John XXI

187^th Pope of the Church, from 1276 to 1277. «Johannes XXI», born Pedro Julião, also known as Pedro Hispano, born in Lisbon, Portugal.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Argent, three crescents Gules; 2 and 3 Sable, two pallets Or.

Escudo cuartelado: 1^o y 4^o de plata, tres crecientes de gules; 2^o y 3^o de sable, dos palos de oro.

Coat of arms with: a shield with a pointed and rounded top; the field in plain Argent and Sable; the figures outlined in Sable and illuminated in Gules and Or; and the whole in an elevated line style.

John XXI should have actually been John XX, but Cardinal Pedro Julião, upon being elected pope, decided to skip the number XX and called himself John XXI, with the aim of correcting what was believed to be a historical error, which in the end was not so.

This historical error consisted of the belief in the existence of 2 popes named John XIV, as seemed to be deduced from the records of the «Liber Pontificalis». They were therefore referred to as: the 1^st John XIV and the 2^nd John XIV bis.

By skipping the number XX, John XXI believed he was correcting this historical error. But the reality is that there was only one Pope John XIV, the same pope with 2 entries in the «Liber Pontificalis», the 1^st entry during the time of his pontificate in freedom and the 2^nd entry for the time he exercised his pontificate in prison, imprisoned by his enemy, the so-called «antipope» Boniface VII, who, in turn, managed to occupy the papal throne twice, separated by a decade, in 974 and in 984, somewhat like a double «antipope».

Therefore, John XXI, instead of correcting a historical error, made one, and for this reason, there is no Pope John XX in all of history, nor can there ever be one.

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Blazon keywords: Quarterly, Argent, Three, Crescent, Gules, Ordered, Sable, Two, Pale and Or.

Style keywords: Pointed and rounded, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Freehand.

Classification: Interpreted, Religious and Papal States.

Bearer: John XXI.

195^th Pope of the Church, from 1305 to 1314. «Clemens V», born Bertrand de Got, born in Villandraut, in the southwest of France, was the first pope to reside in Avignon in a stable manner.

Or, three fesses Gules.

Escudo de oro, tres fajas de gules.

Papal coat of arms interpreted with: a rounded triangular top; the field in plain Or enamel; the bars illuminated in Gules and outlined in Sable; and with a heavily hammered metal finish.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Or, Three, Fess and Gules.

Style keywords: Triangular curved, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Hard metal.

Classification: Interpreted, Religious and Papal States.

Bearer: Clement V.

Blazon equivalent to: Fernández de Córdoba y Carrillo, Diego.

197^th Pope of the Church, from 1334 to 1342. «Benedictus XII», born Jacques Fournier, was born in Saverdun, in the south of Occitania.

Argent, a bordure Gules.

Escudo de plata, una bordura de gules.

Papal coat of arms interpreted with: a round-topped shield; the field in plain Argent; the bordure outlined in Sable and illuminated in Gules; and the whole design in raised outline.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Argent, One, Bordure and Gules.

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

Classification: Interpreted, Religious and Papal States.

Bearer: Benedict XII.

200th Pope of the Church, from 1362 to 1370. «Urbanus V», born Guillaume de Grimoard, was born in Le Pont-de-Montvert, in the Languedoc.

Gules, a chief dancetty of four full points Or.

Escudo de gules, un jefe encajado de cuatro piezas enteras de oro.

Papal coat of arms interpreted with: a round-topped shield; the field in plain Gules; the chief indented, illuminated in metal Or, and outlined in Sable; and the whole design in hammered metal.

[Rietstap, J. B.; 1861] blazons it as Grimoard «de gueules, au chef émanché de quatre pièces d'or».

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Chief, Dancetty, Or, Three and Two.

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

Classification: Interpreted, Religious and Papal States.

Bearer: Urban V.

Party per fess Or and Gules dancetty of three full points and two half upwards.

Escudo cortado, encajado de tres piezas enteras y dos medias.

[Avilés, J.; 1780a; page 79], on the appropriate dimensions for outlining an indented shield, he explains that «encaxadas» or «emanchadas» refers to «the partitions of the shield, whose pieces fit into each other in the shape of thick and long triangles, which are regularly one-third of the length», that is, of the width of the shield for parted shields, «or of the height of the shield», that is, the height for fess shields, as in this example, «depending on the direction in which these figures are placed in the parted, fess, bend, and cut shields, etc. but being a Chief, they have half the base and the rest as point; and if it were a Fess, it is formed of alternating triangles, which fill it completely».

[Avilés, J.; 1780a; page 80], on which of the two components of an indented shield acts as the field and which as the piece, he clarifies that «the field of the partition is understood as the one occupying the upper part of the shield, with the lower part at the base considered the piece».

[Avilés, J.; 1780a; page 80], on how the blazon of an indented shield should be drafted, he establishes that «the number of whole and half triangles must be specified when there is more than one, and likewise, the direction in which the partitions are in the parted, fess, etc.», illustrating it with 2 examples that can also be seen in [Avilés, J.; 1725a; plate 8, illustrations 157 and 158].

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Blazon keywords: Party per fess, Dancetty, Three and Two.

Style keywords: Semi-circular.

Classification: Schema.

202^nd Pope of the Church, from 1378 to 1389. «Urbanus VI», named Bartolomeo Prignano, born in Itri, near Naples, in the Lazio region.

Or, an eagle displayed Azure.

Escudo de oro, un águila de azur.

Papal coat of arms interpreted with: a pointed mouth; the field in flat tincture of metal Or; the eagle illuminated in Azure, shaded and outlined in the color of the field; and the whole with a rough finish.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Or, One, Eagle and Azure.

Style keywords: Pointed, Illuminated, Outlined in the field tincture, Shaded and Rough.

Classification: Interpreted, Religious and Papal States.

Bearer: Urban VI.

Papa número 207 de la Iglesia, de 1431 a 1447. «Eugenius IV», de nombre Gabriele Condulmer, nació en Venecia.

Azure, a bend Argent.

Escudo de azur, una banda de plata.

Escudo papal que he interpretado con: la boca apuntada; el campo de tinta plana de azur; la banda iluminada de azur y delineada de sable; y el conjunto acuarelado.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Azure, One, Bend and Argent.

Style keywords: Pointed, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Religious and Papal States.

Bearer: Eugene IV.

Sigue por: Pius V.