Matthew Paris in his account of the execution of William de Marisco in 1242 gives the arms of both William and his father Geoffrey de Marisco, the Justiciar of Ireland. Geoffrey’s arms were “gules, a lion rampant argent”. Variations of these arms were used by various family members (including William), and they are straightforward to draw.

However, Paris also gives a second set of arms to Geoffrey de Marisco, possibly used in connection with his position as Justiciar. Can anyone help me work out how to draw them? They are described as:

“Party per fess gules and vert, a fess argent between two plates in chief and a crescent in base of the third”.

My main questions are:

a) Does “Party per fess” indicate the shield was divided into three sections horizontally?
b) If not, what is the purpose of “Party”
c) If so, how were the sections coloured? Was it gules, vert and gules (top to bottom)?
d) How does one draw the “fess argent between two plates” (i.e. how does one draw a “fess” on a shield that has itself been defined as “Party per fess”?

Regards,

Phil

a) Does “Party per fess” indicate the shield was divided into three sections horizontally?
No, the word 'party' just means 'divided'.

b) If not, what is the purpose of “Party”
To denote that the field of the shield is parted in some way.

c) If so, how were the sections coloured? Was it gules, vert and gules (top to bottom)?
No, not in this case. They would be Gules Argent and Vert.

d) How does one draw the “fess argent between two plates” (i.e. how does one draw a “fess” on a shield that has itself been defined as “Party per fess”?
Actually it says 'a Fess Argent between two Plates in Chief and a Crescent in Base'. Possibly a less confusing blazon might be "Tierced per Fess Gules Argent Vert in Chief two Plates and in base a Crescent Argent. See image attached.

Thanks - especially for the actual image, which is much appreciated. And your alternative description is much clearer than Matthew Paris's version (hey, what did he know?).

But, could you explain how the middle tincture comes to be argent? Paris says “Party per fess gules and vert" (i.e. he gives only two tinctures). So, where does "argent" come from? Is is a default tincture where none is specifically mentioned? I'm asking in ignorance.

Secondly, I'm interested in how you drew the image. I have a copy of the Blazons software package. Is that what you used?

Regards,

Phil