Marc Vulson de la Colombière (†1658) or Sieur de la Colombière was a French heraldist, historian, poet, minion of the royal court. His name is sometimes spelt as Wulson and also as Volson. He published several highly successful books on

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

prophecies In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...

, dreams etc. He put together all the available knowledge and traditions associated with

chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours we ...

. In the 17th century chivalry was practically rediscovered by two genealogists in the French court: Vulson de la Colombière and

Claude-François Ménestrier Claude-François Ménestrier (9 March 1631 – 21 January 1705) was a French heraldist, writer, member of the Society of Jesus esuit and attendant of the royal court. Ménestrier was born in Lyon. He composed numerous books on heraldry, in ...

after its golden age (1100–1400) and the decline of chivalry, developing its idealized image. Some authors named Vulson de la de la Colombière as the inventor of

hatching system Hatching (sometimes called ''hachure'', from the French word) is a conventional system for monochrome denotation of heraldic armory, whereby the tinctures (colours) are represented by dots and lines. This technique is employed in cases where col ...

tinctures A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

Biography

We have only some fragmented data about his life. Even the 19th century big biographies deliver only incomplete information about him. He was born in a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

noble family at the end of the 16th century in

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

. He was a son of François, advocat and Michelle Odde de Bonniot. In his youth, he fought for Henry IV. According to a curious anecdote, in 1618 he went to Paris to request grace, after he killed his treacherous wife and her lover. According to the title pages of his books, (see for example ''Le Vray Théâtre d´honneur et de Chevalerie'', Paris, 1648), he was a member of the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and the member of the

Order of Saint Michael , status = Abolished by decree of Louis XVI on 20 June 1790Reestablished by Louis XVIII on 16 November 1816Abolished in 1830 after the July RevolutionRecognised as a dynastic order of chivalry by the ICOC , founder = Louis XI of France , hig ...

(''gentilhomme de la Chambre du Roi et Décoré de l’Ordre de Saint-Michel''). By all probability, until 1635 he was staying in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

as he was a royal counselor in the Dauphiné parliament (''conseiller du roi en la cour de parlement de Dauphiné''). He also published a book in the spirit of the

Gallicanism Gallicanism is the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by the monarch's or the state's authority—over the Catholic Church is comparable to that of the Pope. Gallicanism is a rejection of ultramontanism; it has som ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

that year. (It can be noted that several of the Protestant

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

s and students at the Geneva University were his kinsmen.) Gallicanism served as a proper means to express his Protestant views in opposition to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and he presented them in such a way that it was even appreciated by the state establishment too. Vulson de la Colombière’s ideas suited the king’s taste too, as a result he left Grenoble and settled down in Paris, where he devoted his entire energy to study heraldry. According to the catalogues of the

Bibliothèque Nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

, his next book was published in Paris in 1638.

The Dispute of Vulson de la Colombière and Petra Sancta

He had wide-ranging correspondence with the most renowned heraldists of his time. For this reason, it could perhaps be concluded that Vulson de la Colombière was right in claiming the title of the inventor of the

, and accusing

Silvester Petra Sancta Silvester Petra Sancta (1590, in Rome – 6 May 1647, in Rome) was an Italian Jesuit priest, and heraldist. His name is also spelt as Sylvester Petra Sancta, Petrasancta, in Italian Padre Silvestro da Pietrasanta. Pseudonym: Coelius Se ...

of copying his method and incorrectly publishing it in his 1638 work, one year before the same hatching system was published by Vulson de la Colombière. On page 37 of his title ''La Science Heroïque'' (1644), Vulson de la Colombière maintains that Petra Sancta simply copied his system without any changes.He writes about this in page 38 of his book Le vray théâtre d'honneur: "Et afin que le Lecteur se satisfasse entierement, ie luy presente les deux metaux, les cinq couleurs, & les deux pennes graués en la page suiuante, & luy fais voir l’inuention de laquelle ie me suis seruy au premier liure de blazon, que ie fis imprimer pour connoistre les metaux & les couleurs par la taille douce, laquelle a ésté imitée & practiquée par le docte Petra Sancta, au liure intitulé, Tessera gentilitia, qu’il a composé en Latin, & fait imprimer à Rome; Aupaurauant l’on se seruoit des lettres capitales des metaux, & des couleurs pour les denoter, mais cela enlaidissoit l’armoirie, & apportoit de la confusion, & tout au contraire ceste inuention remplit & ombrage les pieces bien mieux qu’elles n’estoient auant qu’on la practiquât; & contente la veuë auec plus d’agréement: Et il seroit necessaire que d’ores-en-auant tous les graueurs d’vn commún consentement se seruissent de ceste methodo, & la practiquassent inuiolablement lors qu’ils grauent des Armoiries en des lieux où l’on ne peut dechiffrer leurs blazons, ny exprimer leur émail. L’or est pointillé; l’argent est sans aucune haschure: car denotant le blanc, l’on ne sçauroit le mieux faire connoistre, qu’en n’y faisant rien du tout; l’Azur est hasché en fasce; le gueules en Pal, le Synolpe en bande, le Sable est hâché doublement, & le Pourpre en barre, les deux pennes ou fourrures sont assez connoissables par tout; Si bien que sans peine, sans enluminure, sans charger sa memoire, & sans beaucoup embarrasser son esprit, l’on pourroit connoistre l’émail de toutes les Armoiries, pourueu qu’on se rende ceste table familiere. I’ay practiqué cela dans la plus grande partie de celles qui sont grauées dans ce liure, y en ayant pourtant beaucoup, & particulierment à celles où il y a des animaux, où ie me suis contenté de faire simplement le trait, afin que ceux qui desireront de les enluminer, lepuissent faire auec moins de peine & d’incommodité".

Philipp Jakob Spener Philipp Jakob Spener (23 January 1635 – 5 February 1705), was a German Lutheran theologian who essentially founded what would become to be known as Pietism. He was later dubbed the "Father of Pietism". A prolific writer, his two main works, '' ...

also cites the page 38 of Vulson de la Colombière’s 1644 work, but not exactly the same way: "''Je lui fais voir l'invention, de laquelle je me suis seruy au premier livre de blason, que je fis imprimer, pour connoître les metaux & les couleurs par la taille douce laquelle a été imitée & pratiquée par le docte Petra Sancta: auparavant l'on se servoit des lettres capitales. Ostendi ei inventionem, quâ (an à se invenia, an aliunde mutuo sumpta,) usus eram in primo de insignibus quem edideram libro, ut metalla & colores sculptorum lineolis exprimerentur: secutus est Doct. Petra Sancta: cum prius literis initialibus uti in more esset''". (Spener, ''Insignium Theoria Seu Operis Heraldici Pars Generalis''. Frankfurt

ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

1717. p. 113. irst edition, Ibid. 1690 Vulson de la Colombière also maintains that he showed to Petra Sancta his

in the past. In his citation, Vulson de la Colombière also mentions the book publishers and copperplate engravers as the users of the hatching system, thus emphasizing that by using this method on the illustrations, engravers can always designate the tinctures of the copperplates in the same coherent manner. In the title of his 1639 book he directly mentions that hatching is a ''new method'' used by copperplate engravings ("suivant l'art des anciens roys d'armes... et une nouvelle méthode de cognoistre les métaux et couleurs sur la taille-douce"). The book was published by

Melchior Tavernier Melchior Tavernier (1594 – May 1665) was a French engraver, printmaker and print publisher. Heritage, early life, and training He was the son of Gabriel II Tavernier (1566–1607), an engraver, who in 1573 moved with his father Gabriel I Tave ...

, and the engraved fontoispiece was made by

Abraham Bosse Abraham Bosse ( – 14 February 1676) was a French artist, mainly as a printmaker in etching, but also in watercolour.Denys de Salvaing. In his 1639 title, Vulson de la Colombière published a hatching table, but did not mention Petra Sancta. The reason probably was that in 1638 the publication of his book was already in progress and/or he did not know nothing about the same hatching method published by Petra Sancta in 1638. He had also described the way of hatchings by words, and published another hatching table in 1644. Ottfried Neubecker maintains that the

in heraldry was invented by Vulson de la Colombière and not Petra Sancta who only popularized the system through his second treatise titled ''Tesserae gentilitia'', published in 1638.

Works

*''De la Puissance du pape et des libertés de l'Église gallicane. Par Marc de Vulson, conseiller du roi en la cour de parlement de Dauphiné.'' Genève: Iean de Tournes & Iaques de la Pierre, 1635 *''Recueil de plusieurs pièces et figures d'armoiries obmises par les autheurs qui ont escrit jusques icy de cette science, blasonnées par le sieur Vulson de La Colombière,... suivant l'art des anciens roys d'armes, avec un discours des principes et fondemens du blason, et une nouvelle méthode de cognoistre les métaux et couleurs sur la taille-douce.'' – Paris : M. Tavernier, 1639. – In-4°, pièces, limin., 14 p., armoiries, 75 pl. d'armoiries, la plupart coloriées, frontisp. gr. par

Abraham Bosse Abraham Bosse ( – 14 February 1676) was a French artist, mainly as a printmaker in etching, but also in watercolour.Jan Baptist Zangrius Jan Baptist Zangrius (died 1606 in Leuven) was a Flemish engraver, publisher, typographer and bookseller. His name is mostly spelled as Johannes Baptista Zangrius, but is also known as de Sanger, de Zangre, Zangre, and Zangré. Biographical da ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vulson de La Colombiere, Marcus Year of birth unknown 1658 deaths French courtiers 17th-century French historians French heraldists 17th-century French male writers 17th-century French poets