Gerard Legh

English writer

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June 30, 2026

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Gerard Legh was an English writer known for his work on heraldry. He authored "The Accedens of Armorie," published in 1562. This book, along with others from the late 15th and 16th centuries, is noted for perpetuating nonsensical natural history and contributing to erroneous beliefs about heraldic charges having symbolic meanings or being granted as rewards for valor. These ideas are still present in modern commercial "family coats of arms".1

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heraldry
Early writers
…Ferne, Blazon of Gentrie (1586), Gerard Legh, The Accedens of Armorie (1562), and John Guillim, A Display of Heraldrie (1610), not only perpetuate the nonsensical natural history of olden days but are largely responsible for erroneous beliefs about heraldic charges having definite symbolic meanings and their being granted as rewards…
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…Ferne, Blazon of Gentrie (1586), Gerard Legh, The Accedens of Armorie (1562), and John Guillim, A Display of Heraldrie (1610), not only perpetuate the nonsensical natural history of olden days but are largely responsible for erroneous beliefs about heraldic charges having definite symbolic meanings and their being granted as rewards…
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