Publication details
Co je šlechta (v raném novověku)?
| Title in English | What is the Nobility (in the early Modern Age)? |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2011 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Šlechta v proměnách věků |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | History |
| Keywords | nobility; Middle Europe; bohemian Lands; Moravia; Early Modern Age; definition; apotheosis; criticism |
| Description | What is the nobility (in the early Modern Age)? The question of "What is the nobility?" often occurs within modern Czech and European historiography. (Self-)characterisation or (self-)definition of the nobility are as a rule formulated as apotheosis, in addition to which one may meet them in the form of criticism. From contemporary characteristics of the nobility one may come to at least partial conclusions which might lead to a modern definition of the idea of the early modern nobility and indirectly also to a definition of the term nobility in general. In traditional European society – as differentiated by estates – the nobility is a social elite. It is an independent and as a rule still internally divided social estate, which defines itself with respect to God, the sovereign, the estates and noble community of its country, families and their traditions and their servants. At the same time the social role of the nobility is subject to major change both in time and geographically. Certain attributes which characterise the original historical role of the nobility can at the same time continue in the modern age over "longue durée", a symbolic "Nachleben" or may return as kinds of renaissance. Period specifics (valid for the Middle Ages and the early Modern Age, that is for the "age of the nobility") and the continuous characteristics of the role of the nobility when viewed through historical definitions and auto-definitions are thus notable for widespread intersection. |
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