Dutch Van Westervelt Family Coat of Arms T-Shirt

Dutch Van Westervelt Family Coat of Arms T-Shirt ... At least going back to early 1600s ... over 400 years ago. The family coat of arms for the ruling family of Harderwijk, Gelderland Province, Netherlands. Harderwijk was given city rights by the Count of Gelderland Otto II in 1231. By the early 1600's the ruling family name was van Westervelt / van Westerveld / van Westerveldt. Their country Manor was in adjacent province of Overijssel North of Zwolle. That building no longer exists. But, the area where it stood nevertheless remained named Westervelt / Westerveld / Westerveldt. The immigrant to America who arrived on the Ship Hoop (Hope) came from cattle graze land between Westerveld Manor and Meppel, Drenthe Province. The van Westervelt family thus were important in three provinces all which shared a shore line upon the Zuyder Zee (Sea) ... long since drained to create more land. Gelderland / Gelre / Geldriae / Geldern / Guelders was a county ruled by a count until one married an English princess ... of course it would not be decent for a husband of a princess to be a mere count, so the German Holy Roman Emperor duly made the county a duchy and made the counts dukes! The van Westervelts ruled Harderwijk as hereditary mayors called burgomasters. The van Westervelt burgomasters of the 1600s inherited the rule from earlier ancestors and cousins including van Haersolte, van Wynbergen, van Spuelde, and van Hueckulom going back centuries. Perhaps all the way back to 1231. The van Westervelt family coat of arms primarily had three gold fleur de lis upon an emerald green shield ... after the golden yellow iris flowers naturally found along the River Ijssel. Two upright golden male lions standing on their rear legs of the Duchy Gelderland hold the shield upright. A knight's arms through a gold ducal coronet crown hold a larger gold fleur de lis. As it so happens, the French symbol gold fleur de lis originated in this general region when Merovingian Salian Frank King Clovis I promised God he would convert to his wife's Catholic faith if God would help him win the next battle ... by legend Heavenly angels brought Clovis I his golden Fleur de lis symbol ... so he was the first king to have it. This all was a thousand years before the van Westervelt name was known (~1550 was earliest known van Westervelt name ... ~ 500 was the King Clovis I Gold fleur de lis. King Clovis I's ancestor Salian Franks originated in the region called Salaland along both banks of the River Overijssel. The very names Salaland, Salian Franks, Zwolle, Village Zwollerker, River Ijssel, Province Overijssel all come from the same common word having a sound like zwol or ijssel or sala. The Salian Franks originated in the very region Westerveld Manor later was built on more than a thousand years later. There was some intermarriages within the noble families who were our ancestors ... and at least one marriage between the van Hueckelom family and the family of the dukes of Gelderland. And the van Hueckeloms were our direct ancestors. So, there was at least that much connection between the van Westervelts and the dukes of Gelderland.