medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> Learned colleagues: following the point made by Marjorie, I would be
> thrilled to know if anyone knows, without necessarily running to the
> nearest library (or consulting Charbonneau-Lassay's book), what the
> positive AND negative meanings that can be attached to the symbolism
> of the eagle. I am looking at some medieval visual propaganda that may
> use the eagle as symbols for a political party (the Ghibellines in
> thirteenth-century Tuscany), but I am curious to know whether there
> was, in addition to this, an accepted symbolism that was a negative
> one.
Dear George,
On the positive side, the eagle was considered the only animal capable of looking
directly at the sun, which of course, has symbolic connotations in terms of its
relationship with St John the Evangelist. I'm not aware of any *general* negative
connotations, but by the 13th century, I believe that the eagle was firmly established
as a prominent heraldic charge of the Holy Roman Emperor, which, depending on
which side of the political fence one was on, could be construed as having a
negative connotation.
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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