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

The Courtier The ruler's court - if not on the same scale everywhere - was a fairly closed world. Of course, on certain days even petitioners not of noble rank were admitted to the imperial residence,

114 and according to the political memoirs of Louis XIV, it was characteristic of the French monarchy that subjects had easy access to their ruler.

115 Duke Saint-Simon confirms this: "the most distinguished gentleman, just as the most inferior, of any order, was free to speak to the king on his way to or from mass or when he went from one suite to another, or when he was getting into his coach."

116 But all this applied only to the court nobility; others had no chance of gaining such spontaneous access to the ruler. The courtiers were united not only by the knowledge of their constant closeness to and intimacy with the ruler, but by their conformity to identical codes of behaviour in addition to the rituals strictly governing their actions. (It is not a coincidence, that the words "courteous" and "courtship" derive from the word "court," as is the case in other European languages.) In central and eastern Europe this conformity spread to the common language, since in this part of the world the language of the court was not necessarily the same as that of the nation. In the imperial court at the time of Leopold I, the role of Spanish, and later Italian in personal interaction grew alongside the official Latin and German. But by the end of the 17

th century, in distinguished circles almost everywhere conversations and correspondences were carried out in French, although supposedly Leopold I was offended if anyone in his service spoke the language of the "enemy."

117 Consequently, in the Viennese court, French did not become the language of society until the 18

th century. But when it did, it was to such a degree that Maria Theresa even wrote to members of her family in French. The Prussian king, Frederick II, wrote and spoke French just as the majority of German princes in the 18

th century. The common language of the various courts led to the reading of, for the most part, identical literary material. Thus fashionable French books became known everywhere, which resulted in literary tastes developing in the same direction. The similar tastes evolved not only because of identical reading material, but also because the court community lived according to its own behavioural norms. Ideal conduct was most effectively broadcast by Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) in his work Libro del Cortegiano ,

m first published in 1528, and quickly published in many languages. Although later, numerous works with similar intents were written, this book continued to be influential in its genre. Its author advises that the courtier should be somewhat more cultivated than the average person, at least in the humanities; he should master the art of eloquence in order to respond appropriately to questions; he should be as witty as possible, in order to win the admiration of his company; he should only acknowledge his inexperience in areas he knows nothing about; and he should be a good dancer and know how to play parlour games, although not chess because it takes a long time and therefore is boring. From this it is apparent that court life took place amidst the constant need to prove oneself, which one could do, according to Cortegiano, with resourcefulness, eloquence, and good manners. Showy, but essentially superficial conduct was advised for success, while rather little was said about questions of morality.

119 This model of the Renaissance courtier changed somewhat according to taste in France in the first half of the 17

th century: the ideal of the honnête homme

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® (cultivated gentleman) included, in addition to that mentioned above, honour, fame, and worth,

121 that is to say, recognition for work done to benefit others. Unlike the medieval court - which was composed primarily of men - the early modern court included as one of its characteristics the constant presence of women. This change took place in France in the first half of the 16

th century, causing the court to become more elegant and polite,

122 and giving rise to the almost obligatory courting. For the Renaissance cortegiano the collective knightly Minne was continued with women, in the form of conversations about love; it lived on as a certain kind of "group erotica," which, after Castiglione, could mean sexual abstinence on neo-Platonic grounds, revived by the Humanists. The counterpoint of this was the famous adventurer and memoir-writer, Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) of Venice, who lived during the Enlightenment.

123 He was not driven simply by lust, but by the challenge of overcoming the resistance of newer and newer women.

124 However, Casanova was not a gentleman, but rather a lonely seducer of women, and not even of noble origins. Court morality was something different. It is true that the boundaries were much wider than outside the court, but it was still not permitted to overstep the mark: gallantry was approved of, in fact, almost required, but licentiousness was not. The court did not tolerate scandal, and behaviour that offended propriety was considered deplorable. Louis XIV for a time banished a member of the royal family, the wife of the outstanding general, the prince called the Grand Condé,

125 for having affairs with her servants. The likewise debauched Madame de Lionne, wife of the secretary of foreign affairs,

126 was shut away in a nunnery for behaviour unworthy of a dame. Her irresponsibility was unacceptable; she had offended the honour and dignity of the court. Men leading dissolute lives were likewise excluded from the king's circle.

127 In the 17

th century, gallantry was assigned an important role from the perspective of the ruler's and the courtier's character development. According to a