Marta Gomes dos Santos (Coimbra): Heraldry in the heart of a New Empire. Portugal at the end of the Middle Ages

At the end of the fifteenth century, Portugal knew a new king and, with that, a new page in the practice of heraldry. With the event of the Overseas Expansion, we will verify not only new iconographical elements in the heraldic arrangements but also, a whole new ideal that is, in fact, the culmination of a process that was being developed with the previous monarchs and the centralization of power.
Analyzing some architectural and documental sources, this presentation aims to show the increasing importance of heraldry as a vehicle of royal power as well as a key-piece in the dialogue between the monarch and a new rising nobility. It is also the reflection of a new world that shapes personal imaginary.

Date:  1 July 2013
Place: International Medieval Congress, Leeds,
Session 107 (Medieval Heraldry Revisited I: Creating ties of visuality. Heraldry and the display of social relationships)