Once Again, Proof That You Can Find Heraldry Everywhere!

So there I was, just sitting in my living room, watching one of my favorite reality TV shows, House Hunters International.* I like watching the show because I often get to see places I've not seen before, at least not in person, and occasionally I get to see someplace that I have visited before, and it's fun to for any buildings or streets that I have seen (or walked on) myself.

Anyway, I was sittiing there, just minding my own business, while a couple was looking for a place to live in Poggio Bustone in central Italy.

And as they were walking the streets of the town, a carved shield on a wall caught my eye. It only showed for a second or two, so of course I had to rewind to get a better look.

And here's an enlarged picture of the arms.

A quick search (I mean, there are a lot of clues on the shield, so it didn't take much research) determined that these are, as I - and no doubt you - suspected, the arms of the town of Poggio Bustone, Italia.

And here, from the Heraldry of the World website, is a color version of those arms:

Anyway, I thought that this was something kind of cool to run across while just sitting in my living room not looking for heraldry at all. And there it was! Proof positive once again demonstrating my old saying that, "You can find heraldry everywhere!"

* Yes, I am fully aware that the show is scripted. The people featured on it have already selected the place they want to live sometime before and are just going through the motions of having to choose between three different places. That's okay; as I said above, that's not why I watch the show. 

It's June 10, International Heraldry Day!

Today is June 10, and once again, it is International Heraldry Day!

Once again, it is International Heraldry Day, and this drawing remains one of my favorite depictions of my arms (along with that of my late wife Jo's), done by the late UN diplomat and heraldic artist Sunil Saigal.

Jo's arms are blazoned "Argent semy of sexfoils purpure." Why, you ask? Because, she said, she always wanted to have sex on her shield. Bah-dum-dum, cymbal crash. She had a weird sense of humor. It was just one of the things that helped us to get along so very well.

The Arms of a Bishop and Coadjutor Bishop

For our next, and final, stop in Passau, Germany, we find this armorial display of four shields dated 1525. (As always, you can click on the image below to see the full-size photograph in greater detail.)

At the top we have what I bellieve to be the crest of Wiguleus Fröschl von Marzoll, Bishop of Passau 1500-1517, placed on a shield. Issuant from a coronet, a dexter cubit arm gules the hand closed around stone proper. However, other depictions of the crest I have seen do not have the coronet, so my identification here could be incorrect.

The shield on the left in the center is badly worn on the outside, but it looks like the arms of Ernst von Bayern, Coadjutor Bishop* of Passau, 1517, Administrator of Passau, 1517-1540, Administrator of Salzburg, 1540-1554. His arms are: Quarterly: 1 and 4, Argent a lion rampant gules; 2, Sable a lion rampant or crowned gules; and 4, Lozengy bendwise azure and argent. (At least one old armorial substitutes wolf from the arms of the City of Passau for the lions in the first and fouth quarters.)

The shield on the right in the center is very badly worn, to the point of unidentifiability, but might be the arms of the City of Passau, Argent a wolf rampant gules.

And finally, the shield at the bottom is the arms of Wiguleus Fröschl von Marzoll, Bishop of Passau. One old armorial colors these arms as: Quarterly: 1 and 4, Gules a lion with the face of a tusked man rampant argent (Pachhamer); 2 and 3, Or a frog tergiant vert (Fröschl von Marzoll).

The colors of the second and third quarters from that old armorial are incorrect. Rietstap's Armorial Général blazons the Fröschl von Marzoll arms (translated into English) as Sable a frog tergiant or.

The arms are canting. The family name is derived from "fröschl," which means "little frog" in Bavarian dialect.

Albeit somewhat worn, and even a little confusing in places, it is still an interesting display of heraldry!



* A coadjutor is a person appointed to assist another in their duties. The term is most commonly used in religious and historical contexts to refer to a bishop or archbishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop with the right to automatically succeed them upon their retirement or death.

The Complex Armorial Displays of a Prince-Bishop

At our next stop in Passau, Germany, we find two displays of a very complex armory: the arms of Johann Philipp von Lamberg (1651-1712), Prince-Bishop of Passau. (Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Philipp_von_Lamberg). He was also a cardinal of the church, but the red galero of a cardinal does not appear in either of these displays.

First, we have this stone-carved rendition of his arms on a railing (as always, you should click on the image to go to the full-size photograph to see these arms in greater detail):

These arms appear in Rietstap's Armorial Général, blazoned:

Rietstap: Lamberg d’Amerang – Aut. (Comtes, 1636; princes, 1707). Ec: aux 1 et 4 parti: a. fascé d’ar. et d’azur de quatre pièces; b. de gu. plein (Lamberg); aux 2 et 3 d’or à un chien braque ramp. de sa., langue de gu., coll. et bouclé d’or (Pottwein ou Podwein). Sur le tout de gu. à deux lévriers affr. d’arg., coll. d’or, ramp. contre une echelle de quatre échelons d’or (de la Scala ou Scaliger).

They appear in Rolland and Rolland's Illustrations to the Armorial Général:

Here is my English translation of Rietstap of these arms, including the addition of another inescutcheon with the arms of the City of Passau: Lamberg of Amerang – Austria (Counts, 1636; princes, 1707) Quarterly: 1 and 4; Per pale, a, Barry of four pieces argent and azure; b, Gules plain (Lamberg); 2 and 3, Or a pointer dog rampant sable langued gules collared and buckled or (Pottwein or Podwein); overall two inescutcheons, (dexter) Argent a wolf rampant gules (the city of Passau); (sinister) Gules a ladder of four rungs or supported by two greyhounds rampant respectant argent collared or (de la Scala or Scaliger), the two inescutcheons surmounted by a bishop’s mitre proper.

These arms also appear in color over an altar:

You can decide for yourself how accurate my blazon is by comparing it with the detail of the arms over the altar immediately below:

In both displays, behind the shield is a bishop's crozier and the sword of a prince flanking a processional cross, surmounted by the crown of a prince.

All in all, I find these to be fascinating displays of what is really some very complex heraldry, identifying both the man and his offices.

It is, as Mel Brooks said in A History of the World, Part I, "good to be the king," but clearly, as demonstrated here, it is also good to be the Prince-Bishop!

The Arms of a Kingdom

Following along on Katie's trip up the Danube, we come to the city of Passau, Germany, where she found the arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

The arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria are: Quarterly Pfalz (Sable a lion rampant crowned gules), Franken (Per fess indented gules and argent), Margraviate of Burgau (for Schwaben, the area of the Staufen family) (Bendy sinister argent and gules a pale or), and Veldenz (Argent a lion rampant [here, queue forchy] azure crowned or), an inescutcheon of the arms of Wittelsbach (the longtime ruling family in Bavaria) (Paly bendy [or Lozengy bendwise] argent and azure).

These were the Bavarian Kingdom coat of arms from 1835 until the end of the monarchy on November 12, 1918.

We have seen these arms before, on a sign in London, England, no less!

The sign is for "King Ludwig Wheat Beer. Beer of Royal Highness".

It was King Ludwig I (reigned 1825-1848) who adopted these arms in 1835. King Ludwig I is not nearly so well known as his grandson, King Ludwig II, "the Mad", also called "the Fairy Tale King", best known for building Neuschwanstein Castle.

The Complex Arms of Schwarzenberg

In our last post, we saw the less complex arms of the Schwarzenberg lords of Český Krumlov, Czechia, consisting as they did of simple quartered arms. Today, we're going to look at the later, more complex Schwarzenberg arms, with four different quarters plus an inescutcheon divided per pale.

But first, who were these people? The Český Krumlov website informs us:

The House of Schwarzenberg is a prominent Bohemian and Franconian noble family whose influence has spanned Central Europe since the Middle Ages. The family became notable for its military service to the Habsburgs, extensive estates in Bohemia and Austria, and ongoing prominence in Czech and European history.

Origins and Rise

The Schwarzenbergs trace their lineage to Seinsheim in Franconia, first recorded in the 12th century. They rose to prominence in imperial service, acquiring the Schwarzenberg lands in the 15th century. Their Bohemian branch began after extensive estates were purchased and developed in southern Bohemia, particularly around Český Krumlov, following the defeat of the Ottomans and the consolidation of Habsburg power.

Political and Military Influence

Members of the family held significant military and diplomatic roles within the Habsburg monarchy. Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg, gained fame as commander of the Allied forces that defeated Napoleon at Leipzig in 1813. Other family members served as governors, diplomats, and politicians in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and later in Czechoslovakia.

Cultural and Economic Legacy

The Schwarzenbergs became major landowners and patrons of art, architecture, and science in Central Europe. They oversaw the construction and preservation of notable residences such as Hluboká Castle and Orlík Castle, centers of cultural patronage. Their estates were nationalized under communist rule after 1948, though some properties have since been returned

With all that as background, let's take a look at their later coat of arms. (As always, I recommend clicking on the images below to go to the full-size photographs to be able to see the details more clearly.)

Returning to the city's website: The German noble family of Schwarzenbergs was originally called the Lords of Seinsheim and their proper emblem was a shield with silver and blue stripes. After the conquest of Raab, the Turkish fortress, the emblem was enlarged in 1599 by Adolf zu Schwarzenberg with head of a Turk, his eyes being pecked out by a raven. In 1688, there was another modification of the coat-of-arms which was improved by the symbols of other dominions. Three red spikes on a field symbolise the Schultz dominion which was annexed to the dominion by Ferdinand zu Schwarzenberg after the marriage with Marie Anna von Schultz. A burning twig (or "firebrand", making this quarter canting arms) symbolises the Brandis dominion. In the heart shield of the coat-of-arms there are emblems of the Schwarzenberg dominions - a tower on a black hill and Kleggau - three golden sheaves. The prince's crown above the coat-of-arms symbolises the prince's title.

Here's a color version of these arms that I found on the internet that will give you a better idea of what they looked like:

Quarterly: 1, Paly of eight argent and azure; 2, Per fess indented argent and gules; 3, Argent a firebrand bendwise sable flammant proper; and 4, Or a Turk's head [here, bendwise] couped being pecked by a raven proper; overall an inescutcheon Per pale Gules a tower argent atop a trimount issuant from base sable, and Azure three garbs of wheat or.

The motto Nil nisi rectum means Nothing but right.

You may note that in the second picture above, the third quarter has the Turk's head palewise.

In the second picture, and in the drawing of the arms immediately above, they are encircled by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

So, based on the earlier quartered arms, but with two additional coats in the quarters, plus an inescutcheon. Well, I did say that these would be a lot more complex!

A More Complex Eggenberg Coat of Arms, and a Less Complex Schwarzenberg One

Last time, I told you that we would be seeing a more complex coat of arms of the Eggenberg lords of Český Krumlov, Czechia. That one, last time's, was simply Quarterly; this time's is Quarterly of six!

And next to it, on two different buildings in the city, is a simpler (Quarterly: 1 and 2; 3 and 4) version of the coat of arms of the Schwarzenberg lords of Český Krumlov. Next time, we'll see the more complex version (Quarterly: 1, 2, 3 and 4, and an inescutcheon) of those arms.

Now, on to today's armorial displays. (Be sure to click on the images to see the full-size versions with much greater detail.)

Here, on the right side of the building, we have, from left to right, the Eggenberg arms and the Schwarzenberg arms.

The Eggenberg arms are blazoned: Quarterly: 1, Argent five roses gules seeded or (Český Krumlov); 2, Per fess or and azure a cross moline issuant from a crescent (Gradiška); 3, Gules an eagle displayed argent armed and beaked or (Aquilea); 4, Per pale azure and gules an eagle displayed argent (Postojna); 5, Azure an anchor or (Ptuj); and 6, Or a wheel argent (Radgona/Radkersburg); overall an inescutcheon Argent in pall three crows or ravens displayed heads to center sable holding in their beaks a crown or (Eggenberg).

The Schwarzenberg arms (not the oldest, those being simply the first quarter of the arms here, as lords of Seinsheim), are blazoned: Quarterly: 1 and 4, Paly of eight argent and azure (Seinsheim); 2 and 3, Or the head of a Turk couped, his eyes being pecked out by a raven all proper (Raab). (The head of the Turk is found in different orientations in different depictions of the Schwarzenberg arms: fesswise, bendwise, and palewise. Because of that, I have elected not to blazon its orientation.)

These same two coats of arms are also found on the façade of the museum here, flanking the arms of Bohemia, which itself is centered above the arms of the city. (Again, click on the image below to see the full-size photograph):

Two families, commemorating a transition from one family to another as lords of Český Krumlov, Czechia. And, also, marking a transition from the more complex arms of the older family to the simpler arms of the newer one. But, of course, even those simpler arms will become more complex, as we will see next time!

Heraldic Evidence of an Eggenberg Marital Alliance

Moving on chronologically from the Rosenberg lords of Český Krumlov, Czechia, we come to the Eggenberg rulers.

First up, a return to the armorial display over this gate, and the marriage of Johann Anton I von Eggenberg and Anna Maria Brandenburg-Bayreuth.

The couple were married according to the Roman Catholic rite (notwithsttanding the bride's strong Protestant faith) on 23 October 1639 in Regensburg. Prince Johann Anton I von Eggenberg (1610-1649) was Duke of Krumau, and subsequently received the opportunity to acquire the shire of Gorizia and Gradisca along the Adriatic coast two years later from his boyhood friend, Emperor Ferdinand III.

Anna Maria (1609-1680) was the daughter of Margrave Christian von Brandenburg-Bayreuth and Marie of Prussia, daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia.

The marriage ceremony had been negotiated by Christian Wilhelm von Brandenburg and prince Johann Anton I, who thereby secured for himself Brandenburg's support for his claim to a seat in the Imperial Diet.

The arms on the keystone in this picture are, as we have seen before, the ancient arms of Rosenberg.

Of the other two shields, that on the left is the arms of Johann Anton I von Eggenberg. As is often the case, most of the arms on the shield are those of various lordships: Quarterly: 1, Argent five roses gules seeded or (Český Krumlov); 2, Per pale azure and gules an eagle displayed argent (Postojna); 3, Azure an anchor or (Ptuj); and 4, Or a wheel argent (Radgona/Radkersburg); overall an inescutcheon Argent in pall three crows or ravens displayed heads to center sable holding in their beaks a crown or (Eggenberg). (This is not the most complex version of these arms; we will see the more widespread Quarterly of six version in our next post.)

And, of course, the shield on the left is that of Anna Maria Brandenburg-Bayreuth. The shield is divided Quarterly of twelve, but as noted on the Český Krumlov website, the "appearance of the emblem is not faithful as it doesn't have all the features of the coat-of-arms of Brandenburg Margraves from the half of the 17th century."

To save me the trouble of typing out the full blazon (and to save you the trouble of having to read it!), here is a color drawing of her arms. (I do not know the name of the artist, or I would have attributed it to him or her here.)

I always do find it interesting to see displays of the heraldry of marital alliances. With just a little bit of research, you can find out so much about the individuals and the families memorialized there.

Heraldic Evidence of a Rosenberg Marital Alliance

The website discussing the history, personalities, and heraldry of Český Krumlov, Czechia (https://encyklopedie.ckrumlov.cz/cz/mesto_histor_himeck/#gsc.tab=0) informs us: "The town lived through the greatest cultural and economic bloom during the Renaissance, under the rule of Wilhelm von Rosenberg and thus there are mostly allied emblems of Wilhelm and his wives - Katherine of Brunschwig, Mary Ann of Baden, or Polyxena of Pernštejn."

Today, we're going to see the heraldic evidences to be seen in the town of the second of those marriages, between Wilhelm von Rosenberg (1535-1592) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Rosenberg) and Anna Maria von Baden (1562-1583. Just 21 when she died!) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Maria_of_Baden) (mistranslated by Google as "Mary Ann of Baden" above).

Here (above) on the side of this building we see, on the left, the Rosenberg ("Rosenberg modern") arms that were discussed in my last post, and on the right, the arms of Anna Maria von Baden.

And here they are again (below), at the top of the façade of this building (though with the bendy portion of the Rosenberg shield mirrored to become bendy sinister):

Here's a closer image of those arms:

Anna's arms are blazoned: Quarterly: 1 and 4, Or, a bend Gules; 2 and 3, Checky Gules and Argent. these are the arms of the House of Baden, Lords of Rodemachern, Gräfenstein and Alt-Eberstein, Counts of Sponheim, Margraves of Baden and Baden-Baden. This is the version of their arms adopted after 1437.

Anna’s parents were Margrave Philibert of Baden (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philibert,_Margrave_of_Baden-Baden) and Mechthild of Bavaria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechthild_of_Bavaria)

What great displays of heraldry, all from what must have been a very short marriage, Anna being only 21 when she died!

An Heraldic Conundrum

I'm having a bit of a quandry now, trying to figure out the best way to go through these other photographs of heraldry in Český Krumlov, Czechia, that my friend Katie took for me.

There were over the years three different families who were lords of Český Krumlov. In chronological order, they are: the Rosenbergs; the Essenbergs; and the Schwarzenbergs.

The quandry comes when we realize that: (1) each family changed their coat of arms over the years (not entirely unlike the arms of France being changed from France ancient (Azure semy-de-lys Or) to France modern (Azure three fleurs-de-lys Or); (2) some displays of their arms also have the arms of one of their wives; and finally, (3) several displays of heraldry have the arms of more than one family, e.g., Rosenberg displayed along with Eggenberg, and Eggenberg displayed along with Schwarzenberg, and in one case, Rosenberg displayed along with Schwarzenberg. As you can see, it's complicated.

So anyway, I have decided to try to do them in basically chronological order, but you will be seeing some photographs more than once, as I talk about each family separately.

So to begin: the Rosenberg lords of Český Krumlov. The lords of Rosenberg were one of the family branches of the Vítkovci family, and became known, as so many other ruling families, by the name of their lordship, hence, the Rosenbergs.

We saw the arms that I suppose we could term Rosenberg ancient in our last post, those arms consisting of Argent a rose Gules seeded Proper.

And then we come to what we could call Rosenberg modern, Per fess Argent and bendy of six Gules and Argent, on a fess Or a serpent glissant Sable in chief a rose Gules seeded Proper, though it is often seen without the snake, and sometimes the "bendy" in base is painted as "bendy sinister".

In any event, here is one example on the keystone of an arch:

The website for the city informs us that in 1556, Wilhelm von Rosenberg augmented the family coat of arms by adding a golden fess with a black snake and alternating red and silver diagonal stripes in the lower part of the coat of arms. This was a symbol of a royal Italian family, the Orsinis, a family to which the Rosenbergs were allegedly kindred.

The family of the Rosenbergs had their residence in Český Krumlov for three centuries (1302-1602) which is why their arms can be found in a number of places around the city.

Here is another example, on the keystone of another arch.

(Pay no attenion to the two coats of arms on the wall above the doorway; we will be getting to those in a later post, trust me.)

Next time, colored depictions of the arms of Wilhelm von Rosenberg and one of his wives.

Ancient Arms on Český Krumlov Castle

On the wall of Český Krumlov castle in Český Krumlov, Czechia, are three carved ancient coats of arms. (Click on the image below to go to the full-size photograph, enabling you to see the detail of these shields more clearly.)

On the left, we have the arms of the Lords of Kravaře.

The Lords of Kravaře were a prominent Moravian noble family (13th–15th centuries), members of the Benešovice lineage, who used the coat of arms of a silver curled arrow (odřivous) on a red field. They were holders of extensive estates, especially in Moravia (e.g. Helfštýn, Fulnek, Bílovec, Strážnice), and held high provincial offices, with many members supporting the Hussite reforms. The family dates back to the 13th century, when the Lords of Benešov acquired Kravaře. Lacek of Kravaře (Latchic of Helstein) was a prominent Moravian nobleman at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, provincial governor, ally of Jošt of Luxembourg and supporter of the reform ideas of Jan Hus. At the time of their greatest prosperity (late 14th – early 15th century) they were one of the richest families in Moravia. The family became extinct by the sword during the 15th century.

In the middle, we have the ancient arms of Rosenberg.

The coat-of arms of the Rosenberg Lords of Krumlov was a green five-petalled rose with a golden center in a silver field. The Lords of Krumlov were one of the family branches of a Czech family, the Vítkovci. The five-petalled rose symbolises, according to an old emblem legend of splitting of the Vítkovci family, the five sons, among whom Vítek z Prčice divided the family dominions. The symbol of a green five-petalled rose was also used by the most significant member of the family of Lords of Krumlov - Záviš of Falkenštejn.

The Witigonen (Vítkovci) belonged to one of the most significant and oldest Czech families which settled the region of South Bohemia. The founder and the forefather of the family was Vítek of Prčice. His descendants founded a number of other significant Czech noble families, as the Lords of Krumlov, the Rosenbergs, Lords of Hradec, Landštejn and Třeboň, Stráž, Sezimovo Ústí or Úpice all originated from the family of Vítkovci. The Vítkovci founded the Rosenberg castle in the Český Krumlov region around the year 1250, around the year 1253 they founded the Český Krumlov castle and in 1259 the monastery in Vyšší Brod. All branches of the family bore a single rose on the shield, with different tinctures of both shield and rose marking the different family lines.

A later Rosenberg Lord of Český Krumlov modified his arms, and we will see these arms in a subsequent post.   

And finally, on the right we have the arms of the Lords of Pernstein.

The coat of arms of the Pernstein (Pernštejn) family is one of the most distinctive Czech heraldic symbols, featuring a black bison (aurochs) head with a golden ring in its nostrils on a gold field. Often portrayed in medieval 13th-16th century, the emblem is associated with a myth about a forefather capturing a wild beast, and it remained used by the family until their line went extinct in 1631.

 

The Coat of Arms of Český Krumlov, Czechia

The next stop in Katie's river cruise was the town of Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic.

The town has a lot of heraldry in it, with lots of examples of the arms of three different ruling families over the years: the Rosenbergs; the Eggenbergs; and the Schwarzenbergs.

But first, for the arms of the city itself:

My blazon for the arms is: Azure a double-towered castle argent roofed and portcullised proper, in chief on an inescutcheon Argent a rose proper between three crows or ravens displayed in pall heads to center sable. (The inescutcheon refers back to the original arms of the Rosenberg (the rose) and Eggenberg (the three crows/ravens) lords of Český Krumlov.)

The arms of the city can also be seen painted on the side of the Tortury Museum, between the windows and immediately below the arms of the state of Bohemia: Gules a lion rampant double queued (sometimes, as here, queue-forchy) Argent crowned and armed Or. The Bohemian arms are now the first and fourth quarters of the arms of the Czechia (the Czech Republic).

Please click on the image below to go to the full-size photograph to see these arms in greater detail.

The other coats of arms flanking Bohemia are those of Eggenberg and Schwarzenberg, which we will be seeing again.

The Arms of Another Abbot

Today, still at Göttweig Abbey in Austria, we get to see another coat of arms of an Abbot, this time impaling the arms of the Abbey.

Here we see the arms of Göttweig Abbey impaled by those of the Abbot Wilhelm Zedinek. We have seen the arms of the Abbey in our most recent two posts. The arms of the Abbot, seen here without tinctures, are A broken sword reversed/inverted (point down, hilt up). The scroll above the arms gives us more specific information: "Wilhelm Felix Zedinek Abt." The lower scroll has the motto Da robur fer auxilium, flanked by the dates 1949 and 1971 (the years that he was Abbot of the monastery).

Da robur, fer auxilium translates to "Give strength, bring aid" or "Supply strength, bear aid". It is a famous line from the 13th-century Latin Eucharistic hymn O Salutaris Hostia written by St. Thomas Aquinas, serving as a plea for divine support against spiritual struggles.

Abbot Zedinek has his own entry on Wikipedia (in German) where you can learn more about his life:  https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Zedinek

During the Second World War, the monks were expelled from the monastery, which had been confiscated by the Nazi regime, and the house was used as a “Napola” (national political educational institution) and also as a resettlement camp.

At the end of the war, in 1945, 3,000 Russian soldiers were quartered in the monastery building for several weeks before the expelled priests were able to return to Göttweig on August 15. However, the reconstruction work seemed to exceed human strength. When Abbot Hartmann Strohsacker died in 1946, the chances of a new beginning and Göttweig's right to exist were also doubted by the church.

But Abbot Zedinek,  with his predecessor Edmund Vasicek (1947-1949) and successor Benedikt Ramoser (1971-1973), restored the independent economic viability of the severely damaged monastery, and today, in addition to being a working Benedictine monastery, it is a tourist destination.

The Arms of Two Abbots

We have often seen in many countries along with the arms of a church establishment the arms of the man who leads it. For example, the arms of a bishop displayed in his diocesal seat; the arms of an archbishop in his archepiscopal seat. Here, in Göttweig Abbey, a Benedictine monastery near Furth bei Göttwei in Lower Austria, we find the arms of two of its Abbots.

First, we see the carved and painted arms of Abbot Gregor Heller (1648-1669), placed by themselves on an interior wall of the Abbey.

These arms would be blazoned: Quarterly: 1 and 4, Argent a fleur-de-lis vert; 2 and 3, Azure on a pale sable three bezants each charged with a cross couped sable; overall on an inescutcheon Or a fleur-de-lis vert.

I've not found these arms in any of "the usual suspects" (to borrow a line from the movie Casablanca): Rietstap's Armorial Général, Siebmacher's Wappenbuch von 1605, the Heraldry of the World website, and several others.

Next, and placed immediately above the Abbey's large organ, next to those of the Abbey we find the arms of Abbot Berthold Mayr (1689-1713). Abbot Mayr was a prominent leader of Göttweig Abbey, and is best known for commissioning a renowned panorama of the Danube Valley from artist Matthäus Küsel and significantly expanding the abbey's collections.

Here again, I've not found these arms in any of "the usual suspects" listed above.

My attempt at a blazon would be: Quarterly: 1, Gules a dove(?) atop argent atop a mount/hillock vert; 2, Gules a tree proper atop a terrace vert; 3, Gules three mullets(?) or; and 3, Gules on a bend sinister argent a (fleur-de-lis? bird volant?) or.

I'd love to know more about both of these coats of arms. If you know anything of their history or even just a better blazon, I'd love to have you share it with us here.

The Arms of a Historical Abbey in Austria

Near the little town of Furth bei Göttweig, Austria, is Göttweig Abbey (in German, Stift Göttweig). The Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Lower Austria, founded in 1083 by Altmann, Bishop of Passau. In the Middle Ages the abbey was a seat of learning with a library and a monastic school. You can find out a lot more about its interesting, though somewhat checkered, history and huge library (among other things) on-line at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göttweig_Abbey

Unsurprisingly, especially given its long history, the Abbey has its own coat of arms, to be found in various places in and on the Abbey. Here is one example in the pediment over a gate leading into the building complex:

And here is another over a doorway inside:

A blazon would be: Gules a cross patty fitched at the foot argent issuant from a trimount issuant from base vert. (Or something very similar.)

If you compare the arms in the two photographs here, you will note some artistic differences between the cross on each one. The one over the gate is more a "classic" cross paty/formy, while the one over the inner doorway is more a Latin cross with the upper arms flared just at the ends.

That the Abbey is important to the town can be demonstrated by the fact that the arms of the Abbey are incorporated as a part of the town's arms, granted in 1984 (image from the website Heraldry of the World):

All in all, it's a very simple coat of arms that refers to the Abbey's long history as a Christian institution and to its physical location in the hills overlooking both the town and nearby Danube River.

And ... We're Back to Vienna!

Returning you now to our look at some of the heraldry that my good friend Katie took for me while she was on her river cruise vacation, we're back in Vienna, looking at some of the armorial memorials on the exterior of St. Stephen's Cathedral there.

Where once again I find myself a bit hampered by the lack of any general armorials or ordinaries (books/publications useful for finding coats of arms) for the area. Still, with a little help from the TinyEye reverse image search website, and a whole lot of hunting around on the intertubes to see if I could find other pictures of these same memorials, ideally with more readable inscriptions, I was able to identify one of the two memorials in this picturec:

The memorial on the left is identified as that of Simon Rückhenbaum, d. 1643. Historical records of Vienna note a Simon Rückenbaum was a member of the Outer Council (äußerer Rath) and a captain in the Miedmerviertel district, active in 1649. Given that the Simon memorialized here died six years before that date, it is more likely that the Simon mentioned in the records was his son, or possibly some other close relative.

The arms carved at the base of the monument contain three roses on branches issuing from the center of a trimount in base. The crest is a demi-man vested and wearing a cap with a long feather in it, holding a branch blasted bendwise.

The memorial on the right is trickier: I've been unable to read the name, but in spite of the fact that the arms look to be identical to Rückhenbaum, the surname is definitely not the same, looking more like "Koobler" or "Bobler" or some other variant, but certainly not Rückhenbaum.

And while the arms are the same, the crest, too, is entirely different, consisting of six rose branches.

The arms, alas, do not appear in Rietstap's Armorial Général, and I have been unable to track them down in any of my other sources on hand.

It seems a shame, but appears to be all too common, that the guidebooks to a site (in this instance, a major cathedral), either in print or on-line, are written more for the general tourist than for someone with an interest in, say, the heraldry of the memorials displayed in or on that site.*  I have found this to be true in so very many places, whether I am visiting in person or via the internet.

* My greatest disappointment in this regard came during a visit some years ago to St. Paul's Cathedral in London, where they don't (or at least didn't at that time; apparently now, with some limitations, like no flash, it is now permissible) allow photographs down in the crypt. So I was unable to take a picture of the tomb of Admiral John Jellicoe which has his coat of arms carved into the top. (His arms are blazoned: Argent three bars wavy azure overall a whale hauriant sable, which I thought very appropriate for an Admiral of the Fleet.) But none of the guidebooks which can be purchased in the gift shop of the Cathedral had a picture of Lord Jellicoe's tomb and arms in them, either. I was most put out.

Military Heraldry and Flags at a Memorial

So there I was, just killing a little time in the wilds of Utah, waiting for the time for a memorial service to begin, and I thought I would drive around a bit to see what I could see.

Well, wouldn't you know it? One of the things to see that I ran across was the Orem City Cemetery. Now, in addition to being a heraldist, I am also a genealogist, so there was kind of a draw for me.

And as I was driving through the cemetery, I noticed a bunch of flags, which proved to be part of a veterans memorial there.

And here's an overview of the aforementioned flags.

Right in the center, from front to back, we have the flags of the United States Coast Guard, the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy. (And behind the pole on the right, the U.S. Marine Corps.)

And in this next photo, front to back and then left to right, the U.S. Merchant Marine, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, and (harder to make out, but I couldn't get the wind to cooperate fully for me) the U.S. Army.

Finally, we have the flag of the U.S. Space Force, with the upper hoist corner of the POW-MIA flag in the lower right corner.

This is not to imply that all of these flags are truly heraldic. Indeed, the only one that could be said to be truly heraldic is the one with the coat of arms of the U.S. Air Force. Most of the rest display what are more like badges (e.g., the U.S. Marine Corps)* or even logos. Still, they are certainly heraldry-adjacent, and I have photographed all of these emblems before in various places (for example, on the capitol building grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina), and will no doubt continue to do so in the future as I see them.

* MAD Magazine way back in the 1960s (well, I'm certainly dating myself with that reference!) did some parodies of the service songs of the branches of the U.S. armed forces. (Well, not the Space Force, which was not in existence back then.) I had a little fun on this trip singing their version of The Marines Hymn to my former Marine nephew who was there. The tune remains the same; only the words have been changed to make it more "realistic."

From the neck high mud of fo-oxholes

To malaria-filled bogs,

We will march for ninety miles a day

And drop out and die like dogs.

We will land on mine-strewn be-eaches

And we'll live with snakes and fleas;

Then we'll all leave Parris Island** for

Restful combat overseas.

** Parris Island, a district in the city of Port Royal, South Carolina, has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since 1915.

A Diversion From One Person's Trip to Another

We're going to take a short break from reviewing the pictures of heraldry that my friend Katie sent me from her European cruise trip, and look at a little heraldry that I ran across in a short trip to Utah for a family funeral.

Okay, that last bit sounded funny. It was a funeral for someone in the family, not a funeral for the whole family. I just want to make that clear.

Anyway, there was some time after lunch on Saturday, and so my oldest daughter and her family took me to Moon's Rare Books ("A Museum Disguised As a Bookstore") up in Provo. (If you're really interested, you can find them on-line at https://moons-rare-books.myshopify.com/)* They do have an amazing collection of old and rare and newer and signed books there. Alas, they did not, while I was there, have any old heraldry books. The closest they came was a 17th Century peerage by William Dugdale, one time Garter Principal King of Arms at the College of Arms in London. I admit, it was a little tempting, even though it was a peerage and not heraldry per se, but they were asking more for it than I was willing to pay, and so I let it go back to its place on the shelf in the store.

But they did indeed have an interesting piece of heraldry in there! (Not that I was going to buy it; it was so big and heavy that I would have had more difficulty than it was worth get on the airplane home!) But it was sitting right out there for anyone to see, and so I asked if I could take a picture of it. And, gratefully, they said yes.

The object was this big, old, and heraldic iron fireback.**

What we see here, beneath the Royal Crown of France, are two shields: that to dexter (on the left), the Royal Arms of France; and that to sinister (the right as you look at it), the Arms of the Kingdom of Navarre. The two shields encircled by the collar of the Order of St. Michael inside the collar of the Order of the Holy Spirit.

This collection of symbols on the fireback indicate that it may date to the reign of King Henry IV (King of France 1589-1610, and King of Navarre 1572-1610) and Queen Margaret of Valois (Queen of Navarre 1572-1599).

The Order of St. Michael (the inner collar) was founded in 1469. The Order of the Holy Spirit (the outer collar) was founded in 1578 by King Henry III, Henry IV's father predecessor as king.

What an odd, and fun, practical piece of both history and heraldry to run across in a rare book store in the wilds of northern Utah!

* "Moon’s Rare Books is a museum disguised as a bookstore. We specialize in high points in literature (Shakespeare to J. R. R. Tolkien), Bibles from 1482-1899, early Utah and Mormon history, and pop culture (including movie props from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, Indiana Jones and more). Fun for all ages."

**A fireback is a heavy cast-iron or steel plate placed against the rear wall of a fireplace to protect the masonry from heat damage, increase efficiency by reflecting heat back into the room, and to act as a decorative element. All the things that this one would, installed in a fireplace.

An Armorial Memorial in Vienna

Today's coats of arms come from a carved stone memorial mounted on the outside wall of St. Stephen’s Cathedral (German: Stephansdom), the main cathedral of Vienna. It stands in Stephansplatz in the 1st District (Innere Stadt) in the historic center of the city.

The memorial is one of several Renaissance-era memorial plaques set into the exterior walls of the cathedral. It is located along the north side of the nave, near one of the smaller side entrances, mounted high on the stone wall.

For centuries, grave markers and memorial epitaphs were embedded in the exterior walls of the cathedral because the churchyard cemetery once surrounded the building. When the cemetery was later removed, many stones remained built into the walls. I have seen such memorials mounted on the exterior walls of churches in other places, e.g., the Peterskirche (St. Peter's Church) in Heidelburg, Germany, where my great-grandfather was baptized.

But I digress. Here is the photograph that Katie took of this memorial:

The inscription is in two parts:

The shorter inscription on the small plaque above the two shields translates roughly into English as:

Those who die in God are blessed from now on. So that they all, who here in Christ fall asleep (die), shall be saved. (This is a paraphrase of Revelation 14:13 — a very common funerary text.)

The much longer inscription at the base of the monument translates roughly into English as:

To the honor of Almighty God and in special remembrance of the noble and learned lord Jacob Himmelreich Bieder, Doctor of Law of the Roman Emperor Ferdinand, city judge and also elder of the inner city council here in Vienna, who died on the 8th day of January in the year 1570, this epitaph was erected for the first lady of the house, Katherine née Freislebin, who passed away peacefully in God before the month of May 1555, and for her deceased children. This epitaph was erected by the aforementioned Count's retired son, Barthelm Himmelreich the expediter and tax assessor of the government of Archduke Charles of Austria, and Leopold Himmelreich, his brother, chamberlain to the Empress. May Almighty God, through Jesus Christ, raise them up again on the Last Day.

I have been unable to locate either the husband's or the wife's arms in the sources I have at hand. Not that I am surprised at this; armorials for German-speaking Europe and many and not easy to research; it often involves going though armorial after armorial page by page, and successful searches are pretty rare barring something like inclusion in J.-B. Rietstap's Armorial Général, which, alas, contains no arms for Bieder or Freislbin (or anything like it; yes, I know that often the "in" ending in German is a gender marker, i.e., "Mrs. Freisleb").

Herr Bieder's coat of arms (oh the left) appear to be: Quarterly: 1 and 4, An image of Atlas (a man dressed in a loincloth which is issuing a length of cloth to each side and bearing a globe of the world upon one shoulder); 2 and 3, A lion rampant. His wife Catherine's arms are:  A lion rampant maintaining in three paws a halberd.

The crests are: Issuant from a ducal coronet a crowned demi-man dressed in a loincloth which is issuing a length of cloth to each side between and holding a pair of buffalo horns/elephant's trunks each tipped with a comet (Bieder); Issuant from a ducal coronet a demi-lion erect mainting in its paws a halberd (Freislebin).

Still and all, though, I'm always grateful to be able to put a name to a coat of arms, or here, names to two coats of arms, whether or not we can determine the colors of the shield and its charges.

The Emperor's Beasts?

Well, admittedly, I ask that question in the title above because of the well-known British "Queen's Beasts", various animals holding shields which appeared at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation at Westminster Abbey.

Anyway ....

Having sailed up the Danube from Bratislava to Vienna, Austria, my friend Katie took two pictures of what I like to think of as the "Emperor's Beasts", crowned lions holding shields of arms, just outside of and flanking the way up to the Schweizertor (Swiss Gate) of the Hofburg Palace there.

The Schweizertor is a historic Renaissance-style archway built between 1552-1553 under Emperor Ferdinand I. Recognized by its striking red and black design, it serves as the entrance to the Schweizerhof (Swiss Court) and connects it to the Innerer Burghof. It is a beautiful example of 16th-century fortification architecture.

The crown that each lion is shown wearing is, of course, the Crown of St. Stephen, the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary since the 12th Century.

This lion holds the very well-known arms of Austria (Österreich): Gules a fess argent.

Directly across from the first lion is this one, holding what I believe are the arms of Niederösterreich (Lower Austria): Azure five eagles displayed or.

That said, the arrangement of the birds (which don't especially look like eagles, more like the quail on the arms of Wachtler that we looked in our last post) on the shield is unusual: one, two, and two, rather than the more common two, two, and one. Now, this could, of course, simply be an error of the stonecarver. (I mean, I've seen some heraldic carvings that really didn't match the blazon of the arms closely at all!) Or not.

Niederösterreich was created as a Duchy in 1156 and became part of Austria in 1282. Around 1450 a large part, now mainly Oberosterreich, was removed from the Duchy.

The arms with the five eagles first appears in 1335, as the legendary arms of the H. Leopold, who originated from the area. Around 1360 Duke Rudolf IV adopted the eagles as the arms of Old Austria. Ever since the arms represented Niederösterreich in the ducal and imperial arms.

The arms were not officially granted until 1920.

And Vienna was the capital of Niederösterreich at least until the city became a separate state in 1921.

So all of this history leads me to believe that this shield is the arms of Niederösterreich, at least until someone can lead me to a different conclusion.

Do you have thoughts about these "Emperor's Beasts" and the coats of arms they hold?

Artificial Intelligence, Maybe Not Quite So Intelligent After All

At least not for correctly identifying coats of arms, anyway.

My on-going, and only partly successful, attempts to use artificial intelligence (AI) as an aid in the identification of coats of arms continues, with mixed results.

For today's coat of arms, photographed in Bratislava, Slovakia, it was eventually mostly successful, but only after several attempts where I had to keep double-checking everything it was trying to tell me, explain why what it said was incorrect, and have it try again.

I was asking AI for the specific building in Bratislava with this coat of arms above the doorway, and the name of the family whose coat it was.

AI did manage to give me the name of the building pretty quickly (naturally, I had told it that this building was in Bratislava, to enable it to narrow down its search).

It told me that this building is the "Palffy Palace, and is among the oldest historic sights in Bratislava. Detailed research in the interior discovered masonry from the first half of the 13th century. In 1988 the palace was taken over by the Bratislava City Gallery that holds here a range of permanent expositions and temporary exhibitions."

Super! Now I have an identification of the building.

For the arms, though, I had to go through several iterations with AI to get a good identification.

First it told me that the bird was an eagle (a close look at the arms makes this unlikely), and I had to keep guiding guiding it back on track to get it to finally produce an identification that not only made sense, but was also corroborated by other information on the internet.

This is what AI finally told me (my comments about its findings are contained in square brackets):

"It [the coat of arms] belongs to Bernhard Wachtler, a member of the Prešov city council. [I question this; Prešov is quite a distance from Bratislava. Other information I found about Bernhard tells me that Bernhard Wachtler (†1827) became a member of the city council of ... Bratislava, Slovakia in 1801.]

The Wachtler family was the owner of the palace from 1870 to 1945. [So the arms are in fact not those of this Bernhard; he died 43 years before the family owned the palace.] The coat of arms shows a quail holding a stalk in its beak. It is a so-called speaking [canting] coat of arms (quail, German: wachtl), which corresponds to the surname of its bearer. The crown above the coat of arms with five pearls (baronial) indicates that its bearer was a nobleman. [I decided not to get into a conversation with AI about this statement. I was looking for the identification of the arms, and not the family's status.] The Wachtlers were wealthy merchants and city officials, and owned or renovated several properties in central Bratislava."

I've not been able to find a blazon for the Wachtler arms in any of the usual suspects (most importantly, J-B Rietstap's Armorial Général). The field, presumably, is blue. The trimount in base, equally presumably, is green. The quail, likely silver, but possibly gold, and is either rising or displayed. I have not been able to identify the sprig in its beak; it appears to consist of a short branch with three or four leaves and what may be a couple of berries of some type on it. (Though this last could just by my misinterpretation of the way the carving looks.)

Be that as it may, with at least a fair bit of coaching and explaining and telling it outright that it was wrong, AI finally did come up with an accurate (mostly) identification of the arms over the doorway on the façade of the Palffy Palace in Bratislava, Slovakia.

My thanks once again to my friend Katie, who thought to take pictures of heraldry for me while on her river cruise through Europe.

I Love My Friends. Artificial Intelligence, Not So Much

Late last year a friend of mine, Katie, returned from a two-week river cruise vacation in Europe, and here and there amidst all of the fun and good times she was having there, she thought to take some pictures of the coats of arms she saw there just for me!

And now, with her kind permission, I get to share some of her photos of heraldry with you.

The trick, of course, is to identify all of these coats of arms. "Ah,", I thought. "This could be a good trial of just how effective artificial intelligence can be in helping to identify at least the buildings, and likely the coats of arms carved on their facades."

Well, I was half right.

The first trial was this shot, taken in Bratislava, Slovakia.

I uploaded this photo to AI, and it quickly (and accurately; I checked) told me that this building is the Reduta, the historic home of the Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava, Slovakia, built between 1913 and 1915.

Then I asked it specifically about the coats of arms above the doorway. (Alas, the oval cartouche in the center of the triangular pediment in the upper portion of this picture is blank. No arms or any other carving.)

It quickly and, again, accurately, identified the arms on the shield on the right as the coat of arms of the city of Bratislava: Gules a triple-towered castle argent roofed proper portcullised or. These arms have been used by the city since 1436.

However, regarding the arms in the oval frame on the left, AI flat out lied to me! It explained that the arms on the left were those of the Kingdom of Hungary.

A close look at the photograph above, and comparing to some other photographs of this doorway I found on-line, what I see there is not one, but four overlapping shields: Two behind and flanking, with eagles displayed; a larger one in the center, with looks like a pale, but I can’t see it clearly enough to be sure; and a smaller uppermost shield which looks a bit like Slovakia (or the sinister half of the arms of the Kingdom of Hungary). The Slovakian arms are a 20th century creation based on an existing 14th century Hungarian coat of arms in the seal of King Louis I of Hungary.

So, not a single shield with the arms of Hungary, but four shields with different charges on them, none of which appear to be the arms of Hungary.

But who am I going to believe, AI or my own eyes?

For some reason, I am reminded of Carol Kane playing Miracle Max's wife in The Princess Bride:

Liar! Liar!

A Heraldic "Stray" in Massachusetts

I have often said that "You can find heraldry everywhere," and my travels, both local and further away, still confirm that.

Nearing the end of my trip to Massachusetts last year, "visiting relatives, both living and dead," I found myself facing a commercial van with a heraldic flag on its rear door.

A few minutes of research upon arriving back home, and I learn that this is the heraldic banner (a flag of the coat of arms) of Sicily.

The arms of Sicily are blazoned, in Italian: Trinciato di rosso e d'oro alla triscele di carnagione, con il gorgoneion e le spighe al naturale.

My attempt at a blazon in English  is: Per bend gules and or a triskelion of legs surmounted by a Medusa’s face wreathed in ears of wheat all proper.

I had already known that there was a large Italian presence in the state; my father grew up in Milford hearing a lot of Italian being spoken, and a lot (as much as half, perhaps, though I haven't actually counted them) on the World War II Memorial listing the names of all the men from Milford who served in that war were of Italian origin.

Still, it was unexpected to see the arms of Sicily right there over the hood of my rental car! But again, "You can find heraldry everywhere!"

A Final Armorial Tomb from Granary Burying Ground in Boston, Massachusetts

For our final tombstone with a coat of arms on it, we come to the tomb of Thomas Jackson.

The Heraldic Journal, Vol. II, p. 140, informs us: This tomb, situated next to the Quincy tomb in the easterly corner of the yard, is recorded as belonging to Thomas Jackson. The arms and motto seem to show that it was intended to be one of the coats recorded by Burke. These are all a fesse between three birds—in one case three shovellers; in another three shovellers, each charged wit6h a trefoil slipped; in a third three magpies; in a fourth three shell-drakes; in a fifth three falcons, close. The motto is given to the family at Beach Hill, co. Surrey, baronets, who have three shovellers charged with a trefoil. The coats have undoubtedly a common origin, and the family seems to have been settled chiefly in Yorkshire.

Preachers, Patriots & Plain Folks: Boston’s Burying Ground Guide to King’s Chapel, Granary and Central Cemeteries, by Charles C. and Suzanne Austin Wells, adds: Jonathan Jackson (1743-1810), ae 67, Loc Tomb 23, A-389. Continental Congress 1782, member of Constitutional Convention 1779, Treasurer of MA 1802, president of Boston Bank, now Bank of Boston 1803-1810.

Of the arms on the tomb, Bolton’s An American Armory tells us: Jackson. Gules a fess argent between three shovellers (tufted on the head and breast) argent (each charged with a trefoil slipped vert, on an inescutcheon the Badge of Ulster in chief.
        Crest: A shoveller.
        Motto: Innocentiæ securus (Secure in his innocence.)
        Thomas Jackson’s tomb, Granary Burying Ground, by Tremont Building, Boston. Stone is reinforced or reset. Arms of the baronets of Beach Hill, Co. Surrey. Heral. Jour., vol. 2, p. 140.

Crozier’s General Armory cites: Jackson. Massachusetts. Thomas Jackson, Boston. (Surrey.) Gules a fess between three shovellers tufted on the head and breast argent each charged with a trefoil slipped vert.
    Crest: A shoveller as in the arms.
    Motto: Innocentia securus.

Beyond what all these worthies have to say about the man, his tomb, and his heraldry, I cannot add much, beyond noting that the name "JACKSON" is inscribed underneath, and nearly as wide as, the arms.

And with this, we end our tour of heraldic memorials and tombs to be found in three old burying grounds in Boston, Massachusetts, which I was able to visit last year.