Vienna and Versailles The Courts of Europe's Dynastic Rivals, 1550}}}1780 [Paperback]

A comparative study of the courts of Vienna and Paris-Versailles, 15501780.This book brings vividly to life the courtiers and servants of the imperial court in Vienna and the royal court in Paris-Versailles from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. It draws together a wealth of unpublished material in a comparative framework, and helps us to understand how the household operated at the heart of the early modern state. It also offers original approaches to both statebuilding and the notion of 'absolutism'. This is the first institutional study of these courts, and the only comparative study based on archival materials.This book brings vividly to life the courtiers and servants of the imperial court in Vienna and the royal court in Paris-Versailles from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. It draws together a wealth of unpublished material in a comparative framework, and helps us to understand how the household operated at the heart of the early modern state. It also offers original approaches to both statebuilding and the notion of 'absolutism'. This is the first institutional study of these courts, and the only comparative study based on archival materials.Drawing together a wealth of unpublished material in a comparative framework, this volume recreates the life of the courtiers and servants of the imperial court in Vienna and the royal court in Paris-Versailles from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. It reveals how the royal households operated at the heart of the early modern state and offers original approaches to understanding statebuilding and the concept of absolutism. List of illustrations; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Part I. Prelude: 1. Introduction; 2. The household on the eve of the early modern age; Part II. Contours: 3. Numbers and costs; 4. Status and income; Part III. Court Life: 5. A calendar of court life; 6. Ceremony and order at court: an unending pursuit; Part IV. Power: 7. Levels and forms of power at court;ls+