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Here is the programme of the tree sessions on medieval heraldry I'm organising at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds this year, which will take place 1-4 July. This sessions will in some way mark the start of my new research project "The performance of coats of arms" granted by VolkswagenStiftung:Session 107 (Monday, 1 July 2013, 11.15-12.45)Parkinson Building: Classics LibraryMedieval Heraldry Revisited I: Creating ties of visuality. Heraldry and the display of social relationshipsIn marginalizing coats of arms and leaving their analysis largely to the ancillary discipline of heraldry, medieval scholarship has robbed itself for a long time of a valuable resource. The aim of this series of sessions is to reassess medieval heraldry from a historical perspective and to cast new light on this largely underestimated group of sources. This first session aims to define the relationship between heraldry and history and will investigate how studying the use of coats of arms in different ways could open new perspectives on social relationships, their creation, confirmation and display in late medieval society.Moderator: Gert Melville (Dresden)Torsten Hiltmann (Münster): Heraldry and History – an odd though promising couple. Old misunderstandings and new perspectives (abstract)Laurent Hablot (Poitiers): Two new brothers "de Bourbon". Why did the duke of Bourbon in 1334 grant two unknown brothers nobility, his arms and his name? (abstract)Marta Gomes dos Santos (Coimbra): Heraldry in the heart of a New Empire. Portugal at the end of the Middle Ages (abstract)_______________________________Session 207 (Monday, 1 July 2013, 14.15-15.45)Parkinson Building: Classics LibraryMedieval Heraldry Revisited II: Between city and nobility. Heraldry and the question of statusThis second session will examine the heraldic practices of the city councils and patricians in Northern and Central Italy, in Cologne and in Metz, and contrasts the findings with the use of heraldry by recently ennobled families. Amongst other questions, this session will ask: what can heraldic sources tell us about visual strategies of social status and distinction?Moderator:  Mario Damen (Amsterdam)Christoph F. Weber (Braunschweig): Signs of Order and Revolt: heraldic communication in communal Italy (abstract)Christof Rolker (Konstanz): No final title yet. He will speak about the role of armorials among city patricians. Using the example of the famous armorial of Konrad Grünenberg he will chalenge the idea that armorials produced by "city dwellers" are an expression of social advancement. In doing so, he will shad new light on the role of particians in the discourse on the concept of nobility at about 1500 and the differenciation between urban and landed gentry.His contribution replaces theses of Marc von der Höh who had to withdraw as well as of Jean-Christophe Blanchard (who will nevertheless publish his paper on this Blog  - see here for his initial abstract). _______________________________Session 307 (Monday, 1 July 2013, 16.30-18.00)Parkinson Building: Classics LibraryMedieval Heraldry Revisited III: Beyond Worldly Bonds. The spiritual capacity of heraldry in the visual world of the late Middle AgesThis third session will look at how, beyond persons, families, seigneuries and offices, heraldry could also refer to ideas and concepts, and will thus give new insights into political programmes, and into contemporary spirituality and mentality. By doing so, it will question the capacities and limits of coats of arms as opposed to related means of visual representation.Moderator: Torsten Hiltmann (Münster)James Hillson (York): Hagiographical Heraldry and the Plantagenets – St George, Edward the Confessor and the Arms of England circa 1259-1363 (abstract)Lukas Wolfinger (Göttingen): The Heraldry of Sin and Virtue: coats of arms in images of spiritual combatMaría Narbona Cárceles (Zaragosa): Le contenu spirituel des devises princières: le cas de Marie de Castille, reine d'Aragon (1416-1458) (abstract)&#160;Sponsor: Dilthey Fellowship Project 'The Performance of Coats of Arms', Volkswagen-StiftungOrganiser: Torsten Hiltmann, Historisches Seminar, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster[cite]