Bezantée

Bezantée, bezantie or bezanty is an ornamentation consisting of roundels. The word derives from bezant, a gold coin from the Byzantine Empire, which was in common European use until circa 1250.

Bezantée moulding showing the use of the disc as a decoration for a Romanesque pier and arcade

In architecture, bezantée moulding was much used in the Norman period.[1]

In heraldry the word is shorthand for semé of bezants, i.e. strewn (literally "seeded") with bezants. A bezant is a roundel whose tincture is or. In English heraldry, a field sable bezanty often alludes to the Duchy of Cornwall. An ounce (leopard) bezanty appears as a supporter in the English bearings of St Edmundsbury Borough Council; a bordure bezanty appears in the coat of Berkhamstead Town Council.

References
  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bezantée" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 840.
  • Heraldry Dictionary
  • MacKinnon of Dunakin, Charles. Heraldry. 1966. London: Frederick Warne & Co. (Page 60)


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