Buzási Enikő szerk.: In Europe' Princely Courts, Ádám Mányoki, Actors and venues of a portraitist's career (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2003/1)

János Kalmár: POWER AND THE PRINCELY COURT IN EARLY 18th-CENTURY EUROPE

German, Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, Italian, and southern Netherlandish families. For each of them this meant two weeks actually spent at the court, six of them at the same time. Eight days were to be spent in threeman shifts doing pre-service, while another eight were spent in service to the emperor. During this time they wore courtly attire, and carried a large, decorative key in their pocket.

63 Certain court offices were attractive to the nobility because of the respectable salaries the holder of the office was paid commensurate with his rank. Because of their feudal obligation to serve in the army, the nobility had at one time been the exclusive repository of military power. This role of the nobility, however, had increasingly diminished with the use of mercenaries and the establishment of a permanent military force.

64 The economic power of the nobility living off of allowances weakened, primarily because commerce and its associated form of money management became more vigorous.

65 The nobility, however, did not take part in these.

66 More effective taxation by the state, with an expanding and increasingly significant public administration operating in the background (resulting in an increase in revenue for the crown), increased overall the strength of the state organism,

67 and ultimately the power of the ruler. For the nobles, a decline in economic power resulted in a loss of political influence: in most countries feudal assemblies - if they were called at all had become insignificant and no longer suitable forums for the nobility to promote their interests. Consequently, part of the nobility - responding to their deteriorating circumstances and hoping to assure themselves some opportunities - entered into the service of the court, where there were plenty of openings with the growing number of offices and inflated military. But there were also prospects in the growing royal household.

68 The monarch was not sparing of titles, honours, and ranks. In 1767 the elector of Pfalz had twenty-one generals among his army of 5500!

69 Of course, everything has its price: the nobility that had once wielded considerable independent political power, now - voluntarily and almost without notice - had exchanged their real power for the shining glass pearls offered by the ruler, blending themselves in a disciplined manner into the hierarchical order governed by the strict behavioural norms of the court. Bristling against this, Duke Saint-Simon, a critical courtier of Louis XIV, wrote in condemnation of his ruler: "Little by little, he forces everyone to serve, including those he considered nothing, in order to expand his court. Those of military age did not dare postpone entering the service. This was just a technique to destroy the aristocracy, to have them adjust to equality and mix with everyone. [...] Using the excuse that all military service is honourable, and that it is a wise thing to learn obedience, in order that we should give orders [...], he forced everyone to serve at first as a cadet in the royal guard, as a simple guardsman in the guard's hall and outside, in winter and summer, as well as in the army. [...] It was useless and pedantic service, nothing but rules and precision."

70 Nevertheless, the opportunity to be close to the ruler was enticing to the nobility, for that was where the central institutions were, headed by influential leaders. Moreover, the nobility cherished the hope of building valuable contacts, which could assist them in acquiring the property they yearned for, rising in office and ranks, and arranging advantageous marriages. A young man could begin his career at court as a page (Edelknabe) through the right connections or thanks to the earlier merits of a relative. This service lasted for two or three years, during which the studies he carried out under the supervision of guardians, the attainment of certain skills (fencing, riding, dancing), and the mastery of court etiquette could serve to replace the kind of education - in certain areas related to court life - that a real school provided. Moreover, these years could substitute for the very costly trip abroad, the so-called gentleman's tour, young men took for study purposes and to gain experience. Court life offered so many advantages that noblemen would even take "redundant," lower-ranking posts with no salaries. In fact the ruler more than once awarded his subject a reservation for the occupied post.

71 At the same time, from the second half of the 17

th century, there was a significant increase in honorary, or prestige titles, which were of less value than court posts, because the holder was not guaranteed closeness to the throne.

72 By the 18

th century, the role of the state offices, which operated in the ruler's residence, gained in strength, as opposed to the court offices, which had lost some of their political significance.

73 Moreover, service performed as a member of the royal household - which always began with an oath taken to the ruler - ended with the death of the ruler, although a large portion of these offices were reapproved by his successor. The position of state officials, however, was not automatically impacted by such events.

74 In most countries, before the 18

th century, there was little difference between the spheres of court and state; the court was still the centre of state administration. This manifested itself above all in the existence of specialised offices, which had begun to form in the 16

th century, according to the requirements of the increasingly more sophisticated state organ. In most countries, in addition to the Imperial/Royal Council (designed to unburden the ruler and based on personal criteria), the Royal Tribunal, the Royal Chamber, the Royal Chancellery, the Finance Council, the War Council, and, in the principalities of the Holy Roman Empire, the Church Council were also created. Besides ensuring the greater efficiency of the state, they, at the same time, counterbalanced the feudal institutions. The specialisa-