Edited and prepared by Prof. emer. dr. h. c. Mirjana Matijević Sokol and associate professor Dr. Tomislav Galović, Croatian Heraldic Heritage I. – Selected Topics, is a historiographically relevant and well-structured selection of texts on Croatian heraldic heritage created by the work of sixteen authors. The work covers 362 pages and is equipped with an extensive scientific apparatus (a bibliography of over 200 items, notes, a summary in English, and an index of personal names and geographical names). With a preface and an introduction in which the editors discuss the previous literature and the approach to the topic, the book is divided into 15 chapters that analyze various aspects of Croatian heraldic heritage. The first chapter, The European context of Croatian heraldry and Pavao Ritter Vitezović as its founder (Galović), gives a historical overview of the development of heraldry in Europe and Croatia, heraldic terminology, and Croatian heraldic collections. The remaining chapters cover the following: Armorial patents – litterae armales (Matijević Sokol); Heraldic sources in the Croatian State Archives in Zagreb (Ladislav Dobrica, MSc); Heraldic Collection of the Archives of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb (Suzana Miljan and Dr. Suzana Simon); Collection of Heraldry and Sphragistics of the Croatian History Museum in Zagreb (Matea Brstilo Rešetar); Markers of identity: heraldry and national ideologies among the South Slavs (Prof. Ivo Banac); Coats of arms of the Croatian nobility – facts of cultural heritage and identity (Dr. Dubravka Peić Čaldarović); The history of the Croatian coat of arms as a history of the disintegration and integration of the Croatian space (academician Nikša Stančić and Dr. Dubravka Peić Čaldarović); Red or white? White or red? Myths and facts about the color of the initial field of the Croatian checkered coat of arms (titular assistant professor Mario Jareb); Heraldry in stone – an example of the city of Korčula (Vicko Fisković); Coat of arms of the dukes of Babonić and their descendants of the dukes of Blagaj: heraldic features, origin and historical changes (Prof. Hrvoje Kekez); Research of heraldic heritage – the example of Sisak-Moslavina County (Antonio Perković); The origin of the coat of arms of the city of Glina (Dr. Jakša Raguž); Contemporary heraldry – an example of making a new coat of arms (titular associate professor Ivan Botica); Contemporary Croatian municipal heraldry – some basic features (titular assistant professor Željko Heimer).
The book is scientifically relevant not only because of the numerous new data and the contextualization of previous knowledge, but also because of the collegial structure, which takes on the character of a synthesis of a large part of Croatian heraldry.
It is a selection of relevant topics from Croatian heraldry, from basic concepts and heraldic practice in the Middle Ages and early modern times (the age of living heraldry) to no less interesting questions about the contemporary use of coats of arms, and about the position of heraldry as an auxiliary historical discipline and heraldic heritage in today’s society, as is also discussed in the Conclusion. As an appendix, it provides Original Latin texts and Croatian translations of selected coats of arms – litterae armales (Matijević Sokol, Galović and Maja Tabak Demo, assistant), and as a supplement of the book, the text Introduction to Vexillology (Heimer) is included. At the end, there is an English summary translated by Heimer, a list of sources and literature, a list of figures and tables, and a list of authors and collaborators.
The book is primarily intended for students of history, history of art, and related humanities, as well as for a professional audience, but it is also for the general public interested in Croatian heritage. Namely, contemporary studies and works on Croatian heraldry mainly refer to individual regions and narrower areas, while overviews of the overall heraldic heritage on a scientific level are a rarity. This is an editorially adept collection of texts by a group of authors on relevant topics from Croatian heraldry that encompass a broader cultural and historical context. In this sense, it is a pioneering manual necessary in the teaching of auxiliary historical sciences, but also in the study of heritage sciences in general. The work was written in accordance with scientific (historiographical and heraldic) methodology based on insight into extensive literature and original material in the field and in archives. It includes a very detailed bibliography and more than a hundred illustrations (photos and drawings).
The book synthesizes and presents the little-known Croatian heraldic heritage in the form of a collection of scientific texts. The scientific results presented here, except in the form of study manuals, will find application in a wide range of heritage disciplines. The book was published with the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia and published by the publishing house FF press of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb, and it begins a new publishing series, Chair Library: Auxiliary Historical Sciences, i.e., Bibliotheca Cathedral: Scienciae auxiliares historiae.
(From the review by Academician Stjepan Ćosić)
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Title: Hrvatska heraldička baština I. – odabrane teme / priručnik za studente [In English: Croatian Heraldic Heritage I. – Selected Topics / Handbook for Students]
Edited by: Mirjana Matijević Sokol & Tomsilav Galović
Publisher: place and year: FF press Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu: Zagreb, 2024.
ISBN: 978-953-175-651-8
Binding: paperback
Pages: 362
Dimensions: 27×21 cm (A4, 10.6″×8.3″)
Orders at https://www.knjizara-dominovic.hr/
Price: 20 EUR
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