Heinricus Schuttenhelm... and our first coat of arms

       Hans Schuttenhelm's son, Heinricus, was a talented and impressive man. He was born before 1455 and he died after 1500, which means that he witnessed the birthing of the Renaissance in Germany and the dying of the Medieval period in history.
      Universities were appearing in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries and in 1477 the University of Tubingen was founded by Graf Eberhart V (which is the same year he expelled all Jews from Wurttemberg). In any event, the university he founded exists to this day and the record shows that a list of its alumni includes men like Johannes Kepler, Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hans Kung, Paul Tillich, and Heinricus Schuttenhelm. Schuttenhelm must have been a early graduate of the university and it is evident that he became a highly skilled lawyer because Graf Eberhart entrusted him with the task of providing the legal framework required to reunite the two divided parts of Wurttemberg, Germany. The record also shows that Count Eberhart im Bart rewarded Heinricus (whose name is a Latinized version of Heinrich) in three powerful ways: 1) he appointed Heinricus to the position of Senior Judge, which gave him substantial legal power; 2) he gave Heinricus the title of Ritter, that is Knight; and 3) rewarded him with a great coat of arms, which took its "Schildfigur" from the previously mentioned White Horse Tower.
   

      The family coat of arms, originally awarded to Heinricus Schuttenhelm in Stuttgart, Wuerttemberg in 1482. The family motto is "Shuns Vice like Poison," and the unicorn, a symbol of untamable power, was clearly based on the White Horse that Master Heinrich Schuttenhelm painted on the tower at Lauingen. Although German heraldry was not restricted to royalty, it was a significant recognition and something to take pride in. However, it should not blind us to Heinricus' work as a lawyer or the influence and power he would have wielded as a Senior Judge. It seems that Heinricus' father may have been a Master Builder in more ways than one.
      Interested readers should read Laurence M. Wilson's explanation of German coat of arms and the Schittenhelm coat of arms, in particular. Continuing a trend that we've grown accustomed to, Heinricus' wife's name is unknown to us. However, we do know that, together, they had three sons: HannB, who is the first Schuttenhelm ever recorded in the Black Forest; Burkhard, and Georg, all of whom became farmers. Together, they constitute the 5th generation of Shuttenhelm's.