The role of the herald or officer of arms in late medieval Europe has not been much studied. Most think of him as someone who spent his time with (often spurious) genealogies, making up coats of arms for the new nobility. Stevenson (late medieval history, University of St. Andrews) has compiled reports from all over Europe that demonstrate the inaccuracy of this image. Contributors discuss the role of the heralds in government and in relation to the orders of chivalry so popular at the time. The variety of duties of the herald is shown for England, Brittany, the Burgundian Low Countries, the German Empire, Poland and the Florentine city-state. The decline of the office of arms in the sixteenth century is noted along with the sociological reasons for it. The state of mind that required a society to need an officer of arms is important in understanding Europe in the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. This collection sheds light on an undeservedly neglected subject. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
First full-length assessment of the role of the herald in medieval Europe.
The officers of arms (kings of arms, heralds and pursuivants) have often been overlooked by scholars of late medieval elite society. Yet as officers of the crown, ducal courts or noble families, they played important parts in a number of areas. They were crucial to foreign and domestic relations, and chivalric culture; and, of course, they were to become the powerbrokers of heraldic symbols and genealogy. However, despite the high levels at which they operated, their roles in these areas remain largely unexplored, with scholarship tending to focus on the science of heraldry rather than the heralds themselves. This collection aims to remedy that neglect. The contributions cover a range of European regions (particularly Florence, Scandinavia, Poland, the German Empire, the Burgundian Low Countries, Brittany, Scotland and England) and discuss the diverse roles and experiences of heralds in the late Middle Ages. Contributors: JACKSON W. ARMSTRONG, ADRIAN AILES, KATIE STEVENSON, MICHAEL JONES, FRANCK VILTART, HENRI SIMMONEAU, WIM VAN ANROOIJ, BOGDAN WOJCIECH BRZUSTOWICZ, ALEXIA GROSJEAN, LAURA CIRRI
