The Origin of the ‘Name and Arms’ Clause and the Development of the Lineage Culture in Fourteenth-Century England

The concept of lineage became important within English landed society in the fourteenth century because, with the decline of knighthood, lineage came to be the identifier of chivalric society. This was manifested in various ways but the most critical was in whether, or how, landholders chose to settle their lands. At this period, there was a tension between the preservation of the lineage and the claims of female heirs which ensured a wide variety of reactions and thus different types of settlements or none. The strongest reaction was displayed by those landholders who chose to settle their estates, or part of them, on one who would not otherwise have inherited upon condition that the beneficiary adopted the name and arms of the settlor.