Whence Cometh Thee, Estoile?

Lexicon der Heraldic (Dictionary of Heraldry) by Gert Oswald, published Regenstauf, Germany, 2021, provides a straightforward description of Stern (star):

In der deutschen Heraldik meist sechsstrahlig, in der französischen, englischen und italienischen fünf- bis achtstrahlig dargestelltes Wappenbild.

Simply translated, it says that stars in German heraldry are mostly of six points while in France, England and Italy they are of five to eight points. The word “strahlig” more precisely translates to rays rather than points, however there is no mention of wavy rays. Stars are assumed to be straight-sided.

The French word for star is étoile. In the Armorial le Breton, an armorial roll of French nobles’ arms dating from the late 13th century, there are a number of arms with étoiles, all depicted with straight sides. In early armorial rolls it is typically only the sun that is found with wavy rays.

Arms of French nobles with long pointed étoiles as depicted in Armorial le Breton, late 13th century

Arms of a member of the Montmorency family with broad five-pointed mullet, Armorial le Breton (alerion Wikimedia: Spedona)

In English heraldry ‘estoile’ is taken from Old French, preserving the distinctive spelling and pronunciation common in Anglo-Norman contexts. The Oxford English Dictionary cites as the earliest evidence of its use, Workes of Armorie : deuyded into three bookes, entituled, the Concordes of armorie, the Armorie of honor, and of Coates and creastes, by John Bossewell, published London, 1572. In his book Bossewell makes reference to Estoile, Starre and Mollet. The Mollet is a five-pointed star with straight sides and “in no wise may be taken for a Starre, because it is already fallen from the firmament”. Star is used for a starre crest, depicted with six wavy rays “with the sunne beames” as likewise a “comete starre d’Or”. The word “estoiles” appears twice, in each case accompanying a shield with stars that, confusingly, have six long, straight points rather than wavy rays. The second of these arms with estoiles depicted in Workes of Armorie by John Bossewell shows those of Dillon.

Dillon arms with straight-sided ‘estoiles’ in Workes of Armorie, London, 1572 (archive.org)

Dillon arms by WappenWiki with wavy rays

An earlier work displaying the Dillon arms is Insignia Anglica, 1540-1560 (München, BSB Cod.icon. 291). In this manuscript the estoiles are shown wavy and Dillon is not the only example in this work that depicts stars with wavy rays.

Dillon arms in Insignia Anglica, 1540-1560 (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek)

Another early Tudor roll, rich in colour, is Thomas Jenyn’s Book, 1500-1525 (New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Takamiya MS 105). This manuscript provides just one example of a star with wavy rays. Although all other instances of stars or mullets are straight-sided, the arms of Ingleby of Ripley Castle are unmistakably wavy, as they are also depicted by Gerard Legh in The Accedens of Armory, published 1562. These are the arms which in 1610 John Guillim described as having the wrong tinctures to represent a star and the heavens.  

Detail from Thomas Jenyn’s Book, 1500-1525, with Ingleby arms (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University)

Arms of Ingleby of Ripley Castle

English manuscripts of the 15th century and earlier depict the sun with wavy rays but rarely are stars wavy. A beautiful emblazonment of a shield Gules with the sun Or is found in De arte heraldica, c 1440-1450 (Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Laud Misc. 733). For the distinction between Mullets and Stars in pre-Tudor English heraldry, a principle indicator is the number of points. The authoritative Dictionary of British Arms, Medieval Ordinary in 4 volumes, published by The Society of Antiquaries of London (1992, 1996, 2009, 2014), with Sir Anthony Wagner, Garter King of Arms at the helm, takes a unique approach. Rather than referring to mullets and stars for pre-Tudor armorials it refers to estoiles, noting that these are wavy: “say mullet [or estoile if points wavy]” and applies this term also to emblazonments with stars that have long straight-sided points, in contrast to broader five-pointed mullets. A visual distinction is made to interpret long-pointed stars, like the étoiles in the Armorial le Breton, as ‘estoiles’, wavy or not, without necessarily implying that these estoiles depict stars of the heavens.

One coat of arms stands out for having stars with wavy rays long before the term ‘estoile’ came into use. These are the arms of Sir Reynold Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham of Sterborough, KG (c.1295–1361), who fought at the Battle of Crécy and was Captain of Calais. His arms were depicted with wavy rays during his lifetime in Powell’s Roll, 1345-1351 (Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 804 pt. IV), page 3, and can be seen on his effigy in Lingfield church. However, there is no indication that the shape of the stars Sable was intended to distinguish these as celestial objects, particularly given this tincture.

Arms of Sir Reynold Cobham, Baron Cobham

The wavy nature of celestial stars was not adopted in Scotland until later. Sir George Mackenzie distinguishes between ‘star’ and ‘mollet’ in The Science of Herauldry, 1680, with stars shown wavy. For Nisbet, writing in 1722, estoile is an English term. No wavy stars are found in The Lyndsay of the Mount Armorial, 1542. References to wavy rays for some stars are found in 1672, in the first volume of the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, typically described as stars with rays or wavy points rather than as estoiles. In 1881 Robert Riddle Stodart published Scottish arms : being a collection of armorial bearings, A.D. 1370-1678, reproduced in facsimile from contemporary and manuscripts, with heraldic and genealogical notes to document arms of Scottish families from prior sources. Scottish Arms by Stodart shows a number of early emblazonments, including those for Douglas, with stars of six points. In almost all instances the stars have straight sides. Where stars are shown wavy, they generally have eight rays and are found only in sources dating from the 17th century. One notable example of a star with wavy rays is in the arms of Scott of Harden, taken from Funeral Escutcheons of the late 17th century*. This shield design in Scottish Arms differs from the arms of the chief of Clan Scott by the wavy star and a rose.

* The Scott of Harden family later assumed an earlier variant of Scott arms, Or, two stars and a crescent Azure, and it is these arms that were inherited by Sir Walter Scott.

Scott of Harden from Scottish Arms

The arms of Clan Scott as found in the heraldic achievement of the present Duke of Buccleuch 

Balliol Roll, the earliest roll of arms in Scotland, late 13th century. Note the pierced six-pointed stars for Moray of Bothwell and Douglas (Sotheby’s)

The distinction between celestial estoiles and terrestrial mullets has its origin in Tudor London, with estoile first appearing in connection with grants by the College of Arms. The Visitation of the City and Suburbs of London, 1568 (Oxford, Queen’s College MS 72) includes arms of two notable armigers with estoiles, drawn with wavy rays:

• William Stoddard of London, whose shield design may have contributed to Robert Riddle Stodart’s Scottish arms, and;

• Anthony Jenkinson, an early traveller to Russia and Persia whose arms were granted by the College of Arms on Valentine’s Day 1568.

Arms of William Stoddard from the Visitation of London, 1568 (copyright The Provost and Fellows of the Queen’s College, Oxford)

Anthony Jenkinson is described in the preface of Richard Eden’s translation to Cortes’ “Arte of Nauigation”, published in London, 1561:

And as touchyng Master Jenkinson, what trauayles, paynes, and daungers he hath susteyned and hardely escaped, and what diligence and art he hath vsed in the searching of strange countryes, and in the description of those his viagies, it were but in vayne for me to wryte much vnto you, vnto whom the same is better knowen then to me…

Arms of Anthony Jenkinson from the Visitation of London 1568 (copyright The Provost and Fellows of the Queen’s College, Oxford)

Should the three estoiles in the chief of Jenkinson’s arms remind us of the three bright stars in Orion’s Belt? This asterism in the constellation of Orion has played a central role in celestial navigation in the Northern hemisphere since prehistoric times.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that attempts to distinguish between celestial and fallen stars originate during the Age of Discovery.

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