Giro d'Italia 2017

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Chris Green
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 24 May 2017, 11:21

Thursday's stage involves lots more mountaineering. Starting from Moena and ending up at Ortisei/St Ulrich.

Moena:

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Blazon: Partito di rosso e di argento, al rematore su barca, il tutto al naturale, vogante in una campagna mareggiata di azzurro e di argento, sormontato da una croce pomata d'oro. Ornamenti esteriori da Comune.


"Rematore" simply means oarsman, though this one employs an unusual means of propelling his skiff.

Ortisei/St Ulrich/Urtijëi:

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Blazon: Or, St Ulrich in bishops vestments with a cross Or in right hand, mounted on a white horse Proper with harness of the field and a saddle blanket Azure on a trimount Vert; On a chief Azure, two bees Or between three escutcheons Argent.
(it) Scudo in campo d'oro con la figura di S. Ulrico, vestito dagli ornamenti vescovili, che tiene in alto nella mano destra una croce d'oro, montato su un cavallo bianco coi finimenti d'oro e coperto di un drappo azzurro, poggiato sopra tre cime di montagne verdi. Sopra lo scudo una fascia d'azzurro caricata di tre scudetti di argento, equidistanti ed intercalati da due svolazzanti api d'oro.
(de) Ein goldener Schild mit einem blauen Schildeshaupte. Das Schildeshaupt zeigt drei nebeneinander gestellte silberne Schildlein, deren mittleres beiderseits von je einer schwebenden goldenen Biene begleitet wird. Auf einem sich aus dem Fußrande des Schildes erhebenden grünen Dreiberge reitet der heilige Ulrich in rotem bischöflichem Ornate, ein goldenes Kreuz in der Rechten emporhaltend auf einem galoppierenden, weißen, goldgezäumten, mit einer blauen Satteldecke bedecken Rosse.


The St Ulrich in question was the one from Augsburg, rather than the one from Zell. He had no connection with the area as far as I can discover.
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Bertilak de Hautdesert

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Chris Green
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 24 May 2017, 11:46

Friday's stage is still up in the clouds, starting from Innichen/San Candido whose arms are considerably older than those of most other Italian communes (granted by King Albrecht I of Habsburg in 1303):

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Blazon: (de) Auf rotem Grund ein silberfarbiges eintürmlges Kasteli mit Zin­ nen, das auf einem grünen Rasen steht. Ober dem Tor, dessen Fallgitter aufgezogen ist, findet sich das Wappen des Hochstiftes Freising, nämlich ein silberfarbiger und mit Gold ein­ gefaBter Schild, der die Büste eines Negerfürsten mit rotem Wams und goldener Zackenkrone zeigt.
(it) Di rosso, alla torre di due palchi merlati alla ghibellina d’argento fondata su una campagna di verde, aperta di nero e saracinescata d’argento, finestrata sotto il secondo palco di tre dello stesso 1.2, caricata sotto il primo palco d’uno scudetto d’azzurro bordato d’oro alla testa di moro al naturale, orecchinato e collarinato di rosso, coronato d’un diadema d’oro.


The destination is the village of Piancavallo in the commune of Aviano, whose arms are:

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The double-headed eagle has no connection that I can find with the area's history. It was first part of the Patriarchate of Friuli, whose arms were a single-headed gold spreadeagle. From 1420 it was part of the Venetian empire. Anyone care to hazard a guess as to what the charge in chief might be?
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 24 May 2017, 13:45

Saturday is the penultimate stage of the Giro. The race starts from Pordenone, once a Habsburg enclave within the patriarchal state of Friuli, then owned by Venice, but awarded to Austria after the Napoleonic wars. It was originally a river port (Portus Naonis). Its arms reflect its origins as a port:

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Blazon: Di rosso alla fascia d'argento, nella punta il mare, dal quale si innalza un portale di pietra naturale, merlato alla guelfa di tre pezzi, con battenti d'oro aperti, fiancheggiato in ognuno degli angoli superiori del campo da una corona d'oro.


The finish is at Asiago, whose arms have more faces than I can recall seeing in any other arms:

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Blazon: Partito: al primo di Asiago: d’oro alla croce di rosso; al secondo: d’azzurro alla fascia di rosso; sopra: tre facce barbute al naturale, bendate in fronte rispettivamente d’oro, di rosso, d’argento, accostate; sotto: quattro faccie giovanili, come sopra, al naturale, accostate e poste in fascia. Lo scudo sarà fregiato dalla corona di Città, secondo la richiamata immagine e contornato da un ramo di quercia ed un ramo d’alloro uniti da un nastro rosso ed uno azzurro.


There was a major battle here between Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces in 1916. Ernest Hemingway was a Red Cross ambulance driver in the vicinity, but in 1918.
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 25 May 2017, 06:45

The final stage of the Giro is on Sunday, with the start at the famous Monza "Autodromo". Monza's fame does not rely solely on motor racing however. The cathedral houses the so-called "iron crown" of Lombardy, a key element of the regalia of the Kings of Italy, and perhaps of Lombardy before that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Crown_of_Lombardy

The arms of Monza not surprisingly feature the iron crown, as well as an in-shield motto: "Modoetia magni est sedes Italiae regni" ("Modoetia is the capital of the great kingdom of Italy")

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The very last finishing line of the Giro is in Milan, whose arms should gladden the heart of the English:

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The red cross on a white ground pre-dates heraldry having been given as a flag to the city by Pope Alexander II in 1066, the same year he gave a similar flag to an embassy from Duke William of Normandy seeking papal blessing for an invasion of England.

England's links with Milan have been close in modern times too. Football (soccer) was introduced to the city in 1899 by Englishmen, which is why AC Milan isn't AC Milano.
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 30 May 2017, 18:01

The winner of Giro d'Italia was the Dutchman Tom Dumoulin who comes from Maastricht:

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Arthur Radburn
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Arthur Radburn » 30 May 2017, 18:50

How heraldically appropriate. Many of the Italian commune arms featured in this tour have been entirely or largely red and silver, and so are Maastricht's.

Thanks for this tour, Chris. It's been very interesting, with detours into non-heraldic matters such as the influence of medieval political loyalties on the architecture of battlements.
Regards
Arthur Radburn

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Chris Green
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 30 May 2017, 19:45

Thanks for this tour, Chris. It's been very interesting, with detours into non-heraldic matters such as the influence of medieval political loyalties on the architecture of battlements.


It's been fun, and I learn a lot.
Chris Green
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Bertilak de Hautdesert


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