ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3321 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3321 ************************************ 5 May 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if either "Argent, in pale three lotus flowers gules" or "Gules, a mouse dormant, couchant, or rampant argent" is authentic arms for a Spanish woman living between 1200 and 1500. Here is what we have found. Unfortunately, we have found no examples either mice or lotuses in medieval Spanish heraldry. In fact, we haven't found any examples of lotuses in medieval heraldry of any culture. We therefore cannot recommend either of your designs as good re-creation. We can, however, give you a list of flora and fauna which we have found in late-period Spanish and Portuguese armory. [1,2,3] **Flora** flowering plants <396> quatrefoils (generic four-petalled flower) pinecones <91> plants on stalks <151, 243> linden leaves <203> trees eradicated three-lobed flowers or leaves **Fauna** bulls lions donkeys rams birds griffins stags eagles and double-headed eagles dogs/wolves bears <319> falcons pigs horse's heads In these lists, numbers in angle brackets indicate the page numbers of source [2]. You can substitute these numbers for the number <1> at the end of the URL to see images of the charges. In 13th to 15th century Spanish armory, combinations of argent and gules make up 27% of the armory, making this an excellent choice for typical Spanish armory. [4] A design such as "Argent, in pale three quatrefoils gules" would be fine re-creation; even more typical would be "Argent, six quatrefoils gules two, two, and two." We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Sabine Berard, Pedro de Alcazar, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 05 May 2007 -- References: [1] Lothar von Katzenellenbogen, "An Armorial of the Livro Do Armeiro-Mor" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, no date). http://www.s-gabriel.org/heraldry/lothar/livrogrande2.html [2] BSB Cod.icon. 290, _Armas de los Condes, Vescondes etc. de Catalun~a, de Castilla, de Portugal_ (WWW: Digitale Sammlungen.de, no date) http://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/bsb00001370/images/index.html?seite=1 [3] Faustino Menendez Pidal, _Libro de Armeri/a del Reino de Navarra_ (Editorial La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, Bilbao, 1974, ISBN 84-248-0119-9). [4] Zenobia Naphtali, "Regional Style" in Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium, 1996, Montgomery, Alabama (SCA, Inc., 1996).