Russian History in the Mirror of Heraldry

In 2022, a team of specialists in the field of special historical disciplines completed the research stage of work on the project of the fundamental generalizing publication "Russian Heraldry: Encyclopedia", which was highly appreciated by the RFBR expert community. Methodically, the project is based on micro- and macro-historical approaches to the study of the past that are fundamental for modern science. In this case, the micro–level is realized through the analysis of the genesis, iconographic evolution and semantics of the heraldic space, and the macro-historical – through their integration into the context of the main historical events and processes. The heraldic history of the country is presented as a complex, multidimensional process caused by a combination of political, social, cultural and other factors. The encyclopedia is a complete body of knowledge about Russian heraldry, contains articles on the theoretical concepts of this discipline, special terminology, heraldic figures, the history of state, territorial and ancestral coats of arms, the main sources (including material – banners), state institutions, heraldic scientists, artists, etc. The chronological boundaries of the publication are from the end of the XV to the present. For the first time, a comprehensive encyclopedic study of the history of scientific and practical heraldry of one country (Russia) was undertaken in a broad general historical context, using the latest methods of historical analysis and theoretical experience accumulated by world herbology.