British Library wins unique key to medieval English heraldry
The British Library has secured the oldest surviving roll of arms in English history after a successful fundraising effort to keep it in the UK. The Dering Roll dates from the last quarter of the 13th century and depicts 324 coats of arms, approximately a quarter of the English baronage during the time of Edward I, making it a vital record for the study of heraldry in medieval England.
It spreads along an 8ft 6in (2.6m) roll of painted parchment and pictures 54 rows of arms, with six …