ModernChivalry.org
Main => The Round Table => Topic started by: Mike W. on 2015-02-06, 19:59:09
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In reviewing my family's heraldry, I became aware of a discrepancy. The blazon found in the family book reads in the original French "D’azur à trois fasces d’argent, et au chef gueule chargé de trois étoiles d’or." For the most part, it's pretty straight forward. "Azure, with three fesses Argent, and with the chief Gules charged with three stars Or."
Et voila!!
(http://i.imgur.com/VQWsOEQ.png)
This is copied from the original print from the family book which was written in the late 19th century. I do not know the source that this print was replicating. The heraldry itself dates back to 1597 (not exactly medieval, but close enough) at which point it was given to my great (x13) grandfather, the first Baron Magnan.
The problem I've run into are the stars. In English heraldry there are two kinds: Mullets and Estoiles. Mullets have straight arms, Estoiles have wavy arms. The current rendering, as well as the drawing in the family book have mullets. Yet the blazon has "étoiles".
Should I trust the print (which itself may have been based merely on the blazon, and not a primary source and therefore could be erroneous), or should I assume that étoiles means Estoiles and not Mullets?
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Making the horrendous leap of using Wiktionary as a source, I say go with Mullet, as it mentions it specifically within heraldic context: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A9toile (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A9toile)
Noun
étoile f (plural étoiles)
* star
* (heraldry) mullet
Edit: Meant to mention that this also supports the drawing matching the blazon
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I don't know for sure, but it's quite possible the French "étoile" most closely translates to Mullets in English heraldry. Quite likely, when they called for a star, they literally meant a star shape.
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Mullets are straight pointed stars like a spur.
Estoilles are wavy giving it a celestial aspect.
In French the term molette was a spur rowel.
So more than likely it should be an estoilles not a mullet.
Unless...
The original art work shows straight stars.