Once Again, It's Good to Be a Wittelsbach

Not only is it good to be a Wittlesbach, but if your wife turns out to have a coat of arms with even more quarterings than your own, so much the better!

Our next photograph comes from the nave of the Theatinerkirche (Theatine Church) in Munich, Germany.

Just below the window, and flanked by two pairs of Italianate pillars carved with much panache and frou-frou (this last is a technical term, from the school of "Trust me, bro") we find two elaborate coats of arms.

The shield on the left shows the Bavarian lozenges (the blue-and-white diamond pattern) quartered with the golden Palatinate lion. The small central shield carries the imperial orb, the symbol of the Arch-Steward of the Empire. Maximilian I of Bavaria acquired that office along with the Palatine electorate in 1623, so this is a Bavarian elector’s arms after that date.

These turn out to be the arms of Ferdinand Maria (r. 1651-79), a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1651 to 1679.

While there are a few (though only a few) Bavarian Electors who bore these exact arms, we were able to pin it down because of the shield on the right, his wife, Henriette Adelaide Marie of Savoy.

This makes especial sense, since they founded the church.

Henriette Adelaide's arms are those of her father, Victor Amadeus I (Duke of Savoy from 1630 to 1637), and feature the traditional heraldic elements of the House of Savoy combined with the quarterings of the territories claimed or ruled by the dynasty (including Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Piedmont).

The Savoy arms appear on the inescutcheon: Gules, a cross argent.

The arms of the Dukes of Savoy were heavily quartered to display their dynastic claims and alliances, featuring, among others in addition to the Duchy of Savoy:

Jerusalem: Argent, a cross potent between four crosses couped or.

Piedmont / Cyprus / Monferrato variants: Including the lion of red (gules) armed, langued, and crowned of gold over a barry field of blue and silver.

Saxony: Barry sable and or a crancelin bendwise throughout vert, along with Lower Saxony: Gules a horse rampant argent.

Here's a better image (from a stained glass window found on-line) of Henriette's father, Victor Amadeus I:

The quarters in the first grand quarter are differently arranged in the window above, and at least one of the quarters has been miscolored in the carving in the church. Nonetheless, they are both quite recognizable.

But, yeah, quite a display of heraldry to be seen here!