Early modern heraldry was far from a nostalgic remnant from a feudal past. From the Reformation to the French Revolution, aspiring men seized on these signs to position themselves in a changing society, imbuing heraldic tradition with fresh meaning. Whereas post-medieval developments are all too often described in terms of decadence and stifling formality, recent studies rightly stress the dynamic capacity of bearing arms.

Heraldic Hierarchies aims to correct former misconceptions. Contributing authors rethink the influence of shifting notions of nobility on armorial display and expand this topic to heraldry's share in shaping and contesting status. Moreover, addressing a common thread, the volume explores how emerging states turned the heraldic experience into an instrument of power and policy. Contributing to debates on social and noble identity, Heraldic Hierarchies uncovers a vital and surprising aspect of the pre-modern hierarchical world.

Contributors: Richard Cust (University of Birmingham); Dominique Delgrange (Lille); Luc Duerloo (University of Antwerp); Joseph McMillan (Alexandria VA); Camille Pollet (Université de Nantes); Antoine Robin (École Pratique des Hautes Études); Simon Rousselot (École Pratique des Hautes Études); Clément Savary (École Pratique des Hautes Études); Hamish Scott (Jesus College, Oxford); Steven Thiry (University of Antwerp); José Manuel Valle Porras (Córdoba); Nicolas Vernot (Université de Cergy-Pontoise)