Published: 2020-12-15

The unknown fourteenth-century seal of Wieruszów: A contribution to research on the oldest coats of arms of the town and of its owners

Marek L. Wójcik Logo ORCID

Abstract

The article has as its subject the coat of arms seal of Wieruszów that was used to authenticate a document from 28th January 1426. The seal is a point of departure for analysing the coat of arms of the town and of its owners. From the turn of the fourteenth century till 1467 the owners were representatives of the Wierusz family, who used Wieruszowa coat of arms. In historiography the seal had not been known before this discovery. The oldest coat of arms of Wieruszów was thought so far to be the following image: argent, a goat sable standing on the grass vert, bearing church gules with two towers of the same on the back. The representations of the goat originate from the seal as late as the end of the eighteenth century. The older seal recently discovered is dated for 1368—1426 and displays a coat of arms shield, party per pale, the dexter side checky of three and six gules and argent, on the sinister argent a demi-goat passant sable. In the rim there is the inscription “+ · S(igillum) · C(ivitatis) · WERVSC[HOW]IENSIS”. The iconography of the seal visibly relates to the coat of arms of the town’s owners. They used the Wieruszowa coat of arms: argent, a goat half sable half checky gules and of the field. The artefact from 1426 and the coat of arms seals of the Wieruszów owners that they used between 1395 and 1448 have been analysed. The article demonstrates that the opinion that the owners laid a stag in their coat of arms instead of a goat is unfounded. This opinion has recently been put forward a lot in the research. The seal, unknown until recently, probably kept being used till the end of the fifteenth century. After the fire of the town, which broke out in 1497 or 1498, the seal was replaced with a new one. The iconography of the new seal was an updated one, since it combined the symbols associated with the town’s founders and with feudal allegiance (a goat) and with manifesting the town’s independence (a church façade with two towers). This is the current shape of the town’s coat of arms.

Download files

Citation rules

Wójcik, M. L. (2020). The unknown fourteenth-century seal of Wieruszów: A contribution to research on the oldest coats of arms of the town and of its owners. Średniowiecze Polskie I Powszechne, 12, 69–95. https://doi.org/10.31261/SPiP.2020.16.04

Cited by / Share

Vol. 12 (2020)
Published: 2020-12-21


ISSN: 2080-492X
eISSN: 2353-9720

Publisher
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego | University of Silesia Press

This website uses cookies for proper operation, in order to use the portal fully you must accept cookies.