Scientific coordination-organization (with Miguel Metelo de Seixas, Laurent Hablot, José Antonio Guillén Berrendero, Andreas Zajic, Martin Sunnqvist, Luís Mata) of International Conference Letters of Grant of Arms: Heraldry, Illumination, Codicology, Archivistics, Law, Art - Santarém 16-20.10.2024 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Roland, Martin: Medieval Grants of Arms and their Illuminators (2018)
2018
Th is essay deals with the relevance of medieval grants of arms in art history, focusing on the aspects of innovation and quality. Th e fi rst part discusses the origins of innovative prototypes that did not yet match the quality of later grants of arms. Th e second part presents a selection of qualitative landmarks in the history of grants of arms and the artists responsible for decorating them. Finally, some concluding remarks will be presented.
Fiona ROBERTSON et Peter N. LINDFIELD (éd.), Semy-de-Lys: Speaking of Arms, 1400-2016, actes du colloque Emblems and Enigma: The Heraldic Imagination, Londres, Royal Society of Antiquaries, 26 avril 2014, 2016, p. 51-70., 2016
Heraldry flourished on medieval battlefields for military reasons. However, scholars recognize that its largest social expansion in Western Europe occurred during the seventeenth century, which was a time when coats of arms were essentially obsolete in warfare. 1 This essay will tackle the apparent paradox of heraldry's non-military expansion by discussing the social and symbolic reasons that led people to create and assume arms for themselves and their families in modern France (c.1500–1789), and how this process is reflected in shields. It identifies the commoners who adopted arms, and the messages the bearings were designed to carry. The answers to these questions lie not only in armorial records, but also in situ: the widespread use of heraldry in public and private spaces, in urban and rural landscapes, in profane or sacred contexts, still brings us valuable information towards understanding the visual role and language of heraldry. The choice of valorizing — often canting — charges by the bearer of the name reflects a claim for a specific social status. However, a close study of symbolic allusions ranging from professional and dynastic to religious or even apotropaic, suggests a far more subtle combination of meanings, in close interaction with social, cultural, political, and vernacular context. Being an Armiger in Modern France: Law and Practice In modern France (c.1500 –1789), the vast majority of coats of arms were self-assumed, which implies that they were composed within the family circle. Royal heraldic concessions and augmentations were but few, and never seem to exceed one per cent of the total number of coats of arms in use within the realm. 2 In 1620, André Favyn, the author of a treatise called Le théâtre d'honneur et de chevalerie, wrote: 'today even the lowest merchants and craftsmen wish to counterfeit the nobleman by assuming arms'. 3 Although stating that coats of arms are solely for noble use is false and reflects a reactionary trend quite commonly expressed among the nobility at that time, Favyn is not the only heraldic theoretician of his time to deplore the fact that the use of coats of arms had become widespread among commoners. Favyn's opinion reflects an ideological trend shared by many other modern authors of heraldic treatises who considered that the use of coats of arms should be restricted to nobles only, because they were the ones who invented heraldry to magnify their exploits, virtues, and lineage. 4 This claim, nevertheless, cannot be supported by any legal statement: since the Middle Ages, heraldry had been used in France by nobles and commoners alike. 5 However, pressure concerning heraldic matters exerted on the king by the nobility since the beginning of the sixteenth century led François I to issue an edict in 1535 prohibiting the use of insignia such as helmets, crests, and crowns by commoners. 6 This legislation was reiterated over the course of the century, thus demonstrating its ineffectiveness. During the États généraux of 1614, the nobility firmly denounced two widespread heraldic abuses: some commoners were using homonymy to usurp coats of arms belonging to noble families, while others were displaying insignia restricted to the nobility. 7 Such grievances led Louis XIII to create, in January 1615, the office of Juge général d' armes de France, with more extensive judicial rights than former
Iconography of the Coats of Arms Donated by the Princes of Transylvania. In: History and Archaeology in the Central Europe. New Historiography Interpretations. Ed.: Sfrengeu, Florin–Gyulai, Éva–Şipos, Sorin–Radu, Delia. Editura Universitâţii din Oradea, Oradea, 2011. 74–86., 2011
The classification ofemblems shows the society of Transylvania and the Partium (and partly also that of Upper Hungary) to be extremely militarised, which can be accounted for on the one hand by the specific internal andforeign political relations of the period of the Turkish occupation but on the other hand, also reveals that among the people applying for and getting coats of arms, military elements were of decisive importance. In addition to the surprisingly high rate of letters patent of nobility bearing a soldier or a half arm, this claim is confirmed by the fact that the attributes referring to warfare may appear on the crest even ifthey are absentfrom the emblem ofthe shield. It is an important residt and outcome of my research that it confirms the opinion long held in historical science that the donation of coats ofarms is a part ofthe social and military policy of the sovereign. On the one hand, there being no decorations in the age, letters patent of nobility (and any other favours accompanying it) can be regarded as the reward of social activities and particularly military service, and on the other hand, with the donations, princes tried to create a social base and an elite loyal to both their persons and the principality. It is a new feature, however, that the increase ofthe class possessing letters patent of nobility could also be a device of unsuccessful and bad princely administration. For example, the political practice of George Rakoczi II, leading to catastrophy, was characterised by an unbridled donation ofnobility. The most important result ofthe research is the creation ofthe database from which the most important data of the letters patent of nobility, including the coat of arms descriptions and the different elements ofthe emblems, can be retrieved. With the help of the database, different lists can be compiled as research aids for heraldry and other branches of historical science.
Modern Criticism of Earlier Heraldic Sources
Staroskolskaia (Ryzhova), Daria "Modern Criticism of Earlier Heraldic Sources." ISTORIYA. 11.9 (95) (2020)., 2020
The main concern of the article is the reevaluation of significance and potential of earlier heraldic textual sources. In opposition to “classic” views of purposes and authorship of first armorials, narrative sources of non-heraldic character may change our ideas of heraldic environment of the 13th century. The fact that correct blazon can be found in a number of poems and romances can be interpreted as a proof that heraldic knowledge was available not only to heralds, as it is now widely accepted, but also to the poets who could use it for their literary goals. And what is of more importance it suggests that the audience was able to perceive the blazon in the text and probably it was their demand.
In what ways and in which circumstances, historically and culturally, and under what assumed privileges and adopted constraints of knowledge, do heraldic signs ‘speak’? Who do they speak to, how, when, and why? The essays in this volume address questions raised by heraldry as a communicative medium which is — necessarily — contingent, culturally and historically specific, and open to interpretation, but which is commonly both desired and dismissed as a stable system of signification and even as a fixed system of meaning. To speak of arms, this volume suggests, is a complex matter. All the essays collected here have their origins in the 2014 symposium ‘Emblems and Enigma: The Heraldic Imagination’ held at the Society of Antiquaries of London and organized by the editors of this volume. Under discussion at that symposium were the variety of ways in which heraldic practice has been understood, and misunderstood, from the late middle ages to the present day. The essays selected for this volume have been brought together under the heraldic design principle of Semy (also Semé, Aspersed, Replenished, Strewed, Strewn, Poudré, or Powdered): that is, a field strewn or powdered with individual charges. A mix of longer studies and shorter interventions, the essays in Semy-de-Lys are individual pieces which ask, in relation to various contexts and subjects, not only ‘what do these charges mean?’ but also ‘how are these charges being used?’. The essays come from several different fields — art history, graphic design, literature, cultural history, and the history of heraldry itself — and they all move between past and present in their reflections on how heraldic identifiers adopted at various historical moments have fared, and fare, in future years and in changed social and political contexts.
The Invention of Tradition: Illyrian Heraldry
Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology, 2010
The "Illyrian heraldry", as a phenomenon of the invented tradition, encompasses the rolls of arms - armorials, which appear in Dalmatia, Italy, Spain and Austria at the end of the XVI and beginning of the XVII century. These armorials contained Serbian and other southern Slav monarchic, territorial and family coats of arms. The authenticity, heraldic sources and origins of these armorials are extremely complex problems that can be traced back to the medieval heraldic heritage of the Serbs, on the one hand, and reveal the intricate web of political circumstances in the XVI and XVII centuries. Illyrian heraldry is also closely linked to the personal and political ambitions of the Spanish admiral, Don Pedro Ohmučević Grgurić, from Slano near Dubrovnik. One cannot, however, link the entire Illyrian heraldry movement only to the daring ambitions of Petar Ohmučević Grgurić In in the XVI and XVII centuries historical constructions, inspired for the most part by sincere Slav patri...
Although heraldry sprouted on medieval battlefields mainly for military reasons, it is admitted that its largest social expansion in Western Europe occurred during the XVIIth century, at a time when coats of arms were almost completely obsolete at warfare. The aim of this paper is to deal with this apparent paradox by discussing the social and symbolic reasons which led people to create and assume arms for themselves and their families in modern France, and how this process is reflected in the content of the shields. Who are the commoners who adopted them? Bearing in mind that coats of arms were created to be displayed, what message did they carry, and for whom? The answers to these questions lie not only in armorial records, but also in situ: the widespread use of heraldry in public and private spaces, in urban and rural landscapes, in profane or sacred contexts, still brings us valuable information to understand the visual role and language of heraldry. The choice of valorizing - often canting - charges by the bearer of the name reflects a claim for a specific social status. However, a close study of symbolic allusions ranging from professional and dynastic to religious or even apotropaic, suggests a far more subtle combination of meanings, in close interaction with social, cultural, political and vernacular context.