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Dr Bernd Klesmann is research assistant at the University of Cologne. His areas of interest include international history in early modern Europe. In his book on 17th century declarations of war he discusses the impact of heraldry on diplomacy and international law: Bellum solemne. Formen und Funktionen europäischer Kriegserklärungen des 17. Jahrhunderts, Mainz: Zabern, 2007 (Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte Mainz, 216).