View source for Tricking

{{short description|Method for indicating the tinctures (colours) used in a coat of arms}}
{{About|the term relating to heraldry|the acrobatics training discipline|tricking (martial arts)}}
'''Tricking''' is a method for indicating the [[tincture (heraldry)|tinctures]] (colours) used in a [[coat of arms]] by means of text abbreviations written directly on the illustration. Tricking and [[hatching system|hatching]] are the two primary methods employed in the system of [[heraldry]] to show colour in black and white illustrations.
[[Image:Tricking.png|thumb|Tricked arms of John Browne of Spexhall, Suffolk (1591)]]
[[File:ARAGONIAI JÁNOS BÍBORNOK CZIMERE.jpg|thumb|An example of early tricking. Coat of arms of Cardinal Giovanni di Aragona (1456–1485), archbishop of Esztergom <ref>{{cite book |author-link=Alphonsus Ciacconius |first=Alphonsus |last=Ciacconius |title={{lang|la|Vitae et res gestae Pontificum romanorum et S.R.E.Cardinalium: ab initio nascentis Ecclesiae vsque ad Clementem IX P.O.M.}} |trans-title=Life and achievements of the Roman Pontiffs and the [[Catholic Church|HRC]] [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinals]]: from the beginnings until [[Clement IX]]|year=1677 |publisher=Philippi et Ant. De Rubeis |volume=3 |at=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ucm.5319065675&view=1up&seq=49 Column 65, XIX] |language=la}}</ref>]]
== Origin ==
Heraldry has always had some methods to designate the [[Tincture (heraldry)|tinctures]] of arms. The earliest such method was [[blazon]], which is describing the arms by words. The earliest surviving blazon is from the work of [[Chrétien de Troyes]] from the late 12th century.<ref>[[Chrétien de Troyes]], ''Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette'', {{c.}}1178–{{c.}}1181{{full citation needed |date=September 2019}}</ref> The English heraldry system still uses a form of blazon almost unchanged since the reign of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]].
Traditionally, images in heraldic manuscripts such as [[roll of arms|rolls of arms]] and [[armorial]]s are all coloured. With the spread of the [[printing press]], [[woodblock printing]] and copperplate [[engraver|engravings]] from the late 15th century, there arose the need for designating the colours in uncoloured illustrations as well, since printing in full colour was too labour- and cost-intensive. As a rule, two main methods were applied to achieve this – tricking, or giving designations to the tinctures after the initials of the given colours; and [[hatching system|hatching]], which is ascribing designations to the tinctures by means of lines and dots. While the first method was introduced and developed by the [[herald]]s, the second model was developed and adopted by the heraldists.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} In addition, some other methods were also in use such as giving designations to tinctures by using the numbers from 1 to 7.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}
Until the 16th century, heraldic sources designated [[Tincture (heraldry)|tinctures]] with the regular names of the colours.<ref>[[Martin Schrot]], ''Wappenbuch'', 1576{{full citation needed |date=September 2019}}</ref> By the middle of the century, heraldic writers started using the initials of the tinctures after the initials of the given colours.<ref>[[Cristian Urstis]], ''Baselische Chronik '', (1580){{full citation needed |date=September 2019}}; [[Virgil Solis]], ''Wappenbüchlein'', 1555{{full citation needed |date=September 2019}}; [[Johann von Francolin]] (1560){{full citation needed |date=September 2019}}</ref> Almost simultaneously, Don Alphonsus &#91;Francisco&#93; [[Alphonsus Ciacconius|Ciacconius]], a Rome-based Spanish Dominican scholar, named the tinctures after their Latin initials.{{citation needed |date=September 2019}} ''[[Or (heraldry)|Or]]'' was designated with "A", for {{lang|la|aurum}}; ''[[argent (heraldry)|argent]]'' with "a" for {{lang|la|argentum}}; ''[[Azure (heraldry)|azure]]'' with "c" for {{lang|la|caeruleus}}; ''[[gules]]'' with "r" for {{lang|la|rubeus}}; and ''[[Vert (heraldry)|vert]]'' by "v" for {{lang|la|viridis}}. Though the sign for ''[[Sable (heraldry)|sable]]'' ({{lang|la|niger}} in Latin) was not present in his system, traditionally it was designated with the black colour itself.
== Decline ==
{{citation needed section|date=September 2019}}
From the early 17th century, tricking declined. However, it is sometimes still in use, mainly in British heraldry.
[[Herald]]s did not like [[hatching system|hatching]], since tricking was much easier to write and engrave. The [[College of Arms]] gave preference to tricking even beyond the 17th century, sometimes even on the coloured and hatched images. However, tricking's letters were often traced badly since they were not always immediately understood, thus leading to erroneous interpretations.
[[Otto Titan von Hefner]], a 19th-century German herald, maintained that the first traces of hatching on the [[woodcut]]s began during the 15th and 16th centuries. Both tricking as well as hatching were applied by [[Vincenzo Borghini]], a Benedictine monk, philologist and outstanding historian. He drew a difference between the metals and the colours on the woodcuts of his work by leaving the places blank on the arms for all metals; similarly all colours were hatched by the same way, as the colour [[Vert (heraldry)|vert]] is being used today. Besides this, tinctures were designated in the fields and on the ordinaries and charges by tricking: R–rosso–''gules'', A–azure–''azure'', N–nigro–''sable'', G–gialbo–yellow (''Or''), and B–biancho–white (''argent''). Notably, ''vert'' was not present on the arms presented by him.
==References==
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{{Heraldry}}
[[Category:Techniques and principles related to heraldic tinctures]]