Sir John Ferne was a knight writer on heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

, a genealogist, and an eminent common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

yer.

Life

John Ferne matriculated from St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....

 in 1572, was said to have studied at Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

, and was admitted to the Inner Temple

Inner Temple

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 in 1576. He served as a secretary in the Council of the North

Council of the North

The Council of the North was an administrative body originally set up in 1484 by king Richard III of England, the third and last Yorkist monarch to hold the Crown of England; its intention was to improve government control and economic prosperity, to benefit the entire area of Northern England...

 (1595–1609).

Works

His 1586 book entitled Blazon of Gentrie is written in the form of a dialogue, with six interlocutors, representing a herald, a knight, a divine, a lawyer, an antiquary, and a ploughman. Collumell, the ploughman, who speaks freely the language and opinions of the yeomanry

Yeomanry

Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Territorial Army, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles.-History:...

 at that time on several points, including the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

. The strong prejudices of Paradinus, the herald, and Torquatus, the knight, are also described.

Ferne enumerates as many as 14 different methods of blazon

Blazon

In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...

. And these methods are as follows: 1. by colours, 2. by planets, 3. by precious stones, 4. by virtues, 5. by celestial signs, 6. by the months of the year, 7. by the days of the week, 8. by the ages of man, 9. by flowers, 10. by the elements, 11. by the seasons of the year, 12. by the complexions of man, 13. by numbers, 14. by metals.

Though today its practice is considered absurd, it was an organic part of the then heraldic view.

Works

• The Blazon of Gentrie: Deuided into two parts. The first named, The Glorie of Generositie. The second, Lacyes Nobilitie. Comprehending discourses of Armes and of Gentry. Wherein is treated of the beginning, parts and degrees of gentlenesse, with her lawes: of the bearing, and blazon of Cote-armers: of the lawes of armes, and of combats. John Windet for T. Cooke: London, 1586.