nobility

For a discussion of these rankings in relation to the feudal and non-feudal nobilities, see Hills, Invisible City, 35-57.

But there is another lesser-known phenomenon which we might call the trahison de la aristocratie -- the unwillingness of certain European nobilities to accept and play their traditional role in early modern society.

Being about twice as bulky as its predecessor, this volume contains eight studies that stretch over nine centuries and cover a wide variety of topics concerning the social history of Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, and Austrian nobilities during the medieval and early modern periods.

The papers in this book provide ample archaeological and ethnographic evidence that in addition to hereditary nobilities there existed in Mesoamerica intermediate elite groups, based on ritual and occupational specializations, whose status and access to luxury goods distinguished them from peasant commoners.

Despite these drawbacks Mentzer's work represents a significant contribution to the growing interest in the history of the early modern family as well as towards a better comprehension of the various kinds of nobilities which made up the ruling class of the ancien rigime.