Camden's authority in heraldry of which the 1594 Britannia provided convincing evidence, together with his association with the advocates of armorial reform (Fulke Greville, Sir Edward Hoby, and Baron Burghley as well as the queen) made him a logical choice, over Ralph Brooke, for elevation to Clarenceux King of Arms in October 1597.
Brooke was incensed by the fact that Camden, an outsider, having displayed extraordinary qualifications as a historian of privilege, won appointment as Clarenceux, to which Brooke himself aspired.
Was he already cultivating the connections that eventually led to his elevation to Richmond Herald and then Clarenceux King of Arms?
On the face of it, Camden's coronation as Clarenceux seems, therefore, altogether likely.
To this must be added Camden's words of esteem for Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke, whos e assistance was decisive in Camden's coronation as Clarenceux: ita verae virtuti, &germanae nobilitati se consecrauit, Vt animi nobilitate genus longe exuperet (Ff 4v).
[19] The granting of the commission for visitations in 1530 provoked a jurisdictional dispute between Clarenceux Benolt and Garter Wriothesley, and later decades were marked by disputes and backbiting among the heralds as well as conflicts over the College's records.
[24] Lord Burghley, as chief commissioner, sought reform by attempting to consolidate the offices of Garter and Clarenceux but was prevented by their charters, which had parliamentary confirmation.
What Sir Anthony Wagner called the great pedigree craze was well advanced by the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, and it crested during Camden's tenure as Clarenceux. [28] C.
If Gough is correct in his analysis of Brooke's timing, then the Discouerie, containing charges based on a reading of the 1594 Britannia soon after publication, appeared in print some two years after Camden's elevation to Clarenceux, which took place in October of 1597.