Genealogy and Heraldry: Heritage for the Future

XXVIth International Congress for Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences
Bruges 2004

First announcement - Call for papers

Heritage is not just a thing of the past. It can only truly be heritage if it belongs to the present, if one wants to hand it on to the future. Genealogy and heraldry do this in their own ways.

Over the centuries genealogists have served many masters. They legitimated rules, solved disputes over inheritances and pleaded all sorts of claims and counter-claims. Today genealogy is no doubt the most popular form of historical research. The future is already at hand. Computers are revolutionising the discipline, while the confrontation with genetics is full of promise.

Coats-of-arms are timeless tokens of identity. The way in which heraldry is used however, varies from period to period. Artistic representation and the underlying message likewise change over time. While the abstract symbols remain unaltered, one generation follows the next in the family or the community represented by these symbols.

Nowhere can one debate such issues better than in Bruges, the city that lives with heritage on a daily basis. From September 6th to 11th 2004 the city will provide the venue for the XXVIth International Congress for Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences. The organisation of the congress has been entrusted to the Flemish Heraldic Council. Public institutions, research institutes and associations that operate in the fields of genealogy, heraldry and heritage have joined hands to ensure a programme of the highest standard.

Above all the organisers want to intensity the dialogue. Therefore they are primarily looking for papers that will deal with links between heritage and genealogy or heraldry. Such links can be the history of houses, oral family traditions or monuments with an important heraldic patrimony, but also living heritage such as the heraldry of student's clubs. The congress intends to provide a special place for contemporary heraldic art. Topics like genetics and information technology should be addressed.

For more information e-mail: andre.vandewalle@brugge.be