Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Court society
(1,769 words)

1. Concept

The term court society was definitively coined (as “Höfische Gesellschaft”) by Norbert Elias. His book Die Höfische Gesellschaft (1933/1969 [6]) exerted a seminal influence on the study of early modern society. He defined court society as follows: “At a certain stage in the development of European societies, individuals are bound together in the form of courts, and thereby given a specific stamp” (“Individuen werden auf ein…

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Schmale, Wolfgang, “Court society”, 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_021048>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170206



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