In A Europe of Courts, a Europe of Factions the contributors offer an analysis of the political groups of the most representative European courts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Transcending individual cases, this collection presents the first comparative overview of the phenomenon of court factionalism. Through original research and a critical approach, González Cuerva and Koller explore in depth the emergence, coexistence and image of court factions. This contribution to the debate on the nature of early modern policy-making is enriched with a European-wide focus, which allows comparison of the circumstantial and micropolitical factors accounting for the spread of factions and the conditions in which they functioned. It also allows partisan sources to be examined with the necessary caution. Contributors are Stefano Andretta, Janet Dickinson, Luc Duerloo, Pavel Marek, José Martínez Millán, Toby Osborne, David Potter, Jonathan Spangler, Evrim Türkçelik, and Maria Antonietta Visceglia.

In the period between the Renaissance and the French Revolution, European courts were the single most influential institutions anywhere. This guide shows how they functioned, how they interrelated, and why they were Europe's main cultural centres.

Factional Struggles' explores the dynamics of conflicts among ruling elites within cities, dynastic courts, rural areas and regional noble lineages during the early modern period. Building on case studies from France, Italy, the Empire and the Swiss Confederation, the essays collected by Mathieu Caesar in this volume highlight how factions were formed and how they shaped political society from the late Middle Ages. The authors have especially focused on how political and religious ideologies contributed to the formation of partisanship, the role of propaganda, and the significance and strategies of factional leaders. The volume shows how factions, despite the generally negative view of them held by theologians and jurists, were in practice accepted and used as political tools.

Terrestial and Celestial Spacs of the Danish Court 1550-1650/John Robert Christianson, p. 91-118: ill.

Presenting case studies from France, Italy, the Empire and the Swiss Confederation, this volume explores the dynamics and languages of factional conflicts within urban elites, dynastic courts, rural areas, and regional noble lineages during the early modern period.

The intimate connection between medieval royal government and the administration of justice led to a new generation of centralized law courts emerging in early modern Europe. Some were newly created institutions, but often they were associated with the evolution of the judicial role of royal councils, or equivalent bodies, which sat outside the ordinary course of justice. Typically these were empowered on behalf of the sovereign to make interventions in legal process on grounds of equity. Legal change of this kind was connected with the development of the state, and reflected the way that enhancement in the exercise of centralized judicial authority could be a powerful force reshaping the administration of justice more generally. The contributions to this book seek to examine how such newly created or reformed central judicial bodies (in Europe but also to some extent in European colonial settlement in the Americas) became integrated into the wider structures of jurisdiction within states, with a superior or even supreme jurisdiction. A particular emphasis is given to exploring how their jurisdiction and authority related to other more political institutions of central governance with an adjudicative role, such as parliaments or privy councils.

Early modern princely courts were not only inhabited by humans, but also by a large number of animals. This coexistence of non-human living beings had crucial impacts on the spatial organization, the social composition and cultural life at these courts. The contributions enrich our knowledge on another aspect of court life and invite to reconsider our basic understandings of court, courtiers and court society.