Lions of Ilion and Lions of Albion. The Trojan myth in English heraldry of the 15th century
Lions of Ilion and Lions of Albion. The Trojan myth in English heraldry of the 15th century

Summary/Abstract: Imaginary heraldry became an integral part of a narrative about the Trojan origin of the British insular realms (England, Scotland, and Wales) during the High and Late Middle Ages. An essential source of the Trojan origin in insular historiography is the Historia Regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Although this source does not include heraldry material, it laid the foundations for the narrative uniting Troy and Britain. Successive authors working in Geoffrey’s tradition (e.g. John Hardyng’s Chronicle) developed the origo gentis story, and some of them incorporated the heraldic aspect of Troy. The basic proposition is a claim that the coats of arms of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and the Principality of Wales were seen in a specific context as the coats of arms derived from the sons of the founder of the ancient Kingdom of Britain, Brutus. This theory further describes Brutus and his sons as descendants of the Trojan kings. Thus, the whole concept of the coat of arms with the lion connecting ancient Troy, Brutus’ insular kingdom, and finally three insular realms, signals the antiquity and indivisibility of the island of Great Britain in a simple and understandable visual form.

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