Author Topic: Family Motto on Wax Seal "Premimur non opprimur"  (Read 3227 times)

Offline dunvr

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Family Motto on Wax Seal "Premimur non opprimur"
« on: Thursday 07 February 13 01:48 GMT (UK) »
Have in my possesion a German letter with no date but thought to be 1830s

The back has a large wax seal with a Tree and some decoration above which appears to be a crest or family arms with motto.

The motto is in Latin  "Premimur non opprimur"

The letter origin is Julich which is a Dutch German town

I am wondering if there were any prominent families in Julich early 1800s with that motto on their family coat of arms. Google turned up an old coin with the same motto but that's it.

Image to large to post on here but if anyone can help please pm ur email and I'll forward the wax seal image.

Thank you for your help

Online susieroe

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Re: Family Motto on Wax Seal "Premimur non opprimur"
« Reply #1 on: Monday 15 July 13 15:07 BST (UK) »
I sort of assumed it was Latin, but no joy. So I put the motto into Google Translate and it detected Galician! (Spain) Wikipedia has this to say (among other bits) about Galician:

Quote
The Galician language was the first Iberian tongue to be consolidated from Latin in the Medieval Ages in Galicia.[citation needed] The language spread southwards with the conquests of the Galician warlords from the 8th century, who became counts and later kings of Portugal. The standards of Portuguese and Galician dialects started to slowly diverge following the independence of Portugal in the 12th century.[clarification needed] The lexicon of the language is predominantly of Latin extraction, although it also contains an important number of words of Germanic and Celtic origin, among other substrates and adstrates, having also received, mainly through Spanish and Portuguese, a sizeable number of nouns from the Arabs who in the Middle Ages governed southern Iberia.

i don't know whether this is helpful or not, hope so.
Roe,Wells, Bent, Kemp, Weston
Bruin, Gillam, Hurd/Heard, Timson, All in Leicestershire. Keats (Kates)

https://ourkeatsfamilystory.blogspot.com/

Offline Mike in Cumbria

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Re: Family Motto on Wax Seal "Premimur non opprimur"
« Reply #2 on: Monday 15 July 13 16:13 BST (UK) »
Galician is a beautiful and interesting language - but this isn't Galician.

Mike

Offline Mike in Cumbria

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Re: Family Motto on Wax Seal "Premimur non opprimur"
« Reply #3 on: Monday 15 July 13 16:20 BST (UK) »
It is latin. My latin isn't great but I think it is something like - bowed but unbeaten, or pressured but not crushed - something of that sort. It will do until a better latin speaker comes along anyway!

Mike


Offline jones9

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Re: Family Motto on Wax Seal "Premimur non opprimur"
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 23 July 13 00:42 BST (UK) »
Yes, definitely Latin - 3rd person plural indicative passive present Latin to be precise!!

As for the translation something like 'we are weighed down, but not completely weighed down' - or in better English, "we are weighed down but not defeated".

There's a section in the back of Burke's General Armoury which has families listed by their mottoes, so I'd imagine there's a similar volume in Germany? Hopefully someone with a better knowledge on the subject can help you!