Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Court ceremonial
(3,250 words)

1. Definition

The term “court ceremonial” refers to all kinds of formal, normativized interactions within which relationships of authority and ranking are on overt display. In the early modern context, this was also simply called “ceremonial.”

Premodern court ceremonial can be seen as a collective symbolic language whose vocabulary consisted of gesture (kneeling, kissing), organization and movement in space (sitting, moving to meet), symbolic objects (crown, …

Cite this page
Stollberg-Rilinger, Barbara, “Court ceremonial”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_020904>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170206



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