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1986, Vol. 7, pp. 588–94.
Martimort, Aimé Georges, ed. The Church at Prayer: An Introduction to the Liturgy, rev. ed., trans.
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——. Introductio in Liturgiam Occidentalem. Rome: Herder, 1960, pp. 500–685.
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——. “The Origin of the Ember Days: An Inconclusive Postscript.” In Rituels: mélanges offerts à
Pierre-Marie Gy, O.P., ed. Paul De Clerck and Eric Palazzo. Paris: Cerf, 1990, pp. 465–72.
——. The Origins of the Liturgical Year. New York: Pueblo, 1986.
LIVERY, BADGES, AND COLORS
. From an early date, the members of royal and noble households were paid a regular
allowance, or “livery” (OFr. livrée), of food, drink, and clothing. In both France and
England, the term “livery” came to be applied especially to the clothing distributed,
whether by a lord or by a corporation like a confraternity. By ca. 1300, many
confraternities distributed liveries of one or several fixed colors, which constituted a sort
of uniform for wear on festive or official occasions, and between 1350 and 1400 this
practice spread gradually to royal and noble households in France, England, and
adjoining regions. By 1300, many confraternities had also adopted distinctive
cognizances, often of a quasiheraldic nature, and some of these, at least, took the form of
metallic jewels or brooches similar to those distributed to pilgrims at shrines. Comparable
ensigns, called devises in French and “badges” in English, were first adopted by kings
and princes only in the 1360s and soon distributed by them (and after 1370 by growing
numbers of barons) not only to household servants but to various classes of retainer and
ally as a mark of political adherence. This development seems to have been inspired
largely by the distribution of similar badges to the companions of the monarchical orders
of knighthood founded between 1347 and 1360, and, like the knightly badges, those
distributed as livery were sometimes accompanied by a short inscription or “motto,” also
called devise in French.
In France, after a period of experimentation under Charles V, a revolutionary system
of livery colors and badges was introduced into the royal court of Charles VI in 1362,
under which all members of the court were constantly dressed in costumes of particular
colors and bearing particular badges and mottoes, chosen by the king and his counselors
at some point in every year. Some of these badges, like the white winged stag and the
sprig of broom, were used continuously, but many others were employed only for one or
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