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From: "Elvira Zavala-Patton" <>
Subject: [Zacatecas] Blasones y Apellidos
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 22:05:11 -0600


BLASONES Y APELLIDOS (Coats of Arms and Surnames)by Fernando Munoz Altea

Fellow researchers here's some information about a new book that recently came out in the market. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was by Fernando Muñoz Altea. I looked through a number of pages and found out many interesting things.

Fernando Muñoz Altea, is a renowned historian born in Madrid, Spain, naturalized Mexican since 1976 and has just published his long awaited second edition of "Blasones y Apellidos". I am familiar with his work as a researcher on a personal basis (he did some difficult work for me about 12 years ago) and being familiar with his first work (also in Spanish and available at the El Paso Public Library Border Heritage Center), I can report to you that this Spanish edition is, as the name implies, about heraldry and surnames. At 830 pages long, it really is a treatise on heraldry, covering its origins, meaning, symbolism, nobiliary titles, and genealogy. The section on heraldry is most interesting. I learned that a triqueta is the picture of three legs bent at the knee, having in the center the head of a woman (I was most interested in this particular bit of information because one of my research lines out of Scotland and England has somthing similar and are celtic). It demystifie!
d the coats of arms of the Spanish world for me. There are abundant illustrations of what all those bars, lines, figures and geometrical shapes mean in heraldry with several drawings of what the coats of arms look like so that you can check them against the guidelines.

Those of us living in the Southwest must read the sections on Hidalguia, Caballeros (knights), Nobiliary Institutions in Spain, The Military Orders of Santiago de Calatrava, Alcantara and Montesa, the Maltese Order, The Mexican Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe (bet you didn't know that existed!), and others. The Glossary of Historical-Nobiliary Terminology is 20 pages long with explanations of the meaning of terms such as Alcalde de la Cuadra; there are 16 different types of alcaldes listed along with three types of alguaciles (sheriffs), eight types of caballeros and 12 types of Capitanes. Here you find descriptions for all those types of hidalgos. Those interested in nobility lines will find the origins of the titles of duke, count, marquis and viscount.

The section on the genealogy of Jesus Christ is most informative. Biblical names and their variations (apparently people went by aliases back then as now!) are listed. Muñoz Altea lists Jesus Christ's grandfathers with their known names according to various sources going back to Nathan, Jesus' 40th grandfather. The island of Cuba is covered with the biographies of the First Viceroy and its First Governor. Even the last name Elvira is on page 387. I found the Ortega (p 662/663) and Ibarra last names - some of the surnames I am researching listed as well as Yates, Washington and Wint. A fascinating account of the origins of the Spanish people from medieval times to the present, "Blasones y Apellidos" with particular emphasis on surnames (this was great for me and some of my friends), coats of arms, and place names, sheds light on the origins of over 600 surnames and gives many details about some of the prominent families mentioned.

Mr. Muñoz Altea has done research in the major historical archives in Europe, Latin America and the United States. His works are authenticated by his authority as Rey de Armas de la Real Casa de Borbon Dos Sicilias, Italia. He has also been writing a daily column for the Mexican newspaper El Excelsior for the past 25 years and has published over 7,000 articles, mainly on surnames origins. He authored the first edition of "Blasones y Apellidos," and "La Historia de la Residencia Oficial de los Pinos" (both currently out of print) which is the Mexican white House and 64 abridged biographies on the New Spain viceroys.

Muñoz Altea has compiled his material carefully and presents it in an easy to read, direct style which I liked (I hate thise pompous, long winded, strange sounding words!). The text is neatly complemented throughout with a variety of appropriate illustrations, presenting a well-researched body of work for future reference. People proud of their Spanish heritage and forefathers, the "Conquistadors of the New World" may want to keep this book.



This second edition of "Blasones y Apellidos" is a private edition of only 500 copies directly sold to the public by the author at only $60.00 US plus s/h. The only disappointing thing about this book is that the edition is limited and there may not be enough copies to go around.

You may obtain information about the Contents and Index as they are available by E-mail on request. You may order the book by writing to: <mailto:> or contact Armando Montes P.O. Box 11232, El Paso, TX 79995, FAX (915) 589-1873.

I hope this helps those of you trying to find out what all those hidalgos and caballeros were. I recommend it. You will be pleasantly surprised.



Elvira


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