Crenel Cross

Crenel

Dovetail

Ragulee

This simple design provokes thought into some of the shameful realities of life

The Crenel Cross, sometimes called an Embattled Cross (Fr: Croix Bretessée), is a heraldic cross and symbolises strength.

Stylistic variations include the Dovetail Cross (see Dove Cross) and the Ragulee Cross (also Raguly, Ragged or Rugged Cross).

In a religious setting, it can be symbolise 'Church Militant', that is, the church here on Earth as opposed to 'Church Triumphant' (the church in heaven), or in Roman Catholicism 'Church Suffering' (the church in Purgatory).

Gravestone in Rudna Glava, Serbia. Photo by Nenad Bačilović
(Click image to enlarge)

It is, however, mainly seen in heraldry. A possible exception is the late-19^th century crenelled gravestone shown on the right. This was photographed in a Rudna Glava village in eastern Serbia and may have Vlach influence.

As far as we know there are no detailed cemetery records to indicate whether the deceased had a senior civic or military role, so we don't know if this crenelling is heraldic, religious or perhaps just the whim of the mason or the deceased's relatives. If you have information about this, please let us know.

Crenel (or crenelle) comes from the Latin crena, which means 'notch'. A similar word in English is 'cranny', as in 'nook and cranny'.

Crenel is an architectural term used to describe an indentation, particularly in a battlement you might see atop the turret of a medieval castle or fort. The complement of crenel is merlon. In other words, the gaps in a parapet are called crenels; the raised bits of wall between them are called merlons. For the Crenel Cross, understanding these different terms is important.

The 'Great Wall of China' has around 10 million crenels (and a similar number of tourists tramping over it every day). Was it really built by Balbus?

In battle, the defenders behind the battlements are protected from incoming missiles by merlons and they fire their arrows or cannon through the crenel. So when we refer to a Crenel Cross, we think 'attack'.

Attack and defence are opposites, but we often use the word 'defence' as a euphemism for war. If this cross was being invented today, we'd no doubt use the euphemism Merlon Cross. Strange language is used in warfare, and when you think about it, some of our choices of words are quite silly. For example, the oxymoron 'Humanitarian war'.

Weaponising euphemisms

'Adult entertainment' is a euphemism for 'pornography' and 'rest room' is a euphemism for 'toilet', even though one doesn't go there to 'rest'. A euphemism is the substitution of a more favourable term for another expression. Innocuous sounding euphemisms can usefully avoid causing offence.

But it's more offensive, obscene in fact, to use euphemisms to desensitize mass killing and conceal the evils of war when the objectives are to mislead the public, prevent shareholders from pulling their support away from the arms industry, and enable politicians and their voters to sleep at night.

Euphemisms can sanitize things or conceal realities, which, however harsh, should be exposed. Hitler's euphemism for genocide was 'final solution' and from the outset of the much later wars in Afghanistan, Iraq (Desert Storm, etc), Ukraine (military operation), etc. several notable examples appeared.

Saying a toilet is a place for resting is just silly. Saying "alternative facts" instead of "lies" is to avoid political embarrassment. (In January 2017, US presidential counsellor Kellyanne Conway referred to "alternative facts", but ended up with people ridiculing her and created more public attention on the actual lie.)

Here are a few more:

... and so the list goes on. As Timothy Lynch says: "By corrupting language, the people who wield power are able to fool the others about their activities and evade responsibility and accountability." cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6654

There are much better articles than our summary above, which open the eyes to the careful way euphemisms have been created for political and financial gain. See, for example, Military Euphemisms, by David Watts.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, there will be peace. Then we won't need those euphemisms.