Turk Heraldry

First some General Heraldry
 If you do not know what Heraldry is read What is Heraldry? and visit some General Heraldry sites such as:
Tons of Heraldry links at www.CyndisList.com/heraldry.htm
The Augustan Society - an International Genealogical, Historical, Heraldic and Chivalric Society  www.augustansociety.org
On Heraldry   www.digiserve.com/heraldry/
Coats of Arms Search   www.freecoatsofarms.com/search.html
Trace it  www.traceit.com/cgi-bin/baseall

Turk Heraldry
This Turk Coat of Arms (below) was assumed in 1966 and has been globally embraced since then as the Turk Coat of Arms for all with the Turk surname. Under the rules of assumed arms, a coat can actually be registered after being published for 100 years. The Turkish origin of the original progenitor is reflected in the star and crescent located in the background. The introduction to Christianity through conquest is reflected by the Cross mounted above the scimitar. The beehive is a symbol for those who have joined with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), and would be optional for those who are not of that persuasion.

While there are several inherited coats of arms for individual TURK families this one is globally embracing. Under the rules of heraldry an assumption of arms is a recognized alternative to inherited arms. Under those same rules assumed arms can actually be registered after being published for 100 years. Hence the recording of the year of the assumption here on the site. It will not be until 2066 that the assumed arms will be able to be officially registered and recognized by heralds. However, the arms have been assumed and may be used by those wishing to do so.
                                  

Read at the bottom of this page the story Turk: Family Arms With A Tale To Tell

CRESTS:  I have some Turk crests from the books below but please send me anything more you have! Nturk@sears.com

The crests below are Compliments of The L’Armorial General Vol 6 - Registered Coats of Arms
The description of colors are Three gold diamonds (la Losange) on a red background.  (Or is Gold (metal) and Gules is Red)Le Turcq and De Turcq are evidence of when the names were used in nobility times.

"484. 1550. Nov. 4. Notularium des S. Herthogen sen. vom Jahre 1550. Bl. 202-203. Michael du Pont, Kaufmann, fragt im Namen von Jaspar Coene & Co. vor dem Notar den Joseph Turcq, Compagnon und Faktor der Gesellschaft Matteo Martino e Jeronimo Gilli an, ob er einen bestimmten Wechsel bezahlen wolle. Auf die Verneinung folgt der Protest. Zeuge unter anderen Conrad Leder. In französischer Sprache." Source: Jakob Strieder, Aus Antwerpener Notariatsarchiven - Quellen zur deutschen Wirtschaftsgeschichte des 16. Jahrhunderts, (= Deutsche Handelsakten des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit, hg. durch die Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Band IV), Wiesbaden 1962 (Reprint der Ausgabe von 1930), pp. 259-260

The charter is about a certain merchant Joseph Turcq, partner in the company of Matteo Martino and Jeronimo Gilli. Michael or Michel du Pont, himself businessman, asks Turcq whether he is willing to pay a bill of exchange. As the draft had not been honored, it was protested for non-payment. Although it is not quite clear where Joseph Turcq lives, it is very probably in Belgium or the Netherlands, considering that the charters refer to Antwerp. But he seems to be partner in an Italian business company, and the original document is in French.

Robert Czoelner

Feudal Families: able to trace their decent to 1400 and are considered peers of the King – no known grant of nobility is required.

Quasi-feudal Families: can prove uninterrupted descent and the possession of a fief before 1560 – also no grant of nobility required.

The descendents of both above were gentlemen of rank, birth or blood and could assume titles at will. They paid no taxes but were required to provide the king with military service. This shows one of the many differences between English nobility and French Noblesse.

The lowest rank in England was the ‘baron’ lowest rank in France the ‘ecuyer’ or esquire.

Whether you were called baron, marquis or duc depended upon the number of seigneuries (manors or parishes you owned). Thus nobility in France derived from the size of your property. In England nobility came from a grant by the king.

Below the feudal families, people who were made "noblemen" by holding certain offices. Municipal magistrates of certain great cities, such as the mayor of Paris – and to certain officers of finance.

Turk: Family Arms With A Tale To Tell

by William D. Setzekorn, FAS

Few armigerous families are as fortunate as this one in that they possess arms that serve to remind them of their knightly progenitor and to reflect upon his great adventure.

A young lad named Johannes who lived in the beautiful Badish-Rheinland Town of Rastatt just north of Baden-Baden had, since 1394, been moved by the call from his church's pulpit for Christians to take up arms and march East to rid the European continent of the infidel Turk. This proposed crusade enjoyed the endorsement of both the Latin Pope Boniface in Rome and the French Pope in Avignon. The Turkish army under Sultan Bajazet had already captured Bulgaria, Wallachia, and Serbia and the Sultan was now assembling a force of 40,000 to march on Hungary.

The crusade gained sponsorship when a group of Hungarian diplomats led by a bishop were able to convince Charles of France that "as chief of the Christian Kings" it devolved upon him to prevent Christianity from being trampled underfoot and to punish the Sultan for his effrontery to the Western World. Charles accepted the challenge and enthusiasm for taking the sword was rampant throughout Christendom. Such illustrious names as Comte d'Eu Constable of France, Jean Bouciacaut Marshal of France, Jean de Nevers, the 24 year old som of the Duke of Burgundy, and the Sire de Coucy were enlisted as leaders of this crusade.

By 1396 the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes were recruited to the crusade and the Venetians supplied a fleet. Germans from Bavaria, Saxony, and various other parts of the Empire answered the Hungarians' plea and joined the French en route, and adventurers from Navarre and Spain, Bohemia and Poland all joined. The young Johannes of Rastatt found himself a willing member of the retinue of the Rheinish Prince on the way to everlasting glory as a crusader.

The crusaders' route took them via Strasbourg across Bavaria to the upper Danube and from there, using the river for transport, to a rendezvous with the King of Hungary at Buda where all elements of the Christian army paused at the Hungarian capital city to hold a War Council and prepare for a concerted campaign against the infidel and to block Sultan Bajazet's path to Hungary. But, as had been observed of this crusade, "Their objectives, if vague, were other than modest." After expelling the Turks from the Balkans, they planned to come to the aid of Constantinople, cross the Hellespont, march throughout Turkey and Syria to liberate Paestine and the Shrine of the Holy Seplchre and to return after all these triumphs in ships supplied by Venice.

The first Christian conquest of the crusade was the Western Bulgarian capital city of Viden, then under Turkish sovereignty. The Bulgarian prince who held lordship of the city surrendered it promptly and the only bloodshed was the execution of the Turkish officers of the garrison stationed there. This victorious battle, however, offered a field of honor of the subsequent knighting of Jean de Vevers, heir apparent of the Duke of Burgandy and nominal commander-in-chief of the whole expedition, and for 300 young men of various nationalities.

We might assume that, since family lore tells us Johannes was knighted on this crusade, he was one of the young companions so honored. Records mention that a number of French heralds and pursuivants accompanied the crusaders and it is most probable that the arms "which he received while on the way to the Holly Land" were granted at Viden, as well. The arms are an heraldic portrait of the Calvary, the chevron being the hillside site of Christ's crucifixion, and the three cross-crosslets representing the three crosses which were present on that day. This design, we are told, was to serve as a reminder to him not to lose sight of the ultimate goal of the crusade - to free Jerusalem.

The crest, on the other hand, may have been added later. That the demi-figure is a Turk - as opposed to Saracen or other Arab figure - is obvious from the weapon, the club, which he is holding. The ranks of the standing army of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in those days were filled with Janisaries (from Turkish yeni cherie, or new troops) who were Christian slaves taken as boys from their homes in Albania, Bulgaira or Bosnia made to convert to the Muslim religion and forced to serve as professional soldiers of the Sultan. With strict discipline and spartan training, these troops became superior to any other in the world at the time. The only weapon they were issued was a large club which, when wrapped tightly with wet leather bindings and allowed to dry, made a formidable weapon. They were also allowed to carry one small cutlass but only if they acquired it themselves. The greatcoat of the demi-Turk crest is allowed to flow down and serve as the mantle. This is very common in Teutonic arms then and now.

The next objective of the crusade was the town of Rachowa, a strong double-walled fortress with a moat. The French made a forced march the night before the attack was to have taken place so that they might have the honor of striking first. Although they fought fiercely the town only fell two days later to King Sigismund on condition that he spare the lives and possessions of the Turkish and Bulgarian inhabitants. After agreeing to do so, the French violated the surrender terms and put the town to pillage and massacre. A thousand Turkish and Bulgarian soldiers were taken for ransom and the town left in flames. Later when it became difficult to guard and care for these prisoners, they too were executed.

Leaving a garrison to hold Rachowa, the divided crusader army moved toward Bucioikusm storming and seizing on or two fortified settlements along the way. It was believed that the army of Bajazet, the "Great Turk" would close with the Christian army at this important stronghold on the Danube. To capture and hold this fortified town was stategic to the crusaders' cause, for whoever held Nicopolis controlled the lower Danube and communications with the interior. A victory here by the crusaders would effectively cut off the Sultan's march on Hungary.

Without siege weapons, mines, or ladders, the crusaders had to be content in laying a siege by blockade, surrounding the town on all sides, including that facing the river, guarding all exits and letting Nicropolis' Turkish governor, Dogan Bey, his garrison and townspeople starve themselves into submission.

Two weeks after the siege was laid word reached Nicopolis of the impending approach of the "Great Turk." The first skirmish between a scouting party of crusaders led by the Sire of Coucy and the vanguard of the Turkish army resulted in an easy Christian ambush and victory. Fired with confidence and jealousy over their comrade's good luck in drawing first blood, the French leaders broke with King Sigismund, held their own war council, such as it was, and seeking personal honor and glory, prematurely flung themselves head-long at the approaching Turkish army. This left the King of Hungary, Count of Bavaria, the Grand Master of Phodes and all of the other allies to fight their own fight with no knowledge of the French battle plan.

The valor of the French at Nicopolis is unquestionable and the losses inflicted on their enemies only prove that had they fought alongside their Christian allies with some great tactical and common sense plan of action, the day would in all probability have resulted in a grand Christian victory. Instead, it was a total loss - a debacle which would help lodge the Turks firmly in Europe, insure the fall of Constantinople, and seal the Turk's hold on Bulgaria for 500 more years.

To avoid impaling their horses on the stockade of horsebelly-high sharpened stakes the Turks hastily erected, the French knights dismounted and attacked the Turks on foot. The Wallachians and Transylvanians, seeing the stampede of released French mounts felling the battle and believing that this meant the entire French line had been unhorsed and killed, fled without ever crossing swords with the infidel. King Sigismund and the Master of Rhodes rallied the remaining German and other allied forces in the plan and marched against Turkish positions on the shore of the Danube. "Unspeakable massacre" resulted on both sides.

The turning point in this battle came with the arrival of 1500 fresh Serbian cavalrymen to reinforce the Turkish infantry. Sigismund's troops already fatigued and greatly decimated, were overwhelmed. Dragged from the field by their loyal troops under a rain of arrows, the King and the Master of Phodes escaped in a fishing boat to the safety of a vessel belonging to the allied fleet at anchor in the river. Allied soldiers fed as best they could; most attempted to cross the Danube River where hundreds drowned. Reports tell of knights in full armor attempting to swim only to slowly submerge, like experimental one-man submarines it seems. as their suits filled with water. The surviving French troops, on the other hand, nearly all threw themselves on the Sultan's mercy as prisoners of war.

As Bajazet toured the battlefield, hoping to find the corpse of King Sigismund, he became 'torn by grief" at the sight of his losses, finding many more Muslim corses than Christian, and vowed revenge. (The fate of the Muslim prisoners taken at Rachowa may have been a factor in his wish for revenge as well) He had the 3000 Christian prisoners marched din front of him naked with their hands tied and a rope around their necks. While he watched, he had them decapitated in groups or , for variety, sometimes their necks were slashed or limbs severed. The French noble commanders were nearly all held for ransom.

King Sigismund reached Constantinople by sea but those allied soldiers who succeeded in crossing the Danbe and attempted to return to their homeland on foot found the countryside stripped by the Wallachians and faced great treachery in recrossing land which only a few days before had been traversed by their glorious army, foraging and pillaging in the name of God's cause. Now peasant farmers with pitchforks hunted them down to retaliate for stolen livestock and raped daughters. Traveling in small g groups by night and sleeping in barns or forest by day, they wandered in the woods, reduced to rags and misery, covering themselves with hay and straw. Robbed, ragged and starved, many perished on the way; few, as Johannes, reached home. Some, like Count Rupert of Bavaria, reached the safety of his home only to die in a few days of his great sufferings.

In his medieval village, where few townsfolk had traveled beyond the next village at Fair time, takes of Johannes' exploits in he East, fighting the exotic infidel, found and enthusiastic audience. He became known as Johannes the "Turkfighter" (Turkenshlager) and it follows that since this was the age of the regularization of names, that his descendents became known by the surname Turk.

Being more of a romantic than a scientist, it does not bother me that I have been unable to find Johannes' name in a primary sourcebook. Both Pfarramt and Standesamt records were just beginning to be kept in a logical manner in those years. In 1986, some 590 years after Johannes Turk's return, I turned off the autobahn at Rastatt and parked in the town's busy square. As I sat there admiring the half-timber construction and gingerbread trim of the shop windows, my eyes were drawn to the second floor office window where, to my great delight, I read in gold-leaf Fraktur script: J. Turk, medizinish Doktor. Johannes has indeed left his mark and his children have prospered. I found the local telephone book contained (as no other town in Germany does) as many Turks as Schultzes or Schmidts.

The name and arms of Turk were brought to the United States in the late eighteenth century where the emigrant family first settled in Pennsylvania, then Ohio and after several generations, Iowa. Today the Turk arms are proudly preserved by the descendents of the late Jonathon Turk, formerly of Burbank, California. END

How can a family have numerous coats of arms?!?
      First, you must understand that there is no such thing as a "family coat of arms". Period. Never has been. A Coat of Arms is very similar to a registered trademark for an individual. It may have been awarded to a knight for valor on the battlefield, or simply designed by an individual and registered with an official Heraldry "agency" (or the medieval equivalent.) Having established that the individual is free, a landowner, and whatever other minimal requirements there may have been in a given country at a given time, the request for registration is approved and the particular design is now "official."
      This "trademark" may wind up being used as a sign on its owner's tavern for the benefit of its customers who can't read (practically everyone at the time coats of arms began), a decoration on the shield of a knight to identify him and terrify his enemies (if he has a big reputation), whatever. Many of the coats of arms around today were never authorized or registered until generations after they were used, just as many people don't bother to officially register copyrights and company logos.
      A registered coat of arms is a piece of property, to be inherited like a plot of land or a set of tableware. In general it would be passed on to the oldest son, and that would be the default if there was no will, but it could be left to a younger son or a daughter in a will. In the latter case it would be modified, usually by merging parts of it with parts of a husband's coat of arms if there was one. In any case the design was supposed to be modified by each new owner. The ground rules differed for arms assigned to royalty, nobility, and freemen.
      If you purchase a picture, plaque, or whatever containing a coat of arms, you can display it; but you can not claim it is "your" coat of arms, or "your family's" coat of arms. It is solely the "trademark" or "insignia" of the individual to whom it was originally registered. On the other hand if you are the oldest surviving child of the oldest son of the oldest son of the oldest son of the person to whom it was registered, and it has not been re-assigned in its owner's will, you may be able to file a claim to inherit it. Each country will have an official office where such claims can be filed.
      For more details about coats of arms, heraldry in general, crests, shields, etc., you can go to: www.panix.com/~wlinden/heraldry.shtml as a good starting point.