The Arms of Košice City / 1453 - The third armorial warrant

On the 7th of February 1453 in Bratislava, King Ladislaus V grants Košice a deed of privilege.

Further efforts by the city, now interested only in redressing the incompleteness of the coat of arms, produced nothing more than the previous attemp, that is, another semi- successful, partial advance.

The third armorial warrant for the city of Košice from 1453.

By this time it was a matter of centuries since the granting of the first armorial warrant, and yet it was still officially impossible for the city of Košice to obtain a complete coat of arms. Ladislaus V himself, just like his predecessor, was still groping around in uncertainties concerning the development of city heraldry. The granting of shields of arms to towns had been going on without problems for a long time, so there was no question of his interfering with the shield bearings given by Lodovicus the Great and confirmed by Sigismundus. The problem for him lay still in the question of the helmet, with its crest and mantling. He was well aware that the angel as supporter of the shield was not an adequate substitute for the crest and its accessories, but his response was to enrich the shield by adding another element to it, that is, a gold coronet at the upper rim. In the subsequent text he referred, like Sigimundus, to the painted miniature.

Miniature of the coat of arms from 1453.

The miniaturist, however, reinstated below the blue top section of the shield the field divided seven times into red and silver bars which were characteristic of the kingdom, and by doing this he fundamentally changed the content to the detriment of the whole achievement. The pattern originally established, the miniature of 1423, was metal-colour-metal, but this was now reversed again to colour-metal-colour, disturbing the sensitive and heraldically neat version from the past, which in the case of Košice, and in fact wherever possible, followed the principle of alternation between metal and colour. The new version incorrectly placed a colour instead of a metal adjacent to the blue band at the top of the shield. As suggested, this could be a manifestation of the tendency at that time to preserve the authentic colour pattern of the coat of arms of the realm, and to incorporate it into the achievements of those towns which were getting their first armorial warrants (Bardejov 1453, Kežmarok).

1. Miniature of the coat of arms from the armorial warrant for Bardejov from the year 1453. 2. Miniature of the coat of arms from the armorial warrant for Kežmarok from the year 1463.

In the Košice shield, this tendency now showed itself to be stronger than the desire for heraldic purity. Contemporary taste also determined the miniaturist’s adaptation of the form of the early-Gothic shield to late-Gothic. The gold coronet is decorated with precious stones, and the colour of the angel’s robe is changed from red to white. The formulation in the text of the warrant: "marked on the forehead with a cross" here produces a highlighting of the cross and its adaptation from the simple Latin to the flory style, also decorated with precious stones. "Other suitable decorations", moreover, means that the gold straps crossing over the angel’s robe (as in the earlier design) are here ornamented with edgings and crosslets all in black. The silverwork has oxidised corresponding with the passage of time. Unfortunately this miniature was painted on parchment without the necessary surface preparation, and with time part of it has dried out and flaked off. It is the damage to the part with the angel’s face, however, where the original line drawing shows through, which in fact reveals the skill and virtuosity of the miniaturist, who painted directly, with great inventiveness and tolerance. It is quite remarkable, considering the extent of the damage to the miniature, that in the spaces above the corners on the top edge of the shield, enclosed by the long and short feathers of the angel’s wings and its arms and gloves, the drawing shows through most clearly. It is in this area, which should have the colour of a neutral brick-clay background, but is in fact greyish, creating the impression of oxidised silver, that the largest number of lines are visible, revealing shapes which even with the greatest indulgence cannot be matched with the content of the final painting.

So far it has not been possible to reconstruct the original line drawing in this area, but even so it is clear that there is some original artwork there which does not correspond to the end-result of the miniature. The fact is that, with all respect to the angel, this is the space where the helmet, crest and mantling should be, according to the principles of heraldry, and ultimately it so happens that they really are located in this space in the next armorial warrant issued to the city of Košice.

In any case, even if we do not consider the possibility that the helmet, crest and mantling originally appeared on this warrant in the miniature and were painted over later, the fact remains that Ladislaus V was content with the addition of the gold coronet. He also extended permission to use the coat of arms on any form of seal or object, and in conslusion he added to the warrant the right to use red wax. Neither Sigismundus nor Ladislaus V mentioned any specific reason for issuing the warrant, unless we take this to be the specific request made by the city, since both of them refer in general terms to its merits.

/Text: Dr.JOZEF KIRST/
/Translation: A.Y.Billingham/
/© Photo: Marián Krlička/