by stephen slater fhs,
If I was to be exiled, the only area I'd like to be sent to is the North of Italy, in particular, near to one of those sublime lakes, with the alps in the distance.
But perhaps, in the late medieval period North Italy wasn't such a fun place to be, it was to say the least 'politically fluid', made up of a series of small states, some just city republics, others, more formidable, ruled over by dynasties such as the Este of Ferrara and the Visconti of Milan. These lands changed hands multiple times, fought over by those 2 curiously named political factions, the Guelfs and Ghibellines, although this is not the time and place to discuss that fractious business. It was also the time and place of the 'condottiere' - literally the 'conductors' of warfare, hard bitten mercenary commanders who commanded their own ruthless bands of troops, whose services were on sale to local rulers- at a price. The condottiere were apt to change sides, depending on who was willing to pay highest for their martial expertise. Just sometimes, these condottiere felt they could stay with one ruler and who knows, such loyalty could reap great rewards- such as marriage to their boss's daughter- ii certainly happened in the greatest of those northern Italian duchies- Milan.
Condottiere were extraordinary characters who at one moment would be listening to poets, employing the greatest artists of the day, helping the flowering of the Renaissance- yet the next moment, pillaging, raping and murdering a town's population, who's defence (and defiance) had sorely tried the condottiere's patience.
The late medieval period for Northern Italy also saw the birth pangs of the Renaissance and with this came a particularly local heraldic flowering- the 'imprese' (translates loosely as 'businesses').
The nearest articles I can compare to 'imprese' are the livery badges which were all the rage among the English magnates of the late medieval period, especially, as you will all know, during the Wars of the Roses- and most will also know the famous line spoken by Clifford, in Shakespeare's Henry VI- "Might I know thee by thy household badge"?! Nearly all folk of medieval England would have known the badges of the great nobles, or rather their armed retinues, the ragged staff of the earls of Warwick and the crescent of the Percies. Such a sight would have been welcomed or dreaded, depending on which side your 'master' was.
Italian imprese could be used by themselves or often, on shields (the latter especially made use of on property and in decorations of castles, churches etc).
Yet the Italian imprese had several differences to the English livery badge, they were usually very personal and had certain 'rules' associated with their appearance e.g to give a message to the viewer, not too obvious, not too obscure, often they were accompanied by a motto, which should not be in the vernacular- German was often used (books were produced giving the magnates an idea of how to design and use their imprese). Furthermore, imprese were not worn in the 'livery' sense i.e by bands of household troops, they were very much the personal device of the magnate, he also might enjoy many 'imprese'- the Viscontis and their successors to the Milanese dukedom, the Sforzas, had up to 30 impresse I know of, and, oh, by the way, a Sforza condottiere did marry his boss's daughter and thereby 'married the duchy' as well! Another notorious condottiero, this time an English one (from Essex) - John Hawkwood, also married a Visconti lady.
To my mind the Visconti (then adopted by Sforza) arms are one of the most spectacular in the whole world of heraldry, a white shield bears a (usually azure) snake which is said to either giving birth, or devouring a red coloured child, or is it an early Visconti who found the snake asleep in his helmet, the snake would not bite him, so Visconti honoured the viper by having himself coming out of the creature's mouth! But the most popular story had the viper and a Saracen, as having been the crest of a Saracen warrior called Volute, who Ottone Visconti slew outside the walls of Jerusalem, the year said to be 1096. Visconti, therefore adopted the emblem both for his own arms and crest. Just one more of those 'vipere' legends- supposedly a Visconti slew an awful monster that inhabited a lake nearby Milan, the critter had the worst halitosis possible, which caused children to catch fever and die, therefore more easy to munch up!
The 'viper' (actually it is said to be a 'grass snake') lends itself to the full interpretation and 'gusto' of the heraldic artist and one of my favourite renditions, is in the artwork of my Italian friend, Gabriele Reina.
There is one aspect of imprese which particularly fascinates me- their use as 'augmentations' (in Italian 'concessioni') by their owners to either family or, more often, loyal retainers and those condottiere have proved particularly loyal and effective in fighting their employers battles. Most certainly the Viscontis and Sforzas saw to it that many of their leading 'loyalists' were awarded various of the V and S imprese, usually as quarterings on shields of arms, the original family arms appear on a central escutcheon.
I have started to build up a little collection of these 'augmentation imprese' and it is interesting to see very personal V/S 'badges' (I will use that term sometimes) being especially favoured by donor and the grantee. Of these augmentations, the badge of the 3 interlaced gem rings was a great favourite of the Milanese dukes and there are various legends of how they originated. 4 family shields of arms in my collection sport the interlaced rings, so do look for them in the arms of Borromeo, Cavazzi, Birago and Guasco. But look closely at the Guasco arms
not 3 rings but 1, held between a lion's paws. This in fact commemorates the services of one of the family in helping bring about marriage between a Visconti lady and a prince of the French royal house- such was the success of the venture, the now, French princess presented a diamond ring to Guasco's daughter, hence the inclusion in the family arms.
With the arms of the arms of Cavazzi
their undoubted pleasure at being allied to the Milanese dukes is obvious, not only do we have the 3 ring imprese, we have another favoured by the dukes, a horse 'bit', suggesting reining in a hasty temper and to show moderation, often this, the 3 rings and another curious imprese- a little brush (it also appears on the Cavazzi arms) were grouped together on ducal properties, the last imprese was said to suggest the Milanese dukes attempting to clear up and sweep clean the Italian towns afteryears of confusion and violence.
But let's look more at the Cavazzi shield, the original family arms on an escutcheon, are almost forgotten among 4 Milanese imprese, on a chief are no less that 3 'vipere' and the initials FR.SF for Fransesco Sforza and if that wasn't enough, the base of the Cavazzi arms is taken over with Sforza himself, riding off to battle! It was from Duke Franseco, in 1432, that 2 of the Cavazzi brothers were created barons and allowed the privilege of placing the ducal imprese on their shield.
Some imprese defy interpretation, such as another family of Visconti supporters, the Brivio di Milano,
whose ancient arms are placed in the centre behind which are 2 imprese, 1 with a hand holding a rock, with the motto "Alzo Fest", the other is either a pine cone or an artichoke (both have been used),with the motto "Vor Gott", neither are Visconti/Sforza badges. I have emailed and written to the family, which still has several titles and palaces, but they never reply.
The Birago family
also coveted the 3 ring imprese of the Milanese dukes, also, somewhat curiously, they also have a 'flowery hedge' as an imprese- only recently I've found out it suggests a 'defence' of their princes, lands and people!
My favourite imprese, sadly I have no picture (perhaps our editor will correct that for me?!) is the ice crampon of the Rusconi (Rusca) family of Como, apparently they adopted it after their Visconti overlords asked the Ruscas to swop their much loved castle home by Lake Como for lands high in the mountains, which they really didn't want.
Finally, we have seen how the ancient arms of Cavazzi was virtually swamped by impresa, but there is possibly 1 great Northern Italian dynasty, still very much extant, which can outdo possibly all, except for Visconti and Sforza. The Borromeo of Lake Maggiore, they still own the beautiful set of islands in the lake, have at least 7 impresa on their shield
these include the 3 rings, said by the family in their case to cement the union between the Borromeos and the 2 Milanese ducal families (the phrase 'Borromean rings' is actually used worldwide in mathematics). The Borromeos also used a 'horse bit', but it has its own particular 'legend', commemorating a victory in 1487, when Giovanni Borromeo helped defeat a Swiss army on the bridge of Crevola, near the Swiss border. The 'bit usually comes with the motto 'pone le briglia', which could translate as "I've pulled on the reins".
Also we have a camel which symbolises patience and devotion, but just why it has a basket of ostrich plumes on its hump, is anyone's guess. Probably the imprese most prized by the Borromeo family is the unicorn, one of the Visconti-Sforza's favourite badges, here to suggest a guardian of treasure, the 'treasure' being the protection of the ducal dynasty itself, further highlighted by placing the famed vipere on a radiant sun.
Today the Borromeo princes make the fullest and splendid usage of their impresa on the Borromean Islands (do look online for their excellent website - which actually details the heraldic images found around the estate), the rings appear in metal work, in lawn patterns, in topiary and in statuary - the isles are an heraldic treasure house, which one day I will get to - I hope!
Stephen Slater is an author and renowned expert on Heraldry and a Fellow of the Heraldry Society in England.
This article is the copyright of Stephen Slater and may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written consent of the author.
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