Mural crown

Mural crown
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Usage in ancient times

Antiochia in a mural crown by Eutychides of Sicyon.

In Hellenistic culture, a mural crown identified the goddess Tyche, the embodiment of the fortune of a city, familiar to Romans as Fortuna. The high cylindrical polos of Cybele too could be rendered as a mural crown in Hellenistic times, specifically designating the Mother Goddess as patron of a city.[1]

The mural crown became an ancient Roman military decoration. The Roman corona muralis (Latin: "walled crown") was a golden crown, or a circle of gold intended to resemble a battlement, bestowed upon the soldier who first climbed the wall of a besieged city or fortress to successfully place the standard of the attacking army upon it.[2] The Roman mural crown was made of gold, and decorated with turrets,[3] as is the heraldic version. As it was among the highest order of military decorations, it was not awarded to a claimant until after a strict investigation.[4] The rostrata mural crown, composed of the rostra indicative of captured ships, was assigned as naval prize to the first in a boarding party, similar to the naval crown.

The Graeco-Roman goddess Roma's attributes on Greek coinage usually include her mural crown, signifying Rome's status as a loyal protector of Hellenic city-states.[5]




Heraldry

Modern elaborations of mural crowns of Catalan heraldry, without historic usage

The Roman military decoration came to be employed in European heraldry, where the term is used to denote a crown modeled after the walls of a castle, which may be tinctured or, argent, gules, or proper, i.e. stone-coloured. In Germany, during the 19th century mural crowns (Mauerkronen) came to be adopted for the arms of cities, with increasingly specific details: "Residential (i.e. having a royal residence) cities and capital towns usually bear a Mauerkrone with five towers, large towns one with four towers, smaller towns one with three", observed Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, in A Complete Guide to Heraldry, adding "Strict regulations in the matter do not yet exist" and warning that the usage was not British.[6] Similarly, in recent times, mural crowns used, rather than royal crowns, for Italian medieval and modern communes. A mural-crowned lady, Italia Turrita, is a symbol of Italy. In Italy, communes and some provinces and military corps have a mural crown on their coat of arms, golden and with five towers for cities, silver and nine-towered for the others; also use it. The coat of arms of the Second Spanish Republic had a mural crown. Most Portuguese (and Brazilian) municipal coats of arms contain a mural crown, with three towers in modern usage signifying a village, four towers representing a town, and five towers standing for a city. Similarly, the Romanian municipal coats of arms contain a mural crown, with one or three towers for villages and communes, five and seven towers for towns and municipalities.

After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, the single-headed eagle of the coat of arms of Republic of Austria began to wear a mural crown in the place of the former royal Austrian and Hungarian crowns that adorned the double-headed eagle of former coat of arms.

Examples for the use in heraldry

Media related to Category:Mural crowns in heraldry at Wikimedia Commons

See also

References

  1. ^ The mural crown as an indicator of the personification of a city was thoroughly explored by: Allègre, Fernand (1889) (in French). Étude sur la déesse grecque Tyché. Paris. pp. 187–92. http://www.archive.org/details/tudesurlades00alluoft. 
  2. ^ Aulus Gellius, Noctes Attici, V.6.4; Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, XXVI.48
  3. ^ muri pinnis according to Aulus Gellius
  4. ^ Livy. l.c.; cf. Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Augustus 25.
  5. ^ Mellor, R., "The Goddess Roma" in Haase, W., Temporini, H., (eds), Aufstieg und Niedergang der romischen Welt, de Gruyter, 1991, pp 60-63.
  6. ^ William Newton, Display of Heraldry (1846, p. 307) however, instances the crest of Viscount Beresford, and notes examples supporting the crest "to be seen over the arms of many of the British officers who distinguished themselves in the late war".

External links

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Circlet · Consort crown · Coronation crown · Heraldic crown · Hoop crown · Mural crown · Naval crown · State crown · Diadem

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mural crown — Mural Mu ral, a. [F., fr. L. muralis, fr. murus wall. See {Mure} a wall.] 1. Of or pertaining to a wall; being on, or in, a wall; growing on, or against, a wall; as, a mural quadrant. Mural breach. Milton. Mural fruit. Evelyn. [1913 Webster] 2.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • mural crown — noun Etymology: translation of Latin corona muralis 1. : an open crown of gold having the upper rim indented to resemble a battlement bestowed among the ancient Romans on one that first mounted the wall of a besieged place and lodged a standard… …   Useful english dictionary

  • mural crown — murally, adv. 1. a golden crown formed with indentations to resemble a battlement, bestowed by the ancient Romans on the soldiers who first mounted the wall of a besieged place and there lodged a standard. 2. Also called mural coronet. Heraldry.… …   Universalium

  • mural crown — noun 1》 Heraldry a representation of a city wall in the form of a crown, borne above the shield in the arms of distinguished soldiers and of some civic authorities. 2》 (in ancient Roman times) a crown or garland given to the soldier who was first …   English new terms dictionary

  • Mural — Mu ral, a. [F., fr. L. muralis, fr. murus wall. See {Mure} a wall.] 1. Of or pertaining to a wall; being on, or in, a wall; growing on, or against, a wall; as, a mural quadrant. Mural breach. Milton. Mural fruit. Evelyn. [1913 Webster] 2.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Mural circle — Mural Mu ral, a. [F., fr. L. muralis, fr. murus wall. See {Mure} a wall.] 1. Of or pertaining to a wall; being on, or in, a wall; growing on, or against, a wall; as, a mural quadrant. Mural breach. Milton. Mural fruit. Evelyn. [1913 Webster] 2.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Crown — or The Crown may refer to: Crown (anatomy), a part of the head or of a hat Headgear Coronet, a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. Unlike a crown, a coronet never has arches.[citation needed] Crown (headgear), ceremonial… …   Wikipedia

  • Crown (heraldry) — A Crown is often an emblem of the monarchy, a monarch s government, or items endorsed by it; see The Crown. A specific type of crown (or coronet for lower ranks of peerage) is employed in heraldry under strict rules. Indeed some monarchies never… …   Wikipedia

  • Crown (headgear) — The Imperial State Crown of Great Britain, Tower of London. It incorporates the Black Prince s Ruby , a 140 ct. Badakhshan spinel. This image of the crown was taken prior to the 1953 coronation, when the crown was modified for Queen Elizabeth II …   Wikipedia

  • Crown of Queen Mary — Queen Mary wearing her crown, minus its arches, as a circlet. The Crown of Queen Mary was the consort crown of Mary of Teck, Queen Consort of King George V of the United Kingdom. It was manufactured for the coronation of George and Mary in 1911.… …   Wikipedia

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