Abatements of Honour

[Chris Green]

The Lexicon Technicum, the work of John Harris in the first decade of the 18th century, has a curious entry purporting to describe abatements of honour - the opposite of augmentations of honour. Here is a link:

http://books.google.se/books?id=0GdEAAA ... ry&f=false

and a Wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexicon_Technicum

It seems inconceivable to me that such a system ever existed in England, or anywhere else for that matter. No herald could on his own responsibility successfully impose such an insult on the CoA of any gentleman (let alone a Peer) without being dragged through the Courts. A Court of Chivalry might impose such a penalty I imagine, but no armiger having such a slight added to his CoA would conceivably use it, so what is the point? And would not new Letters Patent have to be issued with the new blazon? What do you imagine the recipient would do with such a document - my guess is cut it up and issue it to his less-favoured servants as loo paper.

[Arthur Radburn]

I thought they were called 'abatements of dishonour'.

It certainly seems unlikely that the College of Arms ever imposed abatements on anyone. Modern books such as Friar's New Dictionary of Heraldry say that there's no record of any.

There's a modern Scottish example though. Around 1950, a divorced man matriculated arms with Lord Lyon, who put a 'gusset sinister sanguine' (= adultery) on the arms. Presumably the unfortunate armiger was the 'guilty party' in the divorce.

Of course, as Lord Lyon is a judge, he's perhaps in a better position to be judgmental in this way, than his English counterparts are.

[Edward Hillenbrand]

A threat or warning to those that follow? Or maybe a joke that was taken seriously?

[Mike_Oettle]

Arthur, since the word abate means (among other definitions) to lower in status, or to reduce or lessen in degree or intensity, or to diminish, the expression abatement of honour is the correct term, since the armiger’s honour is diminished by the addition of the charges mentioned.
Regards,
Mike