A Moor's head , also known as a Maure, since the 11th century, is a symbol depicting the head of a black moor . The term moor came to define anyone who was Muslim or had black skin.
30-663: The precise origin of the Moor's head as a heraldic symbol is a subject of controversy. The most likely explanation is that it is derived from the heraldic war flag of the Reconquista depicting the Cross of Alcoraz , symbolizing Peter I of Aragon and Pamplona 's victory over the "Moorish" kings of the Taifa of Zaragoza in the Battle of Alcoraz in 1096. The headband may originally have been
60-470: A "cross-bearer" ( crucifer ). The size of his forces so impressed a contemporary scribe in León that he remarked in the dating formula of a document of 12 February that "Peter, Aragonese king, with his infinite multitude of armed men, the city of Zaragoza, with Christ's banner, fought". By June Peter had begun the siege of Zaragoza itself. For the siege he had a fortress built named Juslibol (a corruption of
90-522: A blindfold. Another theory claims that it represents the Nubian Saint Maurice (3rd century AD). The earliest heraldic use of the Moor's head is first recorded in 1281, during the reign of Peter III of Aragon and represents the Cross of Alcoraz , which the King adopted as his personal coat of arms. The Crown of Aragon had for a long time governed Sardinia and Corsica, having been granted
120-642: A territory of the Crown of Aragon . Interestingly, the Moor's head is attached to his shoulders and upper body, and he is alive and smiling. In 1736, it was used by both sides during the struggle for independence. In 1760, General Pasquale Paoli ordered the necklace to be removed from the head and the blindfold raised. His reason, reported by his biographers, was " Les Corses veulent y voir clair. La liberté doit marcher au flambeau de la philosophie. Ne dirait-on pas que nous craignons la lumière ? " (English: "The Corsicans want to see clearly. Freedom must walk by
150-638: Is informally known as the Four Moors ( Italian : I quattro mori , Logudorese : Sos Bator Moros , Campidanese : Is Cuatru Morus ) and comprises four Moor heads. The "Maure" is the African Unification Front 's flag and emblem . The head is blindfolded representing the impartiality of justice, and the knot is tied into a stylized Adinkra symbol for omnipotence ( Gye Nyame ). Critics in Switzerland have characterized
180-548: The Historia Roderici claims that he came to help Rodrigo. He met Rodrigo in Valencia and with a large force already assembled they decided to reinforce the southern frontier fort of Benicadell, rebuilt by Rodrigo in 1091. As they were passing by Xàtiva they were met by an Almoravid force under the command of Mohammed, the nephew of Almoravid leader Yusuf ibn Tashfin , and the commander whom Rodrigo had defeated at
210-476: The Battle of Cuarte in 1095. They decided to hastily restock Benicadell and retreat to Valencia via the coast, but were met at the Battle of Bairén by Muhammad's forces encamped on the high ground that reached almost to the sea. A small Almoravid fleet had been assembled from the southern ports, including Almería , and the Christians were trapped between arrow fire from the ships and the cavalry perched atop
240-464: The Cross of Saint George , or cross of gules on Argent , with a Maure , or Moor's head, in each quarter. The earliest documented evidence of these arms is in a rare lead-sealed decree from the chancery of Peter III of Aragon , circa 1281, most likely used as the King's Coat of arms, alluding to the spirit of the Crusades and his ancestral namesake, Peter I of Aragon . The arms also appear in
270-529: The Crusade of 1101 and make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem , but Pope Paschal II refused to allow it and ordered him to make war on Zaragoza instead. Peter, probably aided by knights from France and Catalonia , certainly did make war on Zaragoza in 1101, in a campaign that lasted the whole year. He may have been inspired by the First Crusaders , since contemporary accounts of the 1101 campaign call him
300-518: The Middle Ages up to the 20th century, both Aragonese and international variants (viz. flag of Sardinia ) have either turned the orientation of the Moor's heads, made them face each other symmetrically, or depicted them as the heads of Saracen kings with open crowns. This heraldic coat of arms was directly attributed to the Kingdom of Aragon from the mid 15th century and was also adopted as
330-566: The Val d'Aran his kingdoms passed to his younger half-brother, Alfonso the Battler . Peter was buried in San Juan de la Peña alongside his children. When Alfonso also died without living children, the kingdom of Aragon passed to the youngest brother, Ramiro II . Peter's name was adopted, in a feminised form, for Ramiro's only child, and successor, Petronilla (1137–64). The name "Peter" entered
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#1732780996635360-606: The Christians of eastern Spain. In 1104 Peter granted a fuero to all the infanzones of his realm, retaining his right to require three-day field service. Peter's first marriage, to Agnes of Aquitaine (betrothed 1081), was arranged by his father and took place in the capital of Jaca in January 1086. His second marriage, to a certain Bertha , probably from Lombardy , was officiated in Huesca on 16 August 1097. This represented
390-543: The Latin slogan Deus lo volt [God wills it] used by the First Crusaders) and ringed the city with banners bearing the cross. In August he was conducting a razzia (raid) as far south as Alpenes and the river Ebro , but the campaign was eventually aborted due to insufficient cavalry. By the end of the year he had expanded Aragon and Navarre in the west almost as far as the walls of Zaragoza and Tudela , though
420-480: The cities both remained in Muslim hands. During his reign Peter bestowed fueros on Barbastro (1100), Caparroso (1102), and Santacara (1102). The last was repopulated partly by Frenchmen, whose influence on local customs is apparent. According to Peter's fueros , citizens were required to serve in local campaigns and castle defence, but were exempted from long-term service in the "host". Horse-owners resident in
450-500: The end of the 15th century, according to a study on the Sardinian flag by Italian author Luisa D'Arienzo. Peter I of Aragon Peter I ( Spanish : Pedro , Aragonese : Pero , Basque : Petri ; c. 1068 - 1104) was King of Aragon and also Pamplona from 1094 until his death in 1104. Peter was the eldest son of Sancho Ramírez , from whom he inherited the crowns of Aragon and Pamplona, and Isabella of Urgell . He
480-531: The hill. Rodrigo roused the troops with a speech and the next day at midday the Christians charged. The Battle of Xàtiva ended in a rout, with many Almoravids killed or forced into the river or the sea, where many drowned. Peter and Rodrigo returned to Valencia in triumph and thanking God for the victory, as the Historia records. In 1099, in preparation for the fall of Barbastro , Peter sent Ponce , then Bishop of Roda , to Rome to ask Pope Urban II to transfer
510-529: The islands by the Pope, although they never really exercised formal control. The Moor's head became a symbol of the islands. This symbol is used in heraldry, vexillography , and political imagery. The main charge in the coat of arms in Corsica is a U Moru , Corsican for "The Moor". An early version is attested in the 14th-century Gelre Armorial , where an unblindfolded Moor's head represents Corsica as
540-410: The medieval Annales Compostellani Peter was "expert in war and daring in initiative", and one modern historian has remarked that "his grasp of the possibilities inherent in the age seems to have been faultless." The Crónica de San Juan de la Peña , a rather late source for Peter's reign, states that Peter was 35 years of age when he died, which places his birth in 1068 or 1069. As a child Peter
570-629: The pope even issued a bull , Cum universis sancte , granting the king and queen of Aragon immunity from excommunication without the permission of the pope. That same year, while he was besieging Huesca, Peter defeated the relief forces of the Taifa of Zaragoza at the Battle of Alcoraz . Peter later rewarded a certain Sancho Crispo for his contribution of three hundred knights and infantry at Alcoraz. He went on to take Huesca on 27 November of that same year. The next year (1096) Peter travelled south to inspect his fortress at Castellón , though
600-479: The royal standard of the Kingdom of Sardinia from the second half of the 15th century, when the island was a territory of the Crown of Aragon . In the Sardinian flag, the Moors' heads were blindfolded. In the modern flag of Sardinia, the heads are facing right, and the "blindfolds" have evolved into headbands. It is pointed out that the adoption of the so-called Cross of Alcoraz by Sardinia most likely dates back to
630-500: The see of Roda to Barbastro . The pope complied with Peter's request, and endowed the transferred diocese with all the re-conquered lands of the Diocese of Lleida . Peter's motive in this action was probably to curtail any expansion of the Diocese of Urgell in the direction of Lleida. In any case, Barbastro fell in 1100. According to what is probably a legend, at the urging of the monks of San Juan de la Peña Peter planned to join on
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#1732780996635660-535: The third quarter of the current Coat of arms of Aragon . According to 14th century sources, the 'Cross of Alcoraz' traditionally originated with the Battle of Alcoraz (in 1096) as King Peter 's battle shield, inspired by the legendary miraculous intervention of Saint George in the Reconquista of Huesca . The earliest depiction of the cross, that of the chancery seal of 1281, shows four Moors' heads with beards but no headbands (or bandages). Throughout
690-548: The title of king (Latin rex ). On 28 October 1087 Peter joined his father in Pamplona in Navarre, where the two monarchs confirmed the rights of the bishops in the city. He pursued the Reconquista with vigour in the southeast of the realm. In 1087 he may have been present at the unsuccessful siege of Tudela . Later that year he conquered Estada , in 1088 Montearagón , and on 24 June 1089 Monzón . These conquests opened up
720-611: The torch of philosophy. Won't they say that we fear the light?" ) The blindfold was thereafter changed to a headband. The current flag of Corsica is the Bandera testa Mora , 'Flag with head of Moor', is male rather than female, and has a regular knot at the back of the head. The Moor's head appears on the logo for the Corsican football team SC Bastia , who play in the French football system's Ligue 2 . The flag of Sardinia
750-470: The towns of Barbastro and Santa Cristina de Somport (1104) were also exempted from knight-service , known as cavalcata . In 1101 Peter delineated the boundaries of the diocese of Barbastro–Roda, and those that would belong to Lleida after its reconquest. On 11 December 1102 Peter was in Estella on the border with Castile , perhaps seeking the aid of Alfonso VI after a particularly disastrous autumn for
780-535: The transferral of the capital of Aragon from Jaca to the larger city of Huesca. Peter's only children, Isabella and Peter (born c. 1086), both from his first marriage, died young in 1103 and on 1 February 1104, respectively. Peter was married to María Rodríguez, a daughter of El Cid, in 1098 - a marriage celebrated in the Cantar de mio Cid and in subsequent literature. Both Isabella and Peter were interred in San Juan de la Peña on 18 August 1104. When Peter I died in
810-416: The use of the Moor's head as racist, when used as a symbol by a workers guild. In 2012, activists requested the brewing company Mohrenbrauerei to remove the "Moor's head" from its bottles; the company declined, saying the design was part of heraldry used by the family who started the brewery. Cross of Alcoraz The Cross of Alcoraz is the name given to a heraldic coat of arms and flag made up of
840-699: The valley of the Cinca , which he proceeded to conquer as far as Almenar , taken in 1093. Peter succeeded to the whole of his father's kingdom on the latter's death while besieging Huesca in 1094. Peter raised the siege, only to return to it within the year. After 1094 his objectives shifted westwards, towards the valley of the Gallega . In 1095 Peter renewed his father's oaths to Urban II , and Urban renewed his promise of protection, under which Sancho, his sons, and his kingdom had been placed in July 1089. On 16 March 1095
870-589: Was named in honour of Saint Peter , because of his father's special devotion to the Holy See , to which he had made his kingdom a vassal . Peter continued his father's close alliance with the Church and pursued his military thrust south against bordering Al-Andalus taifas with great success, allying with Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , known as El Cid , the ruler of Valencia , against the Almoravids . According to
900-470: Was placed in the line of succession to the County of Urgell by the first testament of his uncle Ermengol IV , after Ermengol's own son and brothers. He was not destined to inherit it. In 1085, two years after his father had conquered Graus (28 April 1083), Peter was entrusted with Sobrarbe and Ribagorza as a subkingdom with its capital at Graus, which he thenceforth ruled more or less independently with
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