Know your place in the food chain

The Hoare family, wealthy bankers, had the house at Stourhead designed and built for them in the 1720s, There's some history about it here if you're interested:-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stourhead
Now call me a bit thick but i'd never really thought about why all these rich families the world over are so keen on things like eagles, lions and other top predators as emblems and symbols. What possible connection could there be between animals that prey on the weak and the sick and respectable families of aristocrats, merchants and, in this particular case, bankers?