An authoritative and accessible survey of the European nobility over four centuries.

The great strength of this collection is its wide range...a valuable work for anyone interested in the social aspects of the medieval nobility. CHOICE Articles

This text examines Western European nobility in the 17th and 18th centuries. It includes chapters on: the consolidation of noble power c. 1600-1800; the British

The position of the nobility depended on a stable world which accepted their authority: but, in the eighteenth century, that world was becoming increasingly fra