FRENCH ARMORIALSSeveral french armorials have been published recently. Some in relatively inexpensive editions in blazon only by the parisian Léopard d'or publishing house, and others, e.g. the Toison d'or et de l'Europe, the Bellenville, and the Le Breton in magnificent facsimile (also on the web). Most recently the BnF has made several facsimiles available on its website's banque d'images. French is here understood as containing mainly the arms of french nobles or families and individuals from present Belgium and Netherlands, and/or made by inhabitants of such territories. The Gorrevod armorial, Bruxelles, KBR, ms. II.6563 & IV.1301The armorial (GOR) is named for one of it owners, and has been described, but never published, by Christiane van den Bergen Pantens. The principal manuscript is approx. A5 in size, 121 ff, paper of various dates, and has 1627 painted arms. Four of the seven segments of the secondary manuscript is considered to to be related to the Gorrevod. It was probably made during 1435/59 in the southern Low Countries by or for a wealthy person interested in municipal politics. The arms, in 47 segments, represent nobles, gentry and commoners as well as towns and abbeys in the Low Countries. Thee are also some entries for neighbouring territories in Germany and France, together with realms and imaginary arms. A short treatise by Christiane de Pisan is included, as is a pedigree page for Jean de Gavre. Unfortunately, it was not possible to do a full critical edition, but there is an introductory analysis, and the entries are blazoned, referenced and indexed by name and blazon - in part based on the work by Christiane van den Bergen Pantens and Emmanuel de Boos. Armorial de la Paix d'ArrasThis armorial (APA) gives the arms of 401 participants and members of their retinues, who were present at the conference held in Arras (Artois) in June-September 1435. The purpose of the conference was to end the 'Hundred Years' war between the King of France and the King of England and his ally, the Duke of Burgundy, a relative and formal subject of the King of France. The conference was called and mediated by the Concilium of the Church held at Basel. The result was that France and Burgundy made peace, but the war between England and France continued for two decades. The reconstruction is based on two manuscripts:
The two manuscripts have overlapping contents, but in different order. The younger manuscript (B, ms.fr.8199) was copied in Bruxelles, probably by long lines over a double spread of pages either from an earlier copy or possibly from ms.A with some now lost pages. The reconstruction is based on ms.A (Add.11542) with the addtional material presented as in ms.B. Regrettably, the analysis of the structures did not allow a full reconstruction of the original layout. It consits of four segments: (1) the Mediators, 12 items; (2) the French delegation, 18 items; (3) the English delegation, 15 items, only in ms.B; and (4) the Burgundian hosts, 356 items. Tournaments held in FranceThe Tournoi de Saint Omer, in 1377, part of the armorial d'Urfé, is found in Tournaments. The Tournoi de Chauvency, in 1285, is found in Tournaments. The invasion of Flanders 1297 - Chifflet-PrinetThe armorial (CPF) variously known as the Chifflet-Prinet Roll and Armorial de l'ost de Flandre, has been published in part by Max Prinet (1934), Paul Adam-Even (1959) and by Gerard Brault (1973). Of the previous editions only Prinet and Brault are based on a single manuscript, the one at Besancon. The Adam edition is a supplement to Prinet based on three then unrecognised manuscripts, but without giving details of the individual manuscripts. This edition is a reconstruction of what the original might have looked like. It is based on the previous editions, though a few items have had their identification amended. A further manuscript, held by the Bibliothèque Royale in Bruxelles and mentioned by Warlop, has been examined as well, but not used due to the incompleteness of the copying. It appears that part of one segment in the Urfé might have derived from the CPF. Comments and references have been updated. Many of the individuals named later died in the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1304 outside Courtrai. Of Lorraine and EuropeThe armorial (NLU) named for a 16th century official, Nicolas de Lutzelbourg, is a presentation volume with 1667 coats-of-arms painted on parchment using gold and silver paint. Most of the items are of an earlier date, copied from several medieval sources, notably a member of the Toison d'or group of armorials, and for the prominent number of arms from Lorraine probably the armorial named for Andre de Rineck (published in 2008 by J-C. Blanchard) or a clone. A unique element are the genealogies (4 or 16 quarters) of his relatives from the Haraucourt and Raigecourt families. The armorial (CLE) named for Anthoine de Clémery is an exact copy, though with the various segments in different order, and less the genealogy part. The present publication gives the blazons of the coats-of-arms as they are in the NLU. In addition the reader will find the corresponding entry in the CLE noted as well as an identifier and a family of branch name that will enable the reader to search for supplementary information, e.g. in my Ordinary of medieval armorials. The entries are indexed by name and blazon. The armorial Lyncenich, Bruxelles, KBR, ms. II.6567The armorial (LYN) is named for Jois de Luxembourg dit Lyncenich who owned the manuscript in 1629. The manuscript is approx. A5 in size, 197 ff, paper of various dates, and has 2847 painted arms and banners, and 10 miniatures. It was probably made in 1442/43 in the southern Low Countries by or for a herald employed by Philip the Good Duke of Burgundy. The arms represent nobles from the Low Countries, Germany, France and England divided into 80 segments. Among the segments are several 4-ancestor pedigrees and the participants in the Utrecht tournament of 1441. The entries are blazoned, referenced and indexed by name and blazon. 3 armorials blazoned: Urfé, Navarre, BergshammarThe three armorials (URF) Urfé, BnF, fr.32753 with corresponding items from LeBlancq, Prinsault, Sicile, Charolais; (NAV) Navarre, BnF, fr.14356; and (BHM) Stockholm, Codex Bergshammar are here published with blazons in English, a survey of their contents, index of names and ordinary of arms for two reasons: firstly, they are often mentioned in papers on armory, but difficult to get a useable copy of. There are facsimiles on the web of URF and NAV, but no available editions. The edition of BHM is only available in limited numbers and the text is in Swedish with blazons in French. Secondly, together with the NLU and CLE (listed above) these blazoned lists of arms and name function as supporting data for my book Editing armorials. The blazons are modified from transcriptions kindly made available by Michel Popoff, and the late Jan Raneke, Emmanuel de Boos and Hugh Stanford London (through the IRHT in Paris) and those gifts are gratefully acknowledged. The identifications with reference to the Ordinary of medieval armorials are mine, and may differ from those assigned by the principal transcribers. How to get it
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