This Italian and Norman/French surname of ACCARDO was originally derived from the Anglo-Norman French personal name ASCHARD, a cognate of ECKHARDT. The name is also spelt ECKHART, ACHARD, ACHERT, ASHARD, HATCHARD, ACHART, ACCARD, AICARD, AICARD, D'ACCARDO. Surnames as we know them today were first assumed in Europe from the 11th to the 15th Century. The employment in the use of a second name was a custom that was first introduced from the Normans. They themselves had not long before adopted them. It became, in course of time, a mark of gentler blood, and it was deemed a disgrace for gentlemen to have but one single name, as the meaner sort had. At first the coat of arms was a practical matter which served a function on the battlefield and in tournaments. With his helmet covering his face, and armour encasing the knight from head to foot, the only means of identification for his followers, was the insignia painted on his shield and embroidered on his surcoat, the flowing and draped garment worn over the armour. An eminent member of the name was Johannes ECKHART, called Meister ECKHART(1260-1327). He was the German mystic born in Hochheim, near Gotha. He entered the Dominican order, studied and taught in Paris and acted as prior of Erfut and as vicar for his order for Thuringia. In 1325 he was accused of heresy by the archbishop of Cologne, and two years after his death his writings were condemned by Pope John XX11. Another notable member of the name was Franz Karl ACHARD (1753-1821) the Swiss chemist, born in Berlin. He took up Andreas Marggraf's discovery of sugar in beet and perfected a process for its extraction on a commercial scale, after which he opened in 1801, the first sugar beet factory in Silesia. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe.