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A Rhodian Armorial

• Κασδαγλή, Άννα-Μαρία

The heraldry of Rhodes is a mixed affair; for the most part it did not originate there. Western ar- migerous families that settled in the town and countryside and the noble knights Hospitaller who ruled Rhodes for over 200 years have left numerous examples of their arms. To these must be added imported luxury items like furnishings with heraldic decoration and even some efforts by pretentious locals to copy this foreign custom. Knowledge of these emblems is important in the study of local history, topography and architecture.The “Rhodian Armorial” is intended as a replacement of earlier lists by G. Gerola and A. Gabriel published in the early part of the century and, therefore, considerably out of date. It covers all extant medieval and Renaissance coats-of-arms on the island, whether still in situ or kept in museums and elsewhere. There are about 850 shields, belonging to about 180 lay or religious personages or the Order of the Hospital and are mostly carved in stone. Also listed are shields painted on wooden ceilings and frescoes, or decorating furnishings. Other heraldic accessories like crests, crowns, supporters and badges are mentioned in passing, as are many shields noted by early scholars but lost to us since.The armorial follows in broad lines the layout of Renesse’s “Dictionnaire des figures héraldiques”, because this facilitates the search for particular arms: divisions of the shield precede ordinaries, and ordinaries are followed by other common charges like stars, fleurs-de-lys etc., beasts, birds, the plant kingdom and inanimate objects. The description of every coat-of-arms is followed by a list of the places where it is to be found; variants of arms belonging to the same person are distinguished by letters. Thus every specimen is identified by a composite number: the first component identifying the arms, the second the precise location of the particular specimen. Those specimens of a shield that are still in situ are listed first, those on fortifications preceding the rest. “Loose” specimens are listed in the sequence given them in the internal inventory of the Archaeological Service.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία
• Archaeology and art

Περιέχει 1 σχέδιο, συνοπτική βιβλιογραφία και συντομογραφίες, Το άρθρο περιέχεται στο τεύχος: Μέρος Α'-Μελέτες