Western Civilization I / Unit 16 WC1 1519 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Nobles of the Sword, Nobles of the Robe, and Despised Merchants
Captions available
The idea
By the seventeenth century nobles split into nobles of the sword, heirs of warriors, and nobles of the robe, appointed or purchased, both landowners rather than fighters, and both despising merchants as parasites on Christian order. Titles sold for revenue made the second kind.
In practice
New nobles most contemptuous, the anchor says.
Where people slip
Parasites is the nobles' word, not the course's.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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