The varied armorial bearings of James Cardinal Gibbons. I often speak about the incorrect practice of a prelate deciding to change or modify his existing coat of arms. Even when arms are assumed (as opposed to granted by a heraldic authority) the bearer should not feel free to completely change them. Sometimes arms are augmented to reflect a new honor received or a change in status. However, completely changing a coat of arms, once assumed, should be avoided.
Gibbons was made Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina which did not yet have its own diocese, in 1868 and served there until he was made Bishop of Richmond, Virginia from 1872-1877. He bore the first coat of arms in both of those places. When he was made archbishop of Baltimore in 1877 he simply modified the external ornaments to reflect his promotion but still used the same shield depicting the seated Virgin Mary. Over the course of the next 44 years of his tenure in Baltimore he then changed his coat of arms no less than three times!
He adopted the arms showing the Holy Spirit descending from a cloud over the globe and also made use of an impalement depicting a pall (pallium). This would have been before the archdiocese had a coat of arms for itself and Gibbons was simply doing with this variant what many an archbishop had done. Namely, using an impalement with a pallium to indicate the status of a metropolitan archbishop.
In 1911, however, he changed his arms entirely again and adopted the coat of arms he bore until his death in 1921. These were done for him by Pierre Chaignon La Rose and I would think that what brought about the last change was the adoption of an archdiocesan coat of arms with which Gibbons’ personal arms were impaled. No doubt La Rose, who was fond of “correcting” coats of arms he didn’t like, convinced Gibbons to adopt the last design which was based on the arms of Gibbons used in Ireland (by a family the cardinal may or may not have had any connection to) differenced by the escallop shell, a symbol of St. James.
I have to admit his original coat of arms wasn’t very good and the final one he ended up with was rather good. But, the process of making many and varied changes throughout his life is not good at all.
The Most Rev. Notker Wolf, OSB (83) the former Abbot-Primate of the Benedictine Confederation (2000-2016) who, before that, served as the Archabbot of St. Ottilien Archabbey in Germany from 1977-2000 passed away in Frankfurt on April 3, 2024. He had been leading a pilgrimage to Italy but felt unwell. In trying to return home he stopped off overnight in Frankfurt awaiting a morning flight to Munich but passed away during the night in his hotel room.
His arms (rendered by the late Michael McCarthy) were slightly modified after he originally assumed them (second image). In addition, the artist chose to give his galero an extra row of tassels since he was Abbot-Primate of the Order but there is no precedent for such a decision. Abbot-Primate and Archabbots usually use a galero with twelve tassels as other Abbots do. The arms reflected his love of music as well as his own Benedictine monastic life.
Ángel Cardinal Fernández Artime, S.D.B. (born August 21, 1960) is a priest of the Salesians of St. John Bosco, who has been their Rector Major since 2014, the first Spaniard to hold that office.
On July 9, 2023, Pope Francis announced his plans to create him a cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 30 September. He is the first superior of a religious congregation be made a cardinal. At that consistory he was assigned the rank of cardinal deacon with the title of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice in Via Tusculana.
Pope Francis told Fernandez he could continue to serve as rector until July 31,2024, when he will be given a new assignment. He was made a member of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on October 4, 2013. The Salesians plan to hold an election to replace him as rector in the spring of 2025.
His episcopal consecration is scheduled for April 20, 2024. Pope Francis has assigned him the titular see of Ursona with the title of archbishop.
The coat of arms he assumed upon becoming a Cardinal (left) correctly omits any sort of episcopal cross behind the shield. Cardinals are not entitled to use this cross unless they possess the episcopal character. His coat of arms will have the addition of an archiepiscopal cross (right) after his ordination as an archbishop. Until then he uses the armorial bearings of a priest who is a cardinal and his coat of arms will be modified to indicate his rank as an archbishop after April 20.
On Friday, March 7 the Most Revs. Keith J. Chylinski (52), Christopher R. Cooke (50) and Efren V. Esmilla (61), all three priests of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, were ordained bishops in the Church and appointed as Titular Bishop of Gunela, Titular Bishop of Malliana, and Titular Bishop of Ottana respectively, as well as Auxiliary Bishops of Philadelphia. Bishop Chylinski was fortunate to receive the Titular See of Gunela which had belonged most recently to Christophe Cardinal Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States who was present at the liturgy of ordination. That’s rather unusual. He, of course, relinquished his episcopal titular see when he was created a Cardinal-Deacon.
The coats of arms of the three new Auxiliaries are:
There are two curious things about Bishop Chylinski’s coat of arms. The blazon and explanation say that the crosses are, “…crosses pattée, sometimes referred to as Maltese crosses…”
Indeed those depicted are Maltese crosses but that is definitely not the same thing as crosses pattée. Those are two different charges. The blazon should called them crosses of Malta. Pattée crosses have straight edges on them. In addition, it depicts and explains that the episcopal cross (which is incorrectly described as a “processional” cross, which it is not) has a blue gem at the center to honor Our Lady and also an escallop shell on the node to allude to St. James. Those two additions are heraldically unsupportable. The external ornaments indicate the rank of a bearer and are not subject to personalization in this manner. They are depicted generally in a conventionally accepted form and individual artists are free to depict them in their own style.
The blazon, which is not only an official description of a coat of arms but, truly, where the design of the coat of arms “lives” (as opposed to any one artistic rendering), may not stipulate the appearance and depiction of any of the external ornaments. It may indicate that they are part of the achievement but not how they are to be depicted. In ecclesiastical heraldry the Church regulates the use of the external ornaments. The blazon of the arms must be limited to the charges on the shield.
On Saturday, February 3, the Most Rev. Christiano Barbosa (47) a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, was ordained as the Titular Bishop of Membressa and Auxiliary Bishop of Boston by His Eminence Sean Cardinal O’Malley, OFM Cap.
The anchor is a fitting charge and placing it overall is also fine heraldically but having it right up against the rather unnecessary “diminished” bordure when they are both gold is heraldically questionable and artistically awkward. The use of the constellation of the Southern Cross as a symbol for Brazil is also a bit odd since it’s usually associated with Australia or New Zealand owing to its inclusion on the flag of those nations.
Other than that the rest of the achievement is fine.
This morning it was announced the Head of the Royal House of Savoy, the son of the last King of Italy, Prince Vittorio Emmanuele, Duke of Savoy passed away at age 86 in Geneva, Switzerland.
He is succeeded as Head of the House of Savoy by his son and heir, Prince Emmanuele Filiberto, aged 51. In June 2023, Emanuele Filberto announced his intention to abdicate his claim to the throne in favor of his daughter, Princess Vittoria of Savoy, when he felt she was ready to succeed. This will cause a dynastic problem since the House of Savoy never allowed for female succession. In such a case the succession, already in dispute, could pass to another branch of the family, the House of Savoy-Aosta.
The Most Rev. Mario Dorsonville (63) a native of Bogotá, Colombia who incardinated as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC in 1999, and who also served as Auxiliary bishop of that same archdiocese from 2015-2023 before being appointed as the 5th Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux on February 1, 2023, sadly passed away on January 19, 2024. His funeral will take place on February 1 exactly one year after the announcement of his appointment as bishop of the diocese. May he rest in peace.
In accord with the longstanding custom of attributing armorial bearings to individuals who lived before heraldry existed it was/is commonplace to attribute armorial bearings even to individuals whose very existence can be questioned and cannot be proven. Such is the case with Kaspar, Melchior and Balthazar, collectively known as the Three Wise Men. Even as attributed arms they have a simplicity and clarity that is in keeping with the typical form of more ancient coats of arms. Have a great celebration of the “Little Christmas” known as Epiphany.
In continuing my exploration of the royal arms of Denmark, leading up to the Abdication of Margrethe II and the Accession of Frederik X on January 14 I note with interest (not necessarily with any great significance, but merely with interest) that the Danish royal arms, the version used by the House of Oldenburg-Glückburg, occasionally turns up in other royal houses as well.
In particular, when the Greek monarchy was established in 1832 and offered to the Bavarian prince, Otto, whose reign lasted until his ouster in 1862, the Hellenic throne was then offered to Prince William of Denmark who ruled as George I of the Hellenes. The Wittlesbach arms placed at the center of the coat of arms of the Greek kingdom was replaced with a shield bearing the dynastic arms of the House of Glücksburg, a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg. That was used during the next several reigns until the monarchy was abolished in 1924. Then, in 1935 when the monarchy was restored and King George II returned to the throne the coat of arms was modified again.
Now the center of the shield bore the greater coat of arms of the Danish royal house as used by his ancestor and King of Denmark, Christian IX from 1863-1903 before a modification of its own. In addition, the Greek coat of arms changed the two Woodwose supporters to depictions of Heracles as supporters. This coat of arms was then subsequently used by the remaining Greek kings until the monarchy was finally abolished in the 1973 referendum.
However, the last King of the Hellenes, Constantine II, had married Anne-Marie of Denmark, the daughter of King Frederik IX of Denmark and the sister of Queen Margrethe II. She bore the royal arms of Denmark as she inherited them from her father and the Danish royal arms made a double appearance in the reign of King Constantine II.
Through the Greek branch of the House of Oldenburg-Glücksburg the Danish royal arms also made their way to the UK. The late Prince Philip, husband of Elizabeth II, used the surname Mountbatten which he got from his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, later changed to Mountbatten, but he was born a prince of Greece (and Denmark). His father was Prince Andrew, the son King George I of the Hellenes and, himself, the son of King Christian IX of Denmark. So, the very first coat of arms devised for Philip Mountbatten, and used by him for only two years before adopting a different coat of arms, reflected his Greek and Danish heritage, as well as his mother’s British ancestry.
The Danish royal arms–as used by Christian IX– are on the dynastic shield in the center. In the dexter chief quarter the coat of arms of his grandmother, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, and the daughter of Queen Victoria, (but with the escutcheon in pretense of Saxony inherited from her father, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha diplomatically removed) have been unusually and awkwardly added as a nod to his British ancestry, perhaps to quell any fears of the heiress presumptive, Elizabeth, marrying “a foreigner”. These were deemed unacceptable and in 1949 new arms were granted to him which he had a hand in designing.
This coat of arms includes quarters for Greece and Denmark (as well as Mountbatten and Edinburgh, his Dukedom) and make use of the Mountbatten lion supporter and crest, as well as the Greek Heracles supporter rather than the Danish Woodwose. You can tell because of the lion-skin loin cloth.
Another Greek Oldenburg-Glücksburg connection can be seen in the coat of arms of the Queen-Emerita of Spain, Sofia. She was born a princess of Greece (and Denmark), the eldest daughter of King Paul and Queen Frederika. Her coat of arms as Queen of Spain, wife of King Juan Carlos I is
Impaled with her husband’s coat of arms, Queen Sofia’s arms are those of the Greek royal house which she inherited from her father bearing the inescutcheon of the Danish royal arms as used by Christian IX. This shows the dynastic link to the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty; a shield containing the Dannebrog, a cross from the Danish flag, and quarterings representing Denmark, Schleswig, the former Kalmar Union, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg, Oldenburg, Delmenhorst, and the former Danish royal titles of King of the Wends and Goths.
Of course there is also the coats of arms of two sisters, both princesses of Denmark and daughters of Christian IX. Alexandra married the Prince of Wales and went on to become Queen of the UK as the spouse and consort of King Edward VII.
The other was Princess Dagmar who married Czar Alexander III and became Empress of Russia as Maria Feodorovna.
The Danish royal family has many connections to the other royal houses of Europe and the Danish Royal Arms, simplified once again by Queen Margrethe in 1972 to its present form, crops up in several different places which I simply find interesting.
I have already discussed the state coat of arms of Denmark in a previous post. Now I’d like to look at the Royal Coat of Arms which is much more complex. The current version was established by royal decree July 5, 1972. It is simpler than previous versions.
The blazon is: A shield quartered by a cross throughout Argent fimbriated Gules; first and fourth quarter Or, three lions passant in pale Azure crowned and armed Or langued Gules, nine hearts Gules (for Denmark); second quarter Or, two lions passant in pale Azure armed Or langued Gules (for Schleswig); third quarter Azure, party per fess, in base per pale; in chief three crowns Or (for the Kalmar Union), in dexter base a ram passant Argent armed and unguled Or (for the Faroe Islands), in sinister base a polar bear rampant Argent (for Greenland). Overall an escutcheon Or two bars Gules (for Oldenburg) the whole surrounded by the Collars of the Order of the Dannebrog and the Order of the Elephant. Supporters two woodwoses armed with clubs Proper standing on a pedestal. All surrounded by a mantle Gules doubled Ermine crowned with a royal crown and tied up with tasseled strings Or.
Since approximately 1960 the royal coat of arms has been reserved exclusively for use by the sovereign, the royal family, the royal guards and the royal court.
Among the simplifications from former versions was a reduction in quarterings for other territories and a much greater simplified inescutcheon overall.
With the approaching abdication of Queen Margrethe II and the accession of King Frederik X of Denmark I’ve been reading up on the heraldry used by the country and the royal house. The state coat of arms consists of three pale blue lions passant wearing crowns accompanied by nine red lilypads (normally represented as heraldic hearts), all in a golden shield with the royal crown on top. The national coat of arms of Denmark is similar to the state coat of arms, but without the royal crown above the shield.
It is historically the coat of arms of the House of Estridsen, the dynasty which provided the kings of Denmark between 1047 and 1412. The current design was introduced in 1819, under Frederik VI. Previously, there had been no distinction between the “national” and the “royal” coat of arms. Since 1819, there has been a more complex royal coat of arms of Denmark separate from the national coat of arms. I’ll take a look at that in another post.
Historically, the lions faced the viewer rather than forward and the number of hearts was not regulated and could be much higher. The “heart” shapes originally represented waterlily pads; a royal decree of 1972 still specifies these figures as søblade (“lake leaves”). Frederik VI also fixed the number of hearts to nine and decreed that the heraldic beasts were lions, as opposed to leopards, and consequently facing forward in 1819. The blazon is: Or, three lions passant in pale azure crowned and armed Or langued gules, nine hearts Gules.
In her annual New Year message Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced her intention to abdicate the throne on January 14, 2024 exactly 52 years to the day that she succeeded her father and became queen. She will be succeeded by her son, Crown Prince Frederik, who will reign as King Frederik X.
God bless Queen Margrethe, the last reigning queen in the world at the present time, and long live King Frederik!
On December 16 the late Eminent Argentinian Edoardo Cardinal Pironio (1920-1998) who served in different capacities in the Roman Curia, and was considered as “papabile” in the two conclaves of 1978, was beatified at the Vatican.
Last year I shared this idea as we approached the Christmas season. I thought I was worth seeing again.
At this festive time of year it is a bit of fun to wonder if there is a bishop in the Church who can claim to have jurisdiction over the North Pole and, thus, be Santa Claus’ pastor. I think such a claim might be made by the Territorial Prelature of Tromsø which is in the northernmost part of Norway. A portion of the territory of the prelature is above the arctic circle.
The Prelature is currently served by an Administrator
The Most Rev. Joseph E. Strickland (65), originally a priest of Dallas, Texas, later incarnated to Tyler, Texas and since 2012 Bishop of Tyler was removed from that office on November 11, 2023 by the Roman Pontiff.
Back in 2012 when he was appointed as Fourth Bishop of Tyler I had the happy task of designing his coat of arms. Now that he has ceased to be the Bishop of Tyler his coat of arms will be modified to reflect that reality. He remains a bishop in the Church and, as such, retains the use of his armorial bearings. His coat of arms at the time of his ordination and installation was:
Now that he has been removed as Ordinary of Tyler, his armorial bearings will appear as this:
On September 30 Pope Francis held a Consistory in order to create new cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Among those was the Frenchman from the Archdiocese of Rennes, Christophe Cardinal Pierre (77), who since 2016 has served as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America. He was named Cardinal Deacon of San Benedetto fuori Porta San Paolo. The arms he assumed on becoming a bishop in 1995 are now ensigned with the scarlet galero of a cardinal.
EXARANDORUM 