IDTG

Along the right hand side of this blog, I have a pretty long list of recommended sites to visit. A section of particular interest is that where I list certain blogs that I highly recommend everyone to take a look at.

• Blog de Heráldica (in Spanish) Perhaps the best, hands down, blog on heraldry out there – in any language! If there is one blog on heraldry to follow, this is it. Maintained by the Royal Air Force Major José Juan Carrión Rangel.
• Cheshire Heraldry Web Journal An excellent blog maintained by the highly respected heraldist Martin Goldstraw that has done some amazing work.
• Derecho Heraldico (in Spanish) For those who are interested in heraldry at a much deeper level and really wants to dig in to the topic, this will really satisfy you. Maintained by the Chilean Carlos Ceda Acevedo.
• Genealogía Blog (in Spanish) A very highly recommended blog that is dedicated to Hispanic genealogy.
• Georgian Heraldry (in English and Georgian) A blog maintained by Alexander Mikaberidze with a particular focus on Georgia that also touches upon genealogy. Some very beautiful art displayed here.
• Hellenic Genealogy Geek A blog maintained by Georgia Keilman nee Stryker (Stratigakos) dedicated for those outside of Greece that need help in finding their Hellenic roots.
• Heráldica Catalana (in Spanish and Catalan) Dedicated to the Catalonia region of Spain covering not just heraldry but also, genealogy, nobiliary topics, etc. Very well written by Javier de Cruïlles.
• Heráldica de Chile (in Spanish) The only, to my knowledge, blog dedicated to heraldry in the Republic of Chile and maintained by Walter Gallegos.
• Heráldica en la Argentina (in Spanish) Like the one above, the only blog to my knowledge dedicated to the heraldry in the Republic of Argentina. Maintained by Alejandro Pomar.
• Heraldry Online Blog A fascinating blog with some unique findings in heraldry. Maintained by Stephen Plowman.
• Heraldry: Musings on an esoteric topic A very well written and interesting blog maintained by the well known American heraldist David Appleton.
• México Heráldico (in Spanish) Like the other blogs with a localized focus, this is the only one that I know of dedicated to the heraldry of the Republic of Mexico. Maintained by Jesús Ávila.
• Salón del Trono (in Spanish) Truly fascinating blog on chivalric orders with articles on topics that have been rarely published before.
• The armorial blog Excellent blog on heraldry in general but, particularly great because of the amazing artwork displayed. Maintained by Fredrik Brodin.
• The Genetic Genealogist A different twist to genealogy. We all typically focus on documentation like certificates or books. This blog, as its subheading says, “adds DNA to the genealogist’s toolbox”.
• Títulos Nobiliarios (in Spanish) This is a blog of very particular interest to those of us who care about what goes on in Spain. It is maintained by Jose Luis Muño who happens to work with the board that decides on the concessions of titles in the Ministry of Justice. Fascinating read always and excellent links.

Today, I have the distinct pleasure and honor publish an article written by the current Count of Quinta Alegre, don Fernando Molina Alcalde, who also happens to be a distant cousin of mine.

So, without more from me, here is the Count’s article:

Several years ago, when I joined the Asociación de Hidalgos a Fuero de España, I proved my nobility and also my ancestral paternal arms for Molina. It was an easy claim since two years earlier my relative Luis Molina Wood had joined the very same noble corporation and his file included the Molina heraldic arms. In my petition I mentioned that I had the very same arms.¹

Ancestral arms of Molina: Azure a castle between in base a half millstone Argent and in chief three fleurs de lis Or, all within a bordure Gules charged with eight saltorels Or

These are the same arms that are found in the house of Diego de Molina “el Viejo” (the Elder) in the town of Almagro, today in the province of Ciudad Real, Spain. Diego de Molina “el Viejo,” who was an archpriest, lived between the end of the 15th century through the first half of the 16th century. He founded a very wealthy entail (mayorazgo) and his nephew Diego de Molina “el Joven” (the Younger) was called the first to enjoy it and then his descendants through the male lines, in order of
primogeniture. In case of extinction of his line -it never happened, the Molina Herrera family, also nephews of the founder, were called to it. Among these last ones, Jerónimo de Molina y Herrera, one of the founders of one of the Molina families in Chile in the XVI century, was a common ancestor of Luis Molina Wood and this author.

As Almagro was the seat of the ancient Order of Calatrava, there was a large concentration of noble families.

In 1995 HM King Juan Carlos I of Spain graciously rehabilitated in my favor the title of Count of Quinta Alegre. This Castillian nobiliary title was originally created by HM King Charles III by Royal Decree signed in San Lorenzo on October 22, 1767 for Juan Alcalde y Gutiérrez of Santiago, Chile and born in 1707 in Durón, Guadalajara, Spain. According to the laws of the time, Juan Alcalde’s previously granted title of Viscount of Rivera (Vizcondado previo de Rivera) was canceled upon the creation of this last one.

Arms of the first Count of Quinta Alegre: Quarterly 1 & 4 Argent a castle Gules over a base wavy Azure and Argent; 2 & 3: Argent a lion rampant Proper

A few months later, King Charles III granted a coat of arms to the new Count in Letters Patent dated December 4, 1767 that would be the familial arms of the count and his descendants.²

While in Madrid right after the Royal Decree rehabilitating the title in my favor, I consulted with an expert in heraldry regarding how I should compose my arms that had already been registered and now with my comital title. What was clear was that I could not place the comital coronet above my paternal arms of Molina because the title was not a Molina title but, rather, an Alcalde one. Although, I descend twice from the first Count of Quinta Alegre via my paternal line and once via my maternal.

In any case, the solution was simple: dimidiate the two shields and place the coronet of rank above it. Luckily, my two surnames are Molina Alcalde.

Arms of the current Count of Quinta Alegre, don Fernando Molina Alcalde

Ever since, I have been using these arms as my own and was admitted with these in the Casa Troncal de los Doce Linajes de Soria as a Caballero hijodalgo, Linaje Salvadores (Knight Hijodalgo, Lineage of the Salvadores) in early January 2011. It was an opportunity to officially register my marshalled arms of Molina y Alcalde with this historic nobiliary corporation. A blog entry in the official blog of the corporation displayed these arms along with a short article on January 11, 2011 and again the next day on January 12.

Fernando Joaquín Molina Alcalde, Conde de Quinta Alegre
New York, January 20, 2011

Notes:

1. Asociación de Hidalgos a Fuero de España, Padrón de Estado, Madrid, 1967, v. 3, p.134-135, expediente Nº 1840 de don Luis Molina Wood, natural de Santiago, Chile; incluye armas de varonía. Azur, con un castillo de plata, acompañado de tres flores de lis de oro en jefe, y en punta una media rueda de molino, de plata; bordura de gules, cargada de ocho aspas de oro.
   Asociación de Hidalgos a Fuero de España, Padrón de Estado, Madrid, 1970, v.5, p.142-143, expediente Nº 3435 de don Fernando Joaquín Molina Alcalde, natural de Santiago, Chile, menciona como armas las del expediente Nº 1840.
2. Juan Espejo, Nobiliario de la Capitanía General de Chile, Santiago, 2ª edición, 1967, p.51 (ilustrado) y p.54 n.1; y Ampelio Alonso de Cadenas y López, y Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, Heraldario español, europeo y americano, vol. 5, Madrid, 1998, p.259 (ilustrado). Cuartelado: 1º y 4º de plata con un castillo de gules puesto sobre ondas de plata y azur; 2º y 3º de plata, con un león rampante de su color.
   Juan Mujica, Linajes españoles. Nobleza colonial de Chile, Santiago, 1927, ilustración sin número, entre las páginas 11 y 12, incluye las armas de los Alcalde con un error en los cuarteles 2º y 3º, los leones rampantes de gules cuando son de su color como queda dicho más arriba.

Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga was the first official Japanese ambassador to the Americas and Europe, having traveled there in the early 17th century.

He was a Samurai whose mission from Japan to the Christian west spanned from 1613 through 1620 and it was the last one until 1862!

Mon of the daimyo Date Masamune

The objective was to establish a close relationship with the West and increase trade to the benefit of the Japanese. Hasekura was sent by the daimyo (regional powerful lord) Date Masamune of Sendai who had plans to become the Shogun.

In the correspondence that the daimyo sent with Hasekura, it was said that he was planning to convert to Christianity and offered to accept Catholic mercenaries.

This came at a time when Christianity had started taking root in Japan and a number of them were converting, though not all feudal lords welcomed the new religion. Hasekura and his entourage were among those who were at least friendly towards the religion and the majority converted during their trip.

Hasekura himself converted in Spain in 1615 and on February 17th was baptized by King Philip III’s personal chaplain and had as his godfather the Duke of Lerma. His Christian name was Felipe Francisco Hasekura.

Of interest is that on Hasekura’s way to Rome to meet with the Pope, he had to spend a few days in Saint Tropez due to bad weather. While there, he met with French nobles marking the first official contact between France and Japan in history.

There are some funny stories from the French side about their “exotic” visitors:

“They never touch food with their fingers, but instead use two small sticks that they hold with three fingers.”
“They blow their noses in soft silky papers the size of a hand, which they never use twice, so that they throw them on the ground after usage, and they were delighted to see our people around them precipitate themselves to pick them up.”
“Their swords cut so well that they can cut a soft paper just by putting it on the edge and by blowing on it.”

(Marcouin, Francis and Keiko Omoto. Quand le Japon s’ouvrit au monde. Paris: Découvertes Gallimard, 1990. ISBN 2-07-053118-X. Pages 114–116)

In Rome, he got to meet the Pope and made many high level contacts with members of the Church. The people of Rome, to whom he became endeared, even made him a Citizen of Rome.

On the return trip to Japan, several of Hasekura’s men decided to stay behind in Spain where their descendants still carry the surname “(Hasekura de) Japon”.

To continue the story of this mission, when Hasekura returned all those years later to Japan, his home country was a very different place.

Almost immediately after giving his report to the daimyo, Christianity became an outlaw religion. All Christians had to change their religion otherwise they would either face exile (for nobles) or death (for everyone else).

Hasekura remained faithful to the end and among his remains a rosary, a cross and other items were found.

During his years in Europe, he acquired a Coat of Arms and they are depicted above. The blazon is: Argent a two arrows in saltire overall a swastika Sable.

Today, April 29, is the veneration of Saint Torpes of Pisa, better known by the town named after him: Saint Tropez.

Saint Torpes is one of those few saints that are venerated by both the Eastern and Western Churches who lived in the first century AD having martyred in 65AD.

Torpes was a Roman whose full name was Caïus Silvius Torpetius who, according to legend, was either senior military person or a leader of emperor Nero’s guard. It is said that he was martyred when, in the presence of the emperor, he professed his faith.

He is highly venerated in his birthplace of Pisa and the locations where his body finally arrived. The legend says that his decapitated body was placed on a boat with a rooster and a dog to devour the corpse.  The boat was set adrift and floated towards north-western Italy.

A woman named Célèrine had a vision at that time saying that Torpes would visit her village. As foreseen, the boat with the corpse, rooster and dog did indeed reach that small seaside village. Upon arrival the rooster fled one way and the dog the other.

The village was renamed to Saint Tropez, in honor of the saint.

Interestingly, the village towards which the rooster fled was renamed Cogolin and the village towards which the dog went to Grimaud.

It is the arms of the town that we see at the top of this post, the blazon of which is amazingly easy: Azure the Saint Tropez (Torpes) Or holding in his right hand a sword Argent point to base, standing on a base Or charged with the text “SAINT-TROPEZ”

Personally, I find these arms to be ugly. I never liked shields with text on them, even though it is relatively common in the Iberian peninsula and France.

The Royal Academy of History of Spain (Real Academia de la Historia) has created a database collection of the biographies of thousands of historical persons.

The database is the outcome of the project Diccionario Biográfico Español or “Spanish Biographical Dictionary” of the Royal Academy and for the creation of the Center of Biographical Studies. The project intends to cover persons from all regions of the world that were under the Spanish Crown: the Iberian peninsula, the Americas, the Low Countries, the Philippines, etc.

At present, the database contains the data of over 40,000 persons and can be accessed via the link: http://www.rah.es/cdeb.htm