Contribuții la fauna blazonului în Transilvania princiară
Contributions to the Heraldic Fauna in Princely Transylvania

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to provide a concise presentation of the heraldic patrimony featuring animal motifs in the Principality of Transylvania, during 1541–1690, a time when the region was under the Ottoman suzerainty and the increasing pressure of the Habsburg hegemonic tendencies. The study begins with a brief overview of human mentalities, imaginary and attitudes towards animals during the Middle Ages, focusing on the symbolic meaning of various species within a heraldic context. Key features of the elite society in princely Transylvania are also outlined, together with the most significant modern and contemporary historiographical contributions to the study of noble coats of arms from this period. Drawing on two compiled corpora of heraldic descriptions, the paper elaborates both quantitative and qualitative observations regarding the recruitment pool of animal figures, and conducts a statistical analysis of the most frequently represented ones in these nobility symbols, including the lion, the crane, the swan, the dove and the bear. The horse, always depicted with its rider, has a special place in this hierarchy. The study concludes with eight miniatures illustrating some coats of arms granted by various Transylvanian princes during the already mentioned time span.

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