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herald |
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In the ancient world, a member of a profession responsible, among other things, for declaring war, seeking permission for the removal of the dead from a battlefield, and securing agreement to the safe passage of envoys. Regarded in ancient Greece as the offspring of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and bearing a staff as the symbol of their office, heralds were believed to enjoy divine protection at a time when ordinary envoys could not regard this as axiomatic and had to rely more on codes of hospitality. It was this special immunity which made it possible for heralds to take on the most dangerous of all diplomatic tasks. Heralds were last seen in medieval Europe, where they acted under and on behalf of the code of chivalry of the feudal nobility. However, these heralds lacked the status of those of the ancient world and possessed no more immunity than nuncii and plenipotentiaries, the two principal kinds of envoy of this period. See also diplomatic courier; diplomatic privileges and immunities; fetial priests. |
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