One of the most widely accepted tenets of heraldry is our incomplete knowledge of its precise origins during the Dark Ages. Scholars are quick to cite that the Bayeux Tapestry indicates but the most rudimentary use of armorial symbols, and yet we know that heraldry developed further during the early twelfth century, when the Normans ruled England. Does this imply that the Normans created armorial heraldry? This may never be known in terms of an absolute truth. French culture seems to have dominated in western Europe during the early twelfth century. French efoeffed knights comprised the largest single ethnic group of men at arms to fight in the Crusades, and the Hospitallers and Templars were predominantly French. It is known that heraldry soon became an artistic, pseudo-scientific movement popular among the landed classes, occupying the same plane as alchemy and astrology. The French influenced these pursuits greatly. In the light of these developments, that Norman French as the vernacular, rather than the scholarly Latin, became the language of English blazon may be little more than historical coincidence. However, I submit to readers another possibility—until now unexplored—which I shall investigate in the years to come. When we refer to the 'Norman Conquest', what is generally meant is the conquest of England by William I in 1066. To Italians, the Norman Conquest' refers to the occupation of Sicily and parts of southern Italy by other Norman dynasties during the same period indeed prior to the Conquest of England.

The ultimate conquest of Sicily took the better part of a decade, requiring the defeat of Saracens entrenched in the island's rugged interior. Launching his assault from a Calabrian foothold, King Roger I Guiscard ('Count of Sicily') occupied Messina in 1064, establishing the strategy followed at the Battle of Hastings two years later. Palermo would not be brought under Norman control until 1071. Thus did England and Sicily become the only two major regions outside France to be ruled absolutely by the Normans during heraldry's presumed inception. The manorial-feudal system was initiated on a heretofore unknown scale, the parallel effects of which are evident today. The manorial lordship is still known in England, and the title signore is borne by a number of Sicilian aristocrats. Both ranks can be traced directly to the Norman French seigneur. Remarkably, the Lord of Sark still exercises a degree of temporal rule of that channel island on behalf of HM the Queen, his authority far surpassing that of contemporary English and Italian seigniories. The Lord of Sark is styled seigneur by the French.

True, certain ranks, such as that of thane in Saxon England, existed prior to Norman rule, but the seigneurage (and perhaps the baronage) as it came to exist is based upon the Norman model. Considering remarkable similarities between English and Sicilian arms and blazons, it is altogether possible that the Normans in fact created heraldry and instituted it in their new dominions. Due to various factors, such as the Crusaders' passage through Messina at a later date (when it is known that most knights were armigerous), it may be difficult to establish my theory beyond doubt so many centuries after the events studied. My research is thereby restricted to study of only the most ancient blazons and families to be found in armories such as Burke and Crollalanza. Objectivity is essential, and any research embarked upon must to some extent rely upon the work of scholars such as Dennis Mack Smith, Sir Steven Runciman, Colonel Robert Gayre and John Julius, Viscount Norwich. Whatever the result, we cannot rule out the likelihood that it may yield information to alter our perceptions of heraldry's remote origins.