When the Emperor Frederick II erected this castle close to Bari in the Puglia distict of Italy in the 13th century, he imbued it with symbolic significance, as reflected in the location, the mathematical and astronomical precision of the layout and the perfectly regular shape. A unique piece of medieval military architecture, Castel del Monte is a successful blend of elements from classical antiquity, the Islamic Orient and north European Cistercian Gothic. Frederick II was a scholar and an architect. He knew Arabic as well as Latin, and he was influenced by all he'd seen on a crusade into the Arabic world. He founded the University of Naples. He was also a friend to the great mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci, who introduced...
Another very interesting early heraldic roll dates from the reign of Edward II ( 1284 - 1387 ), and is known as The Great Parliamentary or Bannerets Roll dating from about 1312. It contains the names and arms of 1,120 people. The roll is divided by county. One of the most fascinating of all of the rolls is that of The Siege of Caerlaverock. It is written in Norman French, the language of Heraldry, and relates to the siege and capture within 36 hours of a small castle in Dumfriesshire, Scotland in the year 1300 during the July campaign of that year by King Edward I. The author of the roll describes in great detail the arms of those present...
The first of the English “Rolls of Arms” date to about 60 years after the reign of Richard the Lionheart ( 1189 – 1199). Before there was anything resembling a Herald’s college in England or elsewhere in Europe, collections of arms had been written down in various forms, sometimes by heralds who were interested in making such collections, sometimes by scribes and recorders who found their rolls useful in aiding their memories at jousting tournaments and other official gatherings of nobles and knights.England is especially rich in these early rolls, it was a Scotsman, J. Storer Clouston, who wrote “ The good fortune of England in preserving so much of her past is nowhere more conspicuous than in her great...
Augmentation, or augmentation of honor, is a term describing the addition to a coat of arms at a later date to the original granting of the arms. This augmentation is usually granted by a sovereign to commemorate worthy or illustrious deeds. These augmentations usually take the form of an escutcheon ( a smaller shield within the arms), a canton ( a square in the top left of the arms), or an additional charge to the arms.While most augmentations are simple as in the example above, there are also examples of over the top additions to arms such as that of the arms of Ross, image above. The original arms, Gules three estoiles in chevron between as many lions rampant argent...
There is a school of thought on the origins of Heraldry that believe totemism to be at the root of heraldic symbols. Totemism is the belief that people are descended from animals, plants , and other natural objects. Symbols of these natural ancestors, known as totems are often associated with clans or other groups tracing common descent. By representing desirable individual qualities ( such as the swiftness of a deer )and helping to explain the mythical origin of the clan, totems reinforce clan identity and solidarity. The totem system of the Native Americans shows this belief in full force. The guardian spirit of the tribe is envisaged as in the form of an animal.In Australia, totemism plays a central part...
