The two seals of Richard the First very exactly mark the growth of the science of heraldry. In the earliest, the monarch's shield is ensigned with the symbol of valour, a lion. (See woodcut, No. 1). But it is a rampant lion, and as the bowed shield presents only one half of its surface to view, it has been conjectured that the complete device would consist of two lions combatant. This device, whether of one or two lions, has passed away, among the serpents and knot-work of the earlier time; but the bearing on Richard's second seal, three lions passant gardant, retains its place in the royal escutcheon to the present day. In this second seal of Richard (see woodcut, No. 1, fig. 2), the lion passant appears also on the helmet of the monarch. Another example of the repetition of a royal device is afforded by the seal of Alexander II. of Scotland (circa 1214), where the lion rampant figured on the shield is repeated on the saddle. (Cotton Charters, xix. 2.) The shields were often highly decorated with painting, and even, if we may interpret literally the evidences of chroniclers, with inlaid jewels. Examples of richly ornamented shields of the twelfth century may be seen in Shaw's "Dresses and Decorations," and in Harl. MS. 2895, fol. 82. Robert of Aix, in the eleventh century, writing of the first crusade, tells us that the European knights carried shields "auro et gemmis inserti variisque coloribus depicti." On board ship, the knights arranged their shields along the side of the vessel, so as to form a kind of bulwark. This is very clearly shewn in Plates II. and X. of the Bayeux tapestry. And when at length the knight fell in battle, his kite-shield served him for a bier. The nephew of the emperor Otho having been slain before Rouen, the Germans-- "O li cors se trahistrent el chief d'une valée; Sor un escu l'ont miz, la teste desarmée." _Roman de Rou_, l. 4024.