Bezantée, bezantie or bezanty is an ornamentation consisting of

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of diff ...

s. The word derives from ''

bezant In the Middle Ages, the term bezant (Old French ''besant'', from Latin ''bizantius aureus'') was used in Western Europe to describe several gold coins of the east, all derived ultimately from the Roman ''solidus''. The word itself comes from th ...

'', a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

from the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, which was in common European use until circa 1250. In architecture, bezantée moulding was much used in the Norman period. In heraldry the word is shorthand for ''semé of bezants'', i.e. strewn (literally "seeded") with bezants. A bezant is a

whose

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

is '' or''. In English heraldry, a field ''sable bezanty'' often alludes to the Duchy of Cornwall. An ounce (leopard) bezanty appears as a supporter in the English bearings o
St Edmundsbury Borough Council
a bordure bezanty appears in the coat o

References

*MacKinnon of Dunakin, Charles. ''Heraldry''. 1966. London: Frederick Warne & Co. (Page 60) Heraldic charges Architectural elements {{heraldry-stub