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Article: Court and Courtiers
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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COURT AND COURTIERS
COURT AND COURTIERS.
The royal and princely courts of early modern Europe were important centers of culture, politics, and patronage. New codes of conduct were developed at and for the court. The court was often criticized by contemporaries as a place where corruption, moral depravity, and political intrigues as well as waste, ostentation, and luxury reigned supreme. Nevertheless, court culture, which was centered on the cult of majesty, had an enormous impact on elite culture in early modern Europe.
THE COURTIER AND THE NEW CODE OF CIVILITY
Italy was the first European country in which life at court was systematically analyzed and where a whole series of books of ...