Impalement (heraldry)

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Impalement (heraldry)

of the arms of Cardinal Wolsey as Archbishop of York

Archbishop of York

File:Williamtemple1.jpgArchbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan bishop of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man....
, impaling his personal arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways....
(right) with the arms of his office as Archbishop of York (left).]] In heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning Coat of arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms....
, Impalement is the practice of joining two coats of arms side-by-side in one shield

Shield

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of the arms of Cardinal Wolsey as Archbishop of York

Archbishop of York

Coat of arms

Heraldry

Shield

A shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks. The term often refers to a device that is held in the hand, as opposed to armour or a bullet proof vest....
. Per pale is a vertical division in heraldry, and an impaled shield is divided straight down the middle vertically, top to bottom, with the two coats of arms arranged on each side of this division.

Impalement is used in heraldry to denote union. Usually, this is the union of a man and his wife, with the husband's arms placed to the left (or dexter, since the left as we look at it will be to the right of the person notionally holding the shield) and the wife's arms placed to the right (or sinister). However, other unions are possible, notably the union of a bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
to his diocese

Diocese

In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglicanism, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bi...
or see

See

The word "see" may refer to:* The act of visual perception* The term "See:" as a form of citation signal* Episcopal see, domain of authority of a bishop...
in ecclesiastical heraldry

Ecclesiastical heraldry

Ecclesiastical heraldry is the tradition of heraldry developed by Christianity clergy. Initially used to mark documents, ecclesiology heraldry evolved as a system for identifying people and dioceses....
, so that the arms of the see

See

The word "see" may refer to:* The act of visual perception* The term "See:" as a form of citation signal* Episcopal see, domain of authority of a bishop...
are to the left (dexter) and the personal arms of the bishop for that period are to the right (sinister).

Impalement (heraldry)

See also