Struțul cu potcoavă în cioc în sigiliile medievale ale orașului Bistrița: originile unui simbol heraldic
The Ostrich with a Horseshoe in its Beak in the Medieval Seals of the Town of Bistrița: the Origins of a Heraldic Symbol

Summary/Abstract: The medieval heraldry of the town of Bistrița incorporates – in a very peculiar way when compared to other urban communities in Transylvania – symbols directly related to the Angevine royal dynasty of Hungary. Starting from the examination of the historical sources that record and use these specific attributes, both documentary (textual) and sigillographic (iconographic), the present paper pursues two main objectives: (1) to determine a more accurate chronology of the use of Bistrița’s urban seals, until around 1540, in relation to the relevant historiography of the subject; (2) to argue new hypotheses regarding the way Bistrița assumed the iconography of its first urban seal, particularly the way in which the crowned ostrich with a horseshoe in its beak came to be considered the main symbol of collective identity of this medieval Transylvanian town.

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