Clément Prinsault was a 15th-century French heraldist. Prinsault was strongly influenced by

Bartolo de Sassoferrato Bartolus de Saxoferrato (Italian: ''Bartolo da Sassoferrato''; 131313 July 1357) was an Italian law professor and one of the most prominent continental jurists of Medieval Roman Law. He belonged to the school known as the commentators or postglos ...

. His book ''Traité du blason'' (1465),In 1887, Otto Titan von put it to 1416 (p. 8.) was one of the earliest writings on

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, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

. His book consists of two parts – ''Traité'' and ''Armorial''. Part I consists of 12 chapters. # ''De ceulx qui premier trouvèrent armes'' (he names

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

and

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

as the first

armiger In heraldry, an armiger is a (natural or juridical) person entitled to use a heraldic achievement (e.g., bear arms, an "armour-bearer") either by hereditary right, grant, matriculation, or assumption of arms. Such a person is said to be armig ...

s) # ''De quelle maniére on fait armes'' (all coat of arms have three elements: metals e métal colours e couleur and furs e penne # ''Quantes métax, quantes couleurs et quantes pennes il y a en armes et comment on les doit blasonner'' (how to describe the metals, colours, and furs) # ''A quelle vertu, quelle complexion, quelle des sept planettes, quel des XII signes célestes, quelle pierre précieuse, quel jour de la sepmaine, quel des III élémens et quel métal signifie en armes chascun desdits métalxs et coleurs'' (deals with the relation of metals and colours to virtues, seven planets, 12 celestial signs, gemstones, weekdays, 3 elements) # ' (deals with ordinaries) # ''Démonstre jusques à quel nombre on doit nombrer toutes choses... et quant on doit dire sans nombre ou semé'' (deals with field treatments, and their maximal numbers like semé, checkered etc.) # ''Fait mention de la disposition des métalx ou couleurs ou blason, et comment on peut discerner les faulses armes des vrayes'' (deals with the composition of colours and metals in the field, and their unproper manners) # ''En quelle partie de l'escu on doit commencer à blasonner'' (deals with the right

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

) # ''De certaines différences d'oyseaux et bestes ou blason d'armes'' (deals with certain birds and animals in the arms) # How to blazon the lion and leopard in heraldry # ''En quelle façon sont en armes besans, torteaux, cotire etc., et quelle différence il y a entre crois etc.'' (deals with roundles,

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

es etc.) # ''Démonstre la maniére de blasonner XV escur difficilles cy aprés contenus avecques la conclusion de ce présent livre'' (examples of heraldic blazon).

Works

His work has several French language manuscripts in Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF): MS FR5936, FR5939, FR14357.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prinsault, Clement 15th-century births French heraldists Year of death unknown

Works

See also

References