has become one of the supporters of the Duke of Norfolk. The actual recognized use of these accessories appears to have begun at the end of the fourteenth century; and to have become firmly established in the following one. [Illustration: FIG. 161.--Seal of Edmond Beaufort, Duke of Somerset.] [Illustration: FIG. 162.--Seal of William Lord Hastings. Fifteenth Century.] The idea that supporters originated in fantastically dressed pages at a tournament seems to have little or no foundation, and though there may have been some such representation of already established devices, later statements on the subject have probably been much over-valued. Viollet-le-duc quotes an instance of a celebrated tournament, which was held on May Day, 1346, at Chambery, when Amedee VI of Savoy had his shield hung on a tree and guarded by two lions. The interesting fact is mentioned that the shields, helms and crests of the knights who figured at this tournament remained in the Church of St. Francis at Chambery, until 1660 or thereabouts. Then the church was redecorated, and in the disregard for antiquity, which we find so difficult to understand, the relics of chivalry disappeared. At first and for a considerable time the proportion of supporters to the arms was very satisfactory, being bold without over emphasis, but during the sixteenth and following centuries, a tendency to increase their size was felt, and it is in this respect that modern sculptured heraldry is lacking in balance, for to over-accentuate the supporters is necessarily to minimize the arms, and so divert interest from the central motive. When the space to be filled by the achievement demands it, the pose of the supporters may be varied to a considerable extent, but the rampant position should always be adhered to when it is possible. Where, for instance, the space is wide, as on a mantelpiece, there is no heraldic objection to placing the figures in a couchant position on either side of the shield, an arrangement that has been frequently resorted to in Friezes. Sanction is given to this freedom of treatment by the fact that it is not usual in blazoning supporters to specify the heraldic attitude, except in so far as it affects the pose of the head. That is to say, if the head is in the normal position, in profile, the figure is blazoned, for example, a lion Or. If it were guardant or regardant, the fact would likewise be mentioned but not the general pose, rampant or anything else. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the supporters were sometimes employed in pairs, and sometimes singly, to hold up the banners of arms that were represented in heraldic manuscripts or sculptured on monuments, and they were then usually placed in a sejant position. In some instances, more frequent in Italy and Germany than in this country, supporters bear crested helms on their heads in a very curious way. An English instance is on the seal of Edmond Mortimer, A.D. 1372, mentioned by Boutell.