Mar e k Wa l c z a k : O n H e r a l d i c St y l i s a t i o n i n 14 t h C e n t u r y A r c h i t e c t u r a l S c u l p t u r e
9. Denarius of Ladislas the Short (Łokietek), King of Poland, obverse and reverse. After 1320. Repro: PASZKIEWICZ 1996
form of an eagle’s wing.50 [ill. 8] This clearly indicates that the crest was treated as the duke’s personal bearing: “the position of the helmet in a direct relation to the shield inclines us to consider it as a heraldic element constituting the duke’s personal arms. The crest unmistakably performs an identifying function here; it
wish to mention an interesting unicum – the town seal of Mielec in Little Poland (Małopolska), a hundred years younger than those discussed thus far – in which the monogram “M” is surmounted by a helmet with the crest of the Gryfita family, thereby combining the town’s initial with the knightly symbolism of its proprietors.44 Furthermore, a battle headpiece appeared as a separate element in Central European coins. Surely the largest number of examples relate to Silesia, where from the second half of the 13th century bracteates and kvartniks (one kvartnik was equal to 1/4 of skoyets) decorated in this way were struck. They are sometimes accompanied by legends, such as GALEA DVCIS BOLKONIS or GALEA DVCVM SILESIE.45 In Hungary, Charles Robert and Louis the Great issued coins bearing a helmet with the Angevin ostrich, while in the Duchy of Walachia a helmet was introduced which was surmounted by an eagle with its head turned back, and in Serbia and Bosnia there was a rosette on the helmet.46 The town coins of Nuremberg bore a helmet with a dog’s head which was the emblem of the burgraves of the city, acquired by them in 1317. The gold coins struck in Milan by Barnaba Visconti (1345–1385) showed a helmet with a crest in the form of an eagle’s wing and the inscription CIMERIVS.47 It seems very likely that the display of a helmet on the seals and coins of rulers had very strong symbolic grounds. Some researchers consider this element to be a symbol of military rank, an attribute of dignity per se, or even as an insignia of exercised authority.48 This is exactly the function of the battle headpiece on the great seal of Przemysł II (ca 1295), where it is ostentatiously displayed on the edge of the throne.49 Ladislas the Short (Łokietek), Duke of Kuyawy and the future king of Poland, showed a helmet on his seal (with a standing personage) in a similar way. Let us have a better look at the context in which this object occurred in the images connected with the first monarch of the renascent Polish Kingdom. On the field of the seal, on the sinister side, is placed the coat of arms of the Duchy of Kuyawy, surmounted by a helmet with a crest in the
287-288 (with a reference to the Cracow bosses!), ill. 38, 40, 43; MIKUCKI, Sylwiusz: Heraldyka Piastów śląskich do schyłku XIV wieku. In: SEMKOWICZ (ed.) 1936, ill. 142, 144, 146, 153, 154, 155, 156, 159, 187, 196; KAGANIEC, Malgorzata: Heraldyka Piastów Śląskich 1146–1707. Katowice 1992, pp. 100-123 (Rozprawy i Studia Muzeum Śląskiego). 44 SEROKA 2002 (op. cit. note 17), p. 209, ill. 156. 45 GUMOWSKI, Marian: Moneta na Śląsku do końca XIV w. In: SEMKOWICZ (ed.) 1936 (op. cit. note 43), pp. 615-617, nos. 114, 115, 120-135, 492, 504, 508, 509, 510, figs 61b, 62a, b, 64c, 66d, 68c, 69c, 70a, b; KIERSNOWSKI, Ryszard: Moneta w kulturze wieków średnich, Warszawa 1988, p. 199, ill. 53. 46 RÉTHY, Ladislaus: Corpus nummorum Hungariae, Vol. II. Budapest 1907, pp. 9 (nos. 15, 16), 10 (nos. 30, 38), 12 (nos. 57, 58, 60), 13 (no. 71); POHL, Adolf: Münzzeichen und Meisterzeichen auf ungarischen Münzen des Mittelalters 1300–1540. Graz – Budapest 1982, nos. 48, 54, 61. 47 KIERSNOWSKI 1988 (op. cit. note 45), p. 199. 48 KIERSNOWSKI, Ryszard: Wstęp do numizmatyki wieków średnich. Warszawa 1964, pp. 105-106; PIECH, Zenon: Studia nad symboliką zjednoczeniową pieczęci książąt piastowskich w drugiej połowie XIII i początkach XIV wieku. In: Zeszyty Naukowe UJ, DCCCVII, Prace Historyczne, fasc. 84, 1987, p. 53; Idem: Ikonografia pieczęci Piastów. Kraków 1993, pp. 61-63; JAWORSKA, Aleksandra: Konotacje herbu Orzeł Biały w sfragistyce monarchów z dynastii Piastów i Jagiellonów (1295–1572). In: Pieczęć w Polsce średniowiecznej. Zbiór studiów. Ed. Piotr DYMMEL. Lublin 1998, p. 127; Eadem: Orzeł Biały: herb państwa polskiego. Warszawa 2003, pp. 61, 205. 49 PIECH 1987 (op. cit. note 48), p. 53; PIECH 1993 (op. cit. note 48), pp. 62-63, no. 99; JAWORSKA 2003 (op. cit. note 48), p. 59. 50 PIEKOSIŃSKI, Franciszek: Pieczęcie polskie wieków średnich, cz. 1: Doba Piastowska, Kraków 1899, nr. 306, pp. 181-182; PIECH 1993 (op. cit. note 48), p. 21, observed that the coat of arms of the Duchy of Kuyawy is bowed lower than the arms of the Kingdom, which may convey the real hierarchy of these emblems.
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