Patent of Imperial Nobility

This information is taken from pages 190-193 in Kress Family History by von Frank.

Note: This patent was a confirmation of nobility of the Kress family which had already been established and regards the use of the pre-existing coat-of-arms by updating it to the standards of that time with an improvement. However, the improvement includes elements such as the peacock feathers which were already in use before the patent. It should also be noted that the Christoph Kress mentioned in this patent is from a different line of the family than the Christoph Kress of the same time period listed as an ancestor of Johann Nicholaus Heinrich Kress. However, we should note that the coat of arms was in use at that time and later on by the ancestors of Johann Nicholaus Heinrich Kress.

PATENT OF IMPERIAL NOBILITY

and Improvement of the Coat-of-Arms for:

CHRISTOPH KRESS

by the Emperor Charles V, of July 15, 1530.

We, Charles the Fifth, by the grace of God, Roman Emperor, perpetual increaser of the Empire, King of Germania, Castile, of the two Sicilies, Jerusalem, Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Navarra, Granada, Toledo, Valenzia, Majorka, Sardinia, Corduba, etc., Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Limburg, Gelders, Calabria pp., Count of Habsburg, Flanders, the Tyrol, Gorz pp., Count-Palentine of Hainault, Holland, Sealand, Pfurt, Cyburg pp., Landgrave of Alsace, Margrave of Burgau pp., of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Swabia, Catalonia, etc.

Publicly proclaim with this letter and make known to everybody: Although We, in Our Imperial dignity, which has been conferred upon Us by God the Almighty himself, and by Our inborn goodness, are always ready and willing to acknowledge and foster honour and profit and welfare of each and all of Our and the Holy Empire's subjects and faithful retainers, Our Imperial mind will be rightly and justly more inclined toward those, whose forefathers and who themselves lived and are living in nobility and are of good origin, and who have shown and proved their faithful services, foremost of all other people, to Us and the Holy Empire as well as to Our hereditary kingdoms, princedoms and countries.

In consideration of these facts, We wish to raise them to still higher honours, dignities and positions and to bestow Our Imperial graciousness upon them. We have propitiously looked upon and remarked and considered the honourableness, the good noble habits, the virtues and intelligence, for which Our and the Empire's dear faithful Christoph Kress is famous and known to Our Imperial Majesty; and have further considered his and his forefather's and family's honourable positions, their noble kind and ancient descent, and besides the faithful and useful services, which his forefathers have at all times rendered to Our ancestors, Roman Emperors and Kings, as well as to Us and the Holy Empire and Our hereditary kingdoms, princedoms and countries, as warriors, counsellors and officials, also in other honest enterprises against the deadly foe of Our holy Christian race, the Turks, and in many other ways, and particularly the services, which he, Christoph Kress, has so often profitably and willingly rendered and may and shall further on render, as civic and war counsellor of Our Imperial Confederation in Swabia, in campaigns, battles and other good and great things for Us and the Holy Empire as well as for His Serene Highness Prince and Lord Ferdinand King of Hungary and Bohemia etc., Our kind and dear brother.

In view of these facts and after good consideration and advice and full knowledge, We have bestowed upon the same Christoph Kress Our special graciousness out of Imperial power, and have raised to nobility, appointed and ennobled him and his legitimate heirs as well as his brother, Georg Kress, and all other male and female persons, who are of this name and race and also of this escutcheon and helmet, but not any further, as they are really born male and female members of the Kress family, and have made them part of Our and the Holy Empire's number of well born noblemen and knightly persons.

Note: I have emphasized in bold the above statement "and all other male and female persons, who are of this name and race and also of this escutcheon and helmet" because this rather open-ended statement seems to have conferred official noble status on all lines of the Kress family who bore the coat-of-arms as did the ancestors of Johann Nicholaus Heinrich Kress. The legal argument is how the term "race" was intended in this statement. It was already established that the line at Halle was considered part of the same "race." Thus, it seems to me that this particular line granted and confirmed the nobility of all the Kress lines which bore the coat-of-arms. - Nate Cress

Coat of Arms Description

Note: I've added this subtitle as a visual aid. - Nate Cress

We have furthermore confirmed their hereditary coat-of-arms and ornament, viz:

A red escutcheon, therein lying an unsheathed sword with cross and button in face view, the hilt being in the lower left and the point in the upper right corner of the escutcheon; upon the latter a helmet, adorned with a red and white lambrequin, and on the helmet the half-length portrait of a heathen, without arms, dressed in red, with a black beard and hair, holding in his mouth with two protruding boar's-fangs, an unsheathed sword like the one in the escutcheon, and on his head a black turned-up hat, lined with ermine: A coat-of-arms, as it has been borne and used by him and his forefathers for two hundred and fifty years, a fact that, which has been proved to Us by creditable documents.

This afore-described coat-of-arms We have altered, embellished and improved and graciously granted and allowed them to bear and use in the following manner: A jousting-helmet instead of the described full barred helmet, and on top of it a golden crown; between this crown and the ornament of the same helmet as well as in the brim of the aforementioned hat, there are five, that is three rather long and two short peacock's feathers in their natural colour to be set up, just as this coat-of-arms and ornament with the mentioned alterations, the crown, embellishment and improvement has been clearly represented and painted in colours in the middle of this, Our present Imperial letter.

Note: It is known that Dr. Thomas Kress (Cress) used the peacock feathers and a barred helmet. He was born about 30 years after this patent was issued. Either the family already used the peacock feathers, or Dr. Thomas believed the patent in some way applied to him though he was from a different family line than the Christoph mentioned, or perhaps both cases are true. - Nate Cress

Since in bygone times an old castle or citadel, called the "Kressenstein," was situated about a mile from Nuremberg near the village of Kraftshof, the ruins of which still exist, and where a manor house or estate has been built, which is Our and the Holy Roman empire's fee and which has been in use of the afore-said race of Kress for about two hundred and fifty years and was given in fief to Our mentioned Christoph Kress with special liberty, we have shown the mentioned Kress and his family Our further graciousness and ordained that such manor, house, or possession shall henceforth be called the Kressenstein and that the male and female members of the family of the said line shall be called and named Kress von Kressenstein. Thus We have raised them and made them part of the number of Our and the Holy Empire's noblemen and knightly persons, have confirmed, changed, crowned and improved their afore-described coat-of-arms and ornament too and given to them and their house the afore-said name by Our Roman Imperial power, in full knowledge and by means of this letter, and mean, order and wish that henceforth the said Christoph Kress and his brother Georg Kress as well as all the male and female Kresses of this race and line, as explained above, and their legitimate issue shall be real born noblemen and knightly persons for ever and ever. They shall call and sign themselves with the name "von Kressenstein" and shall also be called, esteemed, written to and kept as such by Us, Our successors in the Empire and by anybody else; they shall have every liberty, privilege, honour, dignity, tradition, custom, right and justice with benefices of chapters of cathedrals, high and low offices and fees, clerical and secular, and receive and accept fees, just as others of Our and the Holy Empire's noblemen, have the jurisdiction and right to judge as well as take part in, be worthy of, suitable, proper and good for all other noblemen's dignities and they shall use and enjoy all this and the afore-described coat-of-arms and the ornament with its change, embellishment, crowning, improvement and name in all honest matters and affairs in earnest and railleries, in fights, disputes, battles, banners, standards, tents, seals, signets, ornaments and funerals, and otherwise in all things after their want and liking, and shall be Our and the Holy Empire's real born noblemen and companions in tournaments, just as Our other noblemen and their coats-of-arms, and shall be addressed, honoured and kept by everybody, according to right and custom.

Note: The above paragraph uses the term "line" which seems to imply that this part applies only to Christoph, Georg, and their family lines. However, it refers to the previous paragraph which could open the application of this paragraph to the whole of the Kress family bearing the coat of arms. In fact, whether that was the intention or not, it would certainly make sense. With that said, it doesn't appear that other lines of the family readily used the name "von Kressenstein" that we are aware of. We should note, however, that Dr. Thomas Cress who I have mentioned above had a brother who called himself Andreas II Kress von Kressenstein. In fact, Thomas had a nephew, the son of his brother Andress II, who called himself Hanns Mathias Kress von Kressenstein of Uebigau. Hanns had his Kress coat-of-arms painted on the aisle gallery, where his pew was in the church at Uebigau, so we also know that he actively used the coat-of-arms as well. Thus, we have examples of the line at Halle using the coat-of-arms and the name von Kressenstein. However, the reference to "von Kressenstein" was to another Kressenstein Castle which was built at Culmbach rather than the Kressenstein Castle mention here in this patent.

And in order that the often-mentioned Christoph Kress may still be more richly rewarded by Us, because of his distinguished services, we herewith confer upon him by Our Imperial graciousness the liberty that henceforth for eternal times he may seal, close and signet with red wax, by affixing or appending his seal or signet to all his open and closed letters, be they written by himself or by somebody else on his behalf, and may they concern any matters whatever or be written to anybody whomsoever, no one excepted; he may and shall use the same when and where he likes and shall not be hindered by anybody in doing so. This liberty is at the same time and in the same way granted to his legitimate heirs and heirs of his heirs, and also to his brother, Georg Kress, and all other male and female persons who bear this name, this coat-of-arms and helmet and are of the same race, but not any further, than they are real born Kresses of this line, as has already been described. And thus we command with this letter all Our and the Holy Empire's electors, princes, clerical and secular prelates, counts, barons, knights, retainers, captains, magistrates, persevants, heralds and their assistants, burgomasters, judges, counsellors, citizens, communities and all other subjects and servants of Us and the Empire and Our hereditary kingdoms, princedoms and countries, whatever dignity, profession or state in life they may have, that from now on to the end of days they shall keep, call, address and honour the said Kress, his brother and the legitimate and bodily heirs of their afore-described line and race as real born noblemen. Nobody shall dispute or hinder them from enjoying and using these presents of Our Imperial graciousness; i.e. the improvement, crowning and adornment of the afore-described coat-of-arms and ornament, as well as the liberty to seal with red wax, and no one shall try to do anything against this, Our command, nor let anyone else do anything against it, in any way whatever, as far as everyone should like to avoid Our and the Empire's Chamber and the other half to the often-mentioned family of Kress or to those of their race, who would have been harmed by it.

However, anyone who is not of the same name, but who may bear the afore-described coat-of-arms, shall not be harmed and disturbed in his rights and use of his coat-of-arms.

Note: The preceding paragraphs offer some interesting statements to reflect on. It seems that the term "line" is now defined by those who "bear this name" and the coat-of-arms. This begs the question of which name since this patent has given a new one. Is it the name Kress or is it more specifically the name von Kressestein? Further, the next paragraph suggests that someone could use the Kress coat of arms and not be "of the same name." So, either this section confirms that all Kresses have these rights, and someone who is not a Kress might use the coat-of-arms if he can claim them as his, or it means that only those who use the name von Kressenstein have these rights, but any Kress may use the Kress coat-of-arms. To be honest, it is difficult to tell which was intended in this patent. It is notable that Dr. Thomas, who served as a lawyer, chose not to use the name "von Kressenstein" yet readily used the coat-of-arms while his brother chose to both use the coat-of-arms and call himself a "von Kressenstein."

In documentation of this, Our letter is signed with Our own hand and sealed with Our appending Imperial seal. Proclaimed in Our and the Empire's Free Town of Augsburg, on the 15th day of the month of July, in the fifteen hundred and thirtieth year after the birth of Christ, Our dear Lord, in the tenth year of Our Imperium, and in the fifteenth year of Our Empire.

Charles V

At the Command of his Imperial and Catholic Majesty

Albert of Brandenburg, Elector and Archbishop of Mainz, Lord High-Chancellor of the Empire

Balthasar von Waldkirch, Imperial Councillor and Vice-Chancellor of the Empire.

Dr. Alexander Schweis, Privy Secretary of the Emperor

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