Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2022
Abstract
The narrative about Brutus, his sons, and Trojan refugees became an integral part of medieval historiography on the British Isles. This story about the origin of the insular realms, introduced by Geoffrey of Monmouth, became later a component of diplomacy, royal pedigrees and, among other things, heraldry.
This paper deals with the interpretation of Brutus's/Trojan heraldry in the 15th-century heraldic manuscripts. Particularly, it focuses on the heraldic figure of a lion in the arms of England, Wales, and Scotland, the kingdoms of Brutus's sons.
The imaginary Trojan heraldry probably reflects one of the English medieval views on the political order of Britain, i.e. a unified realm without internal borders.