Corvus (heraldry)
Encyclopedia
The genus Corvus, the True Crows, in heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 (family coats of arms) may represent harshness, avarice, death or divine providence. Crows and ravens are indistinguishable in use and appearance, and are depicted in heraldry with hairy feathers and is close by default.

A crow speaking will have its mouth agape or open as if it were speaking. Crows may also be called corbies, as in the canting arms of Corbet, c.1312.

The Cornish chough, is also depicted in heraldry, but is only distinguishable if proper, meaning depicted as black with red beak and feet. For canting purposes, the Cornish chough is sometimes called a beckit.
County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...

 in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

, the capital of Portugal as well as the city of Moss
Moss, Norway
is a coastal city and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Moss. The city of Moss was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...

 in Norway have crows in their coats-of-arms.

The Hungarian family Hunyadi
Hunyadi
Hunyadi may refer to:* Hunyadi family, a Hungarian noble family from the Middle Ages* John Hunyadi, a Hungarian general and Regent-Governor of the Kingdom of Hungary* Laszlo Hunyadi, a Hungarian statesman* Matthias Corvinus , King of Hungary...

 also used the raven in their coats of arms. Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
Matthias Corvinus , also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death...

 named his famous library after the bird (Bibliotheca Corviniana
Bibliotheca Corviniana
Bibliotheca Corviniana was one of the most renowned libraries of the Renaissance world, established by Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary and Croatia between 1458 and 1490.-History:...

). It might have inspired the uniform and name of his mercenary army (Black Army of Hungary
Black Army of Hungary
The Black Army , "Black Legion" or "Regiment"—possibly named after their black armor panoply, see below) is, in historiography, the common name given to the military forces serving under the reign of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary...

), and his illegitimate son, János Corvinus
János Corvinus
John Corvinus King of Bosnia . He was the illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, and Barbara, supposed to be the daughter of a burgess of Breslau while there have been claims that he was actually the son of Beatrice of Naples, his father's second wife who was 16...

also wore the bird's name.

The Corbet (Corbel, Corby, Corbe) family from the Channel Islands are also names having been corrupted over time from the Latin word Corvus.
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