Uradel (German:[ʔuːɐ̯ˈʔaːdl̩],German: "ancient nobility";[1] adjectiveuradelig oruradlig) is a genealogical term introduced in late 18th-century Germany to distinguish those families whose noble rank can be traced to the 14th century or earlier.[2] The word stands opposed toBriefadel, a term used for titles of nobility created in theearly modern period ormodern history byletters patent. Since the earliest known such letters were issued in the 14th century, thoseknightly families in northern Europeannobility whose noble rank predates these are designatedUradel.[3]
Uradel andBriefadel families are generally further divided into categories with their ranks of titles:adlig (untitlednobility),freiherrlich (baronial),gräflich (comital),fürstlich (princely) andherzoglich (ducal) houses. The latter two are also referred to asHochadel (High Nobility).
The first use of the wordUradel to designate the oldest nobility dates from 1788, and it had assumed its present-day meaning by no later than 1800.[3][4] The termUradel was used officially from the 19th century by the RoyalPrussianHerald Office (königlich-preußische Heroldsamt).[5] The term is found in theAlmanach de Gotha from 1907, in which it is applied to all persons and families known to have been "noble" or "knightly" before 1400. The subsequent German-language publicationsGenealogisches Handbuch des Adels (GHdA) and since 2015 theGothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch continue to differentiate betweenUradel andBriefadel families.
According to the German genealogicalreference work of the nobility (Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, 1951) the noble houses which count asUradel are those families whose ancestral lineage can be demonstrated to date at least as far back as the year 1400 (in theLate Middle Ages), belonging at that time to theknightly (Germanritterbürtigen) nobility.
The latter includesedelfreie families (free noblemen) as well asministeriales, a lower and in their origins mostly unfree order which arose rapidly and managed within the 14th century to elevate themselves to the lesser nobility(see:Estates of the realm). The modern concept of aristocracy (Uradel) must not be confused with the termedelfrei, since the former term's scope is much broader: all families that can prove they belonged to the knightly aristocracy by no later than around 1400 (whether originallyedelfrei orministeriales) are counted today asUradel. In fact, most of the families in the formerUradel volumes of theGotha are of ministerialis origin, including even some of the later princely houses ("Hochadel",see below).
Edelfrei families were members of an ancient, dynastic aristocratic line, free noble families independent of legal obligations of a secondary nature, and they were not subordinated to any other families or dynasties, apart from the German King orHoly Roman Emperor.[6] In contrast, theministeriales, meaning originally "servitors" or "agents", wereunfree nobles, however trained knights who made up a large majority of what could be described as the German knighthood during that time. These people were raised up fromserfdom to be placed in positions of power and responsibility in the service of lords, counts or bishops. From about 1200 they gradually accumulated power and fiefs, at some point more than the Edelfrei knights. Poorer Edelfrei knights passed into ministerialis service, primarily to be granted new administrative positions and fiefs. The powerful overlords, mostly edelfrei themselves, had no interest in raising any competition to their power by sharing it with their peers, rather attempting to subject these by making them their vassals. In the 14th century, the edelfrei and ministerialis classes finally mixed and intermarried. Those ministeriales who directly served the German king or emperor (the "ministeriales of the Empire" orReichsministerialen) often accumulated large imperial fiefs, later sometimes enabling them to rise to comital or princely rank.
Ministeriales mostly rose by elevation to theknightly status. Knightings were usually granted tosquires having bravely fought as armored horsemen in a battle, yet sometimes also to simplemen-at-arms. A ministeriales family however was considered a "knightly family" only after three subsequent generations of knights (or at least of leading a "knightly way of life", including equal marriage). Since it is a coincidence from what period of time documents have been received or not, the initially more strict definition, as described inDer Große Brockhaus in 1928 (vol. 1, s.v. "Adel"), which required an attestation prior to the year 1350 to establishUradel status, has been extended to the year 1400 because even the knightly families documented as dating from theLate Middle Ages (between about 1350 and 1400) are likely to have had already at least a century of possessing that status. Many have in fact risen to noble or knightly status already before 1300.
Uradel is also closely connected with the system of medievalfiefs, granted by anoverlord to avassal who held it in fealty (or "in fee") in return for a form offeudal allegiance and service, usually given by the personal ceremonies ofhomage andfealty. Therefore feudal deeds are an important source not only for the existence of noble families, but also for their rank and status. Witness lists, for instance, mostly enumerate edelfreie witnesses first, followed by ministeriales witnesses, mostly denoted aseques (knight) or something similar.
In contrast, the youngerBriefadel are families of the post-medieval nobility, probably originally of bourgeois (Bürger,burgher) orpeasant origin, ennobled in themodern era byletters patent issued by amonarch, usually with the award of acoat of arms if they did not already have one. Said to have been modelled on the earlier French practice of raising officials (especially lawyers) to thearistocracy, the earliestletters patent conferring nobility in Germany were issued underCharles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, in the late 14th century.[7]
A similar term used more often thanUradel in Austria isalter Adel ("old nobility").[5]
The termUradel can be found in Scandinavian genealogy from the early 20th century. The contrasting termBriefadel wascalqued asbrevadel.[8]
The 1926 edition of the SwedishNordisk familjebok also cites 1350 as the required date, because "the oldest known letter patent dates to 1360".[9] The letters patent referred to here is that issued by Holy Roman EmperorCharles IV to Wicker Frosch, aburgher ofFrankfurt, on 30 September 1360.Svenska Akademiens ordbok mentions "circa 1420" as the threshold date.[10] In Norway, one of the earliest known letters patent is of 1458.[citation needed]
Hochadel is not a synonym forUradel. WhereasUradel (medieval or feudal nobility before AD 1400) is opposed toBriefadel (nobility by letters – or patent – of nobility, mostly from the post-medieval period after AD 1400),Hochadel (high nobility) is opposed toNiederer Adel (lower nobility). The differentiation ofUradel fromBriefadel is age-based, whereas the distinction betweenHochadel andNiederer Adel is based on the rank of titles, withHochadel including all royal, princely and ducal houses of Europe, as well as the former GermanImperial Counts, as far as they ruled anImperial State with a seat on one of the four "benches of counts" in theImperial Diet until 1806.
TheAlmanach de Gotha (followed by subsequent series) differentiates between three sections ofHochadel. The first section listed Europe'ssovereign houses, whether they reigned as emperor, king, grand duke, duke or prince. The second section contained theMediatised houses of Germany, which lost their semi-sovereignty within theHoly Roman Empire during the period ofGerman mediatisation between 1803 and 1815. The third section included the titular princely and ducal houses of Europe that never ruled as sovereigns.
Very few GermanHochadel families belong to theBriefadel instead ofUradel, such as theFugger,Eggenberg,Biron andWrede families that rose to the rank ofFürst (prince). On a European level, there are some more examples of royal or princely families that rose to the high nobility after the middle ages, such as theHouse of Bonaparte (and other Napoleonic families like theHouse of Bernadotte,Ney,Murat,Fouché d'Otrante,Berthier of Wagram, etc.), the Italian princesTorlonia and the Russian princesDemidov.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)i sht hist. om adel(ssläkt) som erhållit adelskap före ca 1420 (o. därmed hör till de äldsta i landet); motsatt: sköldebrevsadel.