Advice on 15th century nobility and heraldry

[AnjaliUK]

Hi everyone. I've traced one of my lines back to a family (Barnes of Soham and Isleham) with a coat of arms, which is pretty exciting. Now I'm trying to find out more about what that meant so I can write up some interesting biographies.

Can anyone recommend any websites or library books I could look at, or answer any of my questions? I feel like I'm not really getting anywhere right now, so it would be much appreciated.

a) What does it mean to have a coat of arms? I know Henry VIII had started regulating the use by the time my ancestors appeared in the Cambridgeshire Visitations of 1575.

b) Apparently there were 64 peers before the War of the Roses and by 1485 there were only 38. Is there a list of their names somewhere?

c) Any good sources about the daily life of nobility and gentry in the 15th and 16th centuries?

Thanks in advance

[Coromandel]

Hi AnjaliUK

The Medieval English Genealogy website has a useful introduction to heraldry:

http://www.
medievalgenealogy.org.uk/guide/her.shtml

Follow the link at the bottom of the page for many ideas for further reading, online and off.

[BeeE586]

There is a book which has been put on disc (cannot name the supplier) known by its initials FMG which may help. Its full title in Latin is something like Familiae Minorum Gentium - Families of Minor Gentry - which is certainly worth a look. There is a surpringly large numbers of families which were entitled to a Coat of Arms and the book does give genealogical details as well.

Eileen

[AnjaliUK]

Thanks, I'll check both those out. Still open to more help of course