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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked for our information about Antoine batard de Bourgogne and how you might use heraldry in your persona as a servant of his household. Here's what we've found.
Antoine, Comte de la Roche, Knight of the Golden Fleece and of Saint Michael, called "le Grand Ba^tard de Bourgogne", bore at least two versions of his father's arms. His father, Philippe le bon, Duke of Burgundy, bore Flanders [see note 7 for details]. Antoine differenced from his father either by adding "a bendlet sinister argent overall" or by displaying his father's arms upon a broad bend (covering the entire bend, not on a shield upon the bend). The latter version appears on his seal, so it is not clear what field tincture lay beneath the bend. This design is illustrated in our source [6], which attributes its information to three sources, named in the bibliography to this letter. It also gives some details of Antoine's life.
It is unlikely that members of Antoine's household would have used his arms, except for his heralds and perhaps some other important officers on very formal occasions. Rather, his household would have used one or more of his badges. We could not discover for certain what badge Antoine used, but we did find a hint: The Renaissance painter Rogier van der Weyden painted a portrait of Antoine which shows him holds an arrow with white fletches. He may have used an arrow or a sheaf of arrows as a badge or impressa. (An impressa was a kind of semi-heraldic symbol used in the renaissance in very formal pageants, including tournaments.) The painting is titled 'Antoine the Grand Batard of Burgundy' and is owned by the Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels. An earlier version in a London collection has Antoine's device and motto on the reverse side, but our source doesn't reproduce them [4, 5].
We found several other references to Antoine, which we figured would interest you and assist you in your research. We think that what you're doing is really cool, so we hope our research helps you, if only a little.
Anthony was born in 1421. "After having fought against the citizens of Ghent (1452), he took up the cross and delivered Ceuta, which was besieged by the Moors (1464). Long faithful to Duke Charles the Bold (<le Téméraire>), he afterwards took service with the kings of France: Louis XI, who ransomed him from the lord who had captured him after the battle of Nancy (1477), and Charles VIII, who granted him letters of legitimation" [1]. (The slashes in <Téméraire> represents sharp accents on the preceding vowels.)
In one of his famous letters, Sir John Paston described a tournament in July 1468:
And the same Sunday my lord the Bastard took upon him to answer twenty-four knights and gentlemen within eights days at jousts of peace; and when they were answered those twenty-four and himself should tourney with another twenty-five the next day after, which is on Monday net coming. And they that have housted with him up to today have been as richly equipped (and he himself as well) as cloth of gold and silk and silver and goldsmith's work might make them; for those of the duke's court, whether gentlemen or gentlewomen, lack nothing for such gear, and gold and pearls and jewels; unless they get it by wishing for it, I never heard of such plenty as is here... [2]
The authors note that Sir John Paston's "'great book of treatises' ... includes a copy of a challenge issued by Anthony, bastard of Burgundy." They reference G. A. Lester, _Sir John Paston's 'Grete Boke'_ (Cambridge & Totowa, NJ 1984) pp.118-22, and also an editted version of the same challenge in F.H. Cripps-Day, _The History of the Tournament_ (London: 1918, reprinted New York, 1982), pp. lv-lix.
Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales, issued a challenge to Anthony, Bastard of Burgundy. "It attracted a great deal of attention and almost every contemporary English chronicle mentions it. ... It was two years before the challenge was taken up; when the Bastard finaly reached London, he did so in high style" [3]. The authors reference Lester again, pp.103-11, 123-133, and Sydney Anglo, "Anglo-Burgundian Feats of Arms: Smithfield, June 1467", _Guildhall Miscellany_, 1965, pp.271-283.
I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Elisabeth de Rossignol, and Livia Montgomery.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
References
[1] _Grand Larousse Encyclopédique en dix volumes_ (Paris: Librairie
Larousse, 1960-1964).
[2] Barber, Richard and Juliet Barker, _Tournaments_ (New York: Weidenfield
and Nicolson, 1989), p.121.
[3] ibid., p.132.
[4] Campbell, Lorne, _Renaissance portraits : European portrait-painting in
the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries_ (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990).
[5] Campbell, Lorne, _Van Der Weyden_ (New York : Harper & Row, 1980).
[6] Woodward, John and George Burnett, _A Treatise on Heraldry British and
Foreign_ (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, 1969), p.574 and plate XLVII. Woodward attributes his information about Antoine's arms to three sources. The version with the bend sinister is attributed to Maurice, _Blazon des Armoiries de tous les Chevaliers de l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or_, and to Jean Jacques Chifflet, _Insignia Gentilitia Equitum Ordinis Velleris Aurei_ (Antwerp, 1632). Antoine's seal, with his father's arms upon a bend, appears in Vrée (or Wree), _Généalogie des Comtes de flandre_, p.126.
[7] The component arms are:
Burgundy Modern: Azure semy-de-lys Or, a bordure compony argnet and gules.
Burgundy Ancient: Bendy Or and azure, a bordure gules.
Brabant: Sable, a lion rampant Or.
Limburg: Argent, a lion rampant gules crowned Or.
Flanders: Or, a lion rampant sable.