/u/Gankom has once again forced encouraged me to make/share some AH meta memes. This one was my last edition, 10 months ago.

Now, here's a new small batch of memes for your enjoyment! (Note: The Anakin meme is actually by /u/cordis_melum, not me)

I wrote a response to a deleted question and was encouraged to share it here. The question was regarding finding one’s “family coat of arms.” Since this is something medievalists and those knowledgeable in heraldry get a lot, I thought it would be a useful bit of knowledge to post.

I'm afraid to be the bearer of bad news, but for most European cultures, there really is no concept of "family" arms -- that is, arms that anyone that shares a surname would have a right to use. (Scotland does have clan badges, which are a bit of an exception, although they are not, strictly speaking, "arms")
The "family arms" that you will find online are usually just the arms of one relatively famous family with that surname that happened to have the right to use them. And even then, "family" arms were (and are) generally passed down undifferenced (that is, without alteration) to a single heir from generation to generation.

This all, of course, arose from the original purpose of heraldry, which was to identify the important personages in battle, starting in about the 12th century. As a noble who who had the right to use such a device, you and only you would wear it, bear it on a shield, or feature a version of it on a banner. Upon your death, your eldest son would generally inherit the right to use it (although he wouldn't always do so, particularly early on). Women did occasionally inherit the right to use arms, if they were the sole heir. Younger sons might use a slightly different version of the same arms, or choose their own design. (Families often used particular colours or charges). The people who fought under your banner who did not have the right to their own arms would wear livery--clothing in particular colours, sometimes decorated with an identifying badge (that might or might not be taken from the arms). Rolls of arms were developed to identify noble families by the arms that the head of the family would use. But sharing a surname with a noble gave you no right to use those arms.

So while the idea that families had heraldry is definitely a thing, the idea that anyone with the same last name had the right to that heraldry was not. In fact, those who did have the right to use those arms could get quite litigious about others using them, since to use them meant a claim to the noble title or status that went with them. Once heraldry ceased to be a system to identify troops in battle, the idea that a particular coat of arms could belong to only one person at a time became even more proscriptive. This is how you get guidebooks such as "Burke's Peerage" in England that would list the current owners of particular armoury (and often give the history of the lineage).

Unfortunately, those outside of Europe are often unaware of the rules that go along with heraldry, and companies are often happy to make a buck off of selling folks their "family crests." Unless you are the direct heir to someone who owns those arms, they're not yours to use. That being said, North Americans generally don't care about such issues and will happily slap them on tshirts and keychains and ye olde parchment scrolls (which usually say in the fine print "for entertainment purposes only.")

I'm currently in the process of brainstorming an idea for a website - it would be a repository and reference list of as many ancient and medieval travel accounts (including itineraries, travelogues, peripli, pilgrimage accounts etc.) and maps (and maybe "textual maps" like geographical accounts and so on). For the travel accounts, I'd have an entry for each journey, its author, and a summary of the text along with an interactive map using some sort of web-GIS solution locating the trip on a present-day world map with annotations. It would then be followed by information regarding the manuscripts, related manuscripts, manuscript variants, and then available editions/translations, and if possible pending obtaining copyright permissions, allow users to download extracts/or the whole version. Lastly, there would be bibliography for further reading. As new entries get added, I'd love to write short articles accompanying them looking into some unusual details - the first batch of texts I have planned all share a little detail - a fascination with bananas in the Holy Land! The long-term vision would be to have as many of these texts/maps as accessible as possible for people to see and read.

I'm going to be starting my postgraduate studies this Autumn mainly in medieval cultural history, specifically dealing with travel accounts and maps, and I've found that trying to locate secondary material and get access to the primary sources is incredibly difficult. There are wonderful YouTube channels such as Voices of the Past which allow the general public to get a glimpse into these early texts but I wish there were a way for more people to read the original sources, so that's where the idea has come from. I am a huge proponent of open access so the website would be entirely free of monetization/advertisements and I intend to try as hard as I can to acquire permissions from authors to upload texts if they're not available anywhere else or if they're prohibitively expensive. I have mostly figured out the domain/web-hosting solutions so it's just a matter of finding out if anyone would have any interest in something like this! I'd love to know if anyone would find something like this useful, and I would be very grateful for any feedback!

A friend of mine has recently had a significant impact on my life and open my eyes to a way of thinking. I want to thank him with a gift, I would like to make him something for him. He and his wife have their property set up as a butterfly sanctuary, think Japanese garden mixed with a lot of other influences. I am looking for an object that would have been used in a similar setting. I don’t mind what time period but seek recommendations on specific items throughout history. Thank you!

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I found these fascinating English tokens depicting Thomas Paine being hung.

https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-dark-side-of-numismatics-scenes-of-executions

I also read one comment that John Adams as well as Hamilton carried and/or imported the tokens from Britain.

Does anyone have any knowledge of these tokens and their use impact on American life? Did Adams and/or Hamilton really carry them and what is a good source that mentions their ownership. One seller commented someone named Jaeger but I am not sure who this is.

Any book recommendations about the Gold Rush period in California? I live in California and like reading about its history, recently read Two Years Before The Mast and thought its portrayal of that time period in California was quite interesting, and was wondering what else might be similar.

How was the polio vaccine received politically in the united states in the first year it was released? From what I read was 1953. For context, in more republican conservative news outlets the rhetoric is that the vaccine is dangerous.

How did one get a job In the 15th century?

Could have asked this yesterday and there's only four hours before the thread gets unpinned, but here goes nothing: are there any books that cover the Seven Years' War from a reasonably global perspective that don't just focus on the Anglo-French rivalries overseas? Basically something that places the European and non-European theatres of the conflict in parallel.

I am currently reading Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Issacson and I am so incredibly fascinated by his life. It truly is a book I am savoring. Anyone else have any thoughts about da Vinci? What fascinated you most about him?

What occupations are there (outside of the obvious ones) for lovers of history?

How did soviet Muslims, especially those in the neighboring republics, react to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan during the 80s? Was there much support?

Probably too late for any replies on this, but I do wonder to what extent you historians apply your historian hats to current events. Do you do apply the same kind of critical readings to the news as you do to sources in your work? Do you even try to identify broad historical forces at work in your own time, or do you feel like it's futile to even try so close to things, and apply something like the 20-year-rule in your life?

Need some suggestions regarding doing a Masters program.

I am conflicted about doing my Masters in Anthropology or Sociology or History. I am interested in studying society, culture, religion (how different religious beliefs developed and impacted people ), traditions and customs, dynasties, etc.

I am not looking at this from career perspective. I have done a post grad degree and am in my early thirties. I am interested to continue learning. I would like to do research later on.

Follow up query: How does research methods differ in these three disciplines (Sociology, History and Anthropology)?

Thank you.

I need to make this decision by July mid. Please help.