The Beyeren Armorial is a manuscript
roll of arms
A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms.
The oldest extant armorials date to the mid-13th centur ...
of the early 15th century, containing 1096 hand-colored
coats of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in i ...
, with annotations in
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarc ...
. It is held by in the
National Library of the Netherlands
The Royal Library of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninklijke Bibliotheek or KB; ''Royal Library'') is the national library of the Netherlands, based in The Hague, founded in 1798. The KB collects everything that is published in and concerning the N ...
in The Hague (KB), shelf mark 79 K 21.
Description of the Beyeren Armorial in the catalogue of the KB
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]
History
The manuscript was compiled at the court of Holland and was completed on 23 June 1405 by Claes Heynenzoon (c.1345−1414). He was Ruwieren King of Arms
King of Arms is the senior rank of an officer of arms. In many heraldic traditions, only a king of arms has the authority to grant armorial bearings and sometimes certify genealogies and noble titles. In other traditions, the power has been ...
, the chief herald of the Netherlands around 1400. He is also the creator of the Gelre (Guelders) Armorial, for which he has also been referred to as the "Gelre Herald".
Contents
The manuscripts is divided into 5 series or chapters
* I (fol. 1r–8v, 18r–28v): 337 coats of arms from participants in a tournament in Compiègne
Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''.
Administration
Compiègne is the seat of two cantons:
* Compiègne-1 (with ...
, "February 1238" ccxxxviii the indicated date is likely in error (as many of the coats of arms would be anachronistic), perhaps 1278 cclxxviiiis intended (the coat of arms of the king of Sicily
The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the County of Sicily in 1071 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816.
The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which occ ...
is that of Anjou Anjou may refer to:
Geography and titles France
*County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou
**Count of Anjou, title of nobility
*Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France
**Duke ...
, for Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
, r. 1266–1285); the Luxebourg lion for "Henry of Luxembourg" would then be in reference to Henry VI (1240–1288), father of emperor Henry VII.
* II (fol. 28v–35v, 49r–52v): 191 coats of arms from participants in a tournament in Mons
Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...
; 1310
* III (fol. 52v–57v, 36r–48v, 9r–13r): 404 coats of arms from participants in a raid against the Frisians in Kuinre
Kuinre (Low Saxon: ''De Kuunder'') is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It was a separate municipality until 1973, when it became a part of IJsselham, which in turn merged into the municipality of Steenwijkerland in 2001.
Kuinre i ...
; 1396
* IV (fol. 13r–17v, 58r–60r): 122 coats of arms from participants in the siege of Gorinchem
Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in .
The municipality of Gorinchem al ...
; 1402
* V (fol. 60r–62v): 14 series of ''The Three Best'', by given name ("the three best Johns", "the three best Williams", etc. )
Fol. 64v has a doodle of heart symbols
The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...
pierced by arrows with the maxim ''Wacht u, dool ich'' ("you wake, I sleep").
References
*Beelaerts van Blokland, W.A. (1933) ''Beyeren quondam Gelre armorum rex de Ruyris. Eene historisch-heraldische studie'', (The Hague)
*Anrooij, W. van (1990) ''Spiegel van ridderschap. Heraut Gelre en zijn ereredes.'' (Amsterdam, Prometheus)
*Verbij-Schillings, Jeanne (1995) ''Beeldvorming in Holland. Heraut Beyeren en de historiografie omstreeks 1400'' (Amsterdam, Prometheus)
*Verbij-Schillings, Jeanne (1999)
Het Haagsche handschrift van heraut Beyeren
Hs. Den Haag, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 131 G 37'' (Hilversum, Verloren)
External links
on the website of the KB (consulted 6 September 2016)
Description of the Beyeren Armorial
on the World Digital Library (consulted 6 September 2016)
Dutch coats of arms
Illuminated heraldic manuscripts
{{Heraldry-stub