# The Conferring of the Sword on the Coat-of-Arms of Haarlem [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [GREBBER, Pieter de]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 168 x 198 cm ## Commentary According to historical sources, in 1182 on the third crusade during the siege of the heavily fortified city of Damiate in Egypt, the attackers were reinforced by a fleet supplied by William I of Holland, who came to the aid of his father with the help Haarlemmers. The father built a ship which broke through the iron chain that the defenders had stretched across the Nile. For their assistance, the German king Frederick I Barbarossa conferred a silver sword on the Haarlemmers for their existing coat-of-arms, which consisted of four stars on a red field. In addition, the patriarch of Jerusalem gave the Haarlemmers the right to adopt the Holy Cross. In De Grebber's painting, the German king gives the sword to a kneeling soldier whose shield carries the old coat-of-arms. The patriarch is seated on the left, holding the silver cross, and solemnly awaiting his turn in the ceremony. ## Related artworks - [Baptism of Christ]() - [Christ and the Woman of Samaria]() - [Elisha Refusing Gifts from Naaman]() - [Finding of Moses]() - [God Inviting Christ to Sit on the Throne at His Right Hand]() - [King David in Prayer]() - [Moses Striking the Rock]() - [Mother and Child]() - [Musical Trio]() - [Musicians]() - [Portrait of a Woman]() - [Portrait of a Woman]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()