Page 407 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

The True Love Knot 401

Friendship Knots on Arms and Orders
Early medieval sources for Friendship Knots are given by Gertrude Smola and
Ulrike Zischka [27], [35]. They point out that 13th century Southern European
religious and secular knighthood orders incorporated the knot as a symbol of
friendship in their social identity. Hence from the 13th century the knot reaches
us in a new symbolic form. Initially it represented the solemn oaths taken
by the members of various religious orders. Franciscus of Assisi (1181-1228)
wears a three-knot cingulum (girdle) on a painting from 1222 by an unknown
master. The Triple Overhand Knots tied in the end of the cingulum of the
Franciscans point to the oaths of poverty, chastity and obedience. To these
three Franciscan oath knots the `Poor Clares' nun-order adds another, which
symbolizes their fourth oath: stabilitas loci. Cingula with two three-fold knots
adorning some doorbeams of Assisian houses in the Central Italian province
of Umbria, indicate their inhabitants' relation to the Franciscan Order.

Fig. 3. An Assisian doorbeam decoration
In the 15th century connections between the Franciscan cingulum and
the knotted bands on the coats of arms of royal ladies emerge. Around 1750
Hippolytus Helyot made a study of the history of religious and secular orders.
In his description of Anne de Bretagne he writes that she founded an order
to honour the cords with which our Lord (Jesus) had been tied during his
sufferings. Anne de Bretagne had chosen these (Granny) knotted cords, which
also return on the Officium Beatae Mariae Virginis-a manuscript dedicated
to her-as 'symbols for her worshipping of Franciscus of Assisi. Hippolytus
Helyot notes an influence by Duke Francois II de Bretagne, who, also in honour
of St. Franciscus, had used these knots on his coats of arms too [20].
The 14th century provides us with many evidences of application of the
knot as a friendship-symbol. For example, this interpretation is supported by
a statement in the Index Rerum Notabilium by Picinellus, where the knot is
said to be a symbol of lasting friendship:
Nodus est symbolum amicitiae viciosorum.