ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2891 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2891 ************************************ 28 Jun 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know how your current arms, "Argent, a strawberry proper and a chief gules", could be modified so that they were authentic for an Italian woman living in Bologna or Genoa in the 16th century. Here is the information we have found. While we did not find any examples of strawberries in Italian arms, we found examples of many other plants. In one study of arms of Italian nobles (most of which date from before 1600) we found examples of roses, trefoils, ranunculas, flowering hemp, heads of garlic, trees, oak trees, palm trees, thistles, house plants, grassy knolls, olive branches, pear branches, grapes, and cherry trees. [1] Examples of specific types of fruits and vegetables are also fairly common. The following list shows some of the examples that we found; we have given the English name of the charge, the Italian name of the charge in parentheses, and the name of the family that bore the arms: [3] a turnip (rapa), de Arsago, de Filago, de Ravizis an artichoke (carciofo), di agosti. pinecones (pigne), di Arecalchi balsam vine (vite balsamina), de Balzamo heather (brugh), di Burgaci quince (mela cotogna), de Codogniola green grapevines with red fruit, di Cadamosti green grapevines with blue fruit, de Dairago, di Gallarte green grapevines with purple fruit, di Vidi green grapevines with purplish-black fruit, da Vigo a bean plant (fagioli), di Fasoli, de Reginafasolis squash (zucca), de Lomeno blackberry bush (rovo), de Mornata, da Trecha branch of chestnuts, de Merato leeks (pori), de Poris pears, di Parabove bunches of white and blue grapes, de Rozis braid of garlic, de Restis unidentified root vegetable (raperonzolo), de Ranmporzoris an apple (mela), da Spalis zucchini?, da Zuconi, Zucca da pesca There are two things we can note about this list. One is that virtually all of these plants were depicted in their proper (natural) coloring, so a strawberry proper is a fine extrapolation. The second is that many of the charges appear to have been chosing for canting (punning on the surname) purposes. The Italian word for 'strawberry' is . We have not found any Italian surnames based on this word, but if one existed, then we would be unsurprised to see a person with this surname bearing strawberries on their arms. A single-tinctured chief is fine for Italian heraldry; we found many examples. [2] 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 Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Adelaide de Beaumont, Juliana de Luna, and Maridonna Benvenuti. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 28Jun2004 -- References: [1] Blasonario piemontese (WWW: CGGP, 1994-2004), A page, C page http://www.bellinzona.org/araldica/Blasonario-piemontese-a.htm [2] Borgia, L., et. al., eds., _Le Biccherne : tavole dipinte delle magistrature senesi (secoli XIII-XVIII)_ (Roma : Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, 1984). [3] Stemmario Trivulziano, a cura di Carlo Maspoli, Casa Editrice Niccol Orsini De Marzo, Milano, 2000, pp. 564, rilegato in tela, ISBN 88-900452-0-5.