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The present article examines the impact of the 15th-century Renaissance debate on the true nobility on social beliefs of the English antiquarians of the 16th and 17th centuries. It is based on textual corpora of J. Ferne, T. Milles, J. Selden, M. Carter, and other well-known early modern intellectuals. The author of the article believes that a persistent tendency towards a coherent description and classification of nobility and more broadly — of any social group within the early modern British society — is inseparably connected with the antiquarian tradition of the 16th and 17th centuries. It was within this tradition that so called epistemological turn emerged that led to discursive fragmentation of the entire social order as well as social groups which formed its entirety and complexity. The antiquarian framing of all complexities of social order was based not only on the rejection of an idea of institutional entity — crucial for the medieval corporate theory. In contrast to corporate-functional homogeneity and consistency, it introduced particular group-wide characteristics. These features opened up opportunities for remodeling of the ancient regime with consideration of diversity inherent in social indicia. Nobilitas in the antiquarian texts acquired at least two interconnected meanings. The term was used as a reference to an assemblage of an entire nobility and in this way was very close to a group-wide identity. At the same time, it denoted a total gentility and, in this context, reflected the very complex of Aristotelian and Stoic understanding of the true nobility.

In recent years scholars have increasingly challenged and reassessed the once established concept of the 'crisis of the nobility' in early-modern Europe. Offering a range of case studies from countries across Europe this collection further expands our understanding of just how the nobility adapted to the rapidly changing social, political, religious and cultural circumstances around them. By allowing readers to compare and contrast a variety of case studies across a range of national and disciplinary boundaries, a fuller - if more complex - picture emerges of the strategies and actions employed by nobles to retain their influence and wealth. The nobility exploited Renaissance science and education, disruptions caused by war and religious strife, changing political ideas and concepts, the growth of a market economy, and the evolution of centralized states in order to maintain their lineage, reputation, and position. Through an examination of the differing strategies utilized to protect their status, this collection reveals much about the fundamental role of the 'second order' in European history and how they had to redefine the social and cultural 'spaces' in which they found themselves. By using a transnational and comparative approach to the study of the European nobility, the volume offers exciting new perspectives on this important, if often misunderstood, social group.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Part 1. Mysteries: Remains of a Hidden Life -- Words on Paper -- In Search of a Person behind the Words -- Part 2. A France of Broken Families -- Families -- Politiques -- Breaking with His Father -- Aristocratic Paris -- Libertine Paris -- A Political Education -- Part 3. Gearing Up for War: Mathematical Inspirations -- Breda -- Military Engineering -- Meeting Isaac Beeckman -- The Holy Roman Empire -- Anxious Dreams -- Curious Meetings -- Part 4. War and Diplomacy in Europe -- Into Bohemia -- To Hungary and Disaster -- The Baltic and Return to The Netherlands -- Again in France -- Paris and the Rosicrucian Scare -- The Valtellina and Rome -- Part 5. The Struggle for France -- Problems with the Cardinal -- The Campaign for La Rochelle -- Confrontation and Departure -- The Meetings -- Confrontation and Conversation -- Becoming a Sectarian -- Feeling Threatened -- Exile -- Part 6. Not Yet Concluded -- Chronological Table -- List of Early Correspondence and Publications -- Acknowledgments -- For Further Reading -- Notes -- Index.