Grant of Arms

Portrait of King Henry VII holding a Tudor Rose, wearing collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, oil on panel dated 1505 by an unknown artist.  National Portrait Gallery, London.

In his research, Dad noted the following:
Grant of Arms to Henry Jewet
5 July 1486 - Henry VII
gules, on a cross argent
five fleurs -de-lis of the field
 
On the family tree we don't have the exact connection between Henry Jewett c. 1594 and Henry Jewet c. 1486,  but clearly Dad's research had pointed to this as part of our family's heritage.  So one of our projects is to figure out if we can document that connection.  Meanwhile, what exactly is a grant of arms?   According to Wikepedia: "in its most general sense, it encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms."
 
A further scan of the internet uncovers this on several Jewitt websites: 
July 5, 1486, King Henry VII., of England, granted to Henry Jewet certain offices for life, viz., "Forrester of Windsor Forest and Parker of Sunnyng-Hill Park within Windsor Forest," but no reason is given in the grant for these honors. 
 
There will be more in future posts with connections to the more established Jewitt genealogical sites and the historical document this is derived from, but for now, it is pretty neat just to think that we are descendants of a royal park ranger officially appointed by Henry VII. 
 
Of course we all know who Henry VII of England was, right?  Well in case you forgot, we again refer to our handy Wikipedia resource:
Henry won the throne in 1485 when his forces defeated the forces of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the civil wars. He founded the Tudor dynasty and, after a reign of nearly 24 years, was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII.
 
Next we explore: what does "gules on a cross argent and five fluer-de-lis of the field" mean?