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Excerpt from the
book HERALDRY OF THE WORLD Written and illustrated by Carl Alexander von Volborth ,
K.St.J., A.I.H. Copenhagen 1973 Internet version edited by Andrew Andersen, Ph.D. |
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Portugal (pp.
118-119, 209-211) Heraldry came to Portugal in the second
half of the twelfth century. In the course of the following centuries
heraldic authorities may also have been established, for about 1400 King John
I (1385-1433) issued detailed instructions to the heralds as to their duties
and the territories in which they were to exert their authority. He was
probably prompted in this by his father-in-law, the English prince John of
Gaunt. His decisions however met with strong opposition among the nobility of
the country, among the lesser nobility especially, who were incensed that the
king should thus interfere in the way their coats of arms were designed. The arguments about this continued and at
the beginning of the sixteenth century Manuel I (1495-1521) laid down rules
for Portuguese heraldry. Commoners were forbidden to bear arms, and an
official register was established, the Livro
do Armeiro Mor, of all approved bearings. New arms were only rarely
granted, the reason perhaps being that it is quite usual in Portugal to bear
the arms of female ancestors if one so wishes (see below). In this manner far
more people can inherit a coat of arms than if they were only hereditary
through the male line, and thus the number of people without arms was far
fewer.
In its final form heraldic administration
in Portugal was organised as follows: there were three Kings of Arms, three
heralds and three pursuivants (see p. 180). Two of the officials in each
group were in charge of their own part of the home country, while the three
remaining had authority in Portugal's territories in India, Goa and Cochin.
This is possibly the only known example of European heralds having a sphere
of activity exclusively outside Europe (apart from England's Carolina Herald
appointed in 1705). The quarrel between the royal heralds and
the aristocracy continued right up to 1910, when both the monarchy and all
aristocratic privileges were abolished. Since then anybody who wishes to
assume armorial bearings has been able do so. In 1930 however the republican
government instituted an office, the Gabinete de Heraldica Corporativa,
which was responsible for the arms of corporations and professional
organisations. These are of great importance in Portugal, where numerous
public and private bodies have armorial bearings. Municipal heraldry is
supervised by the heraldic commission of the Associaciao dos Arqueologos Portugueses. One of the rules that were laid down was
that no civic coat of arms should consist of more than one field: the charge
or charges should be set on an undivided shield. The royal coat of arms or
the republican edition of it (Fig. 626) must not be included in a civic coat
of arms, with the exception of the centre five blue shields with their five
roundels (called quinas
in Portuguese heraldry) which could be retained if justified on historical
grounds (see Fig. 635). There were also rules for the use of mural crowns (p.
119): Lisbon and the provincial capitals bear the crown in gold with five
towers, other towns a silver crown with four or five towers.
In Portugal people are of the sensible
opinion that a person is descended as much from his female ancestors as
through the male line. Hence a person can choose to bear his mother's
surname, or that of any other ancestor for that matter, as well as his
father's. Quite often a son does not use the same surname as his father and
frequently two or more brothers have different names. Heraldry is considered in the same light.
The eldest son usually bears the coat of arms of the male line, either by
itself or combined with other escutcheons. Younger sons, on the other hand,
can choose from among all the arms of their ancestors, using one or more, but
no more than four, different coats at a time. They are however expected to
indicate by a mark of cadency which ancestor's arms
they are bearing or, if they combine a number of bearings on one shield,
which is the one in the first field. A certain mark indicates that it is that
of the paternal grandfather, another, the paternal grandmother, a third, the
maternal grandfather, a fourth, the maternal grandmother, etc. Sometimes
these marks of cadency — lily, half-moon, ring,
canton, demi-canton etc. (a label was only used by
the royal family) - are also accompanied by a letter of the alphabet, as a
rule the initial letter of the ancestor's name in question. The system goes
back to King Manuel Fs directive in the sixteenth century. In the nineteenth century it was customary for
some of the nobility to use a robe of estate, black lined with ermine. The Instituto Portugues de Heraldica,
Largo do Carmo, Lisboa 2,
is a private organisation which aims at bringing together people interested
in heraldry. |
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