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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 7956586, member: 110350&quot;]If the digression can be pardoned, I think it&#039;s a bit ironic, given my interest in numismatics, that the one actual coat of arms owned by one of my direct ancestors (very unusual for someone Jewish in the first place) depicted silver coins -- specifically known in heraldry as &quot;bezants [or besants] d&#039;argent.&quot; (The word bezant, as I understand it, is derived from Byzantium and was originally used in medieval Western Europe to refer to Byzantine gold solidi.) </p><p><br /></p><p>The ancestor in question was my 6th-great-grandfather (specifically, my maternal grandmother&#039;s maternal grandmother&#039;s maternal grandmother&#039;s maternal grandfather), Abraham (&quot;Le Roux&quot;) Brunschwig, so-called because of his red hair. He was born in Bollwiller, Haut-Rhin, Alsace on 20 Aug 1671 (the exact date is known because his circumcision record survives), and died in 1740 (before August) in Cernay (a/k/a Sennheim), Haut-Rhin, Alsace; he was the son of Isaie Brunschwig, also known as &quot;Le Roux,&quot; who died circa 1698.&nbsp; Here is a picture of Abraham&#039;s coat of arms:</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;[ATTACH=full]1379377[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I found this illustration in the Armorial Général de France, vol. 1, Haute et Basse Alsace (1696), at p. 511, illustrating in color the arms of &quot;Abraham Bronsvich, Juif&quot; (Armorial général de France par Charles d&#039;Hozier (1696-XVIIIe siècle), Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Département des manuscrits, français, Ms 32228 à 32262, available at <a href="http://www.chateauversailles-recherche.fr/francais/ressources-documentaires/corpus-electroniques/sources-manuscrites/armorial-general-de-france-par.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.chateauversailles-recherche.fr/francais/ressources-documentaires/corpus-electroniques/sources-manuscrites/armorial-general-de-france-par.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.chateauversailles-recherche.fr/francais/ressources-documentaires/corpus-electroniques/sources-manuscrites/armorial-general-de-france-par.html</a>, with link to vol. 1 at <a href="http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1105860/f2.item" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1105860/f2.item" rel="nofollow">http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1105860/f2.item</a> -- 1er volume : Haute et basse Alsace (Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Département des manuscrits, Français, Ms 32228; identifier ark:/12148/bpt6k1105860).)</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are the other relevant source citations from my family tree database, Google-translated where applicable from French to English:</p><p><br /></p><p>See D. Ingold, History of the Jewish Community of Cernay, in Yearbook of the Society for the History of the Regions of Thann-Guebwiller, Tome XVIII (1990-1992), pp. 27-34 at p. 29:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Around 1700, Abraham Brunschwig was apparently one of the most well-to-do Cerneans in the city, since he was granted, no doubt automatically for a fee, a coat of arms by the royal heraldist D&#039;Hozier: &#039;De geules à six besants of silver, three, two and one. &#039; (Armorial of the Generalitat of Alsace, No 225) The &#039;besants&#039; (old currency) which furnished his coat of arms were undoubtedly a fine allusion to his activities as a moneylender/pawnbroker.</p><p><br /></p><p>For description of arms, see Armorial of the Generality of Alsace, official collection drawn up by the orders of Louis XIV (A. Aubry, Paris, 1861) [link at <a href="http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/" rel="nofollow">http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/</a> bpt6k54062097 / f6.item.r = armorial% 20general% 20alsace% 201861.zoom], at p. 358, in section for Brisack and Colmar: &quot;No 225. ABRAHAM BRONSVICH, Jewish; Porte gules with six bezants Argent, three, two and one.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>For manuscript version of description, see</p><p>RELATED VOLUMES from the Cabinet of Titles: searches for nobility, armorials, proofs, genealogical histories. Armorial general of France, drawn up, under the edict of 1696, by Charles D&#039;HOZIER. (1697-1709). I Alsace (1701), National Library of France, Department of Manuscripts, French 32194, at p. 682, No. 225. (Link to manuscript at <a href="http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10724045g/f2.image.r=armorial%20general%20alsace;" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10724045g/f2.image.r=armorial%20general%20alsace;" rel="nofollow">http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10724045g/f2.image.r=armorial general alsace;</a> identify ark: / 12148 / btv1b10724045g.)</p><p><br /></p><p>See also Les Brunschwig d&#039;Uffholtz, by Denis Ingold, Revue du Cercle de Genealogy Juive, No. 97, January-March 2009, pp. 11-14 at p. 14, with black &amp; white rendition of his coat of arms:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Coat of arms attributed to Abraham Brunschwig de Cernay by the royal heraldry (Armorial Brunschwig d&#039;Alsace, circa 1700). Abraham was the son of Schay (Isaïe) Brunschwig dit le Roux. He was born in Bollwiller in 1671 and settled in Cernay with his father during the Dutch War. [King William&#039;s War, a / k / a the Nine Years&#039; War, 1688-1697.]&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Source citations for Abraham&#039;s circumcision date, i.e., the eighth day after his birth:</p><p><br /></p><p>See Mohelbuch de R. Simon Blum, as cited by Denis Ingold in his article Bollwiller, berceau des Grumbach, in Revue du Cercle de Généalogie Juive, No. 98, Avril-Juin 2009, pp. 5-9 at p. 7:</p><p><br /></p><p>Bollwiller, 1671:&nbsp; &quot;Abraham fils d&#039;Isaïe Brunschwig [également nommé Schey Brunschwig, 1672, Josias Brunschwig, 1659].&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>See also 37 Maajan (1995/4. Quartal), Part 1 of excerpts from Mohelbuch of R. Simon Blum, at p. 908, entry 14:&nbsp; Bollwiller, Abraham son of Isaïe, 21 Elul 5431, 27 Aug 1671; Sandik: Hirtz Kippenheim, brother-in-law of father.</p><p><br /></p><p>See also D. Ingold, Les Juifs à Cernay des origines au XVIIe siècle, in Archives Juives, No 31/1 (1er semestre 1998), pp. 72-78 at p. 76 &amp; n. 22 (&quot;Le fils de Schay Brunschwig [was] . . . Abraham, dit le Roux, comme son père, né à Bollwiller en 1671&quot; [citing Mohelbuch entries for 1671]).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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