State and Nobility in Early Modern Germany by Hillay Zmora - 9780521561792

State and Nobility in Early Modern GermanyThe Knightly Feud in Franconia, 14401567\nAuthor(s): Hillay Zmora\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521561792, 978-0521561792\nSynopsis\nOne of the most striking features of late medieval and early modern German was the countless feuds carried out by nobles. A constant threat to law and order, these feuds have commonly been regarded as a manifestation of the decline - economic and otherwise - of the nobility. This study shows that the nobility was not in crisis at this time. Nor were feuds merely banditry by another name. Rather, they were the result of an interplay between two fundamental processes: princely state-building, and social stratification among the nobility. Offering a new paradigm for understanding the German nobility, this book argues that the development of the state made proximity to princes the single most decisive factor in determining .