House of Plantagenet

Azure, six lions rampant Or, 3, 2 and 1.

Escudo de azur, seis leones rampantes de oro, 3, 2 y 1.

Existing armories interpreted by me as follows: the shape of the shield is pointed; the field has been enameled in flat azure; the 6 lions are illuminated and cast shadows on the field; and the entire composition has a hammered metal finish.

The shield of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou is considered the first documented coat of arms in history, dated to 1127, when Henry I of England gifted it to him on the occasion of his marriage to his daughter Matilda of England [The Heraldry Society; 2013].

There is no direct evidence that Henry I possessed a coat of arms, nor that it featured a rampant lion [Humphery-Smith, C.; 1983], but the gift of a shield with 6 lions to his future son-in-law could be an indication of such.

Geoffrey is buried in the Cathedral of Saint Julian in Le Mans, and his tomb is decorated with an enamel depicting him with his shield, where of his 6 lions: 4 are fully visible, and 2 are suggested by their claws.

However, it is possible that both the wedding gift narrative and the enamel on the tomb are from years after his death in 1151, so [Pastoureau, M.; Garvie, F.; 1997; page 18] asserts that «this account was written after Geoffrey's death... and his funerary enamel commissioned by his widow Matilda between 1155 and 1160... therefore it is possible that Geoffrey Plantagenet never had a coat of arms».

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Azure, Six, Lion, Or, Rampant and Three, two and one.

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

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms and House of Plantagenet.

Bearer: Godfrey V, Count of Anjou.

And Count of Touraine and Maine, Duke of Normandy, and founder of the Plantagenet dynasty.

Azure, six lions rampant Or, 3, 2 and 1.

Escudo de azur, seis leones rampantes de oro, 3, 2 y 1.

Existing armories interpreted by me as follows: the shield's shape is pointed; the field has been enameled in flat azure; the 6 lions are illuminated; and the entire composition has a watercolor finish.

When blazoning these 6 lions, considering that in heraldry the natural arrangement of elements is from more in chief to fewer in base, it would suffice to specify nothing more than «or and rampant». However, adding their arrangement «3, 2, and 1» can aid the reader, as done by [Avilés, J.; 1725b; page 124] and [Avilés, J.; 1780b; page 142] when blazoning the arms of Alfonso Enrique de Vick, writing «sable, and six bezants or, three, two, and one», meaning 6 ordered elements. In these sequences of number arrangements, I prefer to write Arabic numerals rather than words because, at times, the sequences can be long.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Azure, Six, Lion, Or, Rampant and Three, two and one.

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

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms and House of Plantagenet.

Bearer: Godfrey V, Count of Anjou.

Henry II Plantagenet, King of England, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, and Count of Nantes.

Gules, a lion rampant Or.

Escudo de gules, un león rampante de oro.

Existing arms interpreted by me as follows: the shield's shape is pointed; the field has been enamelled in flat Gules; the lion in Or has been outlined in Sable; and the whole composition has a rough texture finish.

It is believed that Henry I was the first King of England to have a coat of arms, featuring a single lion rampant, but no documentary evidence has yet been found [Rabbow, A.; 1999; paragraph 8].

[Ailes, A.; 1982; page 62] argues that Henry II may have used three different versions of his arms featuring a) a single lion rampant, b) two leopards, and c) three leopards. However, it remains unclear whether these versions were used sequentially over time or concurrently. For this interpretation, I have chosen the version with the lion rampant.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, One, Lion, Or and Rampant.

Style keywords: Pointed, Plain tincture, Outlined in sable and Rough.

Classification: Interpreted, Coat of arms, Personal, House of Plantagenet and Kingdom of England.

Bearer: Henry II of England.

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur.

Existing armorial bearings interpreted as follows: the shape of the shield is pointed and rounded; the field has been enamelled in flat Gules; the three leopards are outlined in Sable and illuminated in metal Or with details in Azure; and the whole composition has a watercolor finish..

In [Humphery-Smith, C.; 1983; paragraph 2] the coat of arms of Eleanor Plantagenet, Queen Consort of Castile, is described, as part of an analysis on the origin of the three leopards in the coat of arms of England. However, in this description, an error is made by replacing the V with an X in the numeral of her husband and king, thus naming Alfonso VIII of Castile as if he were King Alfonso XIII: «Eleanor who married Alfonso XIII, King of Castile and Leon, has depicted on her tomb in the Huelgas monastery of the Cistercian nuns at Burgos, a thirteenth-century shield depicting three crowned leopards (lions passant guardant) gold on red».

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued and In pale.

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

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet, Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Castile.

Bearer: Leonor Plantagenet.

[ Gules, a castle triple towered Or, port and windows Azure, masoned Sable ] accolé with [ Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure ].

[ Escudo de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable ] acolado de un [ escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur ].

Arms of the King and Queen of Castile interpreted with: the escutcheons' shapes pointed and rounded; the field of each shield, the castle, and the three leopards enamelled in flat tints of Gules and metal Or, with windows, claws, and tongues in Azure; and the whole composition finished with a raised line technique.

[Medél, R.; 1846; page 38] provides a heraldic description of the leopard.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued, In pale, Sable, One, Castle, Port and windows and Masoned.

Style keywords: Pointed and rounded, Plain tincture, Outlined in sable, Tilted shield and Freehand.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Accolé arms, House of Plantagenet, Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Castile.

Bearer: Leonor Plantagenet.

Princess of England and Queen Consort of Castile from 1170 to 1214.

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure. Crest: An open royal crown Or.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur. Timbrado de una corona real abierta.

Armorial bearings of the queen interpreted by me as follows: the shape of the shield is pointed and rounded; both the field, the three leopards, and the open royal crown have been enamelled with flat tints of gules and metal or, with details in azure, vert, and metal argent; the three leopards and the crown are outlined in sable; and the whole composition has a watercolor finish.

She was the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile, and mother of 10 children documented in historical records, with her eldest daughter being Queen Berenguela of Castile.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued, In pale, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Pointed and rounded, Plain tincture, Outlined in sable and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet, Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Castile.

Bearer: Leonor Plantagenet.