Showing posts with label cornelius. Show all posts
Verite sans peur
While taking a break from writing last night, I thought it would be interesting to look up the meaning and origin of my surname, Cornelius. I already knew that the name Cornelius is first mentioned in the Bible, maybe in chapter 10 of Acts? Somebody correct me. Anyway, that Cornelius was a Roman soldier, or centurion, who became the first Gentile to be baptised in the Christian faith. Pretty interesting.
Since that first Cornelius was Roman, the assumption is usually made that I am of Italian descent, but as far as I know I have no blood ties to Rome. In my Google travels (gravels?) last night, I found that the modern surname Cornelius probably started as a given name, when children were named after that biblical Roman dude and/or the pope named Cornelius. (This explains it better.)
[caption id="attachment_1275" align="aligncenter" width="421" caption="Cornelius Coat of Arms"]
[/caption]So this is the Cornelius Coat of Arms, and the small image at the top is the family crest. Since this image is on several unrelated websites with no credit given, I can't give credit to the original. Likewise with the following descriptions:
The Crest consists of a hand extended from a cloud of smoke, grasping a battle ax or Greek cross, and resting on a strand of rope. This signifies martyrdom.The Coat of Arms consists of a shield on which is delineated the square and three balls, surrounded by a scroll of leaves and surmounted by a Crusader's helmet with closed visor; this all rests on a scroll foundation containing the motto Verite sans peur ("truth without fear"). The square refers to artisans and the balls signify the practice of medicine. The shield and helmet refer to military service and also indicate the time of the Crusaders. The banner with the name CORNELIUS is draped over a Crusader's sword. The shield also has the ermine indated [sic], which denotes royalty.
Being unable to find the origin of the description, there's no way to tell if this is accurate, but I like it. Especially the motto, Verite sans peur, Truth without fear. That's cool. One thing I don't like is that it's tied in to the Crusades.
Almost every etymological definition of Cornelius says it comes from cornu, the Latin for "horn," but I found one that said "war horn" and a couple of others that said "horn of the lion." Probably because the "-lius" part may have come from the Latin for "lion" (leo or leon). (I so want to make a horny lion joke here.)
It's funny; on both sides I have historically powerful names. McEwin was a rich clan in Scotland about 500 years ago, and Cornelius was a name associated with power around the same time. Somehow, both of these impressive lineages converged upon me: the least impressive person in the world, in the least impressive place in the world.
Heh.
