I'm curious as to why there are lions galore in European heraldry? What's the earliest example? Where did say, medieval nobles learn of lions? Biblical stories?Expeditions into Africa? Any record of a native lion in Europe?
hi! there's room for more input on this, but check out this recent post, which includes an interesting explanation and a link to the FAQ
btw, you might try x-posting this to /r/heraldry. Here's one earlier post, but you might get more info there.