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Apparently Anne interpreted this as the animal choosing to face death rather than dirty its pure white coat. The creature had turned to face its attackers and death rather than try to cross the mud. She had seen a stoat in white winter coat being hunted and chased to the edge of a mud swamp. The tradition is said to have come from the time of Anne de Bretagne (about 1477 – 1514), who had been married to two successive French kings and was the last independent ruler of Brittany. The coat of arms of the former Dutchy of Brittany features a pattern of ermine and it also appears on the Flag of Brittany as a symbol of purity and the willingness to die rather than give in to lower morals.Ĭoat of Arms of the former Dutchy of Brittany
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It was claimed that when it was being hunted it would turn and surrender itself to death rather than sully its pure white coat.
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In the folklore of Brittany, France, it is believed that rather than soil its pure white winter coat the stoat would prefer to die. Nevertheless ermine and its substitute forms still has a special historic place in the folklore and heraldry of many lands. Thankfully in modern times because of cost and the growing abhorrence towards using real animal fur and the growing realization that it looks far better on the living animal, synthetic fur is increasingly being used. Its use was seen as a sign of the equality of their status with nobility. Members of the House of Lords used it and academics of Cambridge and Oxford also used it in ecclesiastical garments still worn by Prelates of the Catholic Church. It was seen as a symbol of high status and used by royalty around Europe as well as Britain where it was used as trim in ceremonial robes and garments of the royalty. The Ermine Portrait of Elizabeth I of England by William Segar depicts Elizabeth with a white stoat, possibly emphasizing her purity.