Arms of Margaret of Anjou. Blason: Parti per pale. Dexter: grand parti per pale, grand dexter: France moderne (for Henry VI as claimant to the throne of France); grand sinister: quarterly 1 and 4 - France moderne, 2 and 3 - England (for Henry VI of England). Sinister: grand parti of six (three over three), i. Barry of eight Argent and Gules (for the Kingdom of Hungary); ii. Azure seme-de-lys Or a label of three points Gules (France ancient a label of three points Gules) (for the Angevin Kingdom of Naples); iii. Argent a cross potent Or cantoned by four crosslets Or (for the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem); iv. Azure seme-de-lys Or a bordure Gules (France ancient a bordure Gules) (for the County of Anjou); v. Azure crusily fitchy two barbels addorsed Or (for the Duchy of Bar) note: the barbels should be addorsed (dorsal fins toward center); vi. Or a bend Gules three alerions Argent (for the Duchy of Lorraine).
Text from: The Heraldry of Queens’ College, Cambridge
By David Broomfield BA (Hons)[1]
The curious agglomeration of quarterings in Margaret’s arms can be traced back to the first House of
Anjou. Charles Count of Anjou and Maine (d.1285) was the youngest son of Louis VIII King of France.
He conquered the Hohenstaufens and made himself King of Naples and Sicily, he also purchased a
claim to the, by then fictional, Kingdom of Jerusalem. King Charles’s arms were those of Anjou
(Ancient), France differenced by a red label, and Jerusalem. Charles’s son, Charles II King of Naples
married Mary daughter of Stephen V and sister of Ladislaus IV Kings of Hungary. Their eldest son,
Charles “Martel”, founded his own line of Kings of Hungary that died out in 1382. Charles and Mary’s
daughter Margaret married Charles Count of Valois the son of Philip III King of France. Charles of
Naples granted to Charles of Valois the Counties of Anjou and Maine. When Joanna Queen of Naples
died she bequeathed the kingdom of Naples to Louis Duke of Anjou. Louis was the great grandson of
Margaret of Anjou and Charles of Valois. This the second House of Anjou used the arms of France
differenced by a red border, giving us Anjou (Modern). Rene, grandson of Louis I, was Duke of Anjou
and Titular King of Naples and Jerusalem and by virtue of his marriage to Isabel of Lorraine he was
also Duke of Lorraine and Bar. Queen Margaret was Rene’s daughter. Her arms can be delineated
thus:
HUNGARY: Barry of eight gules and argent. Though contrary to English heraldry this is how the arms
of Hungary were and are shown, the four white bars symbolising the rivers of Hungary. Margaret
was descended from Mary sister and heiress of Ladislaus the last King of Hungary of the House of
Arpad. Margaret’s father Rene of Anjou, Kings of Naples, always used Barry of eight argent and gules
as can be seen from many sources. However, I doubt he ever visited Hungary and his connection
with that country was remote but his daughter no doubt took her lead from him when it came to the
display of her personal heraldry and passed this on to her College.
ANJOU (ANCIENT): Azure semy of fleur de lis or a label of three points gules. These were the arms of
the first House of Anjou and borne by Charles d.1285, Count of Anjou, conqueror of Naples and
claimant to the throne of Jerusalem. Unfortunately in the painting of the arms in the grant the label
is wrongly shown as silver a mistake much repeated about the College. These arms became
synonymous with the kingdom of Naples.
JERUSALEM: Argent a cross potent between four crosses humetty or. The unique nature of
Jerusalem was signified by breaking the cardinal rule of heraldry by placing one metal (gold) on
another metal (silver). The cross potent (having flat bars at the ends of the arms) was said to
symbolise the letters H and I from “Hierusalem”. Again Cooke’s grant depicts the small crosses
between the arms as “potent” while not technically wrong and indeed depicted this way in some
Medieval books of arms small plain crosses fit the space better.
ANJOU (MODERN): Azure semy of fleur de lis or a border gules. The arms as borne by the second
House of Anjou begun by Charles of Valois, Count of Anjou the progenitor of the House of Valois and
Naples.
BAR: Azure semy of cross crosslets fitchy two barbels hauriant and addorsed. The barbels are clearly
punning (or canting) references to Bar. The fish have their heads pointing upwards (as opposed to
urinant when their heads are at the bottom of the shield) and addorsed means back to back. The
crosses should have a point for the lower arms, some versions at Queens’ have it the same as the
other arms. The other usual error is to have a specific number of crosses. “Semy” means that the
field is spread with charges and they overlap the edges. Cooke also blazons them as “luces”. In the
quarterings used by Rene of Anjou the barbels always grip a cross crosslet fitchy in their mouths.
This is well attested in contemporary versions of his arms. In Queens’ they appear thus only once, in
the stained glass shield of Queen Margaret’s arms in the Old Senior Combination Room making it
likely that these date from the 15th Century.
LORRAINE: Or on a bend gules three alerions displayed argent. Alerions are eagles that have neither
beaks nor claws. They are best shown with a hole in the middle of the head. It was said that Godfrey
of Bouillon (or another) fired an arrow that brought down three birds simultaneously. It is also said
that “Alerion” is an anagram of “Lor(r)aine”. In mythology it was said that only two birds existed at
any time, they laid a pair of eggs every sixty years and they drowned themselves after hatching. To
add to the confusion Cooke describes them as “eagles” and they appear as eagles many times in the

College.
Own work
Sodacan