15thc perception on swallowtail merlons?

[Mark Knowles]

It should be possible to guess on the likelihood that a building was constructed before 1450 or not.

If it is Northern Italian and constructed before 1450 and has swallowtail merlons it is very likely it had swallowtail merlons before 1450.

If it has ties with the ghibelines before 1450 it is likely it had swallowtail merlons before then.

So for example a building with links to the Visconti with swallowtail merlons likely had swallowtail merlons at the time of the Visconti.