Cool Moments in History: How a pet monkey saved my family... 800 years ago
'My Family' may be a bit of a stretch, but I do share the same last name and live in the same small country so it is at least a possibility.
The name I am talking about is 'Fitzgerald' and my maybe ancestor was John FitzGerald the 1st Earl of Kildare born 1255.
The Fitzgerald Coat of Arms. source
The Firefighting Monkey
The story goes that as a infant there was a fire in John's home of Woodstock castle, which is in the small town of Athy. During the panic that the fire caused the young child was overlooked and left in his room.
And there he likely would of died if it wasn't for the intervention of our brave protagonist, the unnamed monkey. The pet monkey leaped into to action, scaling the tower and carrying the baby to safety.
The FitzGeralds honoured the monkeys bravery by adding a monkey to the family crest and occasionally adding the additional motto "Non immemor befeficii" ("Not Forgetful of a helping hand").
Woodstock Castle. source
Here is a picture of Woodstock castle, looks fairly unimpressive until I think that it is 800 years old, and has survived at least one fire not to mention housed at least one monkey, they got to be a nightmare on the furniture.
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Sources:
That's a really cool story! I hate to be a pessimist, but it sounds more like a made up story than the truth, but it still makes for a cool story to tell people :)
Yea maybe, the sources speak of it as a legend so there is no hard evidence that it happened.
In a time of war and violence a monkey on your coat of arms seems a strange choice which for me lends credence to the legend
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Great story :)