This interesting and long-established surname is of early medieval Germanic origin, and derives from the Old Frankish male given name "Hludwig", a compound of the elements "hlud", fame, illustriousness, and "wig", war. This name was borne by the founder of the Frankish dynasty, and is recorded as "Ludovicus" in Latin chronicles, later developing into the German "Ludwig". It enjoyed enormous popularity among the Normans who introduced it into England in the forms "Lodowicus" and "Lowis", one Lodowicus clericus being noted in the 1205 Curia Regis Rolls of Rutland. Early medieval recordings of the name from Germany include: Lodewig (Frisian form "Lodewykes"); Henrich Lodewici zu Hannover (1294); and Hannemannus Ludewici zu Mainz (1298). The surname is variously recorded in English Church Registers as Lodowyke (London, 1568); Lodewijcka (London, 1593); and Ludvicke (Dover, 1620). On May 10th 1652, Joyce Lodwick and Ricard Venner were married at St. Katherine by the Tower, London. A Coat of Arms granted to the Lodwick family of England is a red shield with a chevron between three silver cocks, the Crest being a cock proper, and that held by the Ludwig family of Germany is a shield divided per bend gold and black with a lion rampant counterchanged standing on an azure terrasse. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Conrad Ludewici, which was dated 1270, in "Early Medieval Records of Basel", during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile, 1257 - 1273. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.