The Quaternion Eagle (; ), also known as the Imperial Quaternion Eagle () or simply Imperial Eagle (), was an informal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. Introduced around 1510 by Hans Burgkmair, the Quaternion Eagle mixed two pre-existing concepts: the Imperial Quaternions and the Imperial Eagle (

double-headed eagle The double-headed eagle is an Iconology, iconographic symbol originating in the Bronze Age. The earliest predecessors of the symbol can be found in Mycenaean Greece and in the Ancient Near East, especially in Mesopotamian and Hittite Empire#icon ...

History

Background

The so-called imperial quaternions (; from ) were a conventional representation of the Imperial States of the Holy Roman Empire which first became current in the 15th century and was extremely popular during the 16th century. Apart from the highest tiers of the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

prince-bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

s and the

prince elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

s, the estates are represented in groups of four. The number of quaternions was usually ten, in descending order of precedence: # Dukes (''Duces''), #

Margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

s (''Marchiones''), # Landgraves (''Comites Provinciales''), # Burggraves (''Comites Castrenses''), #

Counts Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

(''Comites''), # Knights (''Milites''), # Noblemen (''Liberi''), #

Cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

(''Metropoles''), #

Villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

(''Villae''), #

Peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising f ...

(''Rustici''). The list could be shortened or expanded, by the mid-16th century to as many as 45. It is likely that this system was first introduced under Emperor Sigismund, who is assumed to have commissioned the frescoes in Frankfurt city hall in 1414. As has been noted from an early time, this representation of the "imperial constitution" does not in fact represent the actual constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, as some imperial cities appear as "villages" or even "peasants" and the Burggrave of Stromburg was an unknown entity even at the time. The representation of imperial subjects is also far from complete. The "imperial quaternions" are, rather, a more or less random selection intended to represent ''

pars pro toto ; ; ), is a figure of speech where the name of a ''portion'' of an object, place, or concept is used or taken to represent its entirety. It is distinct from a merism, which is a reference to a whole by an enumeration of parts; and metonymy, where ...

'' the structure of the imperial constitution.

Coat of the Empire

Over its long history, the

used many different heraldic forms, representing its numerous internal divisions. One rendition of the coat of the empire was the Quaternion Eagle, printed by David de Negker of

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

after a 1510 woodcut by Hans Burgkmair. Named after the imperial quaternions, it showed a selection of 56 shields of various

Imperial State An Imperial Estate (; , plural: ') was an entity or an individual of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise signi ...

s in groups of four on the feathers of a

(the imperial eagle's

remiges Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the ta ...

), supporting, in place of a shield, Christ on the Cross. The four Spiritual (geistliche) Electors:

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

, Cöln (Cologne), Mentz (Mainz), Potestat zu Rom (Holy See) The four Mundane Temporal (weltliche): (Bohemia), Pfaltz (Palatinate), Sachsen (Saxony),

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

Seill ("pillars"):

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

, Bairn (Bayern, Bavaria), Swaben (Schwaben, Swabia), Lutring (Lothringen, Lotharingia) Vicarii ("vicars"): Brabandt (Brabant), n.Sachsen (Niedersachsen, Lower Saxony), Westerreich (Westrich), Schlessi (Schlesien, Silesia) Marggraven (margraves): Merchern (Mähren, Moravia),

, Meichssen (Meißen),

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

Lantgraven (landgraves): Thüringen (Thuringia), Elsaß,

Hessen Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

, Leuchtenberg Burggraven (burggraves): Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Maidburg (Hardegg-Maidburg), Reineck (Rieneck), Stramberg (Stromberg) Graven (counts): Cleve, Saphoy (Savoyen, Savoy), Swartzburg (Schwarzburg), Zilli (Celje) Semperfreie (nobles): Lintpurg (Limpurg), Westerburg, Thussis (Thusis), Alwalden (Aldenwalden) Ritter (knights): Anndelaw (Andlau), Weissenbach, Frawnberg (Fraunberg), Strundeck ("Stromdeck") Stett (cities): Augspurg (Augsburg),

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, Ach (Aachen), Lubeck (Lübeck) Dörfer (villages):

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

, Ulm, Hagenaw (Hagenau), Sletstat (Schlettstatt) Bauern (peasants): Cöln (Köln, Cologne), Regenspurg (Regensburg), Costnitz,

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Birg (castles): Magdaburg (Magdeburg), Lützelburg, Rottenburg, Aldenburg Twelve vertical quaternions were shown under them, as follows — eight dukes being divided into two quaternions called "pillars" and "vicars", respectively: ; Right wing :1. ''Seill'' ("pillars"), :3. ''Marggrauen'' (margraves), :5. ''Burggrauen'' (burggraves), :7. ''Semper freie'' (nobles), :9. ''Stett'' (cities), :11. ''Bauern'' (peasants), ; Left wing :2. ''Vicari'' ("vicars"), :4. ''Lantgrauen'' (landgraves), :6. ''Grauen'' (counts), :8. ''Ritter'' (knights), :10. ''Dörfer'' (villages), :12. ''Birg'' (castles). The depiction also appeared on the Imperial Eagle beaker.

Imperial Eagle beaker

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{Cite web, url = https://www.worldhistory.org, title = Quaternion Eagle of the Holy Roman Empire, website = World History Encyclopedia, date = 2021-03-22, access-date = 2022-11-04 Imperial Eagle Heraldry of the Holy Roman Empire Double-headed eagle