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.