Arms' imaginary – IMAGINARM

One of the best-known components of the vast heritage passed on by the Middle Ages to Western European culture is Arthurian Literature. Strangely, Arthurian heraldry, a specific field within Arthurian Studies, still presents many unresolved questions. Our project aims at filling this scientific gap and providing the first full-scale study on this domain, illustrating the creation, diffusion and reception of Arthurian heraldry, both in literary and artistic terms. The research will examine Arthurian heraldry from its beginnings in the 13th century through the 17th century, following its three channels: 1) Texts where the shields are described. 2) Manuscripts illustrations in which painters depicted recognizable coats of arms. 3) Rolls of arms (i.e. collections of coats of arms) representing the shields of the knights. These subjects will be addressed through synergistic research based on an interdisciplinary approach, combining contributions from history, literature, heraldry, philology, art history, history of the book. The project will provide for the first time a collection of all the available data, including an inventory of the heraldic manuscripts and prints, as well as a survey of the heraldic depictions. We will propose a new interpretation of the emergence of Arthurian heraldry, in which we will showcase the importance of Jacques d’Armagnac (1437-1477), powerful lord of the French Midi, an aspect that to date has not been properly brought to light. The diffusion and the reception of Arthurian heraldry will be examined through an analytical approach which will enable us to identify the different and sometimes enigmatic forms in which the roll of arms and the depictions manifested themselves. The ideological dimension of the phenomenon will be elucidated through a reappraisal of its origins as well as through fresh analysis of the cultural practices related to the ownership of heraldic books (manuscript and print).