The Heraldry of Power: the Emblems of Spanish Nobility. Reality and Fiction

Abstract

Since the Middle Ages, displaying a coat of arms meant to have achieved a high rank in the social status, to evoke the prestige of a lineage and to visualize merits in public. With the passage of time, this external sign of honor proved to be very effective in the strategy of lineages to legitimize their ascendancy, increase their prestige, identify their properties, brag about their wealth, justify their actions and perpetuate their memory. In this work we will show its historical evolution, its echo in the treatises and in the Castilian popular proverbs as well as its cultural representation in contemporary literature.

Keywords

• nobleza
• heráldica
• emblemática
• historia
• literatura
• abolición del señorío