Heraldry in England is in Victorian Books.
But Heraldry not only formed a convenient mode of bestowing eagerly-sought rewards for meritorious services, but occasionally a terribly severe means of chastising those who failed to uphold the honour and dignity of distinctions already conferred. Take, for instance, the following:
"Andrew de Harcla [aged 52], a knight, and Earl of Carlisle, was in this sort degraded. He, being apprehended, was by the King's commandment brought [on 3rd March 1322] before Sir Antony Lucy [aged 39], apparelled in all the robes of his estate as an earl and a knight, and so led unto the place of judgment. Being thither come, Sir Antony Lucy said to him these words, 'First, thou shalt lose the order of knighthood, by which thou hadst all thy honour ; and further, all worship upon thy body be brought to nought.' Those words being pronounced, Sir Antony Lucy commanded a knave to hew the knight's spurs from his heels, and after caused his sword to be broken over his head. That done, he was despoiled of his furred tabard, of his hood, of his furred coats, and of his girdle. Then Sir Antony said to him these words, 'Andrew, now thou art no knight, but a knave, and for thy treason the king doth will thou shalt be hanged.'"