Heraldic Decor as a Research Problem

The Palace of Sintra in Portugal is home to the striking »sala dos brasões«, a ceremonial hall with a large and exceptional heraldic programme. Although it has been the subject of many studies in the past, the usage and meaning of this hall, built by Manuel I in the first half of the 16th century, still remain unclear. The key to understanding is the heraldic programme, which did not serve for mere decorative purposes but conveyed the central message of this hall. In order to be properly interpreted, this programme must be compared with similar evidences of heraldic communication in medieval and early modern state rooms, which leads us to a field of research that has hardly been explored so far. This introductory article reflects on the historiographical issues as well as unresolved research questions in the context of this source group. Based on the contributions in this collection, it presents a comprehensive set of methodological reflections in order to better apprehend this kind of communication and provides initial elements for a typology of a group of sources whose communicative power and versatility have been largely ignored for a long time.