246 Ch. 7 • The Age of Absolutism, 1650-1720
representatives from the three estates—clergy, nobility, and commoners—
that had been created early in the fourteenth century as an advisory council
to the king. To take another example, the Portuguese assembly of nobles did
not meet at all during the eighteenth century.
Monarchs and Nobles
In each absolute state, the relationship between ruler and nobles deter
mined the specific character of absolutism. This delicate balance is reflected
in the oath of loyalty sworn to the king of Spain by the Aragonese nobility:
“We who are as good as you swear to you who are no better than we to accept
you as our king and sovereign lord, provided you observe all our liberties and
laws; but if not, not.” Monarchs negotiated compromises with nobles,
awarding titles and confirming privileges for obedience, or at least compli
ance. In some cases, nobles asserted independence vis-a-vis royal authority.
But emphatic assertions of royal authority reduced nobles to the role of ju
nior ruling partners in governance, dominating state and local government.
Nobles frightened by the social and political turmoil that shook Europe dur
ing the first half of the century now more willingly served rulers as royal offi
cials and military commanders.
“Tables of ranks” dividing nobles into distinct grades or ranks were estab
lished at the turn of the century by the kings of Sweden, Denmark, Prussia,
and Russia, making it clear that noble privileges were bestowed by mon
archs. Louis XIV of France asserted the right to monitor the legitimacy of all
titles and even to confiscate noble estates. In 1668, he ordered the investiga
tion of “false” nobles holding dubious titles. These measures helped the king
maintain the loyalty of nobles, some of whom resented those who held titles
they considered suspect. The great noble families thereafter enjoyed an
even greater monopoly over the most lucrative and prestigious royal and
ecclesiastical posts. Using the augmented power of the state, rulers also pla
cated nobles by ending a turbulent period of peasant uprisings against taxes,
obligations to lords, and the high price of grain. Insurrections occurred less
frequently and were savagely repressed.
The gradual centralization of authority in Eastern Europe left nobles with
even more autonomy than they had in the West, allowing Russian lords, Pol
ish nobles, and Prussian nobles (Junkers) the possibility of further increas
ing their wealth and power through the extension of their estates, which
were worked by serfs. Beginning in the late sixteenth century, such
seigneurs made fortunes shipping grain to the West, where prices of cereal
and food had risen dramatically in response to population growth. Royal
decrees in Prussia and Russia and assembly legislation in Poland progres
sively limited the right of peasants to move from the land they worked, or
even to inherit property. Ravaged by hard times, peasant proprietors had to
sell their land to nobles. Impoverished and virtually powerless to resist, peas
ants lost their personal freedom, a process most marked in Russia. Thus, as