In the Middle Ages, heralds were employed by
nobles and
kings to act as diplomats. Another type of herald evolved from the
minstrels who hung around at
tournaments and watched the
knights and others who jousted. They began to record the
coats of arms and names of the people who participated, and eventually advised people who wished to take up arms. Eventually (1483 in
England) the heralds because
bureaucrats working for the king, who travelled through the countryside looking at arms in use. People without the right to use arms were forbidden to continue; legitimate arms and their bearers were recorded--for a fee paid to the king. This lucrative system brought in plenty of
money to the English government during the
16th and
17th centuries.
Heralds today are still active in England and Scotland, where they continue to get paid a fairly large amount of money to register arms.