Social Dynamics at the French Court
The Household of Anne of Austria
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8940207 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ruth Kleinman (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1990 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 517-517 |
| Publication date | 1990-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | French Historical Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-1071 • E-ISSN: 1527-5493 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/286485 |
| OpenAlex | W2330377567 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
Complaints and protests can be misleading as guides to the past. If we take seriously the chronic grievances of the French nobility during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we are left with the impression that the second estate felt overwhelmed by the third, not only in careers in general but even in the proximity of the king. The nobles implied that the king was responsible for letting this situation develop and that he had it in his power to redress the balance in their favor. Over and over again the nobles petitioned the crown: employ us; give us preference for positions in your armies, in your administration, in your household; do not let rich commoners buy their way into these offices. ' Indeed, they argued that if household offices were to be accessible to commoners by purchase, unreliable persons might get in, compromising the king's safety.2 This may sound as though the nobles feared for the survival of their estate as well as for their jobs. In fact, however, they wished only to close the door to newcomers. The fate of the estate itself and appreciation for the qualities associated with nobility were not in question. While the nobility was complaining about being crowded out of royal offices, all concerned parties, including the monarchs, continued to hold the traditional values of the noble order in high respect. This is not quite what we expect in a society on the threshold of modernity. Thus Roland Mousnier, quoting Loyseau's assertion in the Traite des ordres of 1610 that arms are the true and only proper
Dynamics (music · Political science · Social dynamics · Social science · Sociology · European Political History Analysis · Historical Art and Culture Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History
| Citations per year | 0.14 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2004 - 2022 (19) |
| Highly cited | No |