Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/253

 2 nd S. N 13,, MAE. 29. '56.]

NOTES AND QUEEIES.

245

LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 1856.

NOTES ON THE FLEUR-DE-LIS.

(Continued from p. 226.)

Having thus traced the occurrence of the fleur- de-lis through many periods of antiquity, we may now proceed to the history of its adoption in France.

Montfaucon, in his Discours Preliminaire, says :

" Ce fut Louis VII. dit le Jeune (A.D. 1137) qui chargea 1'ecu de France de fleurs-de-lis sans nombre, et u son imitation, les seigneurs et gentilhommes du royaume pri- rent aussi des armoiries."

But this does not appear to be strictly correct ; for in the first Crusades Under Philip I. (1096 1100), these insignia were, as will hereafter ap- pear, borne on the shields of many of his com- panions in arms. If, moreover, it were true that this king, who flourished during the second Cru- sade, and died 1180, and his successors, Philip II. (his son) and Louis VIII. (his grandson), are the first whose seals and coins are " semez de fleur- de-lis" (10 whole, 6 half, and 4 quarters), the ornament itself, as has been shown, had already appeared in the crowns and sceptres of many of their predecessors.

According to Pere Anselme, Carloman, who died A.D. 755, and his brother Pepin, who was crowned A.D. 752, founded the Abbey of Fulda in Germany. " Les estampes," he says, " de leur deux figures," in the church Mont St. Pierre, a monastery dependent on the Abbey of Fulda, show, in the right hand of each, a short sceptre, terminated by a sharp and pointed " fer," the middle part being larger than the point ; " avec deux crochets au bas, recourbez en demi crois- sant," " en ancon, ou Francisque," imperfectly resembling a fleur-de-lis (vol. i. p. 24.).

A Bible presented to Charles II., A.D. 869., has a miniature of this monarch and his court. His throne is terminated with three flowers of the form of " fleur-de-lis sans pied." On his head is a crown, " fermee a fleurons d'or, relevez et re- courbez d'une maniere singuliere." Another miniature, in the Book of Prayers, shows him on a throne surmounted by a sort of "fleur-de-lis sans pied." His crown is of " fleurs comme de lis ;" and the robe is fastened with a rose, " d'ou sortent trois pistils en forme de fleurs-de-lis." His sceptre terminates in a fleur-de-lis (Ans., vol. i. 33.).

Of Louis II., and the eight succeeding sove- reigns (A.D. 879 954.), there is no memorial which assigns them the use of this ornament.

The sceptre of Lothaire, who died 986, termi- nates in a fleur-de-lis.

The crown of Hugh Capet, in the church of St. Denis, is formed of fleurs-de-lis, as is also that

on his seal (Ajis., 70.). The crown of Robert, who died 1031, has fleurs-de-lis, as in that of hia father.

The crown of Henry I. (died 1060) is composed of fleurs-de-lis, like that at the top of his sceptre ; and their forms are more distinct than before, " de m^me que dans les sceaux des rois ses suc- cesseurs." That of Philip I. (died 1108) is the same.

Louis VII. (born 1120) was, according to Pere Anselme (vol. i. p. 76.), the first who bore the fleurs-de-lis "semez" on his seals and coins; and Montfaucon, as above, affirms that he first charged the shield of France with fleurs-de-lis " sans nombre." His arms were, " d'azur, seme de fleurs- de-lis" (10 whole, 6 half, 4 quarter flowers).

Philip II. is known only in his seal (Montf., vol. ii. p. 110. pi. xiii.). He is seated on a throne, having in his right hand a fleur-de-lis; and, in his left, a sceptre " termine, comme celui de son pere par un losange qui renferme un fleur-de-lis." This plate is very distinctive of the charge.

The first known " contreseel" having a fleur-de- lis, was of this monarch.

The "blason" of his son, the Conte de Bou- logne (born 1200), was " tunique d'azur, chargee de fleurs-de-lis sans- nombre" (p. 112.). He ap- pears, also, "arme de cap-a-pied, portant 1'ecu de France" (14 very perfect fleurs-de-lis).

In the same plate are other instances of "tuni- ques" and shields charged with fleurs-de-lis of a very perfect form.

The shield of Louis VIII. (p. 120.) bears 5 whole and 6 half flowers.

The sons and daughters of St. Louis IX. (born 1226) are " revetus de blason semee de fleurs-de- lis." But in plate xxiii. torn. ii. p. 158., where St. Louis " instruit ses enfans," his shield, for the first time, bears three fleurs-de-lis (2 and 1).

Philip III. and Charles V. bore them as Philip II.

Charles de France, son of Charles V. (died 1386), first quarters the dolphin with three fleurs- de-lis, as Dauphin de Viennois. His sister, youngest daughter of Charles V. and of Jeanne de Bourbon (died 1388), bore "d'azur a trois fleurs-de-lis d'or." Charles VI. continued the charge of three fleurs-de-lis which he had assumed as Dauphin. We have seen that it had been already once adopted by St. Louis.

Charles VII. and Louis XI. bore only three fleurs-de-lis.

Charles VIII. quartered, 1st and 4th, three fleurs-de-lis ; 2nd and 3rd, one large and four small crosses for Jerusalem.

Louis XII., Francis I., Henry II., Francis II., Charles Maximilian, all bore three fleurs-de-lis. Henry III., Louis XIV. XV., quartered the same with the arms of Navarre.

The Aimuaire de la Pairie et de la Noblesse de France et des Maisons Souveraines de F Europe,