Heraldica Feminarum. Coats of Arms of Women in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period

Compared to various other sign systems, heraldry has the highest level of organization and consistency in using its distinctive heraldic signs – coats of arms. Besides, heraldry is marked by common presence of special practices, mostly or completely unknown to other similar systems. One of these notable practices was an old-established and ubiquitous usage of arms by women. Known from the dawn of heraldry, women coats of arms, from the very beginning, served as a means of individual and social identification. Moreover, prevailing usage practices differed quite noticeably in various parts of Europe. In the West, women distinctly tended to use their husband’s arms, often in combination with their father’s. In Central Europe, the main practice was to use father’s arms only. On the lands of Ukraine, as early as in the Middle Ages and onwards, both of the ways were found. Yet, if in 14–16th centuries women heraldry was largely into fathers’ coats of arms, in the Cossacks times, for the most part, husbands’ arms were used. On the other hand, Ukrainian heraldry saw many instances when daughters (and sometimes even sons) used solely their mother’s arms – a custom which was almost unknown in other European countries. Such practices, together with some others (for example, mainstream use of arms with genealogical programs), indicate that women themselves, and men, too, recognized the importance and the status value of reproducing genealogical connections via female lineage. All the above allows us to suggest that, in 12–18th centuries, Ukrainian heraldry had the widest range of tools for heraldic representation of women, that differed from heraldic sets in other regions by its usage patterns