Cultural Capital and Noble Identity+

CULTURALCAPITAL,FAMILY
STRATEGIESAND NOBLE IDENTITY IN

EARLYMODERN HABSBURGAUSTRIA
1579-1620*
'I swearby God'sbody', remarkeda Tudor gentleman,'I'd rather
that my son should hang than study letters. For it becomes the
sons of gentlemen to blow the horn nicely, to hunt skilfully and
elegantly, carryand train a hawk. But the study of letters should
be left to the sons of rustics'.l Equally displeasedthat old nobles
now had to take academic learning seriously, a seventeenth-
century French noblemancomplainedthat in his time 'one made
gentlemen study only to join the church;even they were mostly
satisfied with just the Latin needed for their breviary. Those
destined for the court or the army went to the academy. They
learnedto ride, to dance, arms, to play the lute, to leap, and that
was all'.2 Such expressions of discontent indicate that early
modern nobles experienced the rising standards of education
as a cultural revolution. Indeed, the increase in the number of
universitiesand the men attending them since the late fifteenth
century was unprecedentedand has prompted some European
historiansto speak of 'an educationalrevolution'.3
The upbringing of noble children in seventeenth-century
Europeansociety continuedto be designed to inculcatethe legit-
imate noble cultureso as to reproducethe social order, including
establishedgender divisions, and to secure dynastic continuity.
However, the strategiesof noble families in educatingtheir sons
* I am gratefulto the SocialScienceand HumanitiesResearchCouncilof Canada
for financialsupport.I also wish to thankMichaelC. Howardfor his insightsand
suggestions,whichsignificantlycontributedto clarifyingmy arguments.I have also
benefitedfromthe stimulatingdiscussionswithinthe Interdisciplinary
ReadingGroup
at the Universityof Waterloo.A versionof this articlewas presentedat the third
Carletonconferenceon the Historyof the Familyin May 1997.
1RichardPace, De Fructu (Basle,1571),as quotedin LawrenceStone, TllzeCrisis
of the Aristocracy, 1558-1641, abridgededn (Oxford,1967),305.
2 Oeuvres meleesde Saint-Euremond,ed. CharlesGirard,3 vols. (Paris, 1867), ii,
259, quotedin JonathanDewald,AristocraticExperienceand the Origins of Modern
Culture:France, 1570-81 (Berkeley,1993),81.
3 R. A. Houston,Literacyin Early ModernEurope:Culturee Education,1500-1800
(London,1988),89; Stone,Crisis of the Aristocracy,329.
CULTURALCAPITALAND NOBLEIDENTITY 37
became increasinglyorientatedtowardsserving the ruler at court

and in the army.4The technicalrevolutionin warfarenecessitated
that successfulwarriorsacquirecompetencein mathematics,for-
tification technology and tactics, just as courtiers and adminis-
trators needed formal training in law, languagesand rhetoric.5
Noblemen were now expected to be polishednot only in manners
and proficientin the militaryarts, but also to have a knowledge
of the law, speak foreign languages, display book-learningand
organizationaltalents. However, these new educationalrequire-
ments raised questions about social distinctions between com-
moners and nobility, causing nobles to fear that educational
achievementand merit ratherthan birth would become the main
criteriafor social advancement.Educationalreformersand others
increasinglycampaignedagainstthe ignoranceof the nobility and
4 Becauseof the patrimonial natureof government,which did not separatethe
publicfrom the privatesphereof rulers,in this articlethe term 'court'will referto
the totalityof people servinga rulerin the physicalspace he or she occupied.In
otherwords,'court'will designateboth the administration and the royalhousehold
unlessotherwiseexplicitlystated.
5 J. H. Hexter's seminal essay, 'The Educationof the Aristocracyin the
Renaissance',in his Reappraisalsin History, 2nd edn (Chicago,1979), still deserves
attention. For the educationof the Germannobility, see Winfried Dotzauer,
'Deutsches Studium und deutsche Studenten an europaischenHochschulen
(Erankreich, Italien)unddienachfolgende Tatitgkeitin Stadt,KircheundTerritorium
in Deutschland',in ErichMaschkeand JurgenSydow(eds.), Stadt und Universitat
im Mittelalter und in der Fruken Neuzeit (Sigmaringen, 1974);NotkerHammerstein,
'Universitatund Reformation',HistorischeZeitschrift, cclviii (1994);R. A. Muller,
Universitat undAdel: Eine soziokulturelle Studie zur Geschichte der bayerischen
LandesuniversitatIngoldstadt, 1472-1648 (Berlin, 1974);also his 'Aristokratisierung
des Studiums?Bemerkungenzur Adelsfrequenzan suddeutschenUniversitatenim
17. Jahrhundert',Geschichte und Gesellschaft, x (1984); Anton Schindling,
Humanistische Hochschule und freie Reichsstadt Gymnasium und Akademie in
Strassburg, 1538 bis 1621 (Wiesbaden, 1977); W. Zorn, 'Adel und Gelehrtes
Beamtentum',in H. Aubinand W. Zorn(eds.), Handbuchder deutschenWirtschafts-
und Sozialgeschichte(Stuttgart,1971). On Frenchhigher education,see L. W. B.
Brockliss,FrenchHigherEducationin the Seventeenthand EighteenthCenturies(Oxford,
1987); on the French nobility, Mark Motley, Becoming a French Aristocrat: The
Education of the Court Nobility, 1580-1715 (Princeton,1990). Norbert Conrads,
Ritterakademiender Fruhen Neuzeit: Bildung als Standesprivileg im 16. und 17.
ffahrhundert(Gottingen,1982), providescomparisonsbetween noble academiesin
FranceandGermany.R. Kagan,Studentsand Society in Early ModernSpain (London,
1974),synthesizesresearchon educationin Spain.R. J. W. Evansdealswith higher
educationin the Habsburglands, in his 'Die Universitatim geistigenMilieu der
habsburgischenLander,17.-18. Jahrhundert', in AlexanderPatschovskyand Horst
Rabe (eds.), Die Universitat in Alteuropa (Constance,1995); JoachimBahlcke,
Regionalismusund Staatsintegrationim Wiederstreit:Die Ldnderder bohmischenKrone
im erstenffahrhundert 1526-1619 (Munich,1993),ch. 4b, has
der Habsburgerherrschaft,
a sectionon highereducationin the Bohemianlands.See also nn. 9-10 for further
referenceson the Habsburgterritories.
38 PASTAND PRESENT NUMBER163
supportedthe idea that noble privilegehad to be justifiedthrough

public service. Good birth should be coupled with virtue, which
came to be defined not only as moral rectitude and devotion to
God, but also as masteryof intellectualand technicalskills.6
Even though status, kinshipand patronagenetworkscontinued
to be importantfactors for careeradvancementin early modern
Habsburg'Austria',educatedcommonerswere increasinglypro-
moted at the imperial court during the sixteenth century.7 In
orderbetter to competewith them for Habsburgpatronage,noble
families had to emulate the new educational practices. As a
Germannoblemanput it in the late sixteenth century, 'neglecting
. . . [studies] or quitting them prematurelymeans the decline of
the nobility'.8Despite the obvious importanceof the topic, few
studiesexist, especiallyin English,that analysehow the Habsburg
nobilities adaptedto the changesrequiredof them in education.9
And, with some notable exceptions, those that are availablepay
attentionneitherto how the acculturationprocessrelatedto social
reproduction and the religious conflict, nor to the social and
confessionaldifferencesin the educationof elite children.10This
6 Stone,Crisis of the Aristocracy,304.
7 In this article,'Austria'refersto the Habsburghereditaryterritoriesof Lower,
Upperand InnerAustria.The socio-politicalstructuresof these landswere similar
andtheirnobilitiescloselyrelated.On socialmobility,see KarinJ. MacHardy,'Social
MobilityandNoble Rebellionin EarlyModernHabsburgAustria',in JanosM. Bak
(ed.), History e Society in CentralEurope,ii, Nobilitiesin Ce1ztraland EasternEurope:
Kinship, Propertyand Privilege (Budapest,1994).
8As quotedin JonathanDewald, The EuropeanNobility: 1400-1800 (Cambridge,
1996), 154.
9HelmutEngelbrecht,Geschichtedes osterreichischen Bildungszvesens: Erziehungund
Unterrichtauf dem Boden Osterreichs,ii, Das 16. und 17. 3tahrhundert(Vienna,1983),
providesa section on noble education.See GernotHeiss, 'Bildungsverhalten des
niederosterreichischen Adelsim gesellschaftlichen Wandel:ZumBildungsgang im 16.
und 17. Jahrhundert', WienerBeitrage zur Geschichteder Neuzeit, viii (1981);alsohis
'Integration in diehofischeGesellschaft alsBildungsziel: ZurKavalierstour desGrafen
JohannSigmundvonHardegg1646/50',ffahrbuchfur Landeskundevon Niederosterreich,
xlviii-xlix(1982-3). GreteKlingenstein,Der Aufstiegdes HausesKaunitz: Studienzur
Herkunftund Bildung des Staatskanzlers WenzelAnton (Gottingen,1975),dealswith
the lesser nobilityof the eighteenthcentury.On Bohemia,see FrantisekSmahel,
'L'Universitede Praguede 1433 a 1622: recrutementgeographique,carriereset
mobilitesocialesdes etudiantsgradues',in Roger Chartier,DominiqueJulia and
JacquesRevel (eds.), Les UniversitesEuropeennesdu XVIe au XVIIIe siecle: histoire
sociale des populationsetudiantes,2 vols. to date (Paris, 1986-), i; see alsoJiri Pesek
and David Saman,'Les Etudiantsde Bohemedans les universiteset les academies
d'EuropeCentraleet Occidentaleentre 1596et 1620',ibid.
lOGernot Heiss emphasizesthe educationalpractices of Protestantsin his
'Konfession,PolitikundErziehung:Die Landschaftschulen in dennieder-undinner-
osterreichischen Landernvordemdreissigjahrigen Krieg',in GreteKlingenstein (ed.),
Bildung,Politik und Gesellschaft:Studienzur Geschichtedes europaischenBildungszuesens
(cont. on p. 39j
articlethereforeanalysesthe educationalstrategiesof noble famil-

ies between 1579 and 1620, mostly in the province of Lower
Austria,the areasurroundingVienna. This time period, from the
beginningof the Counter-Reformationin 1579ll until the military
strugglebetween FerdinandII and the ProtestantEstatesin 1620,
saw the first substantialincrease in university attendance. The
conflict also generated documents which allow a comparisonof
the educationalpractices of Catholics and Protestants, and the
upper and lower nobility. Concentratingon the educationof male
childrenfor public life, this articlewill focus on severalimportant
and interconnectedissuesconcerningthe schoolingof noblemen.12
First, how did Austriannoble families adjuststrategiesof dy-
nastic and social reproductionto the new educationalstandards?
More specifically,did the acculturationprocess differ among the
variousnoble groupsand affect competitionover court patronage
between them? Secondly, did the transformationin education
changeconceptionsof the socialorder?In particular,what impact
did the new educationalpracticeshave on establishedprinciples
of noble legitimationand, especially, on categoriesof virtue and
merit? Thirdly, how did the religious conflict interact with the
transformationin education,and what were the confessionaldif-
ferences in the acquisitionof culturalcapital?Did contests over
(n. IOcont.)
vom 16. bis zum 18. ffahrhundert(Munich, 1978); see also his 'Argumentation
fur
Glauben und Recht: Zur rhetorisch-juridischen Ausbildungdes Adels an den
Protestantischen"Landschaftschulen" in den nieder- und innerosterreichischen
Landern vor dem dreissigjahrigenKrieg', ffahrbuch des oberosterreichischen
Musealvereins,cxxix (1984).KarinJ. MacHardy,'DerEinflussvon Status,Konfession
und Besitz auf das PolitischeVerhaltendes niederosterreichischen Ritterstandes,
1580-1620', Wiener Beitrage zur Geschichteder Neuseit, viii (1981), differentiates
betweenProtestantand Catholicknights.
1lIn 1579 membersof the AustrianHabsburgfamily,meetingwith the Catholic
dukeof Bavaria,resolvednot to compromiseanylongerwithProtestants.Thismarks
the beginningof Catholicreformactivityin the Austrianterritories.See PaulaSutter
Fichtner,'Introduction',in CharlesW. Ingrao(ed.), State and Societyin Early Modern
Austria (WestLafayette,1994),33; ViktorBibl, 'Die Berichtedes Reichshofrates Dr.
GeorgEderan die HerzogeAlbrechtundWilhelmvon BayernuberdieReligionskrise
in Niederosterreich',ffahrbuchfur Landeskundevon Niederosterreich,new ser., viii
(1909), 95.
12 Researchon the educationof noblewomen has been particularlyneglected,but
BeatrixBastlhas madea splendidbeginningin 'Zu allemgutenauferzogen:Jugend
in der hofischenWelt des 17./18.Jahrhunderts', Praxis Geschichte,i (1997). I also
intendto pay moreattentionto this subjectin my currentprojecton noblewomenin
theHabsburgterritories,'Women,PropertyandAuthorityin EarlyModernHabsburg
Austria,1571-1704'.
40 PASTAND PRESENT NUMBER 163
the educational model fuel competition for court patronage

between Catholics and Protestants, and between Catholic
Habsburgsand Protestantnobles? In answeringthese questions,
I have drawn on conceptions of cultural and symbolic capital,
reproductionand habitus as they have been developed by the
French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu.These categoriesare especi-
ally helpful in viewing educational aims and practices in the
context of social and dynastic reproduction, recognizing the
importance of economic concerns, while avoiding a simplistic
equationof familystrategieswith the consciouspursuitof material
interests.13
REPRODUCTION,
HABITUSAND ELEMENTARY
EDUCATION
Before analysingthe changes in the educationalpracticesof the
various noble groups in the Austrian lands, it is essential to
considerhow the educationalaims of families were connectedto
their strategies of social and dynastic reproductionand, in the
process, elucidatemy use of the conceptsof strategy,habitusand
culturalcapital.These conceptsallow us to recognize,on the one
hand that, while nobles were rarely disinterestedin maintaining
or improving the position of their families, their strategies of
dynastic reproductionwere not necessarilythe product of con-
sciously conceived plans to maximize resources.14On the other
For a detaileddescriptionof his concepts,see PierreBourdieu,'The Formsof

13
Capital',in John G. Richardson(ed.), Handbook of Theory and Researchfor the

Sociologyof Education(New York,1986).The followingsectionis alsobasedon ideas
developedby Bourdieuin his 'SocialSpaceand the Genesisof Groups',Theoryand
Society, xiv ( 1985). See also his other works: Distinction: A Social Critique of
theffudgementof Taste (Cambridge,Mass., 1984); Outline of a Theory of Practice
(Cambridge,Mass., 1977); The Logic of Practice (Stanford,1990);'SocialSpaceand
SymbolicPower', Sociol. Theory, vii (1989); also, with Jean-ClaudePasseron,
Reproductionin Education, Society and Culture(London,1977).Viewingcapitalas a
resourcethatpotentiallyyieldspowerand connectingimmaterialto economicforms
differsfrom Marx'sconceptionof capitaland capitalaccumulation, as well as from
the ideasof orthodoxeconomics.CraigCalhounprovidesan accessibletreatmentof
Bourdieu'sconcepts in 'Habitus,Field and Capital:The Questionof Historical
Specificity',in CraigCalhounet al. (eds.), Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives(Chicago,
1993).
I takeissueherewith thosemainstream
14 sociologistsandeconomistswho view all
humanbehaviourin termsof the rational-choice or rational-actiontheory.J. Elster
(ed.), Rational Choice (Oxford, 1986), is useful in differentiatingvarioustypes of
rational-choice theoryand outliningthe problemsthey encounter.Nobles ( just like
!
cont. on p. 41)
hand, they cannot be regardedas reflex or mechanicalreactions

of individualnobles indoctrinatedby similarupbringing.Instead,
reproductivestrategieswere infusedwith varioustraditionswhich
evolved continuallythrough practicalactivity.
Maintainingand enhancing the position of individual noble
familieswas closely tied to reproducingthe social order since this
assured the dominanceof the nobility at the apex of the social
structure and in political life, which, in turn, safeguardedits
economic and other privileges.l5 Although economic capital in
the form of landed wealth and other monetaryinvestmentswere
crucial to dynastic reproduction,in early modern conditions the
power of economic capital became fully effective only when it
was associatedwith immaterialresources,especiallysocial capital
(e.g., noble titles, patronagenetworks)and symboliccapital(e.g.,
honour, reputation).And both the successfulpropagationof the
social order and family enhancementdepended to a large extent
on the assimilation of cultural or informationalcapital (e.g.,
knowledge and skills) into the habitus of young nobles.
Habitus, as the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has defined it, is
formed in the course of socializationby the family and other
educationalinstitutions, and, while durable, can be modified by
subsequent experiences. It is neither an inflexible habit nor a
role, nor a set of norms, but the productof internalizedpractices,
structures,norms and ideas of a particularsocial environment.It
helps individualsto decipher their particularworld and mobilize
them to pursue certaingoals, which may be 'reasonable'without
(n. 14 cont.)
most other people)could not be fully informedmaximizers,with knowledgeof all

the choicesavailableto themandthe trueprobabilitydistributionof all contingencies.
WhileI believethathumanactionis motivated,I do not viewmotivationas coincident
withmaterialinterestand,a fortiori, withmaterialinterestconceivedin universalistic,
utilitarianterms. 'Interest'is not eternal, but a historicalvariantthat needs to
be studiedthroughhistoricalanalysis.I agreewith Bourdieuthat 'practicesform ar
economy,that is, follow an immanentreasonthat cannotbe restrictedto economic
reason. . . [but]maybe definedby referenceto a widerangeof functionsandends'.If
we reduceactionto mechanicalreactions,we cannotunderstandpracticeswhich'are
reasonablewithoutbeingthe productof a reasonedpurpose,even less, of conscious
computation'.PierreBourdieuand Loic J. D. Wacquant,An Invitation to Reflexive
Sociology(Chicago,1992), 119-20.
15 On the variousconceptsof strategy) see GrahamCrow,'The Use of the Concept
of "Strategy"in Recent SociologicalLiterature',Sociology, xxiii (1989). Biological
reproductionfor patrimonialtransmission wasan integralpartof socialreproduction
strategies,butit is not thefocalpointof thisarticle.Whennecessary,I will distinguish
biological,reproductivecapitalfromotherformsof familymaintenance.
42 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 163
being the product of deliberatedecision-making.l6Thus, in the

ideal case, when properly inculcated with noble culture, new
generationsof nobles will view their society as self-evident, per-
ceive opportunitiesfor, and collaboratein, the requirementsof
social and dynasticreproduction.17 In short, noble familiesmight
consciouslydevise strategies,includingdecisionson how to educ-
ate their children, but in doing so follow reasonsand traditions
that cannotbe simplyreducedto economicfactors;or, as econom-
ists define it, rational-choicecalculus.l8
Reproducingculture, then, was essentialto propagatingsocial
relations.In a society where action was much more co-ordinated
through tradition than it is today, and where legal prescription
and normative structures (e.g., the prohibition on nobles to
engagein tradeand commerceand patrilinealtransmission)made
the conversion of non-materialresources into economic capital
much more complicated,it was especiallyimportantfor the elite
to endow its sons with a durablehabitus that internalizednoble
culture, particularlyskills for enhancingthe social and symbolic
resources of the family, which could be used for materialpur-
16 Bourdieu,Logic of Practice, 52-65, especially stressesthathabitusis not a habit,
mechanismor norm,but a socializedsubjectivitythatembodiespracticesandconcep-
tual schemesof the socialenvironment,its structures,divisionsand classifications.
Habitusis internalized as a secondnature,it is a dispositionthatgeneratesthe actions
thatresultin reproduction.The betteragentsinternalizea senseof theircultureand
society, and the more there is relativeharmonybetweentheir dispositionand the
conditionssurrounding themthe morelikelythey will collaboratein socialreproduc-
tion. This does not meanthatnoblesbehavedas culturalautomatons,who couldnot
reflectivelyassess problemsin practicalterms, but only that they acted within a
specificsymbolicorder.
17 According to Bourdieu,habitusis an opensystemof disposition,durablebut not
immutable:'The tendencytowardself-reproduction of the structureis realizedonly
whenit enrollsthe collaborations of agentswho haveinternalized its specificnecessity
in the form of habitusand who are active producerseven when they consciouslyor
unconsciouslycontributeto reproduction.But what is necessaryto reproducethe
structureis still historicalaction ... agentsare the productof this structureand
continuallymake and remakethis structure,which they (sic) may even radically
transformunder definitestructuralconditions':Bourdieuand Wacquant,Reflexive
Sociology, 140. For similarconceptionsof habitus,see JamesM. Ostrow, Social
Sensitivity: A Study of Habit and Experience(Albany, 1990), who also traces the
conceptto MauriceMerleau-Ponti andJohnDewey.
18 I suggest that viewing humanaction in this mannercan avoid some of the
problemsthat have arisenin scholarlycontroversiesover how to view the cultural
systemand the motivesof people who lived in far removedplacesand times. The
mostfamousrecentpaperwaron this subjecthasbeenfoughtby the anthropologists
GanannathObeyesekere,The Apotheosisof Captain Cook: EuropeanMythmakingin
thePacific(Princeton,1995),andMarshall Sahlins,Hozu'Natives' Think:AboutCaptain
Cook,for Example(Chicago,1995).
poses. And, with the advances commoners had made in the
acquisition of scholastic learning and in gaining access to the
Habsburgcourt during the sixteenth century, it became impera-
tive that the sons of nobles be better preparedacademicallyfor
the changing roles of courtier, warrior and landowner. But to
uphold the social divisions between nobility and commoners it
was also essentialfor the nobility to redefinethe new educational
standardsto suit its own social identity by reinscribingtraditional
social distinctionsin educationalpractices.To achieve these aims,
noble families combined explicit, institutionalizededucation at
school and universities with implicit, diffuse socializationin an
aristocratic,court-like setting at home and abroad.
These strategieswere alreadyapparentin the elementaryedu-
cation of young noblemen in the Austrianlands during the six-
teenth century. Here, as elsewhere in Europe, the educationof
children was generally invigorated by humanist and religious
reformers, who promoted schooling that combined pietas with
eruditio,and this, together with the new vocationalneeds, led to
the establishmentof many schools in the Habsburg territories.
Noble familiessponsoredtheir creationand increasinglysent their
young sons, usually around the age of seven, to the new urban
Gymnasiaor Latin schools. During the late sixteenth century the
Protestantnobles, who were numericallypredominantin Lower
Austria, preferred their sons to attend, for four to eight years,
the newly establishedProtestantschools of the provincialestates
(Landschaftsschulen), while Catholics, under the leadership of
Jesuits, sponsoredLatin schools of their own to ensure the infu-
sion of the appropriatereligious identity. But both confessions
focused on moraltrainingand the teachingof readingand writing
in Latin.l9
Noble parentsrecognizedthat culturalcapitalwas essentialfor
family continuancewhen they stressedthat their sons' education
l9Engelbrecht,Das 16. und 17. ffahrhundert,ch. 4. M. CyriacumSpangenberg,
Adels Spiegel: HistorischerAusfuhrlicherBericht: Was Adel Sey und heisse I Woherer
kome . . ., 2 vols. (Schmalkalden,
1591),i, 138-9, insistedthat children'seducation
shouldbeginat seven,as soon as they acquiredreason(sobaldbei Verstand).In 1620,
nearly90 per cent of the familieswho belongedto the LowerAustrianestateswere
Protestants,presumablyLutherans.Between 1580 and 1620 the proportionof
Protestant(presumablyLutheran)familieswhoweremembersof the LowerAustrian
nobleestatesdeclinedfrom nearly90 per cent to just below 70 per cent:see Karin
J. MacHardy,'The Rise of Absolutismand Noble Rebellionin Early Modern
HabsburgAustria,1570 to 1620', ComparativeStudies in Society and Hist., xxxiv
(1992),418-24.
was to serve the 'honourof the family'.20They also
realizedthat
the best conditionsfor convertingculturalcapitalinto
more con-
crete resources was via service to the crown. Since
it was a
prerequisitefor most importantpositionsat court, the
of Latin became a focal point of secularprimary instruction
education.As a
late sixteenth-century elementary school regulation
in Lower
Austriaput it, 'nearlyall offices deal in legal matters,and
be run without Latin'.21Pupils also received basic cannot
schooling in
some other languagesand subjects, including history,
rhetoric,
geometry, music and philosophy(i.e., logic, metaphysics,
math-
ematics).Most of these schoolsservedas a preparationfor
sity attendanceand some of them even offered univer-
instructionin legal
studies during the last year.22
Moral trainingwas the other focal point of elementary
educa-
tion in the Austrian lands. Parents and humanist
educators
thought it essential to 'drum' moral virtue into young
children.
They viewed religious instruction as particularly
helpful for
internalizingrespect for authority and obedience toward par-
ents.23This was crucialfor dynasticreproductionbecause
it dis-
posed children to put the interests of their families, or
Haus,
before their personal desires. Appropriately,the word
Zucht,
whichin Germanmeansboth disciplineand breeding,was
widely
employedin the instructionsfor noble education, and the
term
Hofzuchtwas appliedto the rules of courtlybehaviour.24The
fact
20 Instructions of KarlEusebiusvon Liechtenstein(1611-48)to his son
seventeenth century],quotedin GernotHeiss, 'Ihro keiserlichenMayestat zu [n.d., mid-
. . unsererganzen fursllichen Familie aber z2xr Diensten
Glori: Erziehungund Unterrichtder
Fursten von Liechtenstein im ZeitalterdesAbsolutismus', in EvelinOberhamer
Derganzen Weltein Lobund Spiegel:Das Fgrstenhaus (ed.),
Liechtensteinin derfrukenNemzeit
(Vienna, 1990), 155, 175.
21 'dafast alleramptervoller
Rechtshandel sindt,undohnelateinischesprachnicht
gefuert werden: excerptfromthe religiousregulationsconcerning
estatesin Horn)Kirchenordnung the schoolof the
(3 Jan. 1577),quotedin Heiss, 'Konfession,Politik
und Erziehung',50.
22 Engelbrecht, Das 16. und 17. 3tahrhundert,57, 97-8.
23 Ulrike Knall-Brskovsky,
'Ethos und Bildweltdes Adels', in Adel im Wandel:
Politik,Kultur, Konfession, 1500-1700
(Niederosterreichische Landesausstellung,
Rosenburg, 1990), 483. For a succincttreatmentof elementary
Austrian lands,andthe impactof the religiousreformation,see educationin the
and17. ffahrhundert,42-184. Heiss, Engelbrecht,Das 16.
'Bildungsverhalten des niederosterreichischen
Adels',152-62, coversthe earlyeducationof noblesons.
24 The rules of courtly
behaviourfor pages are particularlyinstructivein this
respect:see FerdinandMencik,'Beitragezur Geschichteder
Archivfur Osterrreichische kaiserlichen Hofiamter',
Geschichte,lxxxvii (1899): I. Zogler,Der HofstaatdesHauses
Osterreich(ViennaandLeipzig,1917), 135.
that parentsconsideredself-controlof body and mind as essential
parts of the habitusof a successfulwarriorand courtierindicates
that they did not lose sight of the vocationalobjectivesof discip-
line.25Thus, for all of these reasons,late sixteenth-centuryeduca-
tionalguidelinesconcentratedon punishment,drillandrepetition.
They regulated strictly every hour of the day, from six in the
morning until bedtime, and recommendedconstant surveillance
of pupils' behaviour.26
Togetherwith the readingof ancienttexts (particularlyCicero),
the inculcation of discipline and religious instruction were
also designed to activatethe supposedlynaturalpredispositionof
nobles to virtue, especially prudence, temperance and con-
stancy.27As Prince Karl Eusebius von Liechtensteinput it, 'fear
of God' was the 'basis of all virtues', and noble virtue found its
expression not only in piety but also in dignified and self-
controlledbehaviour,particularlygracefulgestures and posture.
The 'honourof nobility', his cousin Hartmanninsisted, depended
on 'good mannersand gestures' (gutesittenundgeberden).28 Late
sixteenth-centurypedagogicalguidelines for elementary educa-
tion in the Austrian territoriesdefined the posture for reciting
texts, urged pupils to eat their food with 'good gestures' (guten
gepartdten), dress in a noble manner and regularly clean their
bodiesand changetheir clothes. People had to be able to recognize
by their appearanceand behaviour that pupils were raised as
nobles rather than peasants, a contrast that was also empha-
sized in Castiglione's Courtier.29 In other words, the symbolic
reflectionsof noble superiorityhad to be incarnatedin the body
itself. As the proportionof pupils from urban classes, who were
toleratedin Landschaftsschulen becauseof the need to train clergy
and teachers,increasedaroundthe turn of the century, the nobil-
25 MartinC. Mandlmayr andKarlG. Vocelka,'VomAdelsaufgebot zumStehenden

Heer: Bemerkungenzum Funktionswandel des Adels im Kriegswesender Fruhen
Neuzeit', WienerBeitragezur Geschichte derNeuzeit,viii (1981), 119-20.
26 Engelbrecht, 95.
Das 16. und17. ffahrhundert,
27 On the variousnoblevirtues,see Spangenberg, Adels-Spiegel, ii, 161-73.
of Karl Eusebiusvon Liechtensteinto his sons, quotedin Heiss,
28 Instructions
'Erziehungund Unterricht',157-8.
29Oberosterreichisches Landesarchiv,Linz, Stadisches Archiv, Landschafts-
schulsachen1567-1601, Hs. 19, fos. 219-25, Ordnung fur die Schuler der
Landschaftsschule in Linz (um 1578), repr. in Engelbrecht,Das 16. und 17.
ffahrhundert, 391-4. On bodilyposture,see ibid., 157;Peter Burke, TheFortunesof
the Courtier:TheEuropean Reception Cortegiano
of Castiglione's (UniversityPark,Pa,
1995),29.
ity began to include in the curriculumof their sons the teaching

of fencing, music and dance. The purposewas to develop compet-
ence in traditionalnoble formsof behaviour,which couldfacilitate
distinguishingnobles from commoners.30
Manyparentsof the uppernobility(and those who could afford
to supportaspirationsfor statusmobility) continuedto send their
sons to serve in the householdsof relatives,friends or patrons
usuallybetween the age of seven and fourteen where a private
tutor would instruct them, in the companyof other children, in
the various academicsubjects, moral virtues and bodily discip-
lines. That this practice became even more popular during
the early seventeenth century was due not only to the closing of
the Landschaftsschulen during the course of the Counter-
lleformation,3l but also to the fact that this type of education
allowed for interaction with social peers and the immersion
in court culture. The Inner Austrian noble, Sigmund von
Herbertstein,who had served in his youth as a page at a relative's
court, remarked in his diary that the purpose of his foreign
residence was to acquire both 'learning and court discipline'.32
As elsewhere in Europe, educationalauthoritiesin the Austrian
lands consideredthe early separationof young nobles from their
families as in itself beneficialfor discipliningand moulding chil-
drennswills to family aims, while at the same time furtheringa
certainamount of autonomynecessaryfor leadership.33
The new emphasison courtlymannersand the greatercentral-
ization of patronageat court made it highly desirable to send
young sons to serve as pages at the Habsburg court for a few
years, where they received a thoroughtrainingin court etiquette
and in the usual academicsubjects.34Only aroundtwenty young-
sters between the age of eight and ten, mostly from the upper
30Engelbrecht,Das 16. und 17. ahrhundert, 109; Heiss, 'Bildungsverhalten des
niederosterreichischenAdels', 150;Burke,Fortunesof the Courtier,7-18.
31 Heiss, in 'Bildungsverhaltendes niederosterreichischen
Adels' and 'Erziehung
undUnterricht',doesnotsufficientlyappreciatethecontinuityin educational practices
betweenthe late MiddleAges andthe earlymodernperiod.Stoneconsidersthe late
seventeenthcenturyas the highpointof the privatetutorin Crisis of the Aristocracy,
309.
32 'damitmanbaidedie Lernungund die Hofzuchtbekhomenhat': Sigmundsvon
HerbertsteinSelbstbiographieMCCCCLXXXVI bis MDLIII, ed. Th. G. v. Karajan
(Vienna,1855),70.
33 See Dewald,AristocraticExperienceand the Originsof Modern Culture,ch. 3, for
the tensionsthis producedin France.
34 I have analysedHabsburgcourt patronagein more detail in my forthcoming
book, CourtPatronage,Religionand Noble Rebellionin Early ModernHabsburgAustria.
nobility, found such honoraryemploymentat the imperialcourt

in the late sixteenth century.35But similar opportunities were
availableto a few new and lesser nobles, especially at the arch-
ducal courts, and this was especiallydesirablewhen an archduke
was next in line to the imperialthrone since it could help advance
a family's position. Hieronymous Beck, for instance, who be-
longed to the new lower nobility, learned social manners as a
page at the Innsbruckcourt and was educated together with the
sons of FerdinandI. Beck's father was chief administratorof the
royal domain (Vizedom)and money-lender to the crown, but
Hieronymous,who later also obtaineda degree in law, rose to be
chancellorof the imperial treasury (Hofkammer) and chief pur-
veyor of the armies in Hungary. His sons, who made careersas
militaryofficers, were elevated to the barony in 1597.36
Already at the elementary level, then, the education of male
nobles in the Austrianterritorieswas orientatedto preparethem
for a public life that focused on service at the Habsburgcourt.
It combined formal scholastic instruction geared toward voca-
tional qualificationwith informaltrainingin a court setting that
was crucial to internalizingcultural competency. Noble parents
of the old and upper nobility thought it particularlyimportant
that the habitus of young nobles incorporateskills in how to
maintain, accumulate and convert social and symbolic capital.
Trainingat a court acquaintedthem with how to cultivate social
connections, in particular, patronage networks, which had
become more centralized at the Habsburg court. They could
internalize an appreciationof the importance of patron-client
relationsin forgingmarriagealliances,enhancingnoble statusand
gaining access to various other assets which rulers distributedat
court (i.e., statist capital),37includingmonetary,juridical,milit-
ary and symbolic resources.
35'HofstaatsverzeichnisKaiserRudolfsII. (12 Dec. 1576)', in Die Osterreichische
Zentralverwaltung,ii, Aktensthucke,1491-1681, ed. ThomasFellner and Heinrich
Kretschmayr(Vienna,1907), 197;Mencik,'Geschichteder kaiserlichenHofamter',
534-41.
36'Die Familien-Chronik der Beckvon Leopoldsdorf',ed. H. J. Zeibig,Archivfur
Geschichte,viii (1852);FranzKarlWissgrill,Schauplatzdes landsassigen
Osterreichische
Nieder-Osterreichischen Adels vom Herrn- und Ritterstandevon demXI. ffahrhundertan
bis auf unsereZeiten, 5 vols. (Vienna,1794-1824),ii, 328-31.
37Bourdieudefinesthe concentration of differentformsof power,or capital,leading
to themonopolization of publicauthorityby theruleras statistcapital:'Theconcentra-
tion of these differentspeciesof capital economic(thanksto taxation),military,
cultural,juridicaland, moregenerally,symbolic goes handin handwith the rise
andconsolidation of the variouscorresponding fields.The resultof this processis the
(cont. on p. 48)
Residence at a court further provided young nobles with a

practicalappreciationof social distinctionsand with the skills for
perpetuatingsocial divisions through cultivatinga lifestyle (e.g.,
manners, tastes, dress, prestige and honours) that differentiated
them from commoners. Habsburghistoriansoften overlook the
emphasisearly modern nobles placed on the pursuit of this type
of symbolic power (what Norbert Elias has called 'prestige-
fetish') as strategiesthat legitimizedthe dominanceof the nobility
and secured its dynastic and social reproduction.38In a society
regulated overwhelmingly by patronage networks, honour and
statuswere a requisitepartof noble power and could be converted
into other forms of resources. A noble who was highly visible
becausehe was richly endowed with symboliccapitalin the form
of distinctlifestyle and prestigewas sought after by other nobles,
enablinghim to enlargehis network of social connections,which
might translateinto profitablemarriagealliances,status mobility
or an appointmentat court. This explains the striving in noble
society for seemingly empty honoursand social distinctions(i.e.,
symbolic capital), which actuallybecame all the more important
as the urban classes moved into the court. Many of them could
afford to buy landed estates, dress like nobles and eventually
obtain noble titles. Since the symbolic and culturalcapitalof the
traditionalnobility was threatened in the process, it needed to
re-emphasize social distinctions and did so by, among other
things, advancingan educationalmodel that stressedformaltrain-
ing as merely serving to develop the supposedlynaturallyinher-
ited, superior capacity of nobles to moral virtue, valour, self-
discipline and grace.39The ruler's court provided the perfect
arena for young noblemen to acquire cultural competency and
the best field in which they could, later on, display the distinct-
iveness of noble culture.40
fn.37 cont.)
emergenceof a specificcapital,properlystatist capital, bornof theircumulation,which

allowsthe stateto wielda powerover the differentfieldsandover the variousforms
of capitalthatcirculatein them':BourdieuandWacquant,ReflexiveSociology, 114.
38 NorbertElias,The CourtSociety, trans.Edmund Jephcott(New York,1983),85.
39 Gernot Heiss, 'Standeserziehung und Schulunterricht:Zur Bildung des
niederosterreichischenAdeligenin der FruhenNeuzeit', in Adel im Wandel, 392;
Otto Brunner,Adeliges Landleben und europaischerGeist: Leben und Werk Wolf
Helmhardsvon Hohberg,1612-1688 (Salzburg,1949), 76-80.
40 FollowingElias,some historians have over-emphasized how far rulersimposed
this type of representationand displayat court,therebyneglectingthe materialand
otherpowersthat noblescouldgainin the pursuitof symboliccapital.Elias'sstate-
ment, that for the court nobility'motivationby rank,honourand prestigeis more
(cont. on p. 49)
II
SOCIALDISTINCTIONS,SYMBOLIC
POWERAND THE CAVALIER'S
TOUR
The need to prepare young nobles for service at court and the
desire to infuse culturalcapitalwith symbolicpower that fortified
the position of the nobility explains why the cavalier's tour
became an important addition to educating nobles during the
sixteenth century. Since judicial training had become necessary
for many posts in the central and local administrations,as well
as for managinglanded estates, attendanceat foreign universities
became imperative. However, noble families, especially those
from the old and upper nobility, made efforts to invest formal
universityeducation,which was taintedas an activityof the urban
classes,with traditionalsymbolicmeaningsuited to its own social
identity. As they had in primaryeducation, they combined aca-
demic schoolingwith a diffusetrainingthat focusedon inculcating
noble culture. In particular,parentsemphasizedvisits or service
at foreign courts in order to further shape their sons' habitus
towards courtly practicesand values.
In Europe generally the enrolment of nobles at universities
exceeded the expansionof the nobility. In England,for example,
university attendance by the titled nobility increased fourfold
from 1580 to 1639;41similarly, the proportionof noble students
at the south Germanuniversity of Ingolstadtrose from 4.4 per
cent to 17.6 per cent between the late fifteenth and the late
sixteenth centuries.42Althoughmembersof the Austriannobility
in the early sixteenth century still had to put up with much
mockery for obtaining a university education,43this dissipated
significantlytoward the end of the century. The statisticalevi-
dence indicates that university attendance among the Lower
Austrian nobility (knights and lords) more than doubled after
1580, so that about one-third (155) of those living in 1620 had
(n. 40 cont.)
importantthanmotivationby economic"interest"',clearlyignoresthe importance
of symboliccapitalfor socialandfamilyreproduction: Elias,Court Society, 64-5.
41 Stone,Crisis of the Aristocracy,309, 317.
42 Rudolf Endres,Adel in der fruhen Neuzeit (Munich,1993), 96. Some scholars
havenoteda declinein the universityattendanceof noblesaroundthe middleof the
seventeenthcentury:see Houston,Literacy in Early Modern Europe, 88. While the
disruptionsof the ThirtyYearsWarprobablyhada restrainingimpacton the noble
cavalier'stour on the continent,decliningenrolmentsat universitiesmay have been
due alsoto the establishment of nobleacademiesandJesuitcolleges.
43 HerbertsteinSelbstbiographie, ed. Karajan,71.
some higher education. The proportionaladvance (from over

one-tenth to one-third) is particularlyremarkable,because the
total population of the noble estates had grown by nearly one-
fifth (from 400 to 467). Since this was the result of a larger
number of children for each family rather than an expansion of
noble houses (which in fact declined by 15 per cent), families
were actually faced with the cost of educating an increasing
number of children.44
A university education, as it was refashionedby the nobility,
required considerableeconomic capital, in part because of the
necessity of paying for the tutor who accompaniedthe young
nobleman,usuallyaroundthe age of sixteen, on his tour of foreign
courts and countries.45The cost of this 'cavalier's tour' could
amount to 12,000 florins per year for one son of the upper
nobility, which representedfive times the income from some top
positions, or the cost of a small-sizedestate.46Consequently,the
sons of less wealthynoble familiesand commoners,who normally
44MacHardy,'SocialMobilityandNoble Rebellion',106-8.
45 Hansvon Jorgerwas seventeenwhenhe went to TubingenandPadua;Karlvon
Zerotinattendedthe universitiesof GenfandBasleat the ageof sixteen;whileGeorg
Erasmusvon Tschernembland Hans Wilhelmvon Stubenbergbegantheir toursat
seventeen:HeinrichWurm,Die 3torgervon Tollet(Linz, 1955),132;GustavKorkisch,
'Karl von Zerotin',in Karl Bosl (ed.), Lebensbilderzur Geschichteder bohmischen
Lander (Munich, 1974), i, 64; Martin Bircher,ffohann Wilhelm von Stubenberg
(1619-23): Studien zur osterreichischenBarockliteratur protestantischerEdelleute
(Berlin,1968);HansSturmberger,
GeorgErasmusTschernembl:Religion,Libertatund
Widerstand:Ein Beitrag zur Geschichteder Gegenreformation
und des Landesob der Enns
(Graz,1953),33. Somenoblestravelledearlier,usuallywiththeiroldersiblings;thus,
in 1590,HansJakobvon Kufsteinjoinedhis brotherson a cavalier'stourat the age
of thirteen,while Sigmundvon Hardeggwas only ten yearsold when he beganhis
tour:KarlGrafKufstein,Studien zur Familiengeschichte,iii, 17. 3tahrhundert(Vienna,
1915), 7; Heiss, 'Bildungsverhalten des niederosterreichischen
Adels', 153, n. 71.
Only a few Akademien existed at this time, but some Austriannobles attended
academiesin the Reichfora few yearsbeforeenrollingin universities.GeorgErasmus
Tschernemblwasthirteenyearsold whenhe wentto the GermanProtestantacademy
at Altdorf.Afterfour yearshe beganhis tour of Paris,England,Geneva,Strasburg
and Bologna. Most of these academiesdid not yet have universitystatus. See
Sturmberger, GeorgErasmusTschernembl,33-4.
46For instance,duringthe late seventeenthcentury, Count Weissenwolfspent
12,000guldenfor a tourthatlastedone year:Heiss,'ErziehungundUnterricht',172.
The tour of two sons of the countsof Lambergcost 18,000florins:HarryKuhnel,
'Die adelige Kavalierstourim 17. Jahrhundert',ffahrbuchfur Landeskundevon
Niederosterreich,new ser., xxvi (1964), 378. However,if the son stayed,like Adam
von Dietrichstein,with his tutor in just one city to attendan academy,the yearly
cost wouldamountto only 1,000gulden:FriedrichEdelmayer,' "Ignotumest ignoti
nulla cupido":Die Berichtedes EliasPreuI3uber die Studienvon SiegmundII. von
Dietrichstein',in KurtMuhlberger andThomasMaisel(eds.),Aspekteder Bildungs
16. bis 19. ffahrhundert(Vienna,1993),245.
und Universitatsgeschichte:
also had fewer connections to aristocraticcourts, travelled for

only shortperiods,while the richerand olderfamilieswith elabor-
ate kinship and social networks could afford to send their sons
abroad for many years. On average, young nobles travelled for
one or two years and attended universities only briefly. Padua
and Bolognawere especiallyfavouredby Austriannoble families
for their legal training,but many Protestantsalso sent their sons
to universities in the Germanterritories,Bohemia, Geneva and
the Netherlands.JohannWilhelm von Stubenberg,for instance,
travelled through France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany,
and Georg Erasmusvon Tschernembleven went to England.47
The considerablevariety of universitiesand countriesvisited by
young noblemencan be partiallyexplainedby the varioussubjects
which had to be studied in different places. Law was best taught
at the legal facultiesof Paduaand Bologna,equestriantechniques
in Paris and Florence, architecture in Rome and Genoa, and
fortificationsin Holland,whereasmilitarytacticscould be studied
wherever there was a theatre of war.48
Since combining university training with a cultural tour of
foreign courts required both extensive social networks and sub-
stantial economic capital, higher education actually served to
deepen social distinctions, not only between commoners and
nobles, but also within the nobility. University attendancewas
thus higher among the Lower Austrianupper nobility, the lords
(Herrenstand), than among the lesser nobility, the knights
(Ritterstand).49 In 1620 over two-fifths (106 of 243) of the lords
but only one-fifth (49 of 224) of the knights had some higher
education;moreover, the new families among the lesser nobility
were able to send a higher proportionof their sons to universities
than the old ones. Thus, in 1620, less than one-fifth (25 of 130)
47Bircher,3fohann Wilhelm von Stubenberg,24-5; Sturmberger,Georg Erasmus

Tschernembl,39-44. For a generaldescriptionof the cavalier'stour, see E. M.
Leobenstein,'Die adeligeKavalierstour (Univ. of ViennaPh.D.
im 17. Jahrhundert'
thesis, 1966);Kuhnel,'Die adeligeKavalierstour'.
366.
48 Stone,Crisisof the Aristocracy,314-16;Kuhnel,'Die adeligeKavalierstour',
49 Onlynoblesadmittedto the Herren- andRitterstandareincludedin my statistics.
Sincemembershipin the estatesbroughttax privileges,mostnobleseventuallygained
entranceinto the estatesduringthis time period.In this article,the terms 'lower
nobility'and 'knights'thereforerefer to all the noble membersof the Ritterstand,
while 'upper'or 'high nobility'and 'lords'designatesall thosewho belongedto the
Herrenstand.Approximately90 per cent of the latter were barons,the remainder
being countsand princes;for more detail on the social hierarchy,see MacHardy,
'SocialMobilityandNoble Rebellion',131-7.
of the old knights had attended universities in contrast to over

two-fifths (24 of 59) of the new knights, most of whom had risen
from wealthy urbanfamilies.50
The established nobility reinforced the inscription of social
distinctionsvia educationby discreditinguniversitydegrees as a
form of cultural capital acquired only by commoners and new
nobles, while valorizingthe non-academicaspectsof the cavalier's
tour as inherentlyaristocratic.Thus, most nobles, especiallythose
from the old, upper nobility, attended university only briefly to
obtaina rudimentaryknowledgeof Romanlaw. While aboutone-
fifth of the university-educatedknights procured a doctorate,
nearlyall of them belongedto the new nobility and had obtained
their degree before they rose to the estate of knights. Once a
member of the Stande,their sons might also visit universities,
but they would then refrainfrom acquiringdegrees. The refusal
of the old nobility to earn terminal degrees was not uniform in
all Europeanregions.Nearlyas manyold noblesas new completed
their universitystudies in Aix-en-Provence with a doctorate,for
instance. But while not uniform, the disdainfor the legal profes-
sion was shared by many families of the old and upper nobility
in other countries.51The upper nobilityof the Austrianterritories
certainlymade it a sign of social distinctionnot to enter the legal
profession. None of the upper nobles held a university degree
unless it had been obtained before entering the Herrenstand. In
50The data for universityattendancewas largely taken from A. Luschinvon
Ebengreuth,Osterreicheran italienischenUniversitatenzur Zeit der Receptiondes rom-
ischen Rechts, 3 vols. (Vienna, 1886). This was supplementedwith genealogical
informationfromWissgrill,Schauplatz des landessassigennieder-osterreichischenAdels;
J. Siebmacher,Grossesund AllgemeinesWappenbuch:Der Niederosterreichische Adel, 2
vols. (Nuremberg,1919).In additionto these sources,the evidenceon socialstatus
is based on statistical analyses of data derived from a variety of sources:
Niederosterreichisches Landesarchiv, Vienna,StandischesArchiv,StandischeAkten
(hereafterNOLA, StA), AI/3-4, AI/5, AIII/5,A III/18,A III/20;Ritterstandsarchiv,
Aufnahmeakten C1, D1; NOLA, StA, Herrenstandsarchiv, Aufnahmeakten (A-Z);
LadeIV/5, fo. 10, LadeV, Varia.
51Donna Bohanan,'The Educationof Nobles in Seventeenth-Century Aix-en-
Provence',ZlSocial Hist., xxi (1987), 759. However,Bohanandoes not indicatethe
totalsize of the old and the new nobilityof Aix-en-Provence,nor whatpercentage
of eachgroupearnedfinaldegrees.Motley,Becominga FrenchAristocrat, 11, notes
that the swordfamiliesdisdainedthe legal professionand for this reasonpreferred
militarytraining.Stone, Crisis of the Aristocracy, 311, shows that very few of the
English aristocracyobtaineddegrees, in contrastto sons of the gentry and the
mercantileandprofessionalclasses.In the caseof the Austriannobility,it is not clear
whetherallnon-noblesobtaineddoctoraldegreesat theendof theiruniversitystudies.
However,it is certainthat nobleswere not requiredto hold a doctoratein orderto
administerthe law at the locallevel or in the uppercourts.
this manner, certification,which now had an overtly utilitarian

purpose, came to symbolize the educationof commonersor new
nobles. Since a doctorateheld limited prestige and clearly identi-
fied the holder as a commonerby background,it is not surprising
that it caused embarrassmentamong the upwardly mobile. The
composerof a list of Aulic councillorsin 1629 annotatedthe name
of Caspar Terz with the remark that he disliked the title of
doctores since he had become a member of the noble estates.52
Clearly, culturalcapital, especially in the form of a university
education, offered opportunities for social advancementto the
urban classes. However, because of the need in early modern
society to assimilateto the nobility by obtainingnoble titles and
emulatingthe lifestyle that went with it, this mobilitycontributed
to the constant rejuvenationand reproductionof the nobility as
the supremesocial group, ratherthan underminedits legitimacy.
In this way, culturaland symboliccapitalsecuredthe continuance
of noble dominance.It was furtherbuttressedby the educational
model noble families constructedfor the cavalier's tour, which
stressed that formal training merely enhanced the inherited,
superiorabilitiesof nobles. The study of law was supposedto be
coincidentaland, to distinguishtheir sons from commonersand
newcomers, the old upper nobility emphasized that the main
purpose of the cavalier'stour was to develop young noblemen's
naturalcapacityfor prudence, valour, grace and refinedtaste, all
of which entitled them to serve the ruler.
It was imperative,therefore, for young noblemen to continue
their informal education in aristocratic modes of behaviour
in a court setting.53The Inner Austrian noble, Sigmund von
Herbertstein,recordedin his diary how as a young man he had
followed the court of MaximilianI for some time in order to
observe courtly practicesand manners(desHoffszvesen erlernnen),
and meet courtiers,reflectinghow much the familiarizationwith
court culture had become part of the educationalmodel.54Many
52 'ist ietz Lantmannworden, hat also den titel eines doctoris nicht gerne':
'Hofstaatsverzeichnis (n.d., c 1629)', in Die OsterreichischeZentralverzvaltung,ii,
Aktenstucke,1491-1681, ed. Fellnerand Kretschmayr, 211.
53 This is evidentin manyinstructions andwillsof noblefathers;see, for example,
Bircher,ffohann Wilhelm von Stubenberg,23; for the evidenceprovidedby Heiss,
'Erziehungund Unterricht',155-8; alsohis 'Standeserziehung und Schulunterricht'.
54 Herbertstein ed. Karajan,72. The culturalcapitalhe thusacquired
Selbstbiographie,
provedto be a valuableinvestment.After attendinguniversityand servinga few
yearsin themilitary,Sigmundsoonadvancedto becomeFerdinandI's privycouncillor
andArchduchess Elisabeth'smasterof the court,a careervery muchin contrastwith
(cont. on p. 54)
PASTAND PRESENT NUMBER163
54
Austriannoblesalso visited foreigncourtsand even served
rulers during their cavalier's tour; thus, Hans foreign
Wilhelm von
Stubenberg spent some time at the court of the ruling
of Oldenburg, and Georg Raimund von Gera count
and Adam von
Herbertstorffwere sent to the court of the duke of
Palatinate-
Newburg.55Not only Habsburgnobles consideredsuch
with foreign rulers and nobles important, but contacts
noble parents
throughoutEuropealso foundit desirablethat theirsons
in the process, an internationalnetwork of cultivate,
friends and pat-
rons.56 Alternatively, after visiting a few
universities,
Austriannobles went to the imperialor archducalcourt some
to carry
out ceremonialfunctions, usuallywhen they were
between eigh-
teen and twenty-two years old. Most frequently,
they served
mealsas a Truchsess,and, thereafter,they might be
installed as
Furschneider(meat-cutter)or as Mundschenk(cupbearer).57Such
servicein the imperialor archducalhouseholds
provided young
noblemenwith the opportunityboth to complete their
tionand to advance to higher offices, especially if socializa-
they already
hadforged (or were then able to forge) important
social connec-
tions,or belonged to the upper nobility. They
might become
chamberlains,heads of departmentsin the household, or
seek
(n.54 COtlt.)
thoseof his ancestors,includinghis father,who were

domains.His father,Leonhard,ensuredthat all of overseers(Pfleger) of royal
theculturaland socialcapitalessentialto rise in thehis sons wouldacquireat court
his socialhierarchy.Sigmundand
brothers,GeorgandJohann,who madecareersas officers,
fromthe Habsburgsandwereraisedto the baronagein obtainedestatesand
fiefs
1537.
Leonhard's sons enhancedthe fortuneand honourof the familyThus,all threeof
investmentsand, henceforth,the baronsof Herbertsteinwere throughcultural
mostprominentfamiliesof the upper nobilityin the hereditary countedamongthe
Schauplatzdes landsassigennieder-osterreichischen lands. Wissgrill,
Adels, ii, 249-310.
55 Bircher,ffohann Wilhelm von
Stubenberg,24; Hans Sturmberger,Adam Graf
Herbertstortf:
Herrschaftund FreSheitim konfessionallen
56Heiss,'Integrationin die hofischeGesellschaft',Zeitalter (Vienna,1976),40.
Early 110-12; Houston,Literacy in
Modern Europe, 77-81. Rulers frequentlytried to
curb
politicalreasons;the Habsburgemperorsattempted foreign travelsfor
various
muchsuccess serviceat foreigncourtsandattendanceat to prohibit without
a desire to ensureconfessionalhomogeneity,theforeignProtestantschools.
Besides
worried
that young nobles would be exposed to new ideas, Habsburgsseem to have
political
theories. especiallycontractual
57There were 25 Truchsess
attendingat RudolfII's courtin 1576, 7 Furschneider
and
12 Mundschenken.By 1588, Rudolfalreadyemployed
8Mundschenken, 23 Furschneiderbut only
who each received a small yearly allowance of
in Die OsterreichischeZentralverwaltung, ii, 480 florins.
'Hofstaatsverzeichnis',
ed. FellnerandKretschmayr,
1491-1681, Aktenstucke,
194-200;HubertCh.Ehalt,Ausdrucksformen
absolutistischer
Herrschaft: Der Wiener Hof im 17. und 18.
1980),
42. ffahrhundert(Vienna,
careers in the administration.For example, Baron Paul Sixtus

von Trautson,who in his youth servedin Maximilian'shousehold,
later became his chamberlain. Baron Seyfried Christoph von
Breuner made a career by rising from the household of the
archducalcourt in Graz to privy councillorand president of the
court treasury.58
The emphasis on transmittingthe symbols and meanings by
which nobility was recognizedand legitimated,however, should
not detract from the specific vocationalpurpose of the cavalier's
tour. On the contrary.The instructionssome fathersof the upper
nobility proffered for the education of their sons during their
travels explicitly stressed the conversion of cultural capital into
positions at the court or in the army. For example, Hartmann
von Liechtensteinadvised his sons to qualify themselveson their
cavalier'stour in such a manner'that today or tomorrowyou can
become ministros'.S9 This included the study of law and other
academicsubjects, such as languages,geographyand history. In
addition, they had to learn geometry, mathematicsand architec-
ture, which were useful skills for militarycareers.
None the less, the amount of time they were to spend on the
study of these scholarlysubjectsamountedto no more than three
or four hours a day, whereas the remainderof their time was
devoted to developing competence in traditionalknightly skills,
which were defined as noble Exercitien,such as fencing, riding,
dancing,music and variousgames.60Many of these practiceshad
changed since the late Middle Ages or were in the process of
being transformed.For example, nobles had to learn how to ride
a horse like a cavalliero,rather than a knight in uniform, and
equestriantechniquesincluded complicatedexercises for courtly
festivitiesand ballets.61Togetherwith the study of militarytactics
and fortificationtechnology, learning these skills was supposed
to provide an understandingof form, order and hierarchy,which
parentsconsideredprerequisitesto internalizingdiscipline,obedi-
ence and an appreciationof the social order.62
58 Henry F. Schwarz, The Imperial Privy Council in the Seventeenth Century
(Cambridge,Mass., 1943),210-12.
59Fromthe instructionsof Hartmannvon Liechtensteinfor his sons' tours(1659,
1674, 1682),quotedin Heiss, 'Erziehungund Unterricht',162.
60 Ibid., 168.
61 Elisabeth Vavra,'AdeligeLustbarkeiten',
inAdel im Wandel,436;WilhelmSchlag,
'Die Jagd',ibid., 343-56, describeschangesin the hunt.
62 Heiss, 'Erziehung und Unterricht',152-62.
The Exercitienwere also valued for enhancing self-control
through bodily discipline. Self-controlwas itself a sign of noble
virtue, but fathers also expected the exercises to encourage in
their sons that physical grace which was needed for moving in
'high social circles'.63Particularattentionwas to be paid to their
posture, which had to be upright, and gestures, which were to
be measuredand deliberate,and on graceful bodily movements
in general, all of which supposedlydistinguishednatural,inher-
ited nobility. In order to acquire competencyin courtly behavi-
our, fathersurged their sons to visit the courts of princesor high
dignitariesat lunch or dinner, and during holidays, so that they
could observe noble conduct and display during festivities, cere-
moniesandmeals.64It was particularlyimportantthat they intern-
alize the symbols of social distinctionin the order of precedence,
in fashionsof dress, and in other forms of conspicuousconsump-
tion, which were regulated at court according to rank.65The
upper nobility also put a new stress on collecting antiquarian
curiositiesduringthe tour andon developingan aestheticappreci-
ation of the arts, architectureand music, as well as refiningother
tastes that symbolicallyenhancedsocial distinctions.66
Clearly, noble fathers in the Austrianterritorieswanted their
sons to internalize modes of behaviour and schemes of appre-
ciation that distinguished them from commoners and prep-
ared them for court life. Not surprisingly,courtesy books that
provided practical guidelines to courtiers' conduct, especially
Castiglione'sCourtier,became very popularduring the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. Several Latin and nine Germanedi-
tions were printed before 1700, with a possible readershipof
27,000 in the German-speakinglands. Italianeditionsalso existed
in the librariesof Austrian,Bohemianand Hungariannoblemen,
63 From the instructions of Karl Eusebiusvon Liechtensteinto his son, quoted

ibid.,l59.
64 Heiss, 'Standeserziehung und Schulunterricht', 397-401.
65 BeatrixBastl, 'Feuerwerk und Schlittenfahrt: OrdnungenzwischenRitualund
Zeremoniell',WienerGeschichtsblatter, li (1996),providesan extensivedescriptionof
some of these regulationsconcerningrank and court rituals.On noble dress, see
AnnemarieBonsch, 'AdeligeBekleidungsformen zwischen1500-1700', in Adel im
Wandel,169-87.
66Engelbrecht,Das 16. und 17. ffahrhundert, 213; HarryKuhnel, 'Die osterrei-
chische Adelskulturdes 16. und 18. Jahrhundertsim Spiegel der Kunst- und
Wunderkammern', Osterreichin GeschichteundLiteratur,xiii (1969).Stone,Crisisof
theAristocracy, 315, also noticeda shift in noble circlestowardsthe teachingof an
'aesthetic,art-historical
andantiquarian knowledgeandunderstanding'.
and the work was much debated among German-speaking

humanists. The Spanish bishop, Antonio de Guevara, copied
much from Castiglione's Courtier, especially in his 'Advice for
Favourites and Doctrine for Courtiers', even though his other
work provided a humanistcritique and satire of court life. Since
the 'Advice',translatedinto Germanin the late sixteenth century,
was popularand availablein Austriannoble libraries,Castiglione's
book obviously had an impact on Habsburgnobilities, and much
of its prescriptionon style of behaviourwas emphasizedin the
educationof Austriannobles.67
Like Castiglione'scourtier, nobles' sons were to acquire dis-
tinctive tastes and cultivate perfection, harmony and grace in
their appearanceand behaviourduringtheir cavalier'stour. They
also tried to acquirea mannerdefinedby Castiglioneas sprezzat-
ura, which concealedwhat had been learnedas a skill behind the
appearanceof being accomplishednaturally,spontaneouslyand
without effort.68This may represent, as Peter Burke believes,
'the constructionof the self as a work of art',69but it also shows
how importantthe unconsciousembodimentof culturalcompet-
ency into habitus had become for nobles in the work of social
reproduction.Instructivehere is the pride which sons of the old
Austriannobles felt as people recognizedtheir high rank simply
by their skilful behaviour and superior taste when they were
travelling incognito, which they did in order to save on costs
of display when on tour.70Passed on through generationsand
acquired early in life, cultural competence, complemented by
scholasticlearning,was to confer self-certaintyin the legitimacy
67 Burke,Fortunesof the Courtier,60, llS, 140, 164, 173-4, discusses

the reception
of Castiglione'sworkin the Holy RomanEmpireand his influenceon Guevara,83,
111, 115-16. On Guevara'sreceptionin the Habsburglands,see Brunner,Adeliges
Landleben und europaischerGeist, 113, 130; Helmut Kiesel, Bei Hof, Bei Holl:
Untersuchungenzur LiterarischenHofkritik uon Sebastian Brant bis Friedrich Schiller
(Tubingen,1979),ch. 8. For an overviewof the humanistcritiqueof courtlife, see
Kiesel, "'Lang zu hofe, lang zu helle":LiterarischeHofkritikder Humanisten',in
Peter Uwe Hohendahland Paul MichaelLutzeler (eds.), Legitimationskrisendes
DeutscherlAdeZs,1200-1900 (Stuttgart,1979).
68 'to use in everythynga certainReckelesness [sprezzatura],to coverart withall,
and seemewhatsoeverhe doth and sayethto do it wythoutpain . . . Thereforethat
maybe saidto be a very art thatappeerethnot to be art, neytheroughta manto put
morediligencein anythingthenin coveringit: for in caseit be open,it losethcredit':
BaldassareCastiglione,The Book of the Courtier, l:xxvi (ed. VirginiaCox, London,
1994,53).
69 Burke,Fortunesof the Courtier,32.
70 Heiss, 'Erziehung und Unterricht',174.
of aristocraticculture. Old nobility only had to be what they

were, whereas social upstarts had to prove themselves because
they were what they were as a result of what they did. As
Bourdieu puts it, 'unselfconsciousnessis the mark of so called
"natural"distinction'.7lAlthoughwell-to-do commonersor new
nobles could easily emulate the outwardappearanceof nobility,
culturalcapitalin the form of an effortlesssuperiorityin lifestyle
and mannerstook generationsto cultivate.72Therefore, the older
the family the greater the possibility of perfecting the inherited
inclinationof young nobles toward virtue, gracefulmannersand
distinctive tastes.
The strategiesof the old and upper nobility to reinscribesocial
distinctionsin educationalpracticesmakes it possible to under-
stand why the trend in Habsburg Austria toward a scholastic
education was accompaniedby an equally strong tendency to
teach courtly behaviour. Some historianshave claimed that this
signified a shift, around 1600, from travels concentratingupon
universitystudy to a cavalier'stour servingprimarilythe acquisi-
tion of court etiquette and social skills.73However, it seems
doubtfulthat such a changeoccurredat this time or subsequently,
considering that university attendance still increased in the
decades after 1600, and that the educational strategy of the
Liechtenstein family in the mid-seventeenth century did not
differ substantiallyfrom the aims of the Herbertsteinfamily in
the sixteenth.74In fact, lesson plans for the cavalier'stour show
that the time young noblemen devoted to the study of academic
subjectsactuallyincreased.75Evidently, by the early seventeenth
century scholastic training through university attendance had
become more widely acceptedas essentialfor careeradvancement
and family continuance,and noble families had finally resolved
71 Bourdieu,In Other Words,1 1.

72 The constantlyrepeatedsumptuary legislationof theseventeenthcenturysuggests
thatthe dresscodesby whichnoblesdistinguished themselvesfromcommonerswere
constantlytransgressedby well-to-docommoners:see CodicisAustriaci: I (Vienna,
1704),fos. 737ff.
73 Leobenstein,'Die adelige Kavalierstour', 80; Heiss, 'Bildungsverhaltendes
niederosterreichischen Adels', 153, 156.
74 Moreover,in the eighteenthcenturytwo-thirdsof thenobilityin Germanuniver-
sities were still inscribedin law faculties:Houston, Literacy in Early Modern
Europe, 87.
75 A comparison of lessonplansof the princesof Liechtensteinbetween1661and
1684showsan increasein the hoursdevotedto the studyof academicsubjects:Heiss,
'Erziehungund Unterricht',168.
CAPITALAND NOBLEIDENTITY
CULTURAL s9
tensions and problems posed by the new type of education.

the
paying
Theystrengthenedthe formal educationof their sons by
attentionto the new vocational requirements, while simul-
greater
reinvesting all cultural capital with symbolic meaning
taneously
As noble
whichbetter suited their social status and position.
specific
identitybecame increasinglydefined by courtly ideals,
culturalpractices became even more essential in distinguishing
synthesis
oldnobles from newcomers and commoners. And this
the ideal of
andreconstructionof the educationalmodel became
Even though
nobleschoolingthroughoutthe seventeenthcentury.
it completely,
notall of the lesser nobles could afford to emulate
the socializ-
thecavalier'stour had becameessentialin completing
ingprocess of young noblemen.
III
REDEFINING VIRTUE AND MERIT
socialmobil-
Thetransformationof the educationalmodel and the
obviously created an incongruity
ity of educated commoners
the principles of noble legitimation.
betweensocial practicesand
classification
This led to what Bourdieu defines as symbolic or
Habsburgs and newcomers over con-
strugglesbetween nobles, and
in particular,over definitions of virtue
ceptionsof nobility,
model, the
merit.76As with the reconstructionof the educational
through
issueswere whether and how to change the categories and
whichindividualsand groups perceived the social hierarchy
to deter-
legitimizedupwardmobility, since this would contribute
Neither
mining whether and how to transformthe social order.
at eliminating
nobles nor newcomers nor the Habsburgsaimed
of the old
the concept of virtue, but at modifying the position
albeit in differ-
nobility within the scheme of social classification,
ent ways.
of social
Because the Habsburgswere changing the practices
the rules that
mobility at court, they had a stake in altering
for educated servants,
legitimized noble dominance. The need
76 Bourdieu and Passeron, Reproduction
in Education,Society and Culture;also, with
Titles and Jobs', in Charles
Luc Boltanski, 'The EducationalSystem and the Economy: 1968 (New York, 1981).
(ed.), French Sociology:Rupture and Renezvalsince
C. Lemert
symbolic struggles, see his Logic of
For a brief summary of Bourdieu's conception of
and Wacquant, Reflexive Sociology,12-15. Bourdieu offers
Practice, 138-41; Bourdieu Macht', Osterreichische
his 'Uber die symbolische
a Germanversion of these theories in
viii (1997).
Zeitschriftfur Geschichtszvissenschaften,
especially men trained in Roman law, had led them to employ
educated commonersor lesser nobles, and to reward them with
elevated status. For example, from the mid-1590s, there was a
markedincreasein the numberof nobles newly admittedinto the
Lower Austrianestate of knights, who had completedtheir judi-
cial training with a doctoral degree and who were then able to
rise at a fasterpace into high governmentaloffices. Consequently,
two-fifths of the families belonging to the estate of knights in
1620 had become membersduringthe previousfour decades,and
about one-third of these newcomers had been ennobled for less
than twenty years. Advancementto important positions in the
imperial and archducalhouseholds, administrativecouncils and
the military,also lay behind the rapidascent within noble ranks,
and about two-fifths of the families belonging to the estate of
lords in 1620 had achieved baronial status after 1580.77This
upwardmobility, which was also high in other Habsburgterritor-
ies and in the Reich, had a significantimpact on the composition
of the imperial court.78Thus, between 1580 and 1620, nearly
one-third of the men appointed to the highest positions in the
householdwere new baronswhose familieshad been in possession
of their ranks for less than fifty years.79In addition, more than
77 MacHardy,'SocialMobilityandNoble Rebellion',104-12.
78 Onsocialmobilityin theBohemianterritories,seeJaroslavMeznik,'Derbohmis-
che undmahrischeAdelim 14. und 15. Jahrhundert', Bohemia,xxviii (1987);Eduard
Maur,'Der bohmischeund mahrischeAdel vom 16. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert', in
Feigl and Rosner (eds.), Adel im Wandel (Vienna, 1991); ThomasWinkelbauer,
'Wandlungendes mahrischenAdels um 1600', in KarlheinzMack(ed.), ffan Amos
Comeniusund die Politik seiner Zeit (Munich,1992);also his 'Kriseder Aristokratie?
Zum Strukturwandeldes Adels in den bohmischenund niederosterreichischen
Landernim 16. und 18. Jahrhundert',Mitteilungen des Institutsfur Osterreichische
Geschichtsforschung, c (1992). The contributionsin RudolfEndres(ed.), Adel in der
Fruhneuseit: Ein regionalerVergleich(Cologne,1991),provideinformationon social
mobilityin the Reich.
79 It mustbe stressedthatthe thirty-twonobleswho formthe basisfor this statistic
do representmost, but not all, of the incumbentsof the four highestofficesin the
household.It does not includethe nobles servingin the householdsof Archduke
Ernst or in the entouragesof the female Habsburgs.The data for the statistical
analysisof appointmentsat court has been derived from Joseph Chmel, 'Die
Regimentsratedes Nieder-Osterreichischen Regimentsvon 1529 bis 1657: Die
Kammerrateder Nieder-Osterreichischen Kammer von 1539-1606: Aus dem
Friedheimschen Wappen-undRegentenbuche zu Gottweig',Notizblatt derAkademie,
i (1851),212-24, 228-51, 263-368;also'Hofstaatsverzeichnisse', in Die Osterreichische
ii, Aktenstucke,1491-1681, ed. FellnerandKretschmayr;
ZentralverzlJaltung, Mencik,
'Geschichteder kaiserlichenHofamter';Schwarz,Imperial Privy Council; Albert
Startzer,Beitragezur GeschichtederNiederosterreichischen
Statthalterei:Die Landeschefs
und Rate dieserBehorde, 1501-1896 (Vienna,1887);Wissgrill,Schauplat: des landsas-
Adels; Siebmacher,
sigen nieder-osterreichischen Der Niederosterreichische
Adel.
CULTURALCAPITALAND NOBLEIDENTITY
61
two-thirdsof the imperialprivy councillorsfrom the uppernobil-
ity belongedto the new baronage,which also becamepreponder-
ant in the Aulic Council(ReichshoMrat).80 For the Habsburgrulers,
then, merit was equal to noble virtue, but they believed it could
be acquiredwithin one generationthrougheducationand service.
The social advancement of commoners prompted critics of
nobility, mostly from the urban classes, to publicly challenge
traditionalnoble conceptionsof virtue and merit, and to develop
new ideas that lent upwardmobility theoreticalsupport. Some of
the judicialtracts of the time were particularlyoffensive to the
nobility, since they arguedthat the title of 'doctor'itself conferred
noble status. This idea, basedon a reinterpretationof the Roman-
law definition of militiainermis(unarmed military), considered
the status of doctor, especially the doctorlegum,as a form of
public service that was equal to the noble status of the warrior.
In short, it was claimed that education itself conveyed noble
virtue. Other theoristslegitimizedthe act of ennoblementby the
prince on the grounds that a noble title could be grantedby the
ruler without any reasonand certainlydid not have to be justified
by birth and naturalability (sanguissivesirtus).The opposition
to these views was vehement and argued strongly against the
notion of a nobilitasscientiaesive literaria,because an academic
title could not be inheritedand nobles did not even try to obtain
certification.81
Obviously, the nobility felt threatened by adulterationand
feared that merit would become synonymous with educational
qualifications.The older nobles in particularpreferredthe tradi-
tional notion that nobles inherited superior moral, mental and
physical virtue, and believed that this virtue alone was of suffi-
cient merit to legitimize the socio-politicaldominanceand privil-
eges of the nobility. Since virtue equalledmerit, Austriannobles
consideredimportantand prestigiousoffices at court and in the
militaryto be their preserve. The old upper nobility in particular
insisted that the hierarchyof offices should reflect and reproduce
the existing social structure.But this came into conflict with the
Habsburgs,who, in order to enhancetheir authorityand control
80Mostof the councillorswho were installedat the beginningof a reign were
includedin this statistic.
81 KlausBleeckand JornGarber,'Nobilitas:Standes-und Privilegienlegitimation
in deutschenAdelstheoriendes 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts', in Elger Bluhm,Jorn
Garberand KlausGarber(eds.), Hof, Staat und Gesellschaftin der Literatur des 17.
ffahrhunderts(Amsterdam,1982),75-9.
over patronage,aimed to upset a homologybetween social strati-

ficationand the courthierarchy.Althoughcontinuingto distribute
the most prestigiouspositions to the upper nobility, they clearly
favoured the new baronage. For example, the Habsburgspre-
served the custom of appointing only old indigenous nobles to
the highest honorary positions in the household, the Ers- und
Erbamer,but installed servants of their own choice, many of
whom they elevated in rank, to perform these functions on a
regularbasis.82
The older nobility resisted the Habsburgconceptionof virtue
and merit. The Upper Austriannobles complainedin 1586 that
persons of low birth could 'rise to high positions, status and
honour merely through the means of studies'.83The nobility of
Lower Austria demanded repeatedly during the late sixteenth
and early seventeenth centuries that the Habsburg rulers not
show preferencefor educatedcommonersin offices, and that they
regulatemore strictlysocialdistinctions,especiallyin conspicuous
consumption.84They even asked RudolphII to rejectnew nobles
as office-holdersunlessthey had reachedthe thirddegreeof noble
rank.85The emperorobjected, but during the late sixteenth cen-
tury the Lower Austriannobilitydid manageto restrictthe power
of the Habsburgsover noble classificationsand established the
rule that only members admittedby the nobility into the estates
of knights or lords were entitled to the important economic
benefits and privileges derived from noble status. In short, the
nobilityrevised the socialtaxonomyand createda new distinction
between nobility and noble estates. Althoughthe Habsburgsstill
grantedall noble titles, the establishednobles co-determinedthe
reproductionof nobility. In addition, the noble estates initiated
a series of rules for regulatingsocialmobilitythat aimedto clarify
the demarcationof nobility and fix the distinctions within it,
rather than simply close the estate to newcomers. They clearly
defined the lifestyle, economic capital and social status required
for entry into the noble estates and for mobility within them.
82 Ehalt,Ausdrucksformen absolutistischerHerrschaft,
33-4.
83 'alleindurchdis mitl der studien. . . zu hochansehenlichen
ambtern,ehrlichen
dignitetenundwurden[gekommen]':Oberosterreichisches Landesarchiv,
Standisches
Archiv,Hs. 19, fo. 247, fromthe schoolregulationsof the LinzerLandschaftsschule,
1 Sept. 1586,as quotedin Heiss, 'Standeserziehung und Schulunterricht',
392.
84The Lower Austrianestate of lords (Herrenstand) to ArchdukeErnst, [n.pl.],
18 May 1587:NOLA, StA, Bl/1-2, fo. 608; CodicisAustriaci:I, fo. 737.
85 NOLA, StA, AI/6-7, fos. 16-19.
The most importantof these rules, establishedin 1612, required

new nobles who wished to be admitted to the estate of knights
to produce proof of nobility in the third degree (agnates and
cognates).86However, the recruitment practices of the Lower
Austrian noble estates indicate that they remained a relatively
open elite, who accepted the idea that noble virtue could be
acquired through service and training, albeit only after three
generations.In other words, virtue had to be passed on through
generationsand new nobles had to continuallyprove their worth
and perfect their virtue. The Austriannobilitythus reconstructed
a conception of virtue and merit that was compatible with the
new educational model it advanced, reinforcing the idea that
educationmerely enhancedits inheritedcapacityto virtue.
The attitudes of the established nobility naturally caused
resentmentamong learnedmen from the urbanclasses, including
poets and scholars, such as Sebastian Franck and Nicodemus
Frischlin. The latter frequently used abusive language in con-
demningthe nobility for its arrogantrefusalto considermen with
high academic titles as equals, and reprimandednobles collec-
tively for their lack of moralvirtue and cruelty toward the peas-
antry. German nobles frequently silenced such critics with
imprisonmentand exile, and they engaged theorists of nobility
in their defense.87The Austrian nobles did not sponsor their
own theoreticalresponse to critics. However, Protestantnobles
of southern Germany appear to have commissioned Cyriacus
Spangenberg'sAdels-Spiegel(Mirror of Nobility), which was
written between 1591 and 1594. The work was certainlyknown
among the AustrianProtestantnobility,88and its ideas were con-
gruent with the conceptions of virtue and merit they expressed
in their oppositionto Habsburgrecruitmentpolicies, and in their
revision of admission rules to the noble estates. It also reflects
86See MacHardy,'SocialMobility and Noble Rebellion', 108-12, for a more
detaileddescriptionof the admissionrulesto the LowerAustriannobleestates.
87 Frischlin,who lost his teachingposition in Tubingen,had helped the Inner
AustrianEstatesreorganizetheirProtestantschoolsin 1582.He wasimprisonedafter
his returnto Wurtembergfor renewedattackson princelyministers.H. C. Erik
Midelfort,'AdeligesLandlebenund die Legitimationskrise des deutschenAdels im
16. Jahrhundert',in Georg Schmidt(ed.), Stdedeund Gesellschaft im Alten Reich
(Stuttgart,1989),251-2. It is not entirelyclearwhy Frischlinresignedhis position
in Krain,but he seemsto have provokeda quarrelwith the deputiesof the estates
over the issue of where to publish schoolbooks:Heiss, 'Konfession,Politik und
Erziehung',30-1.
88 Brunner, AdeligesLandleben undeuropdischerGeist,159, 162-4.
the ideasof other defendersof nobilityin the Reich who grounded
noble ethic in Christian versions of ancient moral philosophy
and emphasizedthe virtues of pietas (moral strength),prudentia
(wisdom, good judgement), temperantia (moderation, self-
control), liberalitas(kindness,generosity), constantia(endurance,
dependability)andfortitudo(physical strength, courage).89
Spangenberg's Christian humanism maintained the link
between virtue and nobility by insisting that it was virtue that
ennobled. And, he insisted, nobility 'is not derived from right of
birth, but it is virtue that leads to distinction.He who is always
devoted to virtue, proves to be of true nobility. He who sins in
a beastlyway, cannotbe truly noble'.90Nobility was not a natural
state because everyone descended somehow from Adam.9l
Nevertheless, Spangenbergreassertedthe legitimacy of nobility
by stressingthat it was institutedby God, becauserulers needed
aid and council, and he affirmed that a natural superiority of
body and mind could be inherited.92Like other Germanmoral
philosophicaltracts of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries, Spangenbergdifferentiatedbetween a Christiannobil-
ity of virtue (nobilitassirtutis) and a political nobility (nobilitas
politica). The latter had to possess the internal virtues of the
former, but in addition required external confirmationof its
distinction(Vorzug),such as the possessionof political authority
(in Obrigheitsitsen), a good reputationwith others, and honours
and titles bestowed by the prince. Nobilitas politica could be
inherited (Erbadel),but it was also bestowed by the prince for
service and other merit. It could be bought or assumed, which
Spangenberg associated negatively with acquisition by force
(Gezvaltsamkeit). While acknowledgingthe existence of a nobility
of learnedmen, he did not equate this zveisenAdel with political
nobility, since the former still had to obtain noble status through
the proper channels.Stressingservice to countryand community
(Vatterlandsheil) for all politicalnobility, Spangenbergconsidered
89 For a discussionof this literature,see Bleeckand Garber,'Nobilitas:Standes-

und Privilegienlegitimation'.
90'Nichtvon GeburtrechtAdel kompt/ Sonderndie Tugendmachtberuhmbt/
Wer sich der Tugend stetz befleist/ DerselbrechtenAdel beweist/ Wer liegt in
Lasternwie ein Schwein/ Der kan furwarnicht Edel sein': Spangenberg,Adels-
Spiegel, ii, 173.
9l Ibid., i, 124.
92Ibid., i, 31; ii, 12, 146.
it particularlyimportantfor newly creatednobles.93He displayed

a positive attitude toward new nobility, especially when a title
was obtained by a devout man because of service or courageous
deeds, but repeatedlystressedthat old and inheritednobility was
a superiorestate if supportedby a virtuouslifestyle.94In addition,
he emphasized the virtues of an education in literature,
rhetoric, philosophy and ethics (but typically not in law), as a
useful adornment and sign of noble distinction. Clearly, then,
Spangenbergwanted to give legitimacy to legal or new nobility
and lent support to the idea that it was an old custom and right
of rulersto ennoblecommoners.95At the sametime he was willing
to buttressthe idea of the superiorityof inheritednobility as long
as it was sustainedby a virtuous lifestyle that was reinforcedby
educationand service.
Spangenberg'stheories were compatible therefore with the
notion old nobles in the Austrianterritorieshad come to accept:
namely, that their predispositionto virtue had to be activated
through proper upbringingand formal education.96As Sigmund
von Herbertsteinput it, 'it was not enough to be born of noble
and virtuous ancestors'. He opposed the idea that nobles could
simply base their virtue on the deeds of their ancestors;rather,
they should be requiredto prove their nobility throughtheir own
virtuousactions.97The Austriannobility could more easily accept
the right of rulers to create new nobles on the basis of education
and service (virtus civilis) once it had reconstructed the new
educationalmodel, made it congruentwith its own conceptionof
nobility and refinedthe externalboundariesand internaldivisions
of the social structure. Henceforth, new nobility had to prove
the virtue it acquiredthrough educationand service for at least
three generations. Only then would it be able to act like true
nobility and gain admission into the noble estates in order to
benefit from the privileges and freedoms the nobility deserved
by right of birth. For upstarts, virtue and merit were earned
93 Ibid., i, 5, 218-19;
ii, 1.
94 Ibid., i, 212,134;ii, 32,124-5.
95 See, for instance, Spangenberg's painstaking attempt to prove the existence of
ennoblement by rulers since Hebraic times (ibid., ii, 1-2),and his insistence that
political authority had the right to ennoble (i, 124).
96Heiss, 'Standeserziehung und Schulunterricht', 392;Brunner, AdeligesLandleben
und europaischerGeist, 76-80.
97'Das Familienbuch Sigmunds von Herbertstein', ed. J. Zahn, Archis fur
OsterreichischeGeschichte,xxxix (1868), 306, quoted in Heiss, 'Bildungsverhalten des
niederosterreichischen Adels', 144.
AND PRESENT
PAST 163
NUMBER
66
con-
throughintergenerationalaccumulationand habituation.By
a capacityto virtue, merely
old nobles, who had inherited
trast, body
needed to activate their natural superiority of mind and
Nevertheless, by the early
throughindividual upbringing.98 as a
century they readily accepted academic training
seventeenth
shiningreflectionof this superior ability.
led to a
The contests over categories of noble virtue thus
redefinitionof merit that includedacademicqualificationsorient-
adopted
atedtoward service of the ruler. The Austriannobility
idea, but only after reinscribing traditionalsocial distinctions
this
established
inthe new educationalmodel. In the process, the
to transform traditionalmeanings of noble
nobilityalso agreed
training
virtue.Henceforth, prudence had to include scholastic and
andvalour, complemented by knowledge in mathematics
science, and skills in dancingand in games fashioned
fortification
became
bythe court. Furthermore, liberality and temperance
orientated towardcourtly manners,gracefulnessand sprezzatura.
with new
Evennotions of constantia and pietas were imbued to
meaningas the religious struggle prompted the Habsburgs
loyalty with
furthertransformconceptionsof merit by equating
nobility
Catholicism.However, on this issue the Protestant
provedunwilling to accommodatethem.
IV
CAPITAL
RELIGION AND THE CONVERSION OF CULTURAL
are also evi-
Similarstruggles over culturaland symbolic capital they
dentthroughoutwestern Europe. In the Austrian territories
because there they coincided with the
none the less differed
the conflict
Counter-Reformation.For the Protestant majority,
over religion complicated the conver-
betweenrulers and estates and
sion of cultural and symbolic capital into other resources,
examination
this threatened their dynastic reproduction,as an capital
of confessional differences in the acquisition of cultural
the competition
and the effect that educationand religionhad on
nobles
over court patronage between Protestant and Catholic
demonstrates.
It testifiesto the importanceof socialand dynasticreproduction
98 German theorists fortified this
conception of virtue further with the idea that
the ruler but was based on rights
true nobility of birth had not been bestowed by
acquired in a far removed past, and that any subsequent status advance
autonomously (cont.onp. 67)
that few differences existed in the educational strategies of

Protestantand Catholicnobles and that both combinedthe learn-
ing of vocationalskills with the transmissionof the symbols and
meanings of noble culture. Although the Jesuits offered more
uniformity, both confessions centred the elementarycurriculum
on the humanitas christiana.The aims and structure of higher
education were also surprisingly similar, although Protestant
nobles attendedboth Catholicuniversitiesin Italy and centres of
learning in Protestant territories. The main difference in the
education of Protestant and Catholic nobles lay in the study of
religiousdogma and the inculcationof distinct confessionaliden-
tities with disparatereligious practicesand values.99
Between 1580 and 1620 another difference emerged in the
frequency of university attendance,at least among Catholicand
Protestantnobles from Lower Austria.Since it has become com-
monplace to assume that Protestants put greater emphasis on
learning, it is noteworthy that with about two-fifths (48 of 116)
of its sons attending universities, the Lower Austrian Catholic
nobility still had a higher proportion of male members with
university educations in 1620 than did the Protestant nobility,
one-third (105 of 322) of whom had university educations.This
had less to do with different emphases placed by Catholic and
Protestantfamilies on learningbut, instead, can be explainedby
the Habsburgs'rapid advancementof educated commonersand
lesser nobles into the Catholic noble estates of Lower Austria,
leadingto a triplingof the university-educatedamongthe Catholic
noble estates (knights and lords). Nevertheless, by 1620 the
Protestant nobility had almost caught up with the educational
level of Catholics,which had been proportionallymuch higher in
1580.1??Thus, the percentage of Lower Austrian Protestant
nobles (knights and lords) who attended universities more than
doubled between 1580 and 1620 (from 41 to 105). This was
mainly achieved by Protestant families of the upper nobility,
whose university-educatedmembers more than tripled by 1620
('n. 98 cont. )
of old nobles on the part of the prince was merely a confirmation of their quality and
ancient rights: Bleeck and Garber, 'Nobilitas: Standes- und Privilegienlegitimation',
96-109.
99Engelbrecht summarizes the basic similarities and differences in Das 16. und 17.
ahrhundert, ch. 6.
l0OIn 1580, 15 of 47 Catholic nobles attended universities compared to only 41 of
259 of the combined Protestant nobility. The proportions change only slightly if we
include and distribute the nobles whose confession could not be determined.
(from 22 to 74), so that the proportionof Protestantlords with
highereducationincreasedfrom aboutone-quarterto nearlyone-
half.10lAlthough the number of university-educatedProtestant
knights came close to doubling (from 19 to 31), the proportion
of Catholicknights with higher educationwas still larger,as two-
fifths of them had registered in universities as compared with
one-fifth of the Protestantknights.102
When considering how many of the Lower Austrian nobles
with universityeducationfound employmentwith the Habsburgs
in 1620, it becomes clear that most of the Protestants among
them were unableto convertthe culturalcapitalthey hadacquired
duringtheir cavalier'stour into other resources.Only about one-
fifth (14 of 74) of the university-educatedProtestantlords were
in Habsburg service. This compares very unfavourablyto the
three-quarters(23 of 32) of the educated Catholic lords who
belonged to the service nobility. The culturalcapitalof the uni-
versity-educated Protestant knights had suffered even greater
devaluation, with only 2 of the 31 university-trainedknights
employedby the crown.103Sincethe talentsof such a high propor-
tion of educatedProtestantsremainedunused, the higher educa-
tional level of Catholicnobles cannot explain why the Habsburgs
preferredthem over Protestantservants.
The CatholicHabsburgs,unwillingto forego the imperialtitle,
consideredreligion to be the primarybond tying the nobility to
their interests, and attempted,after 1579, to re-establishconfes-
sional homogeneity by creating a new Catholic court nobility.
They denied the Protestantelite access to their patronageunless
they re-converted to Catholicism, but most Protestant nobles
refused to abandon their faith. Since the pool of old Catholic
nobles was relativelysmall in the territorieswhere the court was
l0lIn 1580,22 of 93 Protestantlordswereuniversityeducated,whereas,by 1620,
74 of 161hadattendeduniversities.In 1620,the proportionof Protestantlordswith
universityeducationswas actuallyslightlyhigherthanthatof Catholiclords.Among
the Catholiclords,7 of 19 hadhighereducationin 1580,a numberwhichrose to 32
of 76 in 1620.Again,the proportionschangeonlyslightlyif we includeanddistribute
the nobleswhoseconfessioncouldnot be determined.
102 In 1580,19 of the 166knightswhoseconfessioncouldbe identifiedas Protestant
had attendeduniversities.In 1620, 31 of 161 were universityeducated.Amongthe
Catholics,8 of 28 knightsattendeduniversitiesin 1580andthis numberhadrisento
16 out of 40 by 1620. Once again,includingand distributingthose nobles whose
confessioncouldnot be determinedchangesthe proportionsonly insignificantly.
103 The two servitorswere Karl LudwigFernberger, who was councillorof the
LowerAustriangovernment(Regimentsrat),andthe auliccouncillor,GeorgBernhard
Neuhaus.Six otherswere, or hadbeen, servingin the estates'administration.
located Bohemia and later Lower Austria this forced the

crownto recruitcommonersand lessernobles from other territor-
ies, especially from the Holy Roman Empire. While historians
have noted the Habsburgs' denial of court advancement to
Protestants,they have neglectedto analysethe actualconfessional
make-up of the imperial court or to determine the temporal
aspects of its development. My own statistical analysis of the
religious compositionof the top positions in the imperialhouse-
hold and the most importantadministrativecouncilsshows clearly
that a new Catholicnobility alreadydominatedthe top positions
on the eve of the rebellionof 1618-20, and not just after 1620.1?4
Since a number of prominent old Protestant families became
extinct and some others converted, the Habsburgscould advance
the few existing Catholicfamilies of old nobility to the baronage
and to honorarysinecuresin the household.105The confessionaliz-
ation of Habsburg patronage was also effective at the level of
the administrativecouncils. Most, if not all, of the presidents
of the Aulic Council and the imperial Vice Chancellors(Reichs-
104 The data for identifyingthe confessional backgroundof nobles was derived
largelyfromthe followingdocuments:Haus-,Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Vienna,Codes
DiplomaticusAustriacus,iv, fos. 203-9; NOLA, StA, AIII/20,fos. 137-42; Franz
ChristophKhevenhiller,Annales Ferdinandei oder Wahrhafte BeschreibungKaisers
Ferdinandi des Andern, 12 vols. (Leipzig, 1724), ix, fos. 1065-9; Handschriftder
osterreichischenNationalbibliothek,Vienna,Cod. 10.100d(RetzerJurament);Ignaz
Hubl, 'Die Achtungenvon evangelischenund die Konfiskationen protestantischen
Besitzesim Jahre1620in Nieder- und Oberosterreich', ffahrbuchder Gesellschaftfur
die Geschichte des Protestantismusin Osterreich, lix-lx (1938-9), 45-62, 105-25;
Wissgrill,Schauplat: des landsassigennieder-osterreichischen
Adels; Siebmacher,Der
niederosterreichische
Adel.
105 In August 1620 the Austrianbranchof the Catholic,Styrian,Breunerfamily,
whichhad residedin LowerAustriafor threegenerationsand had been elevatedto
the baronagein 1550,wereinvestedwith the Erbland-Obersthammereramt (Masterof
the Chambersin the hereditarylands),afterthe baronsvon Eitzing,an old, Lower-
Austrian,Protestantfamily,had becomeextinct in the male line. The baronsvon
Roggendorf,another old, indigenous,Protestantfamily who held the Erbland-
Hofmeisteramt(Masterof the Court),werereplacedin 1620by an old Catholicfamily
originatingfromthe Tyrol,the baronsvon Trautson,as a resultof GeorgEhrenreich
von Rogendorf'sconvictionfor treason(Schwarz,ImperialPrivy Council,372). The
Erbland-Obersthofmarschallamt(the officeof the Masterof the Household)had been,
since 1531,in the handsof the Trautsons,who hadbeenmadebaronsonly ten years
later.AnotherCatholicfamily,the Harrachs,hadbeenErblandstallmeister(Masterof
the Horse)since 1552,the yearwhen they hadadvancedto the barony.In addition,
RudolfII, MatthiasandFerdinandII installedmainlyCatholicsto the mostimportant
non-hereditarypositionsin the household.In fact, only 5 of the 25 top household
officialswhoseconfessioncouldbe identifiedwereProtestants: HeinrichandKarlvon
Liechtenstein(until their conversion);Baron Streun von Schwarzenau;Johann
Wilhelm;andWolf Sigmundvon Losenstein.
sizekansler)appointed between 1580 and 1620 belonged to
Catholicfamilies.106An analysisof the backgroundof some forty
privy councillorswho served during the reigns of Rudolf II and
Matthias, and who were installed by FerdinandII in 1619-20,
reveals that the Aulic Councilwas a strongholdof Catholicslong
before 1620, as only two of these privy councillors were
Protestants.107
Habsburg historians have also omitted to study the con-
sequencesthat this exclusionhad for Protestantoppositionin the
Austrianterritoriesand in Bohemia. The preferentialtreatment
of Catholicscertainlyhad a profoundeffect on the LowerAustrian
nobility, since only about one-tenth of the numerically much
larger Protestant nobility was still employed by the Habsburgs
in 1620, in comparisonwith nearly two-thirds of the Catholic
nobles.l08The growth of the Catholicnobility is anotherindica-
tion of the success of the Habsburg strategy in creating a new
Catholiccourt nobility before 1620. Thus, in Lower Austriathe
number of Catholic noble families had more than doubled by
1620, coming to comprise more than a quarter of the noble
estates, while the strength of the Protestants had fallen from
about nine-tenths to aroundseven-tenths of the noble Stande.l09
This confessionalizationof court patronage was particularly
106 This datais derivedfrom the biographies
providedby Schwarz,ImperialPrivy
Council,229-30, 249-52, 263, 277-9, 307-12, 359-61, 374-6, 381-2, 407.
l07There were two Protestant privy councillors.Heinrich Julius, duke of
Braunschweig-Wolffenbuettel (1607-13), a GermanprinceandLutheran,was prob-
ably the most active and able of Rudolf II's privy councillors.Althoughgreatly
opposedby the Catholicfaction,he managedtheimpossible,namelyto retainRudolf's
trust, which speaks for his diplomaticabilitiesand moderateattitudes.He even
becamemasterof the court (Obersthofmeister) and directorof the privy council.He
went on to serveMatthiasuntil his suddendeathdue to excessivedrinking.Equally
exceptionalwas the positionof the otherProtestantprivycouncillor,WolfSigmund
Losenstein,whomMatthiasappointedas his Obersthofmarschall in 1612.A moderate
in the Protestantfaction,he was also one of the few councillorswho, at the time,
belongedto the ancientnobilityof the hereditarylands.Althoughit is remarkable
that FerdinandII confirmedhis appointment,he was actuallyremovedfrom active
service. Schwarzincorrectlybelieves that Losensteinalso retainedhis post as
Obersthofmarschall(Schwarz,Imperial Privy Council, 204-48, 292-4). Accordingto
Mencik,however,he wasreplacedby the Catholic,HansBernhardvon Herbertstein:
Mencik,'Beitragezur Geschichteder kaiserlichenHofamter',466.
108 MacHardy, 'Riseof Absolutism',421-5.
109 The numberof Catholic familiesrosefrom33 to 71 (from32 to 66, if thoseof
uncertainconfessionare not distributed),or, in termsof individualmembers,from
48 to 123(47 to 116);the numberof Protestantfamiliesdeclinedby overone-quarter,
fallingfrom 223 to 159, or from 352 to 344 individualmembers:see MacHardy,
'SocialMobilityandNoble Rebellion',tables6-7, 138-9.
devastatingfor Protestantnobles becauseit occurredat a time of

populationgrowth which requiredthem to provide for a growing
number of male children. The data also shows that families had
become dependent on vacancies at court, not only in order to
provide for younger sons but also for eldest sons. During the last
half of the sixteenth century more than one-half of the second-
born sons of the upper nobility of the Austrianhereditarylands
were courtiers;less than a fifth were officers.ll?The proportion
of third- and fourth-born sons employed at court oscillated
aroundone-third, but a higher proportion(about anotherthird)
went into military service as compared to the older sons. It is
especiallynotable that about 30 per cent of the first-bornsons of
the upper nobility were courtiers, and one-tenth each officers
and clerics. This indicatesthat primogeniturewas not yet widely
practisedin HabsburgAustria,but it also reflectshow important
it had become to noble families that their sons gain access to the
court in order to serve the 'honourof the family'.lll
During the early seventeenth century Protestant nobles
invested much more economic capital in their sons' educations,
so that they could enhancethe family's social capitaland cultivate
the patronagenetworksat the Habsburgcourt which were essen-
tial for forging marriage alliances, enhancing noble status and
gaining access to variousother resources.And the court had also
become the majorarenain which nobles acquiredculturalcapital
and displayedsymbolic power. Clearly,then, the exclusion from
court had a debilitatingeffect on Protestant families. Not only
were they deprived of the major employments to provide for
their numerous sons, who could no longer chose careers in the
church,ll2 but, most importantly, they no longer had access to
the major instrument of social and family reproduction, the
llOThe figuresare basedon an analysisof a sampleof twenty-fivefamilies,mostly
from the uppernoble estateof variousAustrianterritories,providedin Eva-Maria
Gotz, 'Lebenszyklusund sozialePragungnachgeborener Sohnedes osterreichischen
Adels' (Univ. of ViennaPh.D. thesis, 1976). Between 1600 and 1650, when the
proportionof first-bornsons in the employof the Habsburgsdeclinedto underone-
third,the proportionof youngersonswho heldlandanddid not belongto the service
nobilitystill fluctuatedaroundone-third,as it had duringthe previoushalf-century.
lll Instructionsof Karl Eusebiusvon Liechtensteinto his son, quotedin Heiss,
'Erziehungund Unterricht',155, 175. The lackof primogeniture is evidentfromthe
landholdingpatternin Lower Austria,which I have analysedin 'Zum politischen
Verhaltendes Ritterstandes',74-9.
112 In addition,my own statisticaldataon the Lower-Austrian nobility,as well as
thatof Eva-MariaGotz (n. 110), indicatethatmilitaryservicewas not very popular
with the Austrianupper or lesser nobilityduringthis period, perhapsbecauseit
( cont. on p. 72)
72 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER163
Habsburgcourt. Not surprisingly,the confessionalizationof court
patronagefermented opposition to the regime among Protestant
nobles and played a significant role in their rebellion of
1618-20.ll3 Charles I of England might have reflected on the
parallels between his own situation and that confronting the
Habsburgs a few decades earlier. But perhaps it was not as
obvious to him as it was to Thomas Hobbes, who commented
that 'the core of rebellionare (sic) the universities'.ll4The dissat-
isfactionof a large section of educatedpeers, gentry and middle-
class intellectuals,who had no hope for positionsin government,
had become an importantreasonbehind elite dissatisfactionwith
the government.
The key question is why the Austrian Protestantnobles had
been able to accommodaterather well to the new educational
requirementsbut had failed to adjusttheir habitusto the changed
recruitmentpolicies at court. If access to the court was so central
to family enhancement and social reproduction, why did the
Protestant nobles cling with such tenacity to their faith rather
than convert under the threat of their demise? Most even con-
tinued to hold fast to their religious beliefs after militarydefeat,
although their sons did gradually convert to Catholicismafter
1620. The centraldifferencelay in the fact that the acculturation
processof Protestantnoble familiesin educationtook placegradu-
ally over nearly a century and these changes were, for the most
part, not incompatiblewith their habitus.In contrast,the confes-
sionalization of Habsburg patronage was implemented very
rapidlyand was in tensionwith the religiousidentityof Protestant
nobles.ll5 They were for the most part second- and third-
(n. 112 cont.)
offered few permanentopportunitiesin the absence of a large standingarmy:

MacHardy,'Riseof Absolutism',422-3; JohnA. Mears,'The ThirtyYearsWar,the
"GeneralCrisis",and the Originsof a StandingProfessionalArmyin the Habsburg
Monarchy',CentralEuropeanHist., xxi ( June 1988).
113 MacHardy, 'Riseof Absolutism',424.
114 ThomasHobbes,as quotedin Stone,Crisis of the Aristocracy,331.
115 Bourdieuclaimsthat the construction of perceptionsof the socialworldtakes
place in practiceand that agents unconsciouslyinternalizeschemesof perception
linkingthe objectivestructuresof society(socialspace)withsubjectiveindividualand
collectivepractices.While habituscan be flexible,a changein habitususuallylags
behindchangesin objectiveconditions.Consequently, individualscanfindit difficult
to adaptquicklyto a fundamentaltransformation of circumstances and the resulting
mismatchbetweenhabitusandobjectiveconditionsexplainswhytheybecomeinclined
to engagein politicalstruggles.Bourdieudefinesthisdispositional lagas the 'hysteresis
effect'. Bourdieu,Theoryof Practice, 78-83; see alsohis Distirlstion,143.
CAPITALAND NOBLEIDENTITY
CULTURAL 73
generation Lutherans who had acquired and internalized their
and the values and ritualsassociatedwith it, throughsocial-
faith,
and everydaypractice.Their religiousidentityhad become
ization
of their
intrinsicpart of their habitus,so that their perceptions
an
fused with their faith and they
positionin society were deeply pro-
necessarilybecamefixatedupon preserving it. Protestantism
underpin-
videdthem with an essentialconceptualframeworkfor
traditions of noble society and they
ningand sustainingthe very
champions of the estates' traditional
proclaimedthemselves as
politicalrights in their conflict with the Habsburgs.ll6
become
However, by 1620 the habitusof Protestantnobles had
there was an incongruity between the conditions
anachronistic:
occurred
surroundingthem and their habitus. The disjuncture
the seventeenth century, circumstances still
quitequickly. Before
about the
allowedthe Protestant nobles to remain optimistic with
even
survivalof their faith in the Habsburg territories,
order.
regardto retaininga dominantposition within the existing
rulers
Theyremainednumericallypredominantand the Habsburg
wars.
neededtheir support in dynastic quarrelsand in financing
increased status
Matthiashad rewarded many Protestants with
often
and,at times, with offices, and had, like his predecessors, In
showna willingness to compromisewith them in disputes.1l7
had
the early seventeenth century, the Counter-Reformation
while the Protestant
madeonly limitedprogressin Lower Austria,
Hopeful
estateshad built up impressiveinternationalcontacts.1l8 had
in the empire, they
about the victory of Protestantism the
of their sons. But in
invested heavily in the cultural capital
Protestant nobles faced an
decade prior to 1620 Lower Austrian a
were suddenly confronted with
entirely new situation, as they
Evans,The Making
116 Bahlcke,Regionalismusund Staatsintegration,ch. 5; R. J.2.W.The intellectualand
1550-1700 (Oxford, 1979), ch.
of the HabsburgMonarchy,
cavalier'stour had also
culturalcontactsProtestantnobles cultivatedduringtheir Protestants
strengthened theconceptionof commonculturalandotherinterestsamong
Habsburg territories: Sturmberger, Herbertstortf,34-5. Withthe excep-
from various
FerdinandII specifically
tion of the Catholicinstitutionsat Freiburgand Ingolstadt,Sturmberger, GeorgErasmus
prohibitedvisits to Germanuniversities and academies:
ch. 4, thinksthat con-
Tschernembl,33. Bahlcke,Regionalismusund Staatsintegration, the formationof the
to
tacts establishedduring the cavalier'stour contributed
Bohemian Confederation of 1619.
117 ViktorBibl, 'Die katholischen
und protestantischen StandeNieder-Osterreichs
standischenVerfassung',
im XVII. Jahrhundert:Ein Beitragzur Geschichteder(1903);HansSturmberger,
3tahrbuch fur Landeskundevon Niederosterreich,new ser., ii
Krieges(Munich,1959).
Augstandin Bohmen:Der Beginn des dreissigiahrigen
118 Bahlcke, Regionalismus und chs.
Staatsintegration, 4-5.
mismatch between their habitus and real opportunities. Even

though they had adapted to the new requirementsin education
and reconstructednoble virtue to suit the social identity of nobil-
ity, the Habsburgequationof loyalty with Catholicismrendered
impossible the conversion of this cultural capital into other
resources.Only a politicalvictory over the Habsburgscould have
preserved the habitus of the Protestant nobles, including their
religiousidentity, and secured the materialreproductionof their
families. One discontinuitylent support to another.
CONCLUSION
This study of the Austriannobility has arguedthe case for analys-
ing noble educationin termswhich includesocialand confessional
difference,and for viewing educationalstrategiesas partof famil-
ial and social reproduction.As I have shown, dynastic enhance-
ment in early modern society depended to a large extent on the
collective embodiment of noble culture, especially its symbolic
order, into the habitusof young sons. Reproducingnoble culture
in this way also helped to secure continued noble dominanceof
the socialstructure.However, changesoccurredin socialrelations
during the sixteenth century in connectionwith new educational
demandsat court which requiredan adjustmentof the symbolic
framework.In order to uphold existing divisions between nobles
and commonerswhile accommodatingchangededucationalneces-
sities, families of the establishednobility reinscribedtraditional
social distinctionsin a new educationalmodel and imbued voca-
tional values with social purpose. In particular, they refused
certificationand combined academic schooling with training in
court culture.
Adaptingculturalpracticesto the principlesof noble legitima-
tion led to contests over conceptionsof virtue and merit between
the nobility, its urban critics and the Habsburgs, who equated
virtue and merit with education. In order to enforce their own
conceptionof merit, which they believed was derived only from
noble virtue, Austrian nobles insisted that education simply
enhanced their inherited capacity for virtue and that scholastic
trainingorientatedtowardsservice was merely a manifestationof
that mentaland physicalsuperioritywhich entitled them to lead-
ership. Refashioningconceptionsof noble virtue and merit, and

reconstructingthe external boundariesand internal divisions of
nobility, opened the possibility for noble families to accept a
re-orientationof educationto include scholastictrainingand uni-
versity attendance. While families of the upper nobility greatly
improved the educationalqualificationsof their sons, the lower
nobles, especially the older families among them, were less able
to do so because of the high cost of the cavalier's tour. This
deepened the social and economic divisions within the nobility.
Differentiating educational qualifications by confession re-
vealed that Protestantismdid not automaticallylead to a higher
level of educationand that the Counter-Reformationcomplicated
the conversionof culturaland symbolic capital into other forms
of resources for the Protestant nobles. Even though Protestant
families, especiallyamong the upper nobility, had by 1620 almost
managed to catch up to the Catholics in higher education,
their cultural capital had become practicallyworthless. As the
Habsburgsbegan to equate merit and loyalty with Catholicism,
and favouredCatholicswith theirpatronage,the Protestantnobles
were suddenly(within one generation)confrontedwith an incon-
gruity between their habitusand the real conditionssurrounding
them. Exclusion from court meant that Protestant nobles no
longer had access to its patronage system, to certain forms of
statist capital(includingmeans to protect the Protestantreligion)
and to other benefits attached to offices. In short, this change,
unlike that of education, threatened the cultural and material
reproductionof their families.The majorityof Protestantsamong
the Lower Austriannobles refused to adjust through conversion
because by the early seventeenth century their identity was fully
confessionalizedand their religion had become an inseparable
part of their habitus. Instead, they decided in 1619-20 to join
the Bohemianestates in rebellion againstthe Habsburgs.ll9
Universityof Waterloo Karin3r.MacHardy
1l9I have examined this rebellion in detail in my forthcoming book, CourtPatronage

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CULTURALCAPITAL,FAMILY

STRATEGIESAND NOBLE IDENTITY IN

became increasinglyorientatedtowardsserving the ruler at court

supportedthe idea that noble privilegehad to be justifiedthrough

articlethereforeanalysesthe educationalstrategiesof noble famil-

the educational model fuel competition for court patronage

For a detaileddescriptionof his concepts,see PierreBourdieu,'The Formsof

Capital',in John G. Richardson(ed.), Handbook of Theory and Researchfor the

hand, they cannot be regardedas reflex or mechanicalreactions

most other people)could not be fully informedmaximizers,with knowledgeof all

being the product of deliberatedecision-making.l6Thus, in the

25 MartinC. Mandlmayr andKarlG. Vocelka,'VomAdelsaufgebot zumStehenden

ity began to include in the curriculumof their sons the teaching

nobility, found such honoraryemploymentat the imperialcourt

Residence at a court further provided young nobles with a

emergenceof a specificcapital,properlystatist capital, bornof theircumulation,which

some higher education. The proportionaladvance (from over

also had fewer connections to aristocraticcourts, travelled for

47Bircher,3fohann Wilhelm von Stubenberg,24-5; Sturmberger,Georg Erasmus

of the old knights had attended universities in contrast to over

this manner, certification,which now had an overtly utilitarian

thoseof his ancestors,includinghis father,who were

careers in the administration.For example, Baron Paul Sixtus

63 From the instructions of Karl Eusebiusvon Liechtensteinto his son, quoted

and the work was much debated among German-speaking

67 Burke,Fortunesof the Courtier,60, llS, 140, 164, 173-4, discusses

of aristocraticculture. Old nobility only had to be what they

71 Bourdieu,In Other Words,1 1.

tensions and problems posed by the new type of education.

over patronage,aimed to upset a homologybetween social strati-

The most importantof these rules, establishedin 1612, required

89 For a discussionof this literature,see Bleeckand Garber,'Nobilitas:Standes-

it particularlyimportantfor newly creatednobles.93He displayed

that few differences existed in the educational strategies of

located Bohemia and later Lower Austria this forced the

devastatingfor Protestantnobles becauseit occurredat a time of

offered few permanentopportunitiesin the absence of a large standingarmy:

mismatch between their habitus and real opportunities. Even

ership. Refashioningconceptionsof noble virtue and merit, and

Universityof Waterloo Karin3r.MacHardy

1l9I have examined this rebellion in detail in my forthcoming book, CourtPatronage

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