reliably attested in actual use; see historical examples below)<ref name=Fox-Davies /> was inverting the entire shield, first documented by [[Johannes de Bado Aureo]] in his heraldic treatise ''Tractatus de armis'' (c. 1394).<ref name=laurel>{{Cite web |url=http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/abate.html |last=Levin |first=Craig |title=Abatements and Augmentations of Honor |year=2004 |access-date=2012-08-11}}</ref>  Contemporary accounts of executions for treason describe the traitor being marched to his execution in a paper tabard displaying his inverted arms,<ref name=Fox-Davies /> and other accounts tell of displaying the inverted arms of prisoners, released on parole, who refuse to pay their ransom.<ref name=laurel />

Note that inverted arms can also indicate the death of the holder, and do not necessarily indicate dishonour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_14_C_VII|title=Digitised Manuscripts|website=www.bl.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GiIlDwAAQBAJ&q=inverted+arms+death&pg=PA156|title=Death in Medieval Europe: Death Scripted and Death Choreographed|first=Joelle|last=Rollo-Koster|date=October 4, 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781315466842|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Theoretical abatements==
Eight other abatements were introduced in the late 16th century, each prescribing a specific charge in a specific [[Stain (heraldry)|stain]] for a specific offense; though the charges themselves were uncommon but no less honourable than any other charge (if colored in any standard tincture or fur), it was only when displayed in the prescribed position and stain that these charges were supposed to be considered dishonourable.

Leigh (1562) enumerated the nine abatements thus:<ref name=Oxford />

#Point dexter parted [[tenné]], for false claims of valor
#Point champaine tenné, for killing a prisoner who has demanded quarter
#Plain point [[sanguine (heraldry)|sanguine]], for one who lies to his sovereign
#Point in point sanguine, for cowardice
#[[Gusset (heraldry)|Gusset]] sanguine borne to dexter, for adultery, or to sinister for a drunkard [''a truncation of the shield'']
#[[Gore (heraldry)|Gore]] sinister tenné, for cowardice in the face of the enemy
#Delf [''shovelful of earth''] tenné, for revoking a challenge
#[[Inescutcheon]] reversed sanguine, for any man who "discourteously entreateth eyther maid or widow against her will, or flieth from his Soveraignes banner"<ref>Leigh, G. ''The Accedence of Armory,'' 1st ed. (London:1562). Quoted in Woodcock (1988), p.68.</ref>
#The entire escutcheon inverted, for treason

Scottish herald [[Thomas Innes of Learney]] mentioned abatements in marital situations: "The law of arms provides for abating the arms of an adulterer by two gussets sanguine, and where the bearing of arms is necessary this, and one gusset (they will be close-gussets) for non-adulterous divorcees, are, at least in Patents, applied in the case of divorcees."<ref name=IH>{{Cite web |url=http://www.internationalheraldry.com/ |title=Abatements |publisher=InternationalHeraldry.com |access-date=2012-08-12}}</ref>

Several notable modern heraldists have asserted that the execution of this system of abatements has never been attested in fact, and that the whole system was in all likelihood a theoretical exercise created by heralds for the purpose of discouraging armigers from committing dishonourable acts.<ref name=Fox-Davies>{{Cite book |last=Fox-Davies |first=Arthur Charles |author-link=Arthur Charles Fox-Davies |year=1909 |title=A Complete Guide to Heraldry |url=https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxdrich |location=London |publisher=T.C. & E.C. Jack |pages=[https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxdrich/page/72 72]–3}}</ref><ref name=Oxford>{{Cite book |last1=Woodcock |first1=Thomas |author-link1=Thomas Woodcock (officer of arms) |last2=Robinson |first2=John Martin |author-link2=John Martin Robinson |year=1988 |title=The Oxford Guide to Heraldry |location=Oxford, England |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0192116584 |page=68}}</ref>

==Breaking or erasing charges==
[[File:Lion Coward.svg|thumb|right|150px|A lion ''couard'' is said to denote dishonor or cowardice.]]
As another form of abatement, some coats of arms were reportedly modified through breaking or cutting, reversing, or altogether erasing some existing charges, at least as they occur in patents, though the armiger's actual display of these defaced arms has not been documented and is unlikely.

In [[French heraldry]] the term ''diffamé'' is used to denote a lion or other animal whose tail is cut off, or may refer more broadly to arms which have been altered to signify loss of honor.  A lion with its tail between its hind legs is termed "couard" (coward), and has also been cited as a mark of infamy.<ref name=IH />

Though lions are traditionally depicted with male genitals, a recent trend toward omitting the genitals has been controversial, prodding claims that emasculated lions have also been an historical form of abatement.  Commenting on the newly castrated lion in the arms of the [[Nordic Battle Group]] in 2007, Vladimir Sagerlund, heraldic artist at the [[Swedish National Archives]] since 1994, was critical of the politically motivated decision, stating, "once upon a time coats of arms containing lions without genitalia were given to those who betrayed the Crown."<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.thelocal.se/9398.html
|title=Army castrates heraldic lion
|last=O'Mahony
|first=Paul
|work=The Local: Sweden's News in English
|publisher=The Local Europe AB (Stockholm)
|date=2007-12-13
|access-date=2009-03-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=119&a=388755
|title=Kvinnor fick lejonet stympat
|last=Ullgren
|first=Sven
|work=Göteborgs Posten
|publisher=Göteborgs-Posten (Gothenburg, Sweden)
|language=sv
|date=2007-12-12
|access-date=2009-03-30
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071217161423/http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=119&a=388755
|archive-date = December 17, 2007}}</ref> ''The Times'' in London, however, noted a growing recent trend toward heraldic "castration", pointing to the lions passant on the royal [[coat of arms of England]], as well as the lions rampant on [[Coat of arms of Norway|those of Norway]], [[Coat of arms of Finland|Finland]], [[Coat of arms of Belgium|Belgium]], [[Coat of arms of Luxembourg|Luxembourg]] and [[Coat of arms of Scotland|Scotland]], all of which have recently been depicted without genitals; in conclusion, ''The Times'' wrote, "some crests are ambiguous, but the message remains clear: the lions are supposed to display courage and nothing else."<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3054270.ece
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830034830/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3054270.ece
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=August 30, 2008
|title=Military lion shorn of his equipment after women troops protest
|last=Boyes
|first=Roger
|work=Times Online
|publisher=Times Newspapers Ltd. (London)
|date=2007-12-15
|access-date=2009-03-30}}</ref>  While such arms are clearly not intended as an abatement in modern times, no known examples of castrated lions have been found in medieval heraldry.

==Reported historical examples==
A few examples of historical abatements of arms have been recorded, though none of these reflect the addition of stained ordinaries as detailed above.  Rather, these include broken chevrons, disarmed lions, and reversed or erased charges.

One of these rare historical examples was [[Amery of Pavy]], who was appointed governor of [[Calais]] by King [[Edward III of England]] in 1347, and whose arms were abated by royal decree in 1349 after the failed French [[Siege of Calais (1348)|siege of Calais]] on the last day of December 1348, which resulted from Sir Amery's attempt to sell Calais to [[Geoffroi de Charny|Sir Geffrey Charney]], the French governor of nearby [[Saint-Omer]], for 20,000 [[Crown (English coin)|crowns]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bicknell |first=W. I. |year=1846 |title=Payne's Illustrated London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zBAHAAAAQAAJ |location=London |publisher=Brain and Payne |pages=146–7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Froissart |first=John |year=1844 |title=The Chronicles of England, France and Spain |url=https://archive.org/stream/chroniclesofengl01froi1#page/n11/mode/2up |location=London |publisher=William Smith |pages=192–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gifford |first=John |year=1792 |title=The History of France: From the Earliest Times to the Present Important Era |volume=II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4vg_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA53 |location=London |publisher=C. Lowndes and W. Locke |page=53}}</ref>  As stated by Sir George Mackenzie: "And [[Edward III of England|Edward the Third of England]] ordained two of six [[star (heraldry)|stars]] which a gentleman had in his arms to be effaced, because he had sold a seaport of which he was made governor."<ref name=IH /><ref name=Parker>{{Cite web |url=http://karlwilcox.com/parker/?page_id=203 |last=Parker |first=James |title=Abatements |work=Parker's Heraldry |publisher=Karl B. Wilcox |access-date=2012-08-12}}</ref>  [[Pursuivant|Pursuivant of arms]] [[John Guillim]], writing circa 1610, gave the story in considerable detail, adding that Sir Amery's arms were also inverted for his treachery.  Guillim further explained that this humiliation is not inherited by the traitor's heirs, up to and including [[capital crime]]s, except in cases of [[high treason]].<ref name=Guillim>{{cite book |last=Guillim |first=John |date=1611 |title=A Display of Heraldrie |chapter=Section I Chapter VIII |url=http://www.btinternet.com/~paul.j.grant/guillim/s1/gu_s1c8.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015165207/http://www.btinternet.com/~paul.j.grant/guillim/s1/gu_s1c8.htm |archive-date=2008-10-15 |location=London |publisher=Printed by William Hall for Raphe Mab}}</ref>

An example of a lion ''diffamée'' is that of [[John I, Count of Hainaut|Jean d'Avesnes]] who insulted his mother, [[Margaret II, Countess of Flanders]], in the presence of [[Louis IX of France|King Louis IX]]. He is supposed to have seen the lion in his arms ''diffamée'' (i.e. the tail removed) and ''morné'' (i.e. the teeth and claws removed).<ref name=IH />

==See also==
*[[Augmentation of honour]]
*[[Bend sinister (heraldry)]]
*[[Gore (heraldry)]]
*[[Gusset (heraldry)]]
*[[Stain (heraldry)]]
*[[Shame pole]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web
| access-date = 2011-05-15
|website=Heraldica
| title = Abatements
| url = http://www.heraldica.org/topics/abatemt.htm| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110514070248/http://www.heraldica.org/topics/abatemt.htm| archive-date= 14 May 2011 | url-status= live}}
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