aristocracy
Sign in to saveAristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. thumb|The Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk|6th Duke of Norfolk, a 17th-century English aristocrat and politician who held the hereditary office of [[Earl Marshal of England]] Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian countries, the aristocracy was mostly equal with magnates, also known as the titled or higher nobility, however the members of the more numerous social class, the untitled lower nobilit
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Aristocracy is a form of government where power rests with a small group of privileged people called aristocrats. Historically, especially across Europe, aristocracies held enormous economic, political, and social influence over their societies.
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12 sectionsContents
- Classical aristocracy
- Modern aristocracy
- Concept
- Differentiation
- History
- 18th and 19th centuries
- 20th century
- Outside Europe
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. thumb|The Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk|6th Duke of Norfolk, a 17th-century English aristocrat and politician who held the hereditary office of [[Earl Marshal of England]] Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian countries, the aristocracy was mostly equal with magnates, also known as the titled or higher nobility, however the members of the more numerous social class, the untitled lower nobility (petty nobility or gentry) were not part of the aristocracy.
== Classical aristocracy == In ancient Greece, the Greeks conceived aristocracy as rule by the best-qualified citizens—and often contrasted it favorably with monarchy, rule by an individual. The term was first used by such ancient Greeks as Aristotle and Plato, who used it to describe a system where only the best of the citizens, chosen through a careful process of selection, would become rulers, and hereditary rule would actually have been forbidden, unless the rulers' children performed best and were better endowed with the attributes that make a person fit to rule compared with every other citizen in the polity.