# Cross potent > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cross_potent > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cross_potent.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_potent > Source revision: 1328331221 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Heraldic cross}} thumb|Cross potent A '''cross potent''' (plural: '''crosses potent'''), also known as a '''crutch cross''', is a form of [heraldic cross](/source/Crosses_in_heraldry) with crossbars at the four ends. In French, it is known as '' croix potencée'', in [German](/source/German_language) as a ''Krückenkreuz'', all translating to "crutch cross". ==Name== ''Potent'' is an old word for a [crutch](/source/crutch), from a late [Middle English](/source/Middle_English) alteration of [Old French](/source/Old_French) ''potence'' "crutch".{{efn|text=from [Latin](/source/Latin) ''potentia'' 'power', which in [medieval Latin](/source/medieval_Latin) meant 'crutch'. {{cite book |last1=du Cange |display-authors=et al. |title=Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, éd. augm. |location=Niort |publisher=L. Favre |date=1883 |at=t. 6, col. 437a, s.v.|chapter-url=http://ducange.enc.sorbonne.fr/POTENTIA2 |chapter=potentia 2 |quote= Scipio, fulcrum subalare, nostris vulgo Potence.}} See also [Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary), 1st. edition, entry "Potent (sb.¹ and a.²)".}} The term ''potent'' is also used in heraldic terminology to describe a T-shaped alteration of [vair](/source/vair),{{sfn|Fox-Davies|Johnston |2004 |page=85}} and ''potenté'' is a [line of partition](/source/line_(heraldry)) contorted into a series of 'T' shapes.{{sfn|Fox-Davies|Johnston |2004 |page=94}} In heraldic literature of the 19th century, the cross potent is also known as the "Jerusalem cross" due to its occurrence in the attributed coat of arms of the [Kingdom of Jerusalem](/source/Kingdom_of_Jerusalem). This convention is reflected in [Unicode](/source/Unicode), where the character ☩ (U+2629) is named CROSS OF JERUSALEM. The name [Jerusalem cross](/source/Jerusalem_cross) is more commonly given to the more complex symbol consisting of a large Greek cross or cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses. == History == The "cross potent" shape is found in pottery decorations in both the European{{citation needed|date=December 2025}} and the Chinese Neolithic. In [Chinese bronze inscriptions](/source/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions), the glyph ancestral to the modern Chinese character {{lang|zh|[巫](/source/%3Awikt%3A%E5%B7%AB)}} "[shaman, witch](/source/Wu_(shaman))" has the shape of a cross potent, interpreted as representing a cross-like "divining rod" or similar device used in shamanistic practice."Archaic form is a cross-like device – probably a divining rod; later versions show two people {{lang|zh|人}} working {{lang|zh|工}}". ([http://chinese-characters.org/meaning/5/5DEB.html#.XPiyP0xuKUk chinese-characters.org]); "Picture of a cross-shaped divination tool" ([https://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/character-etymology.php?zi=%E5%B7%AB Mandarin-English Dictionary & Thesaurus yellowbridge.com]).{{efn|text=Tu Baikui {{lang|zh|塗白奎}} (quoted by Boileau 2002:354{{full citation needed|date=June 2019}}) believes the ''wu'' oracle character "was composed of two pieces of jade and originally designated a tool of divination." Citing Li Xiaoding {{lang|zh|李孝定}} that ''gong'' 工 originally pictured a "carpenter's square", Allan (1991:77){{full citation needed|date=June 2019}} argues that oracle inscriptions used ''wu'' {{lang|zh|巫}} interchangeably with ''fang'' {{lang|zh|方}} "square; side; place" for sacrifices to the ''sifang'' {{lang|zh|四方}} "four directions". A theory by Victor H. Mair connects the Chinese word ([Old Chinese](/source/Old_Chinese) *''myag'', pinyin ''wū'', Cantonese ''mou4'' ) to Persian ''maguš''. See: *Victor H. Mair, “Old Sinitic *''Myag'', Old Persian ''Maguš'' and English ''Magician''”, ''Early China'' 15 (1990): 27–47; *Victor H. Mair, “The Earliest Identifiable Written Chinese Character”, ''Archaeology and Language: Indo-European Studies Presented to James P. Mallory'', eds. Martin E. Huld, Karlene Jones-Bley & Dean Miller (Washington, D.C.: Institute for the Study of Man, 2012), 265–279; *Victor H. Mair, “[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=19548 Polysyllabic characters revisited]”, ''Language Log'', 8 June 2015.}} thumb|upright|Tremissis of Heraclius (c. 610–613) The cross potent as a [Christian cross variant](/source/Christian_cross_variant) is used on Byzantine coins of the 7th century, under the [Heraclian dynasty](/source/Byzantine_Empire_under_the_Heraclian_dynasty), mostly as a "Calvary cross potent", i.e. a cross potent standing on a number of steps. A [Tremissis](/source/Tremissis) of Heraclius, dated c. 610–613, also shows the cross potent without the steps. A cross potent, or [cross patty](/source/cross_patty), is already shown on a Tremissis of [Theodosius II](/source/Theodosius_II) (first half of the 5th century). File:Tremisse di teodosio II, 402-450 dc, costantinopoli.jpg|Tremissis minted under Theodosius II (r. 402–450) File:Tremissis - Visigoti per Maggioriano - RIC X 3747-9.jpg|Visigothic tremissis (5th century) File:Impero romano d'oriente, eraclio con eraclio costantino, emissione aurea, 613-638, 02.JPG|Calvary cross potent minted under Heraclius (c. 613–638) File:Solidus Tiberius Petasius.jpg|Calvary cross potent on a solidus minted under [Tiberius Petasius](/source/Tiberius_Petasius) (c. 730) Early [heraldic cross](/source/heraldic_cross)es are drawn to the edges of the shield, as [ordinaries](/source/ordinary_(heraldry)), but variations in the termination of the cross limbs become current by the later 13th century. The heraldic cross potent is found in armorials of the late 13th century, notably in the coat of arms of the [Kingdom of Jerusalem](/source/Kingdom_of_Jerusalem), ''argent, a cross potent between four plain crosslets or'' ([Camden Roll](/source/Camden_Roll), c. 1280).William Wood Seymour (1898). [https://archive.org/stream/crossintraditi00seym#page/364/mode/2up ''The Cross in Tradition, History and Art'']. p. 364.{{sfn|Fox-Davies|Johnston |2004 |page=85}} Use of the cross potent remains rare in heraldry outside of the Jerusalem cross. In medieval heraldry, as in medieval seals, the distinction between the cross potent and the [cross patty](/source/cross_patty) may be unclear. For example, the cross patty of the [Teutonic Order](/source/Teutonic_Order) is drawn as a cross patent for [Tannhäuser](/source/Tannh%C3%A4user) in ''[Codex Manesse](/source/Codex_Manesse)'' (c. 1310). Use of the [Jerusalem cross](/source/Jerusalem_cross) is associated with the title of [King of Jerusalem](/source/King_of_Jerusalem) which passed from the [kings of Cyprus](/source/Kingdom_of_Cyprus) to a number of royal houses of Europe in the late medieval period, notably the [kings of Naples](/source/Kingdom_of_Naples) and the [House of Savoy](/source/House_of_Savoy), via [Louis II of Naples](/source/Louis_II_of_Naples) to the [House of Lorraine](/source/House_of_Lorraine), via conquest of Naples to the [House of Aragon](/source/Crown_of_Aragon), and via [Francis I](/source/Francis_I%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor) to the Habsburg [Emperors of Austria](/source/Emperors_of_Austria). A simple cross potent is used as the arms of northern [Calabria](/source/Calabria) (''Calabria Citra'') as a province of the [Kingdom of Naples](/source/Kingdom_of_Naples) in the early modern period ([Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria](/source/Ferdinand%2C_Duke_of_Calabria)).Scipione Mazzella, Giovan Battista Cappello (ed.), '' Descrittione del Regno di Napoli'', Naples (1601), [https://books.google.com/books?id=arbXlCApM_YC&pg=PA133 p. 133]. File:Escudo Juana-Carlos I.jpg|Cross potent on an ''escudo'' minted under [Charles V](/source/Charles_V%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor) (r. 1519–1556) File:Fronton Cathédrale Saint-Pierre Genève.jpg|[rinceau](/source/rinceau) cross potent at a side entrance of [St. Pierre Cathedral](/source/St._Pierre_Cathedral) (18th century) Use of the cross potent in heraldry is revived in the 19th to early 20th century, and then as an emblem for [Roman Catholicism](/source/Roman_Catholicism) directly based on the Jerusalem cross. {{clear}} ==Modern use== [[File:Wappen-Wingolfsbund.jpg|thumb|upright|Use of the cross potent as a charge in modern heraldry: Coat of arms of the [Wingolf](/source/Wingolf) Christian student fraternity (1931)]] Upon the passage of the 1924 [Schilling](/source/Austrian_schilling) Act the cross potent was used as a [national symbol](/source/national_symbol) of the [Austrian First Republic](/source/First_Republic_of_Austria), minted on the back of the [Groschen](/source/Groschen) coins. In 1934 it became the emblem of the [Federal State of Austria](/source/Federal_State_of_Austria), adopted from the ruling [Fatherland's Front](/source/Fatherland_Front_(Austria)), the Catholic authoritarian traditionalist organisation led by Chancellor [Engelbert Dollfuss](/source/Engelbert_Dollfuss). A reference to the Jerusalem Cross, it served as a counter-symbol to both the [Nazi](/source/Nazism) [swastika](/source/swastika) and the [communist](/source/Communism) [hammer and sickle](/source/hammer_and_sickle), as the Fatherland Front was both anti-Nazi and anti-Communist. The symbol was also adopted by the Russian far-right [People's National Party](/source/People's_National_Party_(Russia)) and the obscure Cambodian militia [MONATIO](/source/MONATIO) in the 1970s. It was also used as a symbol for independence by the [Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico](/source/Nationalist_Party_of_Puerto_Rico) during the first half of the 20th century, an organization was a Roman Catholic movement that was traditionalist, anti-communist, anti-American and anti-imperialist and sought to liberate the archipelago of [Puerto Rico](/source/Puerto_Rico) from [American](/source/United_States) control through armed struggle. In the 1930s in the United States, [George W. Christians](/source/George_W._Christians), who founded the Crusader White Shirts in [Chattanooga](/source/Chattanooga), Tennessee, posed for photographs with a form of [crusader's cross](/source/Jerusalem_cross) or cross potent on a white shirt and a gun in his belt.Carlson, John Roy. (1943) [https://archive.org/details/pdfy-hy2GGLOJr6v1MJUB/page/n73 ''Under Cover: My Four Years in the Nazi Underworld of America''.] New York: Dutton. pp. 149-150.[https://www.jta.org/1934/07/09/archive/this-fascist-racket-3 "This Fascist Racket - Self-Named U.S. Fascist Chief Has Points, McGrady Admits"], Pat McGrady, ''Jewish Daily Bulletin'', New York, 9 July 1934, p. 6. [http://pdfs.jta.org/1934/1934-07-09_2892.pdf Original here]. Today, the cross potent is used by many, mostly [Roman Catholic](/source/Catholic_Church), [Scouting](/source/Scouting) and [Guiding](/source/Girl_Guides) organisations in their logos and insignia. It is currently used in the coats of arms of the [Santa Cruz Department](/source/Santa_Cruz_Department_(Bolivia)) in Bolivia, and of the [Wingolf](/source/Wingolf) Christian student fraternities in [Germany](/source/Germany), [Austria](/source/Austria) and [Estonia](/source/Estonia). A white cross potent on a black background was a candidate in the 2015 [Hello Internet](/source/Hello_Internet) Podcast Flag Referendum.{{cite web|title=Hello Internet Flag Referendum|url= https://www.hellointernet.fm/flagvote/|access-date=30 June 2017}} ==See also== {{Portal|Heraldry}} * [Fylfot](/source/Fylfot) * [Jerusalem cross](/source/Jerusalem_cross) ==Notes== {{notelist}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==Sources== *{{Cite book |last1=Fox-Davies |first1=Arthur Charles |first2=Graham |last2=Johnston |year=2004 |orig-year=1909 |title=A Complete Guide to Heraldry |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=1-4179-0630-8 }} {{Christian crosses}} Potent Potent --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cross potent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_potent) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_potent?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.