Considering the Image of the African in British Heraldry

Speaker: Kelly Foster

This talk will look at how images of African people have
been included in the British and Irish heraldic traditions over the
past five centuries. While as heraldists we may be familiar with how
images of African people have been used in European heraldry from
central and southern Mediterranean regions, the subject is relatively
neglected studies of British and Irish traditions. Taking an
interdisciplinary approach the talk will look at how depictions of
African people in British and Irish heraldry have changed over time,
what those images represented and how meaning has been shaped by
broader historical context, and how heraldry impacted the lives of
African people living in Europe.

Kelly Foster is a public historian with over fifteen years of
experience working in archives and museums. She is a research partner
in the recent University of Kent project, Figuring Juxon’s Arms:
Power, Place, and Empire, which is recovering the heraldry of
Archbishop of Canterbury William Juxon and how it’s been used.