Petrus Maria Vrancken

PETRUS MARIA VRANCKEN

Born : November 8, 1806
Deceased : August 17, 1879

Co-adjutor Apostolic Vicar of Batavia, 1847-1852; Titular Bishop of Colophon
Apostolic Vicar of Batavia, 1852-1874
Titular Archbishop of Attalea in Pamphylia, 1874-1879

Colour variant 1

Colour variant 2

Origin/meaning

There are several variants known of the arms of this bishop. I a Dutch manuscript the arms are described as shown above as variant 1. However, his seal showed a normal cross, and not a shorter cross. In a recent article (2022) W. Lem shows a picture of the arms as shown in a book (below). This shows the crosses with 8 points, instead of the five in variant 1, and the lion holding a cross. On the seal the star could be both 5 or 8 points. The colours shown on the book are different as in variant 1, hence a reconstruction of the seal in the colours of the book, resulting in variant 2 above. However, variant 2 does not include the mitre and pastoral staff common for bishops at the time, and shows 6 tassels, instead of the 10 tassels used by the bishop (even though 6 would be more appropriate for a bishop).

His seal

From a publication

The meaning of the arms is not known. The stars can refer to Maastricht (he was born near that city), which would be a 5-pointed star. The cross can be a generic Christian symbol, the lion can be the lion of the Netherlands (for the Dutch East Indies), where the bundle of arrows is replaced by a cross.

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Literature : Lem, W. Petrus Maria Vrancken. Heraldicum Disputationes 27(2022)75-82.