Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/287

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HERALDRY


247


HERALDRY


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Fig. 14. Archbish- op's Pro


The use of the temporal sword is said to have been originated by Erlang, Bishop of Wiirzburg, 1106 to 1121, but its heraldic use is not nearly so ancient.

The processional cross (Fig. 14), which, within his province, is carried in front of (but not by) an arch- bishop — a privilege granted to all archbishops by Gregory IX — is also used armorially, being repre- sented in pale behind the shield. Its use in this form by an Anglican archliishop is very rare — certainly no ancient examples exist — but elsewhere its use is practically universal. The cross of an ordinary arch- bishop has but a single traverse; in practice it is really a crucifix placed on the summit of a staff; but heraldry distinguishes the cross of an archbishop from the pri- matial cross which has the double traver.se (Fig. 1.5) and the papal cross with the treble traverse. The last named, however, is never placed behind the papal arms. Unfortunately, the bear- ing of the cross with the double traverse has become very far from unusual by archbishops, under the belief that the double traverse is indicative of an arch- bishop.

The use of the pallium has

received no little attention in

recent years. As a vestment,

cEssioN.lL its form is well known, and as Primatial

Cross ^ j.y,g (^^ ^1^;^,,^ ^^^^^ 1^,^^,^ ^^^^ Cross

few exceptions, if any) archbi.shops alone have the right to wear it. It is made of fine white lamb's wool, and now has upon it six crosses pattce of black silk edged with cord. Originally the number of these crosses was indeterminate; in early examples we find two of a bright purple or, occasionally, of red, later we find four. The pallium in continental Eiu-ope has only had a limited heraldic use and that curiously disposeil as an external ornament of the shield. The English method of display is nowhere else employed. In England the pallium has been the principal charge in the official archiepiscopal coats. The arms of the See of Canterbury (Fig. d, Plate I) are "azure, an episco- pal staff in pale or, ensigned with a cross pattce argent, surmounted of a pall of the last, edged and fringed of the second charged with four crosses pattee fitch(5e sable." The arms of the archiepiscopal See of Ar- magh are identical with those of Canterbury except that the staff is of argent ensigned with a cross pattee or. The arms of the archiepiscopal See of Dublin are the same as those of Armagh, except that the pall has five crosses pattce fitchee upon it, instead of four. An- ciently the arms of the archiepiscopal See of York were the same as Canterbury, but. for some reason which is not now known, the arms of the see were clianged to "gules two keys in saltire argent, in chief a royal crown or". Woodward asserts that the crown was originally the papal tiara, and if this be correct one is inclined to hazard the suggestion that the emblems of the papacy were granted to York as a solatium after the long enduring contest between Canterbury and York had been decided in favour of Canterbury, who was to be Primate of All England, whilst York ceded the precedence and was only Primate of England. The right to use the tiara in lieu of a mitre was granted to the Patriarchs of Lisbon by Pope Clement XII, and the change from the papal tiara to the royal crown would be a natural consequence of the Reformation. The arms granted by the papal Brief to the .Arch- bishopric of Westminster consist of the pallium (with- out the cross in pale as in the Anglican shields) upon a field of gules, and the same device is used by the Archbishop of Glasgow.

The emblems of the papacy consist of the tiara and the crossed keys of St. Peter " to bind and to unloose",


one key being of gold and one of silver, the two bemg usually tied together with a cord. These are usually, and most properly, placed in saltire behind the per- sonal arms of His Holiness (a practice originated by Adrian VI, in 1522), the shield being surmounted by the tiara, but the keys are frequently disposed in saltire below the tiara and above the shield, and, as the emblem of the papacy, the tiara and keys are often used alone without any shield at all.

Crests and helmets are not usually borne by ecclesi- astics. The possession of a crest is not denied to an Anglican ecclesiastic, who of course transmits it to his male descendants, but it is not correct (except in Germany) to use a crest concurrently with a mitre or ecclesiastical hat, both of which, of course, are substitutes for the helmet, to which the crest apper- tains. The Bishop of Durham, however, was an ex- ception, by reason of his temporal sovereignty. In Germany, the land of many crests, it is considered quite correct to display miti-e and crests simultane- ously, and a central helmet to carry the mitre is not unusual. The use of a motto by a bishop or other ecclesiastic is quite correct, though rather unusual in the case of an Anglican bishop. In Rome itself the use of all coronets of rank by cardinals was for- l)idden by a Bull of Innocent X, but elsewhere the coronet is not discarded if such an ornament apper- tains to the personal arms. In England the mitre would surmount the coronet with its cap, but in Con- tinental Europe it is more general to use the circlet (Continental coronets have no cap, which is really the English parliamentary cap of dignity) disposed along the top of the escutcheon and enclosing the mitre, cross, and crosier, as may be correct. In Germany temporal lordships are often attached as endowments to ecclesiastical dignities, and in such cases the coronets of the latter are made use of. No ecclesiastic in any country \>y reason of ecclesiastical rank alone acquires a right to use supporters, but where a personal right to these has been inherited ecclesiastical rank or office places no prohibition whatever upon their use. There is one exception: the arms of the papacy are fre- quently depicted with angels as supporters, each of which holds in the exterior hand a papal cross (i. e. with three traverse bars). At the funeral ceremonies of a deceased pope, the papal arms are shown sur- mounted by the tiara, but the keys are omitted, these taking their place above the shield, but below the " pavilion de I'Eglise' ' of the Cardinal Camerlengo, who, whilst holding that position, surmounts his arms with the curious canopv of red and yellow which belongs to the office (Fig. e, Plate II).

Members of a regular order frequently impale (on the dexter side) the arms of the order with their per- sonal arms, but how far such a practice has authorita- tive sanction is at least open to argument. As arms of patronage, cardinals have frequently impaled with their personal arms those of the pope who has raised them to that rank, but the practice (except in the case of the major-domo of the papal household) is now falling into disuse. Precentors denote their office by placing a baton behind their shields, and the arms of a canon are often displayed upon the almuce (the tippet or hood) which forms a part of his official dress. Priors and prioresses place a bourdon (or knobbled staff) of silver in pale behind their shields. An abbess uses her arms upon a lozenge and her crosier in pale behind. Frequently the lozenge is surrounded by branches of palm, or a crown of thorns, or, more usually, by a knotted girdle of black, or black and white, silk disposed in the form of a cordelilre. Ar- menian archbishops use a green hat with ten green tassels. Behind the shield are placed a Latin crosier and a Greek crosier in saltire, the shield is ensigned by a mitre, and in pale is a cross with a double traverse.

Woodward, Ecclesiastical Heraldry (London. 1894); Fox- Davies, Art of Heraldry (London, 1904); Chevalier, Topo-