The project ‘Heraldic Identity in Context’ takes a comparative approach to explore how identities were conveyed through heraldic communication in the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. The project is based on a broad spectrum of heraldic sources and particularly examines how the position of the individual in relation to and within different groups can be better understood through heraldic sources.
Based on a verified corpus of heraldic data and a digital, collaborative platform (the Digital Heraldry Research Environment) the project offers innovative methodological approaches to analysing heraldic communication. In particular, the project uses specially developed ontologies to describe heraldic devices in different contexts and media, thus enabling new perspectives on the interactions between individual and collective identity in heraldic communication.
Research Questions
How did coats of arms function as markers of identity for individuals and groups? How did heraldic practices differ between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire from the 12th to the 16th century? HERALDIC addresses these questions by examining the Individualisierungsprozess — the formal and graphic process by which coats of arms were differentiated to express individual versus collective identity. Central sub-questions include: Which graphic solutions were used to distinguish individuals from groups and to express gender? When and in which regions did the first cadency marks (brisures) and coat-of-arms combinations appear, and how did individualized women’s heraldry develop across different cultural spaces? Who governed the rules for these distinctions, and how were they perceived by contemporaries? How did heraldry interact with other identity markers such as name, title, and portrait? And what role did different media — seals, manuscripts, monumental decoration — play in staging these identities?
Objectives
- Build a comprehensive, verified corpus of heraldic data drawn from monuments, seals, manuscripts, and other media across France and the Holy Roman Empire.
- Develop the Digital Heraldry Research Environment (DHRE) into a stable, feature-rich platform with advanced search, geo-localisation, and AI-assisted annotation & search capabilities.
- Extend the Digital Heraldry Knowledge Graph with new ontology modules for the differentiated description of persons, groups, and other entities bearing coats of arms.
- Compare heraldic practices across the two key historical spaces to uncover patterns of identity expression, social mobility, and political positioning.
Methodology
HERALDIC takes a data-driven approach, combining formal ontologies, a knowledge graph, and AI-assisted annotation tools. The project integrates data from established databases — including ARMMA (monumental heraldry) and SIGILLA (seals) — into the DHRE platform, where they can be searched, analysed, and enriched using controlled multilingual vocabularies. Computer vision tools (CREST) support semi-automatic annotation of heraldic elements on images, while the modular, open-source infrastructure ensures long-term sustainability and interoperability.
Work Programme
The project is organised around three interconnected task groups:
- Data Processing and Integration: Integrating existing datasets from ARMMA, SIGILLA, and partner projects (COLLECTA, BIBALE, RCPPM) into the DHRE platform, and enriching the corpus with new sources from seals and monuments across France and the Holy Roman Empire.
- Platform Development: Extending the DHRE with improved data entry, optimised search, geo-localisation, and deeper integration of the CREST annotation tool — including automatic heraldic description suggestions powered by machine learning.
- Dissemination and Valorisation: Sharing research progress through the Heraldica nova blog, scientific publications, training workshops, and a concluding colloquium on "Visual Communication Strategies of Groups and Individuals."
