The special coat of arms of the de Medici family

-

During our stay in Florence (Firenze) in Italy we saw the coat of arms of the de Medici family regularly.


The House of Medici was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici during the first half of the 15th century. 

The family originated in the Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered gradually until it was able to fund the Medici Bank. This bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century and facilitated the Medicis' rise to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century. However they had the official title Grand Duke from 1569.




However in this post we will not talk about the family members, but about their interesting and beautiful coat of arms, which you will see almost everywhere in Florence.





The blazon of the de' Medici family is a golden shield with five red balls, and a blue one decorated with three golden lilies.

At the beginning the "balls" in the emblem were eleven, they became nine with Giovanni di Bicci, then eight with Cosimo il Vecchio, Pater Patriae. 

His son Piero the Gouty reduced again the number to seven, one of which became blue with the three golden lilies of the kings of France, a privilege granted by King Louis XI in 1465. 


Source picture: Wikipedia


Eventually the final number of six was reached with Lorenzo the Magnificent. The reason for these change in numbers remains quite a mystery.

There are different possible reasons for this look of the coat of arms of the de' Medici family.





One of the meanings could be the origin of the family. They where pharmacists before mighty bankers. So, the red balls would represent the pills that pharmacists prepared in their workshops, generally red in color to distinguish them from other products.

Another theory is that the read balls, where first orange and they where like the oranges which grow in the beautiful gardens of the family.




The fruits would represent the trading (history) of the family. Especially the trade in the East.




For me, it is nice to know the meaning of the famous coat of arms of the de' Medici family.

However the blazon also is very interesting: Or, five balls in orle gules.With these words, I finish the post and wish you a fantastic week!




The pictures of the coat of arms were made by me in Florence in June 2024. The picture of King Louis XI of France is from Wikipedia


Location: Florence, Metropolitan City of Florence, Italy

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who is who? de Liedekerke family!

-
Image
Only a few noble families are intertwined with the history of  a country.  The de Liedekerke family has it all: a long and interesting history and close ties to the rules of their country.  Let's take a closer look!  History It was in 1301 that the history of the family de Liedekerke started.  Then Knight Raas of Herzele signed an official document in Beveren. His son was Raas of Herzele of (de) Liedekerke. His descendants called themselves de Liedekerke.  But there were many interesting people in the family de Liedekerke. connections with the Duke of Burgundy Raas of Liedekerke, lord of Nieuwerkerken (+/- 1421 - 1494/1495) was married to a certain Johanna. Due to his marriage he became Lord of Heestert and Zulte. In 1476 he went on a military campaign with Charles the Bold. Duke of Burgundy. In 1477, Mary of Burgundy, appointed him as bailiff of Aalst and Geraardsbergen.  Charles the Bold Mary of Burgundy Connections with the House of Habsburg Steven ...
Read more

House of Wittelsbach - Between crazyness and excellence

-
Image
Plate with the coat of arms of Bavaria, Germany own picture taken in Munich With this blog post about the House of Wittelsbach I take you on a trip to Bavaria (Bayern) in Germany. Since 1996, the royal family's head is: Franz, Duke of Bavaria. So far is the situation nowadays but this royal familie has a very nice history. Own picture taken of the Coat of Arms of Bavaria The House of Wittelsbach: the origin Otto II, Count of Scheyern (who died on 31 October 1120) could acquire the castle of Wittelsbach near Aichach. Later the Counts of Scheyern left the castle in 1119 for Wittelsbach Castle and the former was given to monks to establish Scheyern Abbey. From 1180 till 1918 the Wittelsbach dynasty ruled several German territories in Bavaria and the Electorate of the Palatinate (till 1805). In 1329 under the Treaty of Pavia, the House of Wittelsbach split in two branches. Emperor Louis IV granted the Palatinate including the Bavarian Upper Palatinate t...
Read more

Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark

-
Image
The eldest daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, Margarita was born at the Royal Palace in Athens on 18 April 1905.  Family Through her mother, Margarita was the eldest great-great grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom . Contrary to the custom of the time, her father attended her birth because her grandmother, Queen Olga, believed that "it is only justice that men see the suffering they cause to their wives, and from which they completely escape". She also was a great-great grandchild of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia ,trough her father. With their mother, Margarita and her sisters communicated in English, but they also used French, German, and Greek in the presence of their relatives and governesses. The princesses were formally educated in English and Greek. Balkan War Between 1912 and 1913, Greece engaged in the Balkan Wars, which put the country in opposition to the Ottoman Empire a...
Read more