Bezantée

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Bezantee, Bezantie or Bezanty is an heraldic term, for a form of decoration, resembling circular discs, to a division or field contained in a coat of arms.

The word is believed to derive from bezant or byzant a gold or silver coin from the Byzantine Empire, which was in common European use until circa 1250

Bezantée moulding style, showing the use of the disc like forms as a decoration for a Romanesque pier and arcade

Bezantée, according to Encyclopædia Britannica, is an ornamental moulding much used in the Norman period, resembling the coins (bezants) struck in Byzantium. It seems the term is no longer in use.

[edit] References

• Heraldry Dictionary
• MacKinnon of Dunakin, Charles. Heraldry. 1966. London Frederick Warne & Co. (Page 60)
• 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica entry

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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