"Badges
are often used by members of Scottish clans. These Scottish crest badges
can be used where clan members, who are not armigerous, wear a badge
consisting of a clan chief's crest and motto/slogan encircled by a belt
and buckle. These crest badges are often erroneously called "clan crests".
Even though clan members may purchase and wear such badges, the crest and
motto/slogan remain the heraldic property of the clan chief."
Holy
Blood Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln.
If you haven't read this book yet, then might enjoy this interesting study
on the Merovinigian Family, their history, and hypothesis, which spawned
the research this book is a synopsis of, that the "holy blood" was what
flowed through their veins. Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" is based on
this research, even though the authors took Brown to court for literary
theft and lost their case because Brown's wife "does all his research" and
she refused to testify, and, even though, the grail expert in Brown's book
is based on a combination of Baigenet's name and a medical condition Leigh
has, all of which Brown testified under oath he had no knowledge of (one
wonders if his wife doesn't also write his books then!). I read Holy Blood
Holy Grail in 1984, it was published 2 years earlier, and recognized what
Dan Brown had done in 2003 when the book was released. (I wrote a scathing
article on the topic which was published by a literary network on the
internet and picked up in Canada, the UK and Ireland, Germany, Australia,
and Saudi Arabia.)
"The best estimate for the Middle East, including Iraq, Iran and
Syria, during the Islamic Middle Ages is for a death rate of a
third. The Black Death killed about 40% of Egypt's population.
Half of Paris's population of 100,000 people had died. In Italy,
Florence's population was reduced from 110,000 or 120,000
inhabitants in 1338 to 50,000 in 1351. At least 60% of Hamburg's
and Bremen's population perished. Before 1350, there were about
170,000 settlements in Germany, and this had been reduced by
nearly 40,000 by 1450."
|
|
|||||||
 |
 |
||||||
|
CREST
A crest is a component of a heraldic display and stands on top of a
helmet,
"Forest Ways"
|
|||||||
 "The earliest heraldic crest documented in 1198 came after evidence of arms being used, heraldic decorations were painted on metal fans, and usually repeated the coat of arms painted on the shield, a practice which was discontinued. Later they were sculpted of leather and other materials." Objects frequently borne as crests include animals, especially lions, normally showing only the fore half; human figures, likewise often from the waist up; hands or arms holding weapons; bird's wings. In Germany and nearby countries, the crest often repeats the liveries in the form of a tall hat, a fan of plumes in alternating tinctures, or a pair of curving horns. The horns may have a hole in the tip to hold a cluster of plumes or flowers. Many of the old illustrations of tournaments and battles which have come down to us show no crests on the helmets, but merely plumes of feathers or some fan-shaped erection. Consequently it is a fairly safe conclusion that for the actual purposes of warfare modelled crests never had any real existence, or, if they had any such existence, that it was most limited.
Modelled
crests were tournament crests. The crests that were used in battle must
have been merely cut out in profile from the fan. Then came the era, in
Plantagenet times, of the tournament. Tournaments were chiefly in the
nature of athletic displays, taking the place of our games and sports, and
inasmuch as they contributed to the training of the soldier, were held in
the high repute that polo, for example, now enjoys amongst the upper and
military classes. Added to this, the tournament was the essential climax
of ceremony and ceremonial, and in all its details was ordered by such
strict regulations, rules, and supervision that its importance and its
position in the public and official estimate was far in advance of its
present-day equivalents. |
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
| CREST | |||||||
|
Fan crest of
Richard Fitz Alan Earl of Arundel 1301
German COAs differed from other traditions in that a helm could display numerous crests. Meaning, not multiple helms with crests, but a helmet with accumulated crests in a row on top. I have an image of one of these old multiple crest helms and will post it here when I find it in my backup files!
Above:
emblazoned Coat of Arms shows the full achievement of Philip (Herbert),
Earl of Montgomery, KG, 1616 showing azure, gules, and ermine mantling,
argent, azure, and gules wreath, a Wyvern crest (a reptilian creature with
wings-a European dragon), and dexter supporters of a Panther incensed and
Earl's cornet (crown). As you can see, this displays a nobel helmet.
Cornets/crowns can be beneath the helm or on to of it with or without a
crest. |
<--
(image) Panache An arrangement of feathers on the helmet, one of
the precursors of the crest Notice in the COA above the crest repeats the charges on the shield. This one is an "impaled" COA, combining 2 person's COA by quartering the shield. Often impaling involved a division in half, as this one does with the mantling. Both charges are represented in the crest as well. Notice the colors of the mantling are the colors of the shield and charges, gules, azure, sable, Or, and argent. This particular COA has a cornet, or crown, on the helm/helmet. The helmet however is a nobleman's, not royalty.
Above: illustration from Fox-Davies book described as a pageant helm of ancient Austria.
"... in
Germany they were ornamented with hanging and tinkling metal leaves, tiny
bells, buffalo horns, feathers, and projecting pieces of wood, which
formed vehicles for still further decorative appendages. Then comes the
question, what did the crest signify? Many have asserted that no one below
the rank of a knight had the right to use a crest; in fact some writers
have asserted, and doubtless correctly as regards a certain period, that
only those who were of tournament rank might assume the distinction, and
herein lies another confirmation of the supposition that crests had a
closer relation to the tournament than to the battlefield.
Above:
"... a mounted knight held his shield canted out of the vertical, so it
became the custom of some heraldic artists to portray shields couché
- tilted at an angle between 25 and 45 degrees. These Scottish shields
were copied from the Armorial de Gelre, a 14th century manuscript in the
Royal Library in Brussels." |
||||||
 Here's a link
to a pop-up window to Fox-Davies book online for easy access:
CLICK HERE
This is
a highly functional online reference text. This link goes to the main
INDEX. |
|||||||
| HOW EUROPE GOT ITS NAME | |||||||
|
A nucleus of power developed in a region of northern Gaul and developed into kingdoms called Austrasia and Neustria. These kingdoms were ruled for three centuries by a dynasty of kings called the Merovingians, after their mythical founder Merovech. The history of the Merovingian kingdoms is one of family politics that frequently erupted into civil warfare between the branches of the family. The legitimacy of the Merovingian throne was granted by a reverence for the bloodline, and, even after powerful members of the Austrasian court, the mayors of the palace, took de facto power during the 7th century, the Merovingians were kept as ceremonial figureheads. The Merovingians engaged in trade with northern Europe through Baltic trade routes known to historians as the Northern Arc trade, and they are known to have minted small-denomination silver pennies called sceattae for circulation. Aspects of Merovingian culture could be described as "Romanized", such as the high value placed on Roman coinage as a symbol of rulership and the patronage of monasteries and bishoprics. Some have hypothesized that the Merovingians were in contact with Byzantium. However, the Merovingians also buried the dead of their elite families in grave mounds and traced their lineage to a mythical sea beast called the Quinotaur. The word Quinotaur translates from Latin as "bull with five horns" and has a fish lower body and tail, whose attributes have commonly been interpreted as the incorporated symbols of the sea god Neptune with his trident, and the horns of a mythical bull or Minotaur, the "fish body and tail" referencing the Dolphin. The sea bull of Europa is one in the same as the Quinotaur of the Merovingian kings, and as the Quinotaur was the legendary father of European monarchs, the mother was Europa, after whom they named their continent. The name of Europa is of uncertain etymology. it is derived from the Greek roots meaning broad (eur-) and eye (op-, opt-), hence Eurṓpē, "wide-gazing", "broad of aspect" (compare with glaukōpis (grey-eyed) Athena or boōpis (ox-eyed) Hera). Hera and Europa being referred to as a "cow" and "heifer" in Greek mythology reference their relationships to the Lavent, the Egyptian Semitics.
A best seller novel (and still is; over 80 million copies, in 44 languages, sold in 2009), the Da Vinci Code movie came out in 2006, the authors taking Brown to the High Court trying to stop the infringement. Brown's Da Vinci Code novel was shunned by European scholars as a piece of crap with no literary value and gross historical inaccuracies and misrepresentations. Brown made millions on his book and movie. The obvious sourcing of Browns material has become reasonably well known, although never legitimatized; BL&L didn't get a dime. Merovingians, considered as semi-divine priest-kings, formed a cult worshipping Dagobert II after his death. Less than 200 years later, a man named Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who married a Merovingian princess, was made Holy Roman Emperor, and given dominion over a land mass greater even than that which the Merovingians had possessed. Thus began the majestic Hapsburg and Carolingian dynasty, consisting after Charlemagne of men with partially Merovingian blood. Charlemagne
too was considered a priest-king. For his scepter he carried with him the
Spear of Destiny, that holy relic supposedly bloodied by the wound of
Christ, which is said to confer upon its possessor transcendental power
over the entire Earth. And while he may not have ruled over the entire
world in actuality, he did have dominion over its most significant
portion. For at that time Western Europe was without a doubt the foremost
bastion of culture, science, philosophy, and morality, a light in the
darkness, surrounded on all fronts by uncivilized barbarian hordes.
The Merovingian lineage influence and mystique continue into the 21st century in international banking and governments, are resident in the ritualized occult Scottish branch of Masons and the Illuminati elements that played a role in founding the US, and are given claim to the holy grail bloodline, which Peter de St. Claire, aka Pierre Plantard, later denied, saying he and another had re-written a bit of history in the archives and they were only from the tribe of Benjamin. During the Middle Ages, the Merovingian claims prompted a fad amongst peers to have their lineages traced back to the biblical Adam. It was typical, up until this past decade of access to documents, for people such as the LDS Mormons in the US, as well as being a general trend in Europe, to trace their family lineages to England's King Henry VIII (1491-1547) in particular. He had his family tree traced back to biblical Adam and if you could trace to him, then you had your tree originating in the Garden of Eden. This was plausible to do, due to the fact that this king was notorious for having numerous and ongoing encounters, flings, and affairs with women, regardless of social status or ethnicity, and therefore has had numerous persons since claiming bastard lineage. The Merovingian pledge to rule over all nations through a united European State is reputed to be behind current international politics and policies, the creation of the Euro, for example, being part of this process.
|
|||||||
|
|
|
||||||
|
BLACK PLAGUE From 1150-1200 there was a major warming throughout Europe. This, coupled with the rise of the mercantile class, led to improved diet and greater population growth. By 1340, Europe was significantly overpopulated. This was followed by a Little Ice Age, which ended by 1351. The resulting climate was colder and wetter than normal. With population higher than it had been in some time, and crop yields reduced, per capita caloric intake fell precipitously, general health declined, and the pest population increased. Europe had been ravaged with famine, sexually transmitted diseases, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Diphtheria, Varicella, Hepatitis B, Poliomyelitis, and Influenza, among many others. There are several theories to explain the onset of Plague (Yersinia pestis, carried by rodent fleas), many agree that a major source was China, Mongolia, and Hunan province, in particular, and some believe it began in Africa and spread from there. Around 1330 Plague affected the local residents of the Orient and following the elaborate trade routes, established in the previous two centuries, made its way west. By 1345, it was in the lower Volga; by 1346 Astrakhan, the Caucasus, and Azerbijian; by 1346 Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire; late autumn 1347 Alexandria, Egypt and southward along the Nile; India and what is now the middle east were next to be depopulated by the, soon to be ubiquitous, flea and its internal traveling companion. During the summer of 1347 Genoese merchants and their families were living in the city of Kaffa on the Black Sea, in the Crimea, when it was subjected to a siege by Tartars. As the effects of the prolonged siege seemed to be overcoming the resistance of the residents, an outbreak of disease decimated the Tartar forces. In a fit of rage, the remains of the departing army are rumored to have catapulted corpses of the disease victims into the city. The merchants hastily departed the city in twelve vessels and set sail for Italy. October 1347 found the Genoese fleet outside the port of Messina, Sicily and the crews, or what was left of them, were found to be dying of some unknown malady. Michael of Piazza described the arrival of the sailors as "sickness clinging to their very bones." City officials sealed the vessels for two days—but, of course, this had little effect on the rats, and their accompanying fleas, who easily descended the mooring lines—and then dispatched them to their home port. Within two months nearly half of the population of Messina was dead. The disease soon spread throughout the ports of Italy and reached the inland cities by early spring; in most cases halving their populations. Reports of another Genoese merchant ship carrying the disease to Marseilles came in January 1348. By that summer, the Plague reached Paris. It then spread east to Germany and north to England, reaching London in December 1348. During this time it came to be known by the names: the Great Dying, das Grosse Sterben, the Plague of Justinian, and Magna Mortalis. At that time, the population of England was estimated to be about four million, yet within a mere two and a half years about one third of them had died. Fully one third of the residents of Florence died in the first six months and 45%-75% in a single year. Venice lost 60% of its populace over the year and a half that the epidemic raged. Death was so rampant that the pope had to consecrate the Rhone River so corpses could be dumped into it. The death toll throughout Europe was at least 25 million out of a total population of 40 million. (In warmer months and in southern Europe, at this time, there was at least one family of black rats per household and an estimated average of three fleas per rat.)
50% of the English clergy died; in Montpellier, of 140 Dominican friars at the outset, only seven survived; one third of the cardinals went to their eternal reward. Their numbers were slow to recover, taking several generations and some orders remained depleted until well into the seventeenth century. This outbreak of Plague was accelerated by a total absence of sanitary procedures and lack of knowledge. For instance, the dead were heaped in piles, whereupon rats and dogs fed on the corpses and the cycle was extended. Homes were more like sties than what we would associate with buildings fit for human habitation. Roofs and walls were made of straw; floors were dirt; animals were kept inside. The streets, if that's what you could call them, of cities were barely wide enough for a single cart to pass, and they were perpetually covered with mud, garbage, and excrement. For lack of heated water, people rarely bathed and fleas were commonplace. Xenophobia was the norm—all strangers were suspected of spreading disease. This along with their rejection of the Christ, Jews were targeted. Rumors of their having poisoned wells ran rampant. There were pogroms and massacres. Zurich expelled all its Jews and closed its gates to them. On a single day in 1349, 2000 Jews were burned to death by a mob in Strausborg. The canton of Basel gathered all 4500 of its Jews in a specially built structure on an island in the Rhine and burned them to death, after which the town fathers passed a law forbidding Jewish residence in the canton for 200 years. The largest Jewish community in Europe was in Mainz, Germany where at least 6,000 Jews were incinerated after they fought and killed 200 of an attacking mob. Pogroms also occurred in Baden, Brussels, Burren, Dresden, Eisenach, Erfurt, Freiburg, Gotha, Landsberg, Lindau, Memmingen, Solothurn, Speyer, Stuttgart, Ulm, Worms, and Zofingen. There were over 350 separate recorded massacres of Jews during the years of the Plague. The Church gained enormous amounts of tangible assets and land property that reverted to the Church from the estimated 20 million deaths in Europe from the Plague and xenophobia, et al. The plague is thought to have returned every generation with varying virulence and mortality until the 1700s. During this period, more than 100 plague epidemics swept across Europe. On its return in 1603, the plague killed 38,000 Londoners. Other notable 17th-century outbreaks were the Italian Plague of 1629–1631, and the Great Plague of Seville (1647–1652), the Great Plague of London (1665–1666), and the Great Plague of Vienna (1679). There is some controversy over the identity of the disease, but in its virulent form, after the Great Plague of Marseille in 1720–1722, the Great Plague of 1738 (which hit eastern Europe), and the Russian plague of 1770-1772, it seems to have disappeared from Europe during the 19th century. Swedish and Danish chronicles of the 16th century first described the events as "black". The late-stage sign of the disease, in which the sufferer's skin blackens due to subepidermal hemorrhages (purpura) and the extremities would darken with gangrene (acral necrosis), and "black" as the the sense of glum, lugubrious, or dreadful denoting the terribleness of the events. (from Hartford Univ. Paul Bugl material on Epidemics for the Spring 2009 course AUCT 140, Epidemics and AIDS & others) Doctors
By the
thirteenth century, many European towns were demanding that physicians
have several years of study or training before they could practice.
Montpellier, Padua and Bologna Universities were particularly interested
in the academic side to Surgery, and by the fifteenth century at the
latest, Surgery was a separate university subject to Physics. Surgery had
a lower status than pure medicine, beginning as a craft tradition until
Rogerius Salernitanus composed his Chirurgia, which laid the foundation
for the species of the occidental surgical manuals, influencing them up to
modern times. |
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
| TORSE/WREATH | |||||||
|
This item is often described as being made of ribbon, a device to hold the mantle in place. It is suggested this item, being specified in blazons, always as the two principle livery colors, the metal of the shield and the principle charge, with the rare exception of 3 colors being granted, that it belongs to the bearers arms and was worn on the heads of servants of the household and those in allegiance under the feudal system. In heraldic emblazoning, the torse was included to visually segue the helmet, mantle, and crest, sometimes the length of the end strands being shown as sweeping out and into the space occupied by the mantling. Not all COAs have crests or helms; there can not be a crest or torse without a helm, but a helm can have no crest or torse.
|
Only 6 twists are supposed to show, three segments of each color. Below image shows an open grilled, steel and gold helm, Gules & Argent wreath, with rooster crest.
|
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
This is Her Rudolph von Rotenburg's livery. It certainly looks like a lady tossing a wreath to the knight. Notice these Germans are fair skinned and blond haired, the Scandia physiotype.
The name "Rothenburg
ob der Tauber" means, in German, "Rothenburg above the Tauber". This is so
because the town is located on a plateau overlooking the Tauber river. As
to the name "Rothenburg", some say it comes from the German words Rot
(Red) and Burg (burg, medieval fortified town), referring to the red
colour of the roofs of the houses which overlook the river. The name may
also refer to the process of retting ("rotten" in German) flax for linen
production. Founded in 800, during the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City. In 1274 Rothenburg was accorded privileges by King Rudolf of Habsburg as an imperial city. Three famous fairs were established in the city and in the following centuries the city expanded.
The citizens
of the city and the knights of the hinterland build the Franziskaner
(Franciscan) Monastery and the Holy Ghost Hospital (1376/78 incorporated
into the city walls). The German Order began the building of the Jakob’s
Church, which the citizens have used since 1336. The Heilig Blut (Holy
Blood) pilgrimage attracted many pilgrims to Rothenburg, at the time one
of the 20 largest cities of the Holy Roman Empire. The population was
around 5,500 people within the city walls and another 14,000 in the 150
square miles (390 km2) of surrounding territory.
* as for the
reference to a Black Plague in Rothenburg in 1634, this possibly could
have been the result of the Italian plague given dates of 1629-1631. This
is the only reference to a plague I have found at that time to
substantiate the info on Rothenburg unless it was a local phenomena. |
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
 HERALDRY LINKS |
|||||||
:: MEDIEVAL MUSIC :: LISTEN TO AND DOWNLOAD MIDI MUSIC FILES HEARD ON THIS SITE AND MORE |
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
Notice
the shield and banner in the illustration above. 
