Date: 2005
Type: Thesis
Konzept und Bedeutung des Adels im Absolutismus
Florence : European University Institute, 2005, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis
MARGREITER, Klaus, Konzept und Bedeutung des Adels im Absolutismus, Florence : European University Institute, 2005, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/5892
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Central and Western European nobilities underwent a major process of transformation, which affected not only its material basis and the conditions of power. As a result of its changed social profile, its legitimation had to be readjusted in order to meet the demands and the requirements of the Early Modern state. The central feature of its new ideological concept was the assumption that the nobility formes a hereditary ruling class, both qualified for and entitled to power on account of inherited substantial superiority. By using its privilege of ennoblement, the imperial government exerted significant influence on the shaping of a new model nobility, which was intended to be an elite of loyal and dependent subjects. The analysis of contemporary characterisations and definitions of the term nobility and of arguments, given by applicants for ennoblement to prove their claim for noble superiority demonstrate that the entire notion of nobility was gradually changing from a concrete corporate body, legally defined by privileges, towards a status symbol.
Additional information:
Defence date: 19 December 2005; Examining board: Prof. Jaap Dronkers, European University Institute ; Prof. James Van Horn Melton, Emory University ; Prof. Regina Schulte, Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Supervisor) ; Prof. Bernd Wunder, Universität Konstanz; First made available online: 26 October 2016
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/5892
Full-text via DOI: 10.2870/399643
Series/Number: EUI; HEC; PhD Thesis
Publisher: European University Institute
LC Subject Heading: Despotism -- Europe -- History