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).