I thought the strategy's Louis XIII used in his attempt to gather more power to himself were interesting. By creating a noble class that competed with the older nobles, he slowly was diluting the power of the nobles. By allowing anyone (who had the money) to purchase their nobility, I would think that being a noble became a little less impressive. Previously, only those old families were noble, you were noble if you could prove your lineage was of importance. But now, with more common people being able to purchase their nobility, more people became nobles, and thus it was less of a rare thing. While the purpose of the Nobility of the Robe was to demean the Nobility of the Sword and thus weaken their power, it also served a second function. The new influx of nobles, and swelling of their ranks, probably made the idea seem less elite to the common folk. With the sudden expansion of nobles who bought their position, commoners probably viewed the position as less "elite." It would be the same as if instead of being elected to United States Senate, you could purchase your position (even though that's basically what happens today considering an average senate race runs in the upwards of $8mil). But if any rich to moderately wealthy guy could go out and purchase himself a Senate seat, it would become a less prestigious position, and thus the general public would not view Senators with their current level of respect. Nobility went from being a rare attribute attained by lineage to a commodity.
Also the king's use of the courts was an interesting instrument in gaining power. By having his own courts go throughout the land and (if they deemed necessary) overturn the laws and decisions made by other courts, he asserted that his law was greater than all law. The king's ability to whimsically change the law probably frustrated citizens to no end, but also probably instilled a fear that the king would change laws to hurt the citizens if they were to not behave appropriately. The mixture of power grabbing tactics Louis XIII used helped him to gain power, as well as hold onto it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with your point about the new nobility. Just as in today's society, "old money" looks down on "new money" and people with "new money" are often viewed by society as gauche, vulgar and unrefined, the members of the new nobility tainted the prestige of the old nobility. Obviously, many commoners still envied the nobility, just as I imagine many of us would be happy to have the income of a seemingly mindless reality star, but the exclusivity and claims to "otherness" of the nobility began to diminish (hence why the sword nobility resented this policy so much.)
ReplyDelete