Nobilities in Transition 1550-1700 Courtiers and Rebels in Britain and Europe

by Asch, Ronald G.

• ISBN13: 9780340625286
• ISBN10: 0340625287
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-07-31
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Nobilities in Transition explores the transformation of the nobility in the late 16th and 17th centuries. This book looks at political and social changes, examines the impact princely courts had on noblemen and women and their way of life and analyses issues such as the 'refeudalization' ofstate and society in southern Europe or the increasing urbanization of noble elites in the period under discussion. While paying due attention to the great heterogeneity of the nobility in Europe it nevertheless shows how the adherence to common values and ideals nevertheless gave noble elitescoherence and a shared sense of identity.

Author Biography

Ronald G. Asch is Professor of History, Universitat Freiburg, Germany

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(8)
1 Status and the quest for exclusiveness: the foundations of noble identity	9	(21)
Introduction	9	(2)
From customary to statutory definitions of nobility	11	(9)
Varieties of noble status in the Holy Roman Empire	20	(3)
The populous nobilities of the European periphery: Poland and Castile	23	(2)
England: a special case?	25	(3)
Conclusion	28	(2)
2 The changing landscape of noble society	30	(25)
Introduction	30	(1)
Numbers: the size of noble elites in Europe	31	(2)
Town and country: rural and urban nobilities	33	(5)
Rich and poor: magnate and country squire	38	(6)
The quintessential magnate class: the Habsburg titled aristocracy	44	(5)
The triumph of the squirearchy? The English gentry	49	(4)
Conclusion	53	(2)
3 Education, religion and civility	55	(25)
Introduction	55	(1)
Education	56	(5)
Religion and piety c.1550-1660	61	(6)
Religious change in the late seventeenth century	67	(3)
Civility and the decline of noble violence	70	(8)
Conclusion	78	(2)
4 The court: prison or showcase of noble life?	80	(21)
Introduction	80	(1)
The Italian Cortegiano as a social model for the nobility	81	(3)
The French honnête homme	84	(2)
The political culture of the court	86	(3)
The perfect courtier: the rise and fall of the favourite	89	(3)
Versailles and the French nobility under Louis XIV	92	(3)
Germany and the imperial court	95	(3)
Conclusion	98	(3)
5 Resistance and rebellion	101	(24)
Introduction	101	(2)
Religion and revolt	103	(9)
Frondes and Frondeurs: the courtier turned rebel	112	(7)
Provincial elites and noble rebellion	119	(3)
Conclusion	122	(3)
6 Noble power and state formation: towards a new symbiosis?	125	(25)
Introduction	125	(1)
Warfare and noble power	126	(7)
A high road to absolutism? Nobility and state in France	133	(6)
New political alignments in the later seventeenth century	139	(8)
Conclusion	147	(3)
Conclusion	150	(5)
Select bibliography	155	(7)
Notes	162	(55)
Index	217