Aristocracy

This is a study of gender and power in Victorian Britain. It examines the contribution made by women to the public culture of the British aristocracy in the nineteenth century. It challenges the view that power and authority were predominantly masculine attributes and shows that a partnership of authority between men and women was integral to aristocratic life. The book is thus an important addition to the debate on `separate spheres'. Dr Reynolds explores the roles of aristocratic women in estate management, patronage of churches and schools, and in caring for the poor and other dependants. She shows how women were at the heart of the local communities and institutions on which aristocratic power was based. The book goes on to discuss the realm of national politics, analysing women's participation in the electoral process, in Westminster-based political life, and at Queen Victoria's court. Based on a wide range of previously unused archival sources, Aristocratic Women and Political Society presents a lively portrait of women's experiences and a corrective to the view of the upper-class Victorian woman as a passive social butterfly.

This collection of papers addresses the origins and nature of nobility, its relationship with the late Roman world, its acquisition and exercise of power, its association with military obligation, and its gradual 'pacification'.

English Political Culture in the Fifteenth Century is a new and original study of how politics worked in late medieval England, throwing new light on a much-discussed period in English history. Michael Hicks explores the standards, values and principles that motivated contemporary politicians, and the aspirations and interests of both dukes and peasants alike.Hicks argues that the Wars of the Roses did not result from fundamental weaknesses in the political system but from the collision of exceptional circumstances that quickly passed away. Overall, he shows that the era was one of stability and harmony, and that there were effective mechanisms for keeping the peace. Structure and continuities, Hicks argues, were more prominent than change.

Following the success of his earlier works, The Iron Century (1971) and European Society 1500-1700 (1984), Henry Kamen here presents a significant and enthralling study of the sweeping changes affecting Europe from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century - a time when the concept of Europe was a nebulous idea.He draws together common features of society from a range of different social contexts throughout Europe, from Italy and Spain to Poland and Russia. The two central themes of basic social structures of Europe and change in social attitudes are examined here as well as the significance of broad community based norms and the development of social disciplines at all levels.Amongst many others, topics of discussion include:* European identities, frontiers and language* Leisure, work and migration* Religion, ritual and withcraft* The aristocracy, the bourgeoisie and the poor* gender roles* social discipline and absolutism.Students of early modern history will find this book fascinating and an invaluable addition to their course studies.

Rome's transition from a republican system of government to an imperial regime comprised more than a century of civil upheaval and rapid institutional change. Yet the establishment of a ruling dynasty, centered around a single leader, came as a cultural and political shock to Rome's aristocracy, who had shared power in the previous political order. How did the imperial regime manage to establish itself and how did the Roman elites from the time of Julius Caesar to Nero make sense of it? In this compelling book, Matthew Roller reveals a "dialogical" process at work, in which writers and philosophers vigorously negotiated and contested the nature and scope of the emperor's authority, despite the consensus that he was the ultimate authority figure in Roman society.Roller seeks evidence for this "thinking out" of the new order in a wide range of republican and imperial authors, with an emphasis on Lucan and Seneca the Younger. He shows how elites assessed the impact of the imperial system on traditional aristocratic ethics and examines how several longstanding authority relationships in Roman society--those of master to slave, father to son, and gift-creditor to gift-debtor--became competing models for how the emperor did or should relate to his aristocratic subjects. By revealing this ideological activity to be not merely reactive but also constitutive of the new order, Roller contributes to ongoing debates about the character of the Roman imperial system and about the "politics" of literature.

This account of nineteenth-century Carmarthenshire emphasizes the social and political dominance of the Anglican and landowning nobility and gentry for much of the period. Matthew Cragoe explores the nature and public roles of a governing elite, arguing that their influence was not simply a function of their members' wealth or their control of local government and the administration of the law, but had a vital ideological dimension in the aristocracy's paternalistic ethic, which found powerful and practical expression in the 'moral economy' of the landed estate.