Rowel Spur ca. 1400 French or Spanish, Catalonia This luxurious spur made of gilded copper alloy, holding a large rowel shaped as a sunburst, is engraved all over with a chequy pattern and some trefoils. The tabs with hooks holding the straps are enameled in black and white or light blue. The chequy may refer to the heraldry of its original owner, in this case possibly a member of the French Dreux or the Catalan Urgell family. However, the variety of colors of the enameled tabs also suggests that this pattern may be only ornamental.As a knights status was closely related to his horse, spurs became one of the symbols of chivalry, and one of the tokens given to him during his knighting. The wealthy knights and princes would sometimes commission rich examples, gilded, engraved, enameled, or even inlaid with pearls and precious stones. The first rowel spurs, featured with a revolving disc or star at the end of the neck, appeared in western Europe around the mid-13th century. They cohabita