A Couple of Dukes in Heidelberg Castle

It's always fun to find armorial portraits in my travels, and then come home and learn more about the men in the portraits (and the heraldry portrayed in them, too!).

Today's armorial portraits are of two Fredericks: Frederick I the Victorious, and Frederick II the Wise.

Frederick I (1425-1476) was Count Palatine of the Rhine and Elector Palatine from 1451 until his death.

The text on his portrait, above, also says that he was Duke of Bavaria, but I do not find him (or Frederick II, for that matter) in the list of Dukes of Bavaria found on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rulers_of_Bavaria).

Be that as it may, the coats of arms found on the portrait are those of, from left to right respectively: the Palatinate (Pfalz) of the Rhine; the Archidapifer (chief food-bearer) and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire; and Bavaria.

Our other armorial portrait gives the same offices/titles and displays the same arms as the portrait of Frederick I above.

Frederick II the Wise (1482-1556) is credited on his portrait as being Count Palatine, Duke of Bavaria, and Archidapifer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire.

His wife Dorothea was a daughter of King Christian II of Denmark, and he was involved in efforts with the Emperor Charles V to reinstate his father-in-law after having been deposed from the throne of Denmark and Norway following a rebellion by Danish nobles in 1523, but such attempts did not succeed.

Here again, we have the arms from left to right of: the Palatinate (Pfalz) of the Rhine; the Archidapifer (chief food-bearer) and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire; and Bavaria.

Frederick II was made Elector Palatine in 1544, thus explaining the date around the shield of the Elector in the portrait above.

Seeing an Old "Friend" in Heidelberg, Germany

And ...

... just when you think that we were all done with the coat of arms of the County and Duchy of Württemberg we've been looking at in the past several posts (January 27 through February 13, 2020) from Stuttgart, we wander on down the the city of Heidelberg* and - wouldn't you know it? - run across yet another depiction of the arms of the Duchy.

This time the arms are seen as an inlay on a wooden table in the Castle there.

This depiction is a bit different from all of the others we've looked at recently, in that it has an inescutcheon (Argent an eagle displayed sable) over the usual four quarters of Württemberg: Quarterly: 1, Or three stag’s attires fesswise in pale sable (Württemberg); 2, Lozengy bendwise [in some examples, bendwise sinister] or and sable (Teck); 3, Azure a flagstaff bendwise gules steeled argent flying a pennon or charged with an eagle displayed sable (the Banneramt, the office of the Imperial banner); and 4, Gules two fishes haurient embowed addorsed or (Mömpelgard).

I've not yet run across an explanation of the inescutcheon, though I am certain that there must be one.

But it's a beautiful piece of inlay work that was clearly done by a craftsman no mean skill.



* I have a special feeling for Heidelberg; it's the place where my paternal great-grandfather was born back in 1867, and we have records of his paternal line living there since the early  to mid-1700s. So Heidelberg feels a little bit like home to me, despite my minimal knowledge of the German language. His parents each worshiped at the Holy Spirit Church (Heiliggeistkirche) in the old town, one from each side of the wall that was built in the early 1700s inside the Church to separate the Catholic from the Protestant sides. The Catholic father apparently converted to Protestantism, because he and his wife were married, and my great-grandfather was baptized at, the Protestant St. Peter's Church (Peterskirche) a few blocks away near the University. I have no idea how their parents felt about the mixed marriage. Isn't family history fun?

A New Book of Heraldry

I just received notice of the publication of a new book of heraldry, done by my friend Dr. Paul A. Fox.

It is entitled Great Cloister: A Lost Canterbury Tale, subtitled A History of the Canterbury Cloister, Constructed 1408-14, with Some Account of the Donors and their Coats of Arms, and is the culmination of a lot of work on Dr. Fox's part in photographing and identifying all of the coats of arms on the ceiling of the Cloister at Canterbury Cathedral.

Some of his work on the Cloisters and their heraldry can be found on-line on his website at https://www.drpaulfoxfsa.com/canterbury-cloister

But now it's all available in this new book, described on the publisher's website as:

It is the first comprehensive and complete study of this monument ever undertaken, and it provides a detailed chronology as well as many new insights into the families who were donors. The monument is revealed to have been the personal project of Archbishop Thomas Arundel (d.1414), an individual closely connected with the overthrow of King Richard II. The work as a whole provides considerable insights into the revolution of 1399 and the troubled reign of Henry IV as seen through the lens of individual families.

Anyway, if you are interested in obtaining a copy of this book, either in hard copy (for £65) or as a .pdf e-book (for £16), you can order it (as I am about to do) from Archaeopress at https://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7B62AE5BE5-B766-43FF-9687-F5249F3B11D3%7D

A Final Coat of Arms from Stuttgart

For our final bit of heraldry seen in Stuttgart, Germany, we have this beautifully etched glass armorial goblet with lid, seen on display in the Old Castle there.

The arms are, of course, the well-known arms of Sachsen (Saxony), blazoned in German as In neunmal von Schwarz und Gold geteilten Feld einen schrägrechten grünen Rautenkranz and in English as Barry sable and or a crancelin [a bend engrailed on the upper edge the points trefly, or crown of rue] vert.

Horsing Around in Stuttgart, Germany

Okay, I'll admit it: the title of today's post is a bad pun. In my defense, I was left unsupervised. Plus, I'm tired today, and that opens the door to such shenanigans. Be that as it may ...

The coat of arms of the city of Stuttgart, in the state of Baden-Württemberg (whose changing coat of arms we have been seeing in the last several posts), is quite a simple one: Or a horse forceny [rearing] sable.

And its coat of arms can be found all around the city in various forms, as demonstrated below:

It's great to see a place using its heraldry so proudly!

A Final Display of the Arms of the Duchy of Württemberg

Nearby, in central Stuttgart, Germany, we ran across an armorial plaque commemorating the 350th anniversary of an event.

Am 16 Mai 1534 wurde in der stuttgarter stiftskirche die erste evangelische predigt gehalten. Damit began die reformation im herzogtum Württemberg, die zur bildung der evangelischen landeskirche in Württemberg. Führte 16 May 1984 Verbum Domini manet in aeternum.

On 16 May 1534, the first Evangelical sermon was delivered in the Stuttgart (stifts?)church. With this began the reformation in the Duchy of Württemberg, which was used for the formation of the Protestant state church in Württemberg. Erected 16 May 1984. The word of God remains forever.

Accompanying the text is the coat of arms of the Duchy of Württemberg in use from 1495 to about 1700:

Once again (so you don't have to go back to a different post to get it), the arms are blazoned: Quarterly: 1, Or three stag’s attires fesswise in pale sable (Württemberg); 2, Lozengy bendwise [in some examples, bendwise sinister] or and sable (Teck); 3, Azure(?) a flagstaff bendwise gules steeled argent flying a pennon or charged with an eagle displayed sable (the Banneramt, the office of the Imperial banner); and 4, Gules two fishes haurient embowed addorsed or (Mömpelgard).

Depictions of Some of the Dukes of Württemberg and Their Arms

In the courtyard of the Old Castle in Stuttgart there is a bronze equestrian figure of Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg.

He himself carries no shield displaying the arms of the Duchy, but his horse trappings do after a fashion.

As you can see, right behind his saddle on each side are a shield with the arms of Württemberg, Or three stag’s attires fesswise in pale sable. Accompanying it on the horse's right side is a shield with the arms of Mömpelgard, Gules two fishes haurient embowed addorsed or; on the horse's right side the accompanying arms are those of Teck, , Lozengy bendwise or and sable.

Inside the Castle are paintings of some of the Dukes of Württemberg:

Eberhard I (1445-1496), the same fellow in armor above, here bearing the Imperial Banner:

Ulrich (1487-1550). His volatile personality made him infamous, being called the "Swabian Henry VIII" by historians:

And Ludwig III (1554-1593):

The Next Step in the Evolution of the Arms of Württemberg

So now we've seen the plain arms of the County of Württemberg, and the later quartered arms of the County.

In 1495, the County became a Duchy and, of course, somehow someone felt the need to complicate the arms of the new Duchy even more. (These arms were used until about 1700.) Let's begin with a couple of versions in color (the first from a map of the Duchy of Württemberg which also has the plain arms of Württemberg accompanying it, and the second carved on a wall and then painted), and then go to several of the plain stone carved renditions.

The arms are blazoned: Quarterly: 1, Or three stag’s attires fesswise in pale sable (Württemberg); 2, Lozengy bendwise [in some examples, bendwise sinister] or and sable (Teck); 3, Azure(?) a flagstaff bendwise gules steeled argent flying a pennon or charged with an eagle displayed sable (the Banneramt, the office of the Imperial banner); and 4, Gules two fishes haurient embowed addorsed or (Mömpelgard).

Above we have the arms of the Duchy with two crests: the hunting horn for Württemberg, and a dog's head for Teck.

This version uses three crests (plus the two non-supporting stag supporters for Württemberg in panels on either side of the arms): the hunting horn for Württemberg, a female bust with fish as arms for Mömpelgard, and the dog's head for Teck. (You really ought to click on the image above to see a larger version; either the lady has fish for arms, or fish have swallowed her arms all the way up to her shoulders!) You can also see that crest in more detail in this other image, below.

And, of course, there are other versions without incorporating the crests at all.

Clearly, the "supporters" in this one are not the usual stags, but putti who seem to have lost their heads!

The Quartered Arms of Counts of Württemberg

In the same hall in the Old Castle in Stuttgart with the other carved figures of various Counts of Württemberg that we looked at last time, there were two more, but these had quartered arms on them.

The oldest of these (based on the dates carved into the explanatory text) are those of Henry, Count (Comes) of Württemberg, dated 1480.

As you can see, we have the arms of Württemberg in the first and fourth quarters (Or three stag's attires fesswise in pale sable). The second and third quarters have the arms of Mömpelgard (Gules two fishes haurient embowed addorsed or).

The other display with the quartered arms of Württemberg and Mömpelgard was another (I think) Henry, Count of Württemberg, dated 1519.

Cool, huh? Wait till you see what's coming up next, when the arms start getting a lot more complex!