Western Civilization II / Unit 4 WC2 0301 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Nobles of the Sword, Nobles of the Robe, and Despised Merchants
Captions available
The idea
Medieval wealth was land and war. By the seventeenth century two nobilities held it: nobles of the sword, by inheritance, and nobles of the robe, by appointment or purchase, both living off peasants and despising merchants as parasites.
In practice
The state's outlook on wealth changed before the nobles' did.
Where people slip
Capitalism's birthplaces, the anchor says: the Netherlands and England.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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