Konzept und Bedeutung des Adels im Absolutismus

Abstract

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.