Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis

The Žemaitijan nobility of the 15th to the 18th centuries included several heraldic groups: a group of local origin; Polish coats of arms; personalised Polish coats of arms; and coats of arms that were imported/adopted from other countries. This article focuses on the second and fourth groups, which include coats of arms that could be described as ‘imported’, ‘foreign’ or ‘alien’. The article aims to discuss the prevalence and use of these coats of arms in the heraldic tradition of the Žemaitijan nobility of the 16th to the 18th centuries. The adoption of Polish heraldry was already evident in the first half of the 16th century. The Horodło coats of arms entered the heraldry of the Žemaitijan nobility. Also, Polish coats of arms were brought to the country by Polish noble families. The number of those who came to Žemaitija from Germanspeaking lands was very small, and this meant that their heraldic sources were not abundant. On the other hand, surviving heraldic sources indicate that these newcomer families usually only used their own coats of arms.

The article presents a research study on fashion, social rivalry and identity of nobility in Polish-Lithuanian Republic in the 18th Century. Research is based on the data obtained from widely drawn up inventories of movables allows us to give a social depth to the view constructed upon iconography and literature. The number of inventories, their social representation, connection to specified social group and period enable us to look at the history of fashion and other aspects of material culture considering different social, economic and cultural realities. Registers from the 18th century draw our greatest interest because of their number, reliability and quite equal spread over time.