Noble Privilege: European Nobility

by M.L. Bush

294 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1983

Reviews

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This amazingly thorough study investigates the aristocracy (which Bush uses as a synonym for "nobility") on the Continent as a class or order, with very little mention of individuals and their peculiarities or departures from the norm. His approach is synthetic with heavy reliance on secondary sources, but in that regard this multi-volume work has become the standard resource. The crux of noble privilege, he says, is that for the past thousand years it has been "not merely an expression of social superiority or of economic and political advantage" but "essentially a juridical fact." Such privilege existed not because of lax enforcement of the law but by explicit legal provision, and the special privileges of the nobility remained generally secure on the Continent until the French Revolution swept most of them away. Moreover, while titles and lands had long been the result of a contract between the aristocrat and the monarch, especially in France, by the 17th century the failure of a noble family to fulfill its obligations toward the ruler no longer resulted in demotion to the ranks. Beyond these general points, and following a discussion of the historical roots of the titled class, the author considers in great detail the nature and character of fiscal exemption and private taxation, judicial privileges and indemnity from state service, parliamentary and office-holding privileges, and the right to rank and title. All of these topics are heavily footnoted and Bush includes a very lengthy bibliography.