Heraldique

One of the most remarkable frontispieces created for the account books of the women’s Hospitaller monastery of San Giovannino dei Cavalieri, now being digitized at the Archivio di Stato di Firenze as part of the Langue of Italy project, which aims to digitize the complete archives of San Giovannino and the Priory of Pisa.

Courtesy of the Malta Study Center.

The Cavalieresses of Malta were noble women affiliated with the Hospitaller Order of Saint John in Florence. Founded in 1392 under the protection of the Grand Master of Rhodes, they combined monastic life with the charitable mission typical of the Order: assisting pilgrims, caring for hospitals, and educating young noblewomen. After several relocations caused by wars and urban transformations, they eventually settled at San Giovannino dei Cavalieri in Via San Gallo, a monastery deeply linked to Medici patronage and Florentine Renaissance culture. Their church preserved the symbols of the Order of Malta — especially the white cross on red — and became one of the most prestigious female religious institutions in Florence until the Napoleonic suppressions of 1808.

The Malta Study Center maintains the largest collection of microfilms and digital images of manuscripts, art, and archival material related to Malta and the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in the world.

Today is Easter… and eggs 🐣 suddenly make sense.

You were looking for them, weren’t you?
Today, a bit of modern civic heraldry.

The coat of arms of Matrei am Brenner (Tyrol, Bezirk Innsbruck-Land, Austria, 2022) is a perfect example of “redendes Wappen” (canting arms): the name “Matrei” hides drei (three) and Ei (egg) → so, three eggs.

You’ve read everywhere about the egg as a symbol of birth, and therefore resurrection. Sometimes, it’s nice to keep things a little more… grounded. 😊

But the shield goes further.� It brings together three former municipalities:

* Matrei → three silver eggs
* Mühlbachl → a mill wheel and waves (mill + stream)
* Pfons → a rooster holding a hammer (old lords of Arnholz + serpentinite quarrying)

A modern coat of arms, yes, but built on language, memory, and territory. And today, finally, the eggs feel… appropriate.