Fleur-de-lis branding

October 19, 2006 6:27 AM

Why would criminals have been branded 'Fleurdeliser': Hollyband 1593: Fleurdeliser, to burne one with an hot floure-de luce betweene the shoulders, when the Fleur-de-lis was employed by the French monarchy as a symbol of faith, wisdom and chivalry?
posted by tellurian to society & culture (6 comments total)

Operative word being by the Franch Monarchy! I'm ssuming for this answer that the criminals in question were English.

Just a quick reply until I can get home Try Googleing Henry IV of France, Marguerite de Valois his wife, and the lovely MIL Catherine de Medici. St Bartholemew's day massacre comes to mind as a possible reason, and the fact that Henry converted to Catholicism I think 1572 on ascending the throne.
But basically the whole history between France and England from the Norman conquest means I can see easily how the English language acquired this particular phrase.
posted by Wilder at 6:45 AM on October 19, 2006

It was used for slaves, though, as well - my guess is that it's symbolic of submission to the French monarchy in general. Wikipedia has more.
posted by greycap at 7:04 AM on October 19, 2006

The OED says "(Fr. Hist.) a brand-mark on a criminal," so I assume the French did this, and as greycap says, it would have been a sign that the person was "owned" by the monarchy.
posted by languagehat at 7:25 AM on October 19, 2006

Yes it was the French. In the Three Musketeers by Dumas, the character "Milady" had been branded by executioner of Lille.
posted by yeti at 7:48 AM on October 19, 2006

You might recall in De Sade's Justine, when she is imprisoned for 'theft' and is branded with a fleur-de-lis on her shoulder. Later, after she is re-found by her sister, they pay to remove the mark. Justine lives a happy, if sordid life until she opens her patio door to observe a rainstorm and is struck by lightning.
posted by parmanparman at 8:55 AM on October 19, 2006

Faith, wisdom and chivalry was superseded not too long after by equality, liberty and fraternity, so we can perhaps assume that some folks didn't like being branded with the symbol of their lords' and masters' "virtues."
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:04 AM on October 19, 2006