Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Études médiévales--Paris 4, 2001. Titre de soutenance : Héritage, relations fraternelles et imaginaire familial dans la littérature narrative du XIIe siècle. / Bibliogr. p. 291-299. Index.

Texte remanié de : Thèse Doctorat : Philosophie : Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München : 1984. / Version commerciale de. Bibliogr. p. 152-158. Index.

This study looks broadly at the composition of the Scottish peerage in James VI's reign, and specifically at a subset, of the Scottish aristocracy who bore the titles of viscount or better between the years 1587 and 1625. Eighty-five subjects are identified, and classified according to the age of their titles, their religious leanings and the geographical regions from which their titles and powers were drawn, to form anumber of distinct groups---the established nobility, new peers, Protestants, Catholics (both overt and conforming), peers from the highlands and isles, peers from central Scotland, and peers from the Anglo-Scottish border region. / A social analysis of the total body of these peers and its sub-groupings is undertaken, and focuses on patterns associated with their birth, descent, education, succession, marriage, fertility and death. Where appropriate, the results are compared with data available from studies of the contemporary English aristocracy. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This thesis is a contribution to the social history of medieval Devon and the south- west in the lifetimes of the first two Courtenay earls, Hugh II (1275-1340) and Hugh III (1303-77). The fourteenth century was an era of particular importance to the region's social evolution, in which many sectors of the non-agrarian economy - cloth production, mining fishing, ship-building, intermational commerce - attained impressive levels of growth, interrupted perhaps only moderately by the demographic crises of the middle decades. Further encouragement to economic prosperity came from the war with France, which stimulated demographic and urban communities on the south coast and provided fresh opportunities for employment and personal advancement. Against this backdrop of economic change, the pattern of aristocratic power in the south-western peninsula was undergoing a fundamental transformation and shift in focus. Two great Anglo-Norman honors were united in 1297 under the Courtenays, giving a single aristocratic dynasty unprecedented influence and leverage over local society. Permanently resident in the county and led by vigorous personalities, the family rapidly became ubiquitous in all sectors of public life and the region experienced a quality and intensity of lordship rarely witnessed in the previous two centuries. The current work supplies a deficiency in the study of the medieval south-west, but also makes a case for extending the remit of a traditional county-based study to encompass a wider cultural and economic hinterland. Particular attention is paid to the influence of the physical landscape and geography on economic and seignorial development in medieval society. The thesis is divided into two parts: the first dealing with the economic and social infrastructure, and 'setting the scene' with a long-term historical survey; the second focusing specifically on the fourteenth century and placing a discussion of local power structures in a wider 'national' context.

I focused on the general view of the manor in my thesis. Chroustovice wasn't an important manor. Due to this fact, it has never been written the work of a similar character. This thesis is personal to me because I have spent my life in Chroustovice. In the thesis I described historical, artistic, economical, social and ecclesial development of the manor. I described the changing of the owners of the manor. I tried to map trade with the surrounding villages and their belonging with the manor. I focused on the building of Chroustovice manorhouse, which was the centre of the manor, and it still dominates the village. I tried to collected the fate of the most prominent local natives. I tried to synthesize sources and literature. I enriched my thesis with rumors and stories that are still circulating in the region until today.

Railway and nobility - at first glance the opposite sides of one coin. The aristocracy was considered conservative part of society, as a symbol of "the old times". Railway presented the other side of the coin: ?the new age? and economical progress. What was the same on these two symbols? Why nobility supported the build of railroads through their domain? How was the role of Nobles in the construction of railroads? The point of view of this publication is at the history of railways in terms of Nobles as the businessmen. Shows an example of primogeniture Schwarzenberg, how aristocrats engage themselves in the construction of railways, railway companies in the management and support local projects. You can find here examples of the nobility built industrial railroad for their business. The work shows that the nobility to maintain its economic power after the abolition of feudalism had to adopt modern capitalism and the development of rail transport.

This diploma thesis critically handles memorial book of John George of Schwamberg, leading noble of Bohemian kingdom, politician, contemporary and inheritor of lasts Rosenbergs. Partly dedicated to memorial books as a phenomenon of early modern age and live of John George from Schwamberg. Objective of this diploma thesis is approximate personal life of Schwamberg, partly his itinerary and circle of "masters and friends" through notes recorded in memorial book. Emphasis is put on individual listings and ilustrations and the differences are taken into account from other memorial books from the same period, possibly on matters that can be found in memorial books routinely too. Diploma thesis deals with emergence of memorial book of John George from Schwamberg, its destiny after death of John George and its next owners too.

The thesis deals with a handwritten literary oeuvre by Francophone noblewoman Alexandra of Dietrichstein, born Shuvalov, which represents, by its extent, the unique case for the Bohemian lands. In what follows we interpret Princess Alexandra of Dietrichstein's political, religious, social and her literary opinions as well as her conception of sentiment and love on the basis of nine literary texts. Each of them represents a different genre there are short stories, novellas, novels and an educational treatise. Furthermore, her work originated within Francophone aristocratic culture in the Romantic period. Primarily, we focus on the development of the Francophone culture in Russia. Thanks to methods of cultural history and literary analysis of aesthetic norms we were able to demonstrate how her literary work developed over time in terms of ethics and aesthetics and point at the influence of the political and cultural changes in the period called in the Bohemian lands "in between times".

I define and defend a non-democratic authority with the power to annul the decisions of democratic branches of government when such decisions infringe upon citizens’ basic rights and liberties. I refer to this non-democratic authority as Liberal Aristocracy. The argument for Liberal Aristocracy has two parts: the first part demonstrates that Liberal Aristocracy will arrive at decisions that further the moral end of sustaining citizens’ rights; the second part holds that Liberal Aristocracy is a moral means to this end. First, I discuss two existing arguments for non-democratic authorities – Platonic Aristocracy and Constitutional Court Judges. I claim that Plato’s argument is unsuccessful because it relies on controversial metaethical premises that are unlikely to provide a basis for rights. Liberal justifications of the power of Constitutional Courts are argued to be incomplete because they do not designate an authority that is qualified to decide when citizens’ rights are infringed by democratic branches of government. Nor do they show that such an authority is in fact required if citizens’ rights are to be protected. In order to supplement the liberal argument for the power of Constitutional Courts I develop an account of Liberal Aristocracy, which rests on the idea that Constitutional Court Judges should possess moral expertise. I claim that (i) moral expertise qualifies Judges to decide when citizens’ rights are violated by democratic decisions. Furthermore, I argue that (ii) decisions taken democratically will sometimes encroach on citizens’ rights. Claims (i) and (ii) are shown to justify the non-democratic authority of Liberal Aristocracy. The second part of the argument for Liberal Aristocracy examines arguments to the effect that only democratic procedures can be morally legitimate, even if other decision procedures arrive at outcomes that provide greater support for citizens’ rights. Three claims are offered in support of this idea. First, democracy is claimed to be necessary to support deliberation. Second, democracy is seen as the only procedure that can uphold the value of autonomy by securing citizens’ consent. Third, it is argued that non-democratic procedures will not recognise the equal status of citizens. I hold that these three claims are false and that Liberal Aristocratic procedures can be morally legitimate.

The main aim of the thesis is to present an analysis of the younger Bohemian branch of Sternberg dynasty. The author follows the life of Zdeněk Sternberg († 1900) in his role of an owner and a successful caretaker of the dominions of Radnice, Český Šternberk and Jemniště. Furthermore, the problematic of aristocratic marriages is reconstructed through studying the fates of his sons Alois († 1907) and Filip († 1924). This theme was supplemented by identifying those values which were of consequence when an adequate partner for a member of aristocracy was sought. The problematic is demonstrated on the situations of both Alois who spent all his life as a bachelor and his younger brother Filip who married and enjoyed a family life. The private world of three Zdeněk's daughters is also reconstructed. The examples of Zdenka Schnönborn († 1915) and Kunhuta Lobkowicz († 1916) offer an insight into their daily dealings within their new families while the youngest sister Karolína († 1930) spent her years unwed and childless. The particular style of aristocratic life is demonstrated on interests and entertainment which the aristocracy fostered (travelling, hunt, horsemanship, artistic interests, sport, games, reading, theatre etc.). The final part of the work focuses on disputes surrounding the issue of...