Perspectives on the Honours Systems

The volume Perspectives on the Honours Systems opens new multidisciplinary avenues for research on both historical and current methods by which monarchs, heads of state and governments have honoured individuals in different contexts, primarily in the Nordic countries and Russia. Most of the papers included in this volume were originally given at the symposiums 'Swedish and Russian Orders 1700-2000: Systems - Traditions - Policies' (Stockholm 2009) and 'The Honour of Diplomacy - The Diplomatic Use of the Honours Systems' (Helsinki 2011). By taking a long perspective from the late Middle Ages until today, historians, archivists, museum curators, officers of orders and diplomats address fundamental questions related to honours: why honours systems have been established, what kind of role they have played in different historical situations and their current relevance in modern societies.