tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post2193540036606227972..comments2024-03-26T18:01:57.609+00:00Comments on Inky Fool: FoolscapM.H. Forsythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01464964455944509750noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post-46409817194670800842012-01-26T23:06:20.136+00:002012-01-26T23:06:20.136+00:00In this online book http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/...In this online book http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Geschichte_des_Deutschen_Buchhandels_Band_1/Viertes_Kapitel I found the following sentence: "Der Kardinalshut italienischer und französischer Papiere wird zur Zeit der Puritaner in England zum Freiheitshut, gelegentlich auch zur Narrenkappe." In translation that is "The cardinal hat in Italian and French papers becomes a "freedom-hat" and sometimes a fool's cap in puritan England." Now as old watermarks were mostly derived from local heraldry and a hat was an important bit of heraldic language and sometimes appeared in the form of a fool's cap it's not too far fetched (I hope) to assume it came from that source. There's a few pictures underneath here: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hut_%28Heraldik%29 You can see one wears something that looks like a fool's cap. The hat was a sign of power, though. I've also found that in Germany, it appeared more often in paper mills in the South, but was spread throughout Europe anyway. How it came to be a heraldic sign while being regarded as a thoroughly un-christian and detestable thing is beyond me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com