Costa i Cases, P.; Century XVIII

Pere Costa i Cases, «Nobiliario catalán», Library of Catalonia, call number Ms. 513 (153/1 and 153/2), manuscript, illustrated, Volume I: 443 pages; Volume II: 153 pages, Barcelona, 1701-1800.

A search process

This manuscript armorial, likely an autograph by Pere Costa i Cases, contains a compilation of lineages from the Crown of Aragon and other kingdoms. It features hand-painted coats of arms in color. Volume I includes an alphabetical index of families starting on folio 218 (modern pencil numbering), noting that the family names are in the Catalan language. The manuscript is a significant piece of 18^th-century heraldry, combining political, religious, and family armorials.

I reviewed it digitally for the first time while performing the search described below.

I was asked to find and document a Roca coat of arms corresponding to «azure, three chess rocks argent», which are canting arms.

Below is a summary of the search process illustrated with images from the «Memòria Digital de Catalunya» available under «Creative Commons» licenses.

I found online that it could refer to «...the Lords of the castle of Roca del Vallès. Year 1038. [P. Costa, ms]...».

The manuscript armorial created by Pere Costa i Cases during the 18^th century is sometimes cited as «[P. Costa, ms]».

As mentioned, this armorial is available online at the «Memòria Digital de Catalunya», MDC, «Library of Catalonia», where I searched for it.

This armorial contains political, religious, and family coats of arms, as seen in the previous image.

This armorial consists of 2 volumes; the first volume has more pages. To find Roca, I started with the first one, searching the Family Index located at the end of the first volume (the second volume has the index at the beginning). One must be careful because the pencil numbering on each page jumps backward upon reaching the index: from the last page with painted shields, numbered 430, to the first page of the index immediately following, numbered 218.

Under the letter R, I found 'Roca del Valles,' which refers to page 33, coat of arms number 69 of this armorial.

There it was, 'de la Roca,' from the castle of Roca del Valles, depicted as an «azure shield, three chess rocks argent».

I checked the following page for more information; there was another shield with three chess rocks, but it was not what I was looking for. I sent all this information to the person who requested it. This type of research can take hours, days, weeks, months, or even years, and most do not reach a conclusion; that is why I try to avoid them, though in this case, it only took a few hours.

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Bibliographical reference of century XVIII.

Classification: Manuscript, Armorial roll, Castilian language and In color.

Author: Costa i Cases, Pere.

The following articles cite this bibliographic reference:

• Balaguer, municipality of
• Ermengol IX of Urgell

External resources:

• Library of Catalonia, Volume I.
• Library of Catalonia, Volume II.

Azure, two lions passant, guardant, winged, each holding in its paws an open book Argent, with the inscription «Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus» Sable distributed on their four pages.

Escudo de azur, dos leopardos alados, teniendo cada uno en sus garras un libro abierto todo de plata, con la inscripción «Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus» de sable distribuida en sus cuatro páginas.

Arms designed by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, outlined in Sable, with an ogee outer contour and with a freehand finish.

Coat of arms of Deacon Mark Eschenlauer designed by him, Fr. Yannick Beuvelet and me, and emblazoned by me.

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Blazon keywords: Azure, Argent, Sable, Two, One, Four, Leopard, Winged, Grasping, Paw, Closed book, Book, Inscribed, Page and Motto.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Religious, Created, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Eschenlauer, Marc.

Azure, two lions passant, guardant, winged, each holding in its paws an open book Argent, with the inscription «Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus» Sable distributed on their four pages. Motto: «Evangelium Annutiata».

Escudo de azur, dos leopardos alados, teniendo cada uno en sus garras un libro abierto todo de plata, con la inscripción «Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus» de sable distribuida en sus cuatro páginas. Lema: «Evangelium Annutiata».

Coat of arms designed by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with an ogee outer contour and with a freehand finishing.

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Blazon keywords: Azure, Argent, Sable, Two, One, Four, Leopard, Winged, Grasping, Paw, Closed book, Book, Inscribed, Page and Motto.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Religious, Created, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Eschenlauer, Marc.

Argent, an apple tree, the base of its trunk forming a cross crosslet Azure, fructed Gules.

Arms interpreted by me, in flat tinctures, outlined in Sable, with a semi-circular outer contour and with a texturized finishing.

The coat of arms of Heikki Halkosaari, Finland, emblazoned by me.

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Blazon keywords: Argent, Azure, Gules, One, Apple tree, Base, Trunk, Cross, Crosslet, Cross couped and Fructed.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Plain tincture and Semi-circular.

Classification: Personal, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Halkosaari, Heikki.

Argent, an apple tree, the base of its trunk forming a cross crosslet Azure, fructed Gules.

Escudo de plata, un manzano con la punta del tronco en forma de cruz recrucetada de Azur, frutado de gules.

Coat of arms painted by me, highlighted with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with a semi-circular external shape and with a iridescent finishing.

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Blazon keywords: Argent, Azure, Gules, One, Apple tree, Base, Trunk, Cross, Crosslet, Cross couped and Fructed.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Semi-circular and Iridescent.

Classification: Personal, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Halkosaari, Heikki.

Antonio Salmerón Cabañas, «Interpretation of Six Family Coats of Arms from the Southern Indies Granted between 1538 and 1540», with the original coats of arms from the armorial grants, illustrated shields and step-by-step explanations of the interpretation process following the rules of heraldry, published by Ediciones aContracorriente, aFondo Collection, legal deposit M-23997-2024, ISBN 978-84-941511-7-0, Madrid, 2024.

Contents

• Prologue: Six coats of arms, page 9.
• Peru: New Castile, page 11.
• Geometry: Classical, page 13.
• Blazon i: Alonso Sánchez, conquistador in the province of Peru, coat of arms granted in 1538, page 19.
• Blazon ii: Juan de Argüello, alderman of Popayán and conquistador in Quito, coat of arms granted in 1538, page 29.
• Blazon iii: Juan Barbarán, commander and lieutenant of Pizarro, coat of arms granted in 1539, page 41.
• Blazon iv: Cristóbal Bernal, for his services aiding Pizarro, coat of arms granted in 1539, page 49.
• Blazon v: Diego Rodríguez de Figueroa, conquistador and pacifier of Cuzco, coat of arms granted in 1540, page 57.
• Blazon vi: Baltasar García, pacifier of Puerto Viejo in Peru, coat of arms granted in 1540, page 65.
• Appendix i: Bibliography, page 77.
• Appendix ii: Illustrations, page 83.
• Appendix iii: Vocabulary, page 93.

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Bibliographical reference of century XXI.

Classification: Armorial roll, In color and Castilian language.

The author is Salmerón Cabañas, Antonio.

Bibliographical reference mentioned in the following article:

• Ireland's Genealogical Gazette, volume 20, number 1, page 4

Internal resources: IndiasCyA.20241108.pdf PDF Format and Physical book on paper.

Supporting document illustrating my proposal, pages 4 and 5.

I have made a suggestion to the Lexicography Institute of the Royal Spanish Academy regarding the heraldic term «pira» in the Dictionary of the Spanish Language. I drafted a document that justified my suggestion, illustrated it, and proposed two ways to refine its definition within the Dictionary. I am honored that they have accepted my proposal and chosen the first of the alternative definitions I suggested. The following images are some of those I used to illustrate the supporting document.

Schema.

Delineation.

Coats of arms of the Burr, Osona, Gangoiti and Egado lineages.

I used the following bibliographical references [Académie internationale d'héraldique; 1952], [Arco y García, F. del; 1996a], [Avilés, J.; 1725a], [Avilés, J.; 1780a], [Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 1987], [Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 1975], [Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 2002], [Messía de la Cerda y Pita, L.; 1990], and [Messía de la Cerda y Pita, L.; 1980].

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Categories: Schema, Ratio, Outlined, Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Semi-circular and Doctor.

Or, on a pile issuant from the base Gules a sword point upwards Argent.

Escudo de oro, una pira de gules cargada de una espada alzada de plata.

Arms emblazoned by me, highlighted with lights and shadows, outlined in Sable, with a semi-circular outer contour and with a freehand finishing.

Coat of arms of the lineage Burr emblazoned by me based on the description by [Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 1987; page 388].

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Blazon keywords: Or, Gules, Argent, One, Pile issuant from base, Charged, Sword and Point upwards.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Semi-circular and Freehand.

Classification: Personal, Lineage, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Burr, lineage.

Continue with: Egado, lineage.