Henry I the Bearded — The Crescent and Cross

Silesia · c. 1204–1238

Azure, a cross pattée rising from a crescent, Or

Hic, quamvis esset princeps magnificus, adeo tamen ex humilitate condescendebat pauperibus et personis simplicibus…
Though he was a magnificent prince, he humbled himself so far before the poor and simple people…

The Life of Saint Hedwig, his wife, c. 1300

Who He Was

Henry I the Bearded (Henryk I Brodaty), born around 1165–1170, inherited the rule of Silesia in 1201. By the 1230s his authority reached Kraków and much of Greater Poland. His reign saw new towns, settlement and monasteries; his wife, Hedwig of Andechs, was later venerated as Saint Hedwig of Silesia. He died in 1238, succeeded by his son Henry II the Pious.

No shield known to have belonged to him survives. His seal, in use from 1204 to 1238, shows a large shield bearing a cross rising from a crescent. The seal is monochrome, so the colours are not known.

The Evidence

Black-and-white photograph of a round wax seal: a duke in a pointed helmet and a mail coat of horizontal rings stands facing forward, holding a banner on a long staff in his right hand; a broad strap crosses his chest to a shield at his left side, inside a legend ring beginning with a cross. — An impression of Henry I's standing seal on a document of 1234, then in the Wrocław state archive, as photographed for Franciszek Piekosiński's catalogue of Polish medieval seals (1899). The strap over the shoulder and the shield at his side are clear; the device on the shield is small and worn.Image: Franciszek Piekosiński, Pieczęcie polskie wieków średnich, part I (Kraków, 1899), p. 79, no. 90, fig. 68; scan via SFRAGIS, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Public domain Cropped to the seal's outline and converted to WebP for site use.

Two greyscale reproductions of a circular charter sign: a cross rising from a large crescent, inside a ring of Latin text. — Henry I's personal sign, a cross rising from a crescent, in the rota (the circular sign drawn on a charter) of his 1208 privilege for the Trzebnica convent, which survives in two original engrossments. Two reproductions published by Helena Polaczkówna in 1930. It pairs the crescent and cross as his seal does on the shield.Image: Helena Polaczkówna, "Roty przywileju Henryka Brodatego dla Trzebnicy" (Lwów, 1930), p. 430, via Wikimedia Commons Public domain Converted to WebP for site use.

What Is Proven, and What Is My Reconstruction

This interactive shield is a historically informed interpretation of mine. The crescent and cross come from Henry's seal; the colours, shape, construction and rear fittings are documented reconstruction choices, not recovered details of his own shield.

In plain words: no shield of his survives. Only what is marked as evidence comes from the sources; everything else, which is most of the build, is my interpretation.

What the evidence shows

Emblem: A cross rising from a crescent, as on his standing seal (SFRAGIS, 1204–1238) and his personal sign in the rota of his 1208 Trzebnica privilege.
Guige: An adjustable shoulder strap on two riveted mounts. The seal shows the shield hanging from a broad strap over his shoulder; its mounts and buckle are mine.

What is my reconstruction

Drawing: The flared (pattée) arms of the cross and the proportions of both figures are my drawing; the seal is too small and worn to fix them.
Colours: Gold on blue. No contemporary source records Henry's colours; this is an artistic choice, as the article explains.
Shape and size: Kite Heater, 56 × 95 cm, with the workshop's standard bow. The seal shows a large shield in the long form of the early thirteenth century; its exact outline and size cannot be measured from a 60 mm seal.
Core: Linden planks, 10–12 mm thick, glued edge to edge with animal glue and shaped to the curve. Shields of his time were built from glued boards (Seedorf, Szczecin: alder); linden was a shield wood of the thirteenth century (Konrad von Thüringen, Marburg).
Front: Two layers of linen glued over the face and turned round the edge onto the back, standing in for the parchment of surviving shields; gesso, paint and a beeswax finish.
Back: Two layers of undyed linen. The reverse of his shield is not shown on the seal.
Fittings: Leather enarmes for the left arm (crossed forearm straps and a hand grip) and a leather-covered arm pad. The seal does not show the reverse; their layout is mine.

Made as an Artefact

I paint and weather every shield of the series by hand, so each one differs a little from the preview and from every other. The preview shows the design; the shield you receive is its own.

Read the full research: Henry I the Bearded: The Shield of a Silesian Piast Duke →