Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
Bruschi Coat of Arms / Bruschi Family CrestThis French surname of BRUSCHI was a locational name meaning 'the dweller in or near brushwood' one who came from BROSSE, the name of several small places in France. It was also occasionally used as an occupational name for one who made and sold brushes, or for one who used a small wagon with two-wheels. The earliest French hereditary surnames are found in the 12th century, at more or less the same time as they arose in England, but they are by no means common before the 13th century, and it was not until the 15th century that they stabilized to any great extent; before then a surname might be handed down for two or three generations, but then abandoned in favour of another. In the south, many French surnames have come in from Italy over the centuries, and in Northern France, Germanic influence can often be detected. Surnames derived from placenames are divided into two broad categories; topographic names and habitation names. Topographic names are derived from general descriptive references to someone who lived near a physical feature such as an oak tree, a hill, a stream or a church. Habitation names are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages and farmsteads. Other classes of local names include those derived from the names of rivers, individual houses with signs on them, regions and whole countries. The name is also spelt BROSSE, BROSH, BROSCH, BROSE, BROSIOUS, BROSIUS. A notable member of this name was Salomon de BROSSE (1565-1626), the French architect to Marie d'Medici. He designed the Luxembourg Palace in Paris (1650-1620), and Louis XIII's hunting lodge (1624-1626) the nucleus of Versailles. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe. |
