Cronista Rey de Armas

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Heralds on the facade of San Juan de los Reyes church, Toledo, Spain

The Chronicler King of Arms in the Kingdoms of Spain is a civil servant appointed by the king, and more recently by the Minister of Justice, who has the authority to grant armorial bearings.

The Spanish Cronista de Armas heraldic office dates back to the 16th century. In the past, heralds were usually named after provinces and non-capital cities, whilst reyes de armas were named after the Spanish kingdoms. Various chroniclers of arms were named for Spain, Castile, León, Frechas, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, Granada (created in 1496 to honor the reunification of Spain), Estella, Viana, Navarre, Catalonia, Sicily, Aragon, Naples, Toledo, Valencia and Mallorca. While these appointments were not hereditary, at least fifteen Spanish families produced more than one herald each in the past five hundred years (compared to about the same number for England, Scotland and Ireland collectively)^[1]. The Spanish Cronistas had judicial powers in matters of nobiliary titles. His office also served as a registration office for pedigrees and grants of arms.

The post of King of Arms took several forms and eventually settled on a Corps of Chronicler King of Arms (Cuerpo de Cronista Rey de Armas) which was headed by an Elder or Dean (Decano). It usually consisted of four officers and two assistants or undersecretaries which usually acted as witnesses to documents. The entire corps wore a distinctive uniform. The corps were considered part of the royal household and was generally responsible to the Master of the King's stable (an important position in the Middle Ages)

Appointments to the Corps of King of Arms were made by the King or reigning Queen. These appointments were for life and while not intended to be hereditary, often went from father to son or other close family member. The Spanish Heralds had other duties which pertained to matters of protocol and often acted as royal messengers and emissaries. The Cronistas granted arms to residents of areas currently or formerly under the government of the Spanish Crown. ^[2].

In modern times the Corps of Chronicler King of Arms went through several changes. Important changes were made in 1915, it was abolished in 1931 and restored in 1947-1951. At the present time, Cronistas-Reyes de Armas must be appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Justice. The last Cronista-Rey de Armas appointed that way was Don Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, died in 2005. The government of the autonomous community of Castile and Leon has appointed Don Alfonso Ceballos-Escalera y Gil, Marquis de la Floresta as Chronicler of Arms for Castile and Leon and is only allowed to grant municipal coat of arms not personal ones. This was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Spain after Don Alfonso issued personal coat of arms to private individuals and this issue was brought before the Spanish tribunal. There are no Chronicler Kings of Arms in Spain today and thus no valid granting of personal coat of arms.

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