The Armouries of the Spanish Nobility Studies on a Powerful Signal of Social Distinction and Inequality

The armouries were among the most significant visual and symbolic manifestations of the nobility's elevated social position, alongside palaces, chapels, cabinet rooms, and libraries. The study of Aristocratic Culture necessitates a focus on arms, reflecting the nobility's traditional military function. Beyond the topic of arms and letters, understanding this distinct culture requires examining armouries as a critical interpretative key to social order and status. These served as demonstrations of a lineage's antiquity, prestige, importance, and worth, playing a vital role in the visual performance of this dominant social stratum. This collection of essays provides the first panoramic view of this subject, developed within the Spanish and broader European contexts, addressing the content, uses, formation, chronology, meaning, and significance of such sets of objects.