Editing Fleur-de-lis (section)

====Royal symbol: background, later legends====
The ''fleur-de-lis'' symbolic origins with French monarchs may stem from the baptismal lily used in the crowning of King [[Clovis I]] (r. c. 481–509).<ref>Ellen J. Millington, ''Heraldry in History, Poetry, and Romance'', London, 1858, pp. [https://archive.org/details/heraldryinhisto01millgoog/page/n332 332]–[https://archive.org/details/heraldryinhisto01millgoog/page/n343 343].</ref> The French monarchy may have adopted the ''fleur-de-lis'' for its royal coat of arms as a symbol of purity to commemorate the conversion of Clovis I,<ref>Lewis, Philippa & Darley, Gillian (1986) Dictionary of Ornament</ref> and a reminder of the ''fleur-de-lis'' [[ampulla]] that held the oil used to [[Anointing#Hebrew Bible#|anoint the king]]. So, the ''fleur-de-lis'' stood as a symbol of the king's divinely approved right to rule. The thus "anointed" kings of France later maintained that their authority was directly from God. A legend enhances the mystique of royalty by informing us that a vial of oil—the [[Holy Ampulla]]—descended from Heaven to anoint and sanctify Clovis as King,<ref>Ralph E. Giesey, ''Models of Rulership in French Royal Ceremonial in Rites of Power: Symbolism, Ritual, and Politics Since the Middle Ages'', ed. Wilentz (Princeton 1985), p. 43.</ref> descending directly on Clovis or perhaps brought by a dove to Saint Remigius. One version explains that an angel descended with the ''fleur-de-lis'' ampulla to anoint the king.<ref>Michel Pastoureau: ''Traité d'Héraldique'', Paris, 1979</ref> Another story tells of Clovis putting a flower in his helmet just before his victory at the [[Battle of Vouillé]].<ref name="François Velde"/> Through this propagandist connection to Clovis, the ''fleur-de-lis'' has been taken in retrospect to symbolize all the Christian [[Franks|Frankish]] kings, most notably [[Charlemagne]].<ref name="Sherman1995">{{cite book |author= Claire Richter Sherman |year= 1995 |title= Imaging Aristotle: Verbal and Visual Representation in Fourteenth-century France |publisher= University of California Press |pages= 10– |isbn= 978-0-520-08333-2 |oclc= 1008315349 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4j72YuNSyN4C&pg=PA10}}</ref>
[[File:Image-Charlemagne-by-Durer.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Charlemagne]]'', by [[Albrecht Dürer]]. The [[anachronistic]] coats-of-arms above him show the [[German eagle]] and the French ''fleur-de-lis'']]

The graphic evolution of ''crita''{{clarify|date=November 2023}} to ''fleur-de-lis'' was accompanied by textual [[allegory]]. By the late 13th century, an allegorical poem by [[Guillaume de Nangis]] (d. 1300), written at [[Joyenval Abbey]] in [[Chambourcy]], relates how the golden lilies on an azure ground were miraculously substituted for the [[crescent]]s on Clovis' shield, a projection into the past of contemporary images of heraldry.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In the 14th century, French writers asserted that the monarchy of France, which developed from the Kingdom of the West Franks, could trace its heritage back to the divine gift of royal arms received by Clovis. This story has remained popular, even though modern scholarship has established that the ''fleur-de-lis'' was a religious symbol before it was a true heraldic symbol.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pastoureau |first=Michel |author-link=Michel Pastoureau |translator-last=Garvie |translator-first=Francisca |year=1997 |title=Heraldry: Its Origins and Meaning |series='[[Découvertes Gallimard|New Horizons]]' series |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFfkAQAACAAJ |location=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |pages=99–100 |isbn=9780500300749}}</ref> Along with true lilies, it was associated with the Virgin Mary, and when the 12th-century [[House of Capet|Capetians]], Louis VI and Louis VII, started to use the emblem, their purpose was of connecting their rulership with this symbol of [[saint]]liness and divine right.<ref name=ACFD>Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'', London, 1909, p. [https://archive.org/stream/completeguidetoh00foxdrich#page/274/mode/2up 274].</ref>