In heraldry, an inescutcheon is a smaller escutcheon that is placed within or superimposed over the main shield of a coat of arms, similar to a charge. This may be used in the following cases:
as a simple mobile charge, for example as borne by the French family of Abbeville, illustrated below; these may also bear other charges upon them, as shown in the arms of the Swedish Collegium of Arms;
in pretence (as a mark of a hereditary claim, usually by right of marriage), bearing assumed arms over one's own hereditary arms;
in territorial claim, bearing a monarch's hereditary arms en surtout over the territorial arms of his domains.
Escutcheons as mobile charges, as borne by the French family of Abbeville.
Simple example of incorporating an heiress's arms as an escutcheon of pretense
An escutcheon of pretence, as borne by the French family de Champagne-La Suze.
Inherited arms borne en surtout over territorial arms. (Arms of Eric of Pomerania as monarch of the Kalmar Union, c. 15th century)