ANSTHRLD - A Cat in it's Curiousity

[Teceangl]

> Domestic cats are a period animal known to western Europe, 
> just not in any heraldry that I have seen.

Rouland Carre states that he has seen late-period armory, the charge was
a cat herissony, and the blazon was simply "un chatte".
I know no more about this armory, you'll have to ask Roland.

OTOH, period felines in armory were overwhelmingly wild.  The domestic
cat spent a great deal of its medieval existance being believed a consot
of/spy for/embodyment of Satan and was not a critter one would have
wanted to use in their armory.  Wild felines were noble, proud, fierce.
Appropriate to display as a warrior's symbol.

When designing armory, remember that most "meanings" of charges are
Victorian fancy, but the medieval mindset toward certain things did most
definitely colour their desirability, or lack thereof, as armory.  Some
designs were chosen because they were pretty, but no one would knowingly
want armory including something reviled, feared, or with unlucky
connotations (think our medieval ancestors were't superstitious?  They
very much were).

- Teceangl
-- 
       Teclexia - the inability to type, write, or spell "Teceangl"
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