Claude Paradin. Deuises heroïques (1551)
Claude Paradin
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Deuises heroïques /par m. Claude Paradin, Chanoyne de Beauieu.
A Lyon : Par Iean de Tournes, et Guil. Gazeau, 1551.
Binder: Trautz-Bauzonnet.
Claude Paradin. Deuises heroïques (1557)
Deuises heroïques, par m. Claude Paradin Chanoine de Beaujeu.
A Lion : Par Ian. de Tournes, et Guil. Gazeau, 1557.
Binder: Lortic.
By the late fifteenth, and in the sixteenth-century, French royalty and nobility often adopted a devise, a symbolic image, usually accompanied by a latin motto, to represent themselves—as part of a coat of arms, but also in home decoration, furnishings and clothing. The popular adoption of the para-heraldic devise was due in part to a decline in the military role of traditional heraldry, as well as to the increasingly complex and rigid rules of transmission applied to coats of arms.
Claude Paradin published his collection of devises in 1551, first giving only the image and motto. In the subsequent, expanded edition of 1557 (Gordon 1557 .P37) he provides a brief explanation of the symbol and how it represents the individual who chose it or to whom the symbol was attributed by the Renaissance.
“NVTRISCO ET EXTINGO,” for example, illustrates Francis I’s devise, the salamander with crown.
The porcupine and crown, with the motto, “VLTVS AVOS TROIAE,” represents Louis XII and his powers of defense.
Marguerite de Navarre is represented by the marigold, the “fleur du souci,” and the acccompanying motto, “NON INFERIORA SEQVVTUS.”
The rainbow is the symbol of “Madame Catherine, Royne de France.” Her devise, the “arc en ciel,” is the sign of peace, in this case the peace she sought to regain in her country, torn by religious wars.