Criteria used

Key Characteristics in Castilian Heraldry

Some of the main characteristics of the heraldry of Castile are:

• the rounded shapes, with a semicircle at the base,
• the importance of bordures,
• the inclusion of words and also letters in the coat of arms,
• the 2^nd most common animal, after the lion, is the wolf [Valero de Bernabé, L.; 2010], and, of course,
• our castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, masoned Sable [Valero de Bernabé, L.; 2009a].

The following image shows 4 examples of coats of arms, each of which has some of these characteristics, including one Castilian castle.

Comparing Castilian and English Heraldry

In the United Kingdom, there are several heraldic traditions, one of them being English heraldry.

In the Kingdom of Spain, there are several heraldic traditions, for example, the Castilian tradition.

In my humble opinion, we should compare at the same level, English heraldry with, for example, Castilian heraldry, but not with all Spanish heraldry. We shouldn't do it for the same reason we don't mix Scottish heraldic tradition with English, as they are so different.

In the case of Castilian heraldry, the 8 main differences with English heraldry are:

• The rounded shapes, with a semicircle at the base.
• The importance of bordures and the existence of the diminished bordure, called in Castilian «filiera».
• The inclusion of words and also letters in the coats of arms.
• The wolf is the 2^nd most common animal, after the lion.
• The castle, triple-towered, which is different from the English and French types of castles.
• We can inherit arms from our mother and/or father; for example, the castle in the 1^st quarter of the coat of arms of Castile and the coat of arms of Spain comes from a mother, Queen Berenguela of Castile, mother of King Fernando III, the Saint.
• There are 3 kinds of supporters with their owns heraldic names: «tenantes», human forms; «soportes», animals; and «sostenes», plants and things.
• Our quarterings do not necessarily mean that the arms are marshalled by inheritance. [Williams, N.; 2017; page 135, paragraph 26.02] describing the arms of Éamon de Valera, 1882-1975, President of Ireland, writes «Those arms are Spanish in appearance. The quartering without functions as a means of marshalling, is distinctively Iberian».

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Categories: Criterion, Semi-circular, Bordure, Letter, Lion, Wolf, Castle, Triple-towered, Port and windows, Masoned, Or, Azure, Sable, Diminished bordure, Quarterly, Supporter (human form), Supporter (animal) and Supporter (thing).

En Don Quijote, [Cervantes Saavedra, M. de; 1605; volumen 1, capítulo 18], el escudo de armas del «duque de Nerbia» se describe utilizando la palabra «empresa»~«enterprise», escribiendo «las armas de los veros azules», refiriéndose al forro de su escudo de armas, «es el poderoso duque de Nerbia, Espartafilardo del Bosque, que trae por empresa en el escudo una esparraguera, con una letra en castellano que dice así: «Rastrea mi suerte»».

Unas líneas antes, y para el joven caballero francés Pierres Papín, con un escudo sencillo de plata sin cargas ni lema, Cervantes escribe sin «empresa»: «que trae las armas como nieve blancas y el escudo blanco y sin empresa alguna».

Cervantes utiliza «empresa» para referirse únicamente a las cargas del escudo de armas, no al campo, ni a su color, metal o forro, ni al lema, lo cual queda claro cuando escribe: «Y desta manera fue nombrando muchos caballeros del uno y del otro escuadrón que él se imaginaba, y a todos les dio sus armas, colores, empresas y motes...».

El término se utiliza con el mismo significado de «carga en el escudo de armas» en el comentario al final de [Febrer, J.; Siglo XIII; trova 39] que dice «y quiso significarle con el puente, que traía por empresa en su escudo», siendo en este caso la carga el puente.

La quinta acepción del término «empresa» en el diccionario [Real Academia Española; 2014] es «Símbolo o figura que alude a lo que se intenta conseguir o denota alguna cualidad de la que se hace alarde, acompañada frecuentemente de un lema», que si bien no se refiere específicamente a la heráldica, está en línea con el uso anterior y deja claro que el lema no es parte de la «empresa» aunque puede acompañarla.

Por tanto, en castellano, el término «empresa» se refiere específicamente a la carga o cargas sobre el campo de un escudo de armas, y no incluye los esmaltes del campo, el lema, ni sus ornamentos exteriores.

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Category: Criterion.

In Don Quixote, [Cervantes Saavedra, M. de; 1605; volume 1, chapter 18], the coat of arms of the «duke of Nerbia» is described using the word «empresa»~«enterprise», writing «las armas de los veros azules», referring to the fur on his coat of arms, «es el poderoso duque de Nerbia, Espartafilardo del Bosque, que trae por empresa en el escudo una esparraguera, con una letra en castellano que dice así: «Rastrea mi suerte»» ~ «the blue vair arms, is the powerful duke of Nerbia, Espartafilardo del Bosque, who bears as a charge on his shield an asparagus plant, with an inscription in Castilian that says: «Tracks my fate»».

A few lines before, and for the young French knight Pierres Papín, with simple arms Argent without charges or motto, Cervantes writes without «empresa»: «que trae las armas como nieve blancas y el escudo blanco y sin empresa alguna» ~ «who bears arms as white as snow and a shield white and without any charges».

Cervantes uses «empresa» to mean only the charges on the coat of arms, not the field, nor its color, metal or fur, nor the motto, which is clear when he writes: «Y desta manera fue nombrando muchos caballeros del uno y del otro escuadrón que él se imaginaba, y a todos les dio sus armas, colores, empresas y motes...» ~ «And in this way, he went on naming many knights from one and the other squadron that he imagined, and to each of them, he gave arms, colors, charges, and mottos...».

The term is used with the same meaning of «charge on the coar of arms» in the commentary at the end of [Febrer, J.; Siglo XIII; trova 39] which says «y quiso significarle con el puente, que traía por empresa en su escudo» ~ «and wanted to signify with the bridge that he bore as a charge on his shield», where in this case, the charge is the bridge.

The fifth definition of the term «empresa» in the dictionary [Real Academia Española; 2014] is «Símbolo o figura que alude a lo que se intenta conseguir o denota alguna cualidad de la que se hace alarde, acompañada frecuentemente de un lema» ~ «Symbol or figure that alludes to what one intends to achieve or denotes a quality of which one boasts, often accompanied by a motto», which, while not specific to heraldry, aligns with the previous usage and makes it clear that the motto is not part of the «empresa» though it may accompany it.

Then, in Castilian, the term «empresa» refers specifically to the charge or charges on the field of a coat of arms, and it does not include the field tinctures, the motto, or its external ornaments.

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Category: Criterion.

Within governance heraldry, I classify the arms of states, as political structures, and those of their powers, their governing and administrative institutions, and their organizational substructures, such as regions, provinces, municipalities, etc.

The arms of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of Bunyoro-Kitara, and of Ceuta are examples of political heraldry.

This class partially coincides with what [Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 1975; page 87] refers to as «institutional heraldry».

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Categories: Criterion and Civic.

I classify the coats of arms that I interpret or create depending on the field of the bearer of these armories and I do so within one of the following six categories:

• Personal heraldry.
• Governance heraldry.
• Military heraldry.
• Religious heraldry.
• Socioeconomic heraldry.
• Imaginary heraldry.

With their similarities and differences, there are many classifications within heraldry, some of which come from recognized authors. This specific classification, presented here, does not aim to be more than my personal way of classifying and organizing the coats of arms that I interpret or create.

As with any classification structure within a varied and rich universe of occurrences, as is the case with heraldry, there are always specific instances that belong or may belong to 2 or more classes, in these cases, I include the coat of arms in the one that seems most reasonable and provides the quickest and most logical location.

It could be suggested that this classification corresponds to the human being, in personal heraldry, and to their four most characteristic ways of organizing from a heraldic perspective: a) political and governance structures, b) military, c) spiritual and religious, and d) those of an economic or social nature. Allowing, in a sixth and final section of imaginary heraldry, for those creations of impossible ownership, on the border of heraldry and which, despite this, we do not want to exclude. The appeal of imaginary heraldry is that it is like a blank canvas on which we can create a coat of arms for someone or something with more freedom than in the other classes.

Imaginary coat of arms that encompasses the 6 classes of heraldry.

The quartered in saltire shield that illustrates this article symbolizes these 6 classes of heraldry:

• In the escutcheon of Or, a heart Gules symbolizes personal heraldry, the nobility of people, the love of family, and the blood of lineage.
• The 1^st of Purpure and the crown Or represent political and governance structures and their heraldry, with Purpure being a color associated with power since Roman times.
• The 2^nd of Vert and the sword point upwards Or, in open field, a vert battlefield, symbolizes military heraldry.
• The 3^rd of Azure, the color of the sky, and the crozier Or is the representation of religious heraldry.
• The 4^th of Sable, reminiscent of an industrial or mining ground, and a bezant, always Or, representing currency and money, symbolizes socioeconomic heraldry.
• The bordure Argent, as an outer border, frontier, or blank canvas, is the proper domain of imaginary heraldry.

Reflections on governance heraldry

In my approach to heraldry, I choose to unify political and civic heraldry under the broader concept of «governance heraldry». While modern terminology often distinguishes «civic heraldry» as a separate entity, with professionals focusing specifically on municipal arms, I see a deeper connection. Historically, the heraldry of kingdoms and kings was frequently intertwined; the arms of regions or realms were quartered to create the arms of united kingdoms. These kingdoms were often divided into regions and provinces, with cities frequently founded by royal orders and granted certain privileges.

Thus, I bring all of these elements together under the concept of «governance heraldry», in Castilian «heráldica política». Although in English this is often translated as «civic heraldry» to align with contemporary usage, a more precise term might be «political and civic heraldry». However, this combination does not fully convey the interconnectedness of all forms of heraldic expression related to governance, whether at the level of a kingdom, region, or municipality.

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Category: Criterion.

Within imaginary heraldry, I classify the arms attributed to persons, entities, or things, real, mythical, or imaginary, that could not or cannot possess them, or if they did, their existence is unknown, or due to various circumstances, they neither could nor can assume them.

For example, the coat of arms of Odysseus of Ithaca, legendary hero of Greek mythology, of Brutus of Britain, mythical hero of Troy and founder of Britain who never existed, of Seneca, who historically existed, but could not have had arms as he lived before heraldry, of Hufflepuff at Hogwarts from the Harry Potter books, of the Holy Trinity, of logic, of arithmetic, or of the categories of heraldry.

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Categories: Criterion and Imaginary.

Bordure invected and bordure engrailed.

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Categories: Criterion, Schema, Semi-circular, Bordure, Invected and Engrailed.

Within military heraldry, I classify the arms of individuals, institutions, orders, military corps, and entities.

Although the military is an institution of the state, I dedicate a separate category to it in recognition of its special characteristics and history, as well as its particular functions of cohesion and identification, which are rooted in heraldry for the battlefield. The coat of arms of the Central Military Region and the Artillery Combat School of the Swedish Army are examples of military heraldry.

[Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 1975; page 88] includes military heraldry within his «institutional heraldry».

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Categories: Criterion and Military.

Within personal heraldry, I classify the arms of individuals, their families, or lineages.

When a coat of arms representing a person, such as in the case of a king, is also used to represent something else, such as their kingdom, I classify it as personal heraldry, prioritizing the representation of the individual over other possible uses, as this is the origin of heraldry.

The historical arms of Carlos de la Cerda or the current ones of Austin Charles Berry and of Stephan Urs Breu are examples of personal heraldry.

In Spanish, I use the name given by [Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 1975; page 53] and in English «personal heraldry», which is the most commonly accepted term.

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Categories: Criterion and Personal.

Within religious heraldry, I classify the arms of individuals, offices, dignitaries, institutions, communities, orders, and religious entities, primarily, by tradition, those of the Church.

The arms of the Order of Mercy and those of the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri are examples of religious heraldry.

Being more general, this category encompasses what [Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 1975; page 59] refers to as «ecclesiastical heraldry».

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Categories: Criterion and Religious.

Within socioeconomic heraldry, I classify the arms of all collectives not included in the previous categories, such as, for example, commercial societies, which may represent companies, their brands, and products, sports clubs and federations, associations, professional colleges, educational institutions, arms granted or assumed collectively, etc.

For example, the coats of arms of universities, both private and public, belong to this category, the former naturally and the latter considering their appropriate autonomy from state powers. In this way, the coat of arms of the IESE, as a business school, is an example of socioeconomic heraldry.

Also included are the coats of arms of associations, like the Norsk Heraldisk Forening, and of companies, such as the arms of Alea Capital.

This category partially coincides with what [Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 1975; page 119] refers to as «representative heraldry».

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Categories: Criterion and Socioeconomic.

Selection of photos of supporters with human forms from the city of Ubeda, Jaen, Andalusia.

In international heraldry groups, I often notice that tenantes are discussed almost as a heraldic rarity, something very uncommon, reserved only for certain types of corporations or high-ranking individuals. This can be seen, for example, in phrases like «tenant is not a heraldic term, whereas supporter is» or humorous expressions such as «I do have tenants, they pay me rent» or «our tenants living on our land and who pay us rent do not wear our badges».

Therefore, to spread the idea that tenantes are not uncommon in Castilian heraldry, I thought a good image would be worth a thousand words. So, I created a montage of images from Úbeda alone and published it with the phrase «This is a selection of tenants photos from only one single city, Úbeda, Jaén, Andalusia», and I am sure that there are even more tenantes in Úbeda.

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Categories: Criterion and Supporter (human form).