Attributed arms
Attributed arms are coats of arms given to legendary figures, or to notable persons from times before the rise of heraldry. Beginning in the 12th century, imaginary arms were assigned to the knights of the Round Table, and soon arms were given to biblical figures, to Roman and Greek heroes, and to prior kings and popes (Pastoreau 1997, p. 258). Notable examples of such coats of arms include the cross attributed to Edward the Confessor, and the Shield of the Trinity.
History
Attributed or imaginary arms appeared in literature in the middle of the 12th century, particularly in Arthurian legends during the generation following Chrétien de Troyes, when rolls of Arthurian arms included about 40 coats of arms (Pastoreau 1997, p. 258). A second stage of development occurred during the 14th and 15th centuries when the rolls of Arthurian arms expanded to as many as 200 coats of arms.
During the same centuries, rolls of arms included invented arms for kings of foreign lands (Neubecker 1976, p. 30), and for the Nine Worthies of history. When coats of arms were the established fashion of the ruling class, it would have been inconceivable for a king not to be armigerous (Loomis 1922, p. 26). In such an era, it was "natural enough to consider that suitable armorial devices and compositions should be assigned to men of mark in earlier ages" (Boutell & Fox-Davies 2003, p. 18). Some attributed arms had a practical purpose for the quartering of their descendents' arms.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, additional arms were attributed to a large number of saints, kings and popes, especially those from the 11th and 12th centuries. Pope Innocent IV (1243–1254) is the first pope whose papal coat of arms is known with certainty (Pastoreau 1997, p. 283–284). By the end of the 17th century, the practice of attributed arms became more restrained (Neubecker 1976, p. 224).
Literary figures
Around 1310, Jacques de Longuyon wrote the Voeux de Paon ("Vows of the Peacock"), which included a list of nine famous leaders. This list, divided into three groups of three, became known in art and literature as the Nine Worthies (Loomis 1938, p. 37). All of the Nine Worthies were given a coat of arms. King David, for instance, was assigned a gold harp as a device (Neubecker 1976, p. 172).
From the 13th century, King Arthur was most commonly given three gold crowns on an azure field (Loomis 1938, p. 38). In a 1394 manuscript depicting the Nine Worthies, Arthur is shown holding a flag with three gold crowns (Neubecker 1976, p. 172). Eleven, thirteen, or even thirty crowns were also used to symbolize kingdoms he conquered (Brault 1997, p. 46).
Other characters in the Arthurian legends are described with coats of arms. Lancelot starts with plain white arms but later receives a shield with three bends gules signifying the strength of three men (Brault 1997, p. 47). Tristran was attributed a variety of arms. His earliest arms, a gold lion rampant on red field, are shown in a set of 13th-century tiles found in Chertsey Abbey (Loomis 1915, p. 307). Thomas of Britain attributed these arms in the 12th century (Loomis 1938, p. 47) in what is believed to be heraldic flattery of his patron, either Richard I or Henry II, whose coats of arms contained some form of lion (Loomis 1922, p. 26). In other versions the field is not red, but green. Gottfried von Strassburg attributed to Tristan a silver shield with a black boar rampant (Loomis 1922, p. 24; Loomis 1938, p. 49). In Italy, however, he was attributed geometric patterns.
Kings
Arms were attributed to important pre-heraldic kings. Among the the best known are those assigned to the King of the Franks, who was given three toads. The three fleurs-de-lis of France supposedly derive from these (Neubecker 1976, p. 225).
William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England, had a coat of arms with two lions. Richard the Lionhearted used such a coat of arms with two lions on a red field (Loomis 1938, p. 47), from which the three lions of the coat of arms of England derive. However, there is no proof that William's arms were not attributed to William after his death (Boutell & Fox-Davies 2003, p. 18).
The earlier Saxon Kings were assigned a gold cross on a blue shield, but this did not exist until the 13th century. The arms of Saint Edward the Confessor, a blue shield charged with a gold cross and five gold birds, appears to have been suggested by heralds in the time of Henry III of England (Boutell & Fox-Davies 2003, p. 18) based on a coin minted in Edward's reign (Neubecker 1976, p. 30). These arms were later used by Richard II of England out of devotion to the saint (Fraser 2000, p. 44).
Arms were attributed to the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy. The Kingdom of Essex, for instance, was assigned a red shield with three notched swords. This coat was used by the counties of Essex and Middlesex until 1910, when the Middlesex County Council applied for a formal grant from the College of Arms (The Times, 1910). Middlesex was granted a red shield with three notched swords and a "Saxon Crown". The Essex County Council was granted the arms without the crown in 1932.
Even the kings of Rome were assigned arms, with Romulus, the first King of Rome signified by the she-wolf (Neubecker 1976, p. 224–225).
Flags were also attributed. While the King of Morocco was attributed three rooks (chess pieces) as arms, which are therefore canting arms (Neubecker 1976, p. 224), the whole chessboard was shown in some sources, resulting in the 14th-century checkered version of the Flag of Morocco (Flags of the World, 2007).
Religious figures
Jesus and Mary
Heralds could have attributed to Jesus the harp for arms inherited as a descendant of David. Nevertheless, the cross alone was regarded as Christ's emblem, and it was so used by the Crusaders. By the 13th century, however, numerous indulgences had brought increased veneration for the instruments of the Passion. These instruments were described in heraldic terms and treated as personal to Christ much as a coat of arms (Dennys 1975, p. 96). An early example in a seal from ca. 1240 includes the Cross, nails, lance, crown of thorns, sponge and whips.
The instruments of the Passion were sometimes split between a shield and crest in the form of an achievement of arms (Neubecker 1976, p. 222). The Hyghalmen Roll (ca. 1447–1455) shows Christ holding an azure shield charged with Veronica's Veil proper. The heraldry continues with the 15th century jousting helmet, which is covered by the seamless robe as a form of mantling, and the Cross, scepter (of mockery) and flagellum (whip) as crest. The banner's long red schwenkel is a mark of eminence in German heraldry, but it was omitted when this image was copied into Randle Holme's Book (ca. 1464–1480). The image on the opposing page (shown above) includes a shield quartered with the five Wounds of Christ, three jars of ointment, two rods, and the head of Judas Iscariot with a bag of money (Dennys 1975, pp. 97–98).
While Christ was associated with the images of the Passion, Mary was associated with images from the prophecy of Simeon the Righteous (Luke 2:34–35); the resulting in attributed arms include a winged heart pierced with a sword and placed on a blue field (Dennys 1975, p. 102). Mary is also attributed a group of white lily flowers. An example can be found on the lower part of the coat of arms of the College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor (Dennys 1975, p. 103).
Trinity and angels
Out of a desire to make the abstract visible, arms were also attributed to the unseen spirits (Neubecker 1976, p. 222; Dennys 1975, p. 93). Because anthropomorphic representations of the Trinity were discouraged by the Church during the Middle Ages (Dennys 1975, p. 95), the Shield of the Trinity quickly became popular. It was often used in decorating not only churches, but theological manuscripts and rolls of arms. An early example from William Peraldus Summa Vitiorum (ca. 1260) shows a knight battling the seven deadly sins with this shield. A variation included with the shields of arms in Matthew Paris' Chronica Majora (ca. 1250–1259) adds a cross between the center and bottom circles, accompanied by the words "v'bu caro f'm est" (verbum caro factum est, "the word was made flesh"; John 1:14) (Dennys 1975, p. 94).
Saint Michael the Archangel appears often in heraldic settings. In one case, the shield of the Trinity (on a non-red background) is attributed to St. Michael (Dennys 1975, p. 95). More usually, he is shown in armour with a red cross on a white shield, slaying the devil depicted as a dragon. These attributed arms were later transferred to Saint George (Dennys 1975, p. 109).
Heraldry also attributed to Satan, as the commanding general of the fallen angels, arms to identify him in the heat of battle. The Douce Apocalypse portrays him carrying a red shield with a gold horizontal stripe, and three frogs (based on Revelation 16:13) (Dennys 1975, p. 112).
References
- "Armorial bearings of Middlesex", The Times, 7 November 1910
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Boutell, Charles; Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (2003), English Heraldry, Kessinger, p. 18, ISBN 076614917X
- Brault, Gerald J. (1997), Early Blazon (2nd ed.), Boydell Press, ISBN 0851157114
- Dennys, Rodney (1975), The Heraldic Imagination, Barrie & Jenkins, ISBN 0-919974-01-5
- Fraser, Antonia (2000), The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England, Queens, ISBN 0520224604
- Loomis, Roger S. (1938), Arthurian Legend in Medieval Art, Modern Language Association of America
- Loomis, Roger S. (July 1915), "A Sidelight on the "Tristan" of Thomas", Modern Language Review, 10 (3): 304–309
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Loomis, Roger S. (January 1922), "Tristan and the house of Anjou", Modern Language Review, 17 (1): 24–30
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Morocco Historical Flags, Flags of the World, 9 July 2007, retrieved 2008-02-03
- Neubecker, Ottfried (1976), Heraldry: Sources, Symbols and Meaning, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-046308-5
- Pastoreau, Michel (1997), Traité d'Héraldique (3rd ed.), Picard, ISBN 2-7084-0520-9
External links
- St. Benedict's attributed arms and ecclesiastical heraldic stained glass