Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
  Mattacks Coat of Arms / Mattacks Family CrestThis surname was a baptismal name 'the son of Maddocks'. After the Crusades in Europe, in the 11th 12th and 13th century people began, perhaps unconsciously, to feel the need of a family name, or at least a name in addition to the simple one that had been possessed from birth. The nobles and upper classes, especially those who went on the Crusades, observed the prestige and practical value of an added name, and were quick to take a surname. Early records of the name mention Madoc (without surname) listed as a tenant in the Domesday Book of 1086. William Madoc was documented in 1274, Salisbury. Walter filius Madoc of County Lancashire was documented in the year 1300, and Maddoc le Estrange appears in 1377 in County Yorkshire. Madoc filius Grifin of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Judith Madox was documented in Stourton, County Wiltshire in the year 1573, and Robert Madox of County Oxford, registered at Oxford University in 1593. George Madockes and John Madocke, both of County Gloucestershire enroled at Oxford in the year 1604. A notable member of the name was Thomas Madox (1666-1727) who was an English legal antiquary. He investigated and transcribed legal records, and his major publications of 1702 and 1736, are of great value to historical scholars to this day. During the Middle Ages, when people were unable to read or write, signs were needed for all visual identification. For several centuries city streets in Britain were filled with signs of all kinds, public houses, tradesmen and even private householders found them necessary. This was an age when there were no numbered houses, and an address was a descriptive phrase that made use of a convenient landmark. At this time, coats of arms came into being, for the practical reason that men went into battle heavily armed and were difficult to recognise. It became the custom for them to adorn their helmets with distinctive crests, and to paint their shields with animals and the like. Coats of arms accompanied the development of surnames, becoming hereditary in the same way. The associated coat of arms is recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884. (Registered at County Hertfordshire, 1676). The lions depicted in the arms are the noblest of wild beasts, and on that account is the symbol of strength and courage, and is most frequently borne in Coat Armour. |
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