Aroyal court, often called simply acourt when the royal context is clear, is an extendedroyal household in amonarchy, including all those who would regularly attend on amonarch, or another central figure. Hence, the wordcourt may also be applied to thecoterie of a senior member of thenobility. Royal courts may have their seat in a designated place, several specific places, or be a mobile,itinerant court.
In the largest courts, the royal households, many thousands of individuals constituted the court. Thesecourtiers included the monarch or noble'scamarilla andretinue, household, nobility,clergy, those withcourt appointments,bodyguards, and may also include emissaries from other kingdoms or visitors to the court.Foreign princes and foreign nobility inexile may also seek refuge at a court.
Near Eastern andFar Eastern courts often included theharem andconcubines as well aseunuchs who fulfilled a variety of functions. At times, the harem was walled off and separate from the rest of the residence of the monarch. InAsia, concubines were often a more visible part of the court. Lower rankingservants and bodyguards were not properly called courtiers, though they might be included as part of the court or royal household in the broadest definition. Entertainers and others may have been counted as part of the court.
Aroyal household is the highest-ranking example ofpatronage. Aregent orviceroy may hold court during the minority or absence of the hereditary ruler, and even an electedhead of state may develop a court-like entourage of unofficial, personally-chosen advisers and "companions". The French wordcompagnon and its English derivation "companion" literally mean a "sharer of the bread" at table, and a court is an extension of the great individual's household. Wherever members of the household and bureaucrats of the administration overlap in personnel, it is reasonable to speak of a "court", for example inAchaemenid Persia,Ming China,Norman Sicily, thepapacy before 1870 (see:papal household), and theAustro-Hungarian Empire. A group of individuals dependent on the patronage of a great man, classically in ancient Rome, forms part of the system of "clientage" that is discussed undervassal.
Individual rulers differed greatly in tastes and interests, as well as in political skills and in constitutional situations. Accordingly, some founded elaborate courts based on newpalaces, only to have their successors retreat to remotecastles or to practical administrative centers. Personal retreats might arise far away from official court centres.
Etiquette andhierarchy flourish in highly structured court settings, and may leave conservative traces over generations. Most courts featured a strictorder of precedence, often involvingimperial, royal and noble ranks,orders of chivalry, andnobility. Some courts even featuredcourt uniforms. One of the major markers of a court isceremony. Most monarchal courts included ceremonies concerning theinvestiture orcoronation of themonarch andaudiences with the monarch. Some courts had ceremonies around the waking and the sleeping of the monarch, called alevée.Orders of chivalry as honorific orders became an important part of court culture starting in the 15th century.[1] They were the right of themonarch, as thefount of honour, to create and grant.
The earliest developed courts were probably in theAkkadian Empire,Ancient Egypt, andShang dynasty. However, there is evidence of courts as described in theNeo-Assyrian Empire[2] andZhou dynasty.[3] Two of the earliest titles referring to the concept of a courtier were likely theša rēsi andmazzāz pāni of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.[4] In Ancient Egypt, there is a title translated ashigh steward or great overseer of the house.[5] The royal courts influenced by the court of the Neo-Assyrian Empire such as those of theMedian Empire and theAchaemenid Empire would also have identifiable developed courts withcourt appointments and other features associated with later courts.[6]
The imperial court of the Achaemenid Empire atPersepolis andPasargadae is the earliest identifiable complex court with all of the definitive features of a royal court such as a household,court appointments, courtiers, and court ceremony.[8] ThoughAlexander the Great had an entourage and the rudimentary elements of a court, it was not until after he conquered Persia that he took many of the more complex Achaemenid court customs back to theKingdom of Macedonia, developing a royal court that would later influence the courts ofHellenistic Greece and theRoman Empire.[9]
TheSasanian Empire adopting and developing the earlier court culture and customs of the Achaemenid Empire would also influence again the development of the complex court and court customs of the Roman Empire andByzantine Empire.[10]
Theimperial court of the Byzantine Empire atConstantinople would eventually contain at least a thousand courtiers.[11] The court's systems became prevalent in other courts such as those in theBalkan states, theOttoman Empire, andRussia.[12]Byzantinism is a term that was coined for this spread of the Byzantine system in the 19th century.[13]
The imperial courts ofChinese emperors, known ascháotíng (朝廷), were among the largest and most complex of all. TheHan dynasty,Western Jin dynasty, andTang dynasty occupied the large palace complex atWeiyang Palace located nearChang'an, and the laterMing dynasty andQing dynasty occupied the wholeForbidden City and other parts ofBeijing, the present capital city ofChina. By theSui dynasty, the functions of the imperial household and the imperial government were clearly divided.
During theHeian period,Japanese emperors andtheir families developed an exquisitely refined court that played an important role in their culture.
After the collapse of theRoman Empire in the West, a true court culture can be recognised in the entourage of theOstrogothTheodoric the Great and in the court ofCharlemagne. In the Roman East, a brilliant court continued to surround theByzantine emperors.
InWestern Europe, consolidation of power of local magnates and of kings in fixed administrative centres from the mid-13th century led to the creation of a distinct court culture that was the centre of intellectual and artistic patronage rivaling theabbots andbishops, in addition to its role as the apex of a rudimentary political bureaucracy that rivaled the courts of counts and dukes. The dynamics of hierarchy welded the court cultures together. Many early courts in Western Europe wereitinerant courts that traveled from place to place.
Local courts proliferated in the splintered polities ofmedieval Europe and remained inearly modern times in Germany and in Italy. Such courts became known for intrigue andpower politics; some also gained prominence as centres and collective patrons ofart andculture. In medieval Spain (Castile), provincial courts were created. Minor noblemen andburguesie allied to create a system to oppose the monarchy on many policy issues. They were called "las Cortes de Castilla". These courts are the root of the current Spanishcongress andsenate.
The courts ofValois Burgundy and theKingdom of Portugal were particularly influential over the development of court culture and pageantry in Europe. The court ofPhilip the Good,Duke of Burgundy was considered one of the most splendid in Europe and would influence the development of court life later on for all of France and Europe.[14] Later,Aliénor de Poitiers of the Burgundian court would write one of the seminal books on court etiquette,Les honneurs de la cour (Honours of the Court).
Court life would reach its apogee of culture, complexity and etiquette at the courts ofVersailles underLouis XIV of France and theHofburg under theHabsburgs.
Aspolitical executive functions are assumed bydemocratic orrepublican institutions, the function of noble courts is reduced once more to that of noble households, concentrating on personal service to the household head,ceremonial and perhaps some residual politico-advisory functions. Ifrepublican zeal has banished an area's erstwhile rulingnobility, courts may survive inexile. Traces of royal court practices remain in present-day institutions like privy councils and governmental cabinets.
A series ofPharaohs ruledAncient Egypt over the course of three millennia (c. 3150 BC to 31 BC), until it was conquered by theRoman Empire. In the same time period several kingdoms with their own royal courts flourished in the nearbyNubia region, with at least one of them, that of the so-calledA-Group culture, apparently influencing the customs of Egypt itself. From the 6th to 19th centuries, Egypt was variously part of theByzantine Empire, Islamic Empire,Mamluk Sultanate,Ottoman Empire andBritish Empire with a distant monarch. TheSultanate of Egypt was a short lived protectorate of theUnited Kingdom from 1914 until 1922, when it became theKingdom of Egypt and SultanFuad I changed his title to King. After theEgyptian Revolution of 1952 the monarchy was dissolved and Egypt became a republic.
In theHorn of Africa, theKingdom of Aksum and later theZagwe dynasty,Ethiopian Empire (1270–1974), andAussa Sultanate all had royal courts. VariousSomali Sultanates also existed, including theAdal Sultanate (led by theWalashma dynasty of theIfat Sultanate),Sultanate of Mogadishu,Ajuran Sultanate, Warsangali Sultanate,Geledi Sultanate,Majeerteen Sultanate andSultanate of Hobyo.
The kingship system has been an integral part of the more centralised African societies for millennia. This is especially true in theWest African sahel, where royal courts have been in existence since at least the era of the 9th centuryTakrur andGhana empires. The ruler of the 13th centuryMali empire,Mansa Musa, brought a large number of his courtiers with him on the IslamicHajj pilgrimage toMecca. Today, the courts of theAshantinanas in modernGhana, theMande members of theTunkalemmu caste in Mali, theBamumsultans ofCameroon, theKanemshaykhs ofChad, theHausaemirs of northernNigeria, theinkosis of theSouthern AfricanZulus andXhosas, and theobas andbaales ofYorubaland, amongst others, continue the pageantry and court lifestyle traditions once common to the continent.
Court officials or office-bearers (one type ofcourtier) derived their positions and retained their titles from their original duties within the courtly household. With time, such duties often became archaic. However, titles survived involving the ghosts of arcane duties. These styles generally dated back to the days when a noble household had practical and mundane concerns as well as high politics and culture. Suchcourt appointments each have their own histories. They might include but are not limited to:
Earlier courts in medieval Western Europe wereitinerant courts, but courts were often held in a fixed place. One of the criteria of Norbert Elias' concept of a court society is that it existed in space.[clarification needed][15][page needed] TheGerman wordHof, meaning an enclosedcourtyard, can also apply to a rural farmstead with outbuildings and walls forming the perimeter. It has also been used for thepalatial seat where the court was held. ThusHof or "court" can become transferred to the building itself. For example, the grand residenceHampton Court Palace on theRiver Thames above London was whereThomas Wolsey held court as Catholic cardinal (built after the Italian ideal for a cardinal's palace) until his fall and its confiscation byHenry VIII.William III andMary II also held court there, 1689–94. Though it is built round two main courts, the structure itself is no longer the seat of a court in the sense of this article.
As an example, ambassadors to the United Kingdom are still accredited to theCourt of St. James's, and courtiers of the monarchy may still have offices inSt James's Palace, London. The present monarch, however, holds court atBuckingham Palace, where dignitaries are received.
Some former seats of power (seeofficial residence):
All four majorCaliphates had sophisticatedcourts; this enabledCordoba,Cairo andBaghdad (the respective seats of theOmayyad, theFatimid and theAbbasid) to become the largest, most culturally developed cities of their time. This drew talented people from all walks of life—such asmusicians,singers,poets andscientists—to seek employment under the patronage of elitebureaucrats,emirs andSultans at court. The otherCaliphate was theOttoman, which employed its court's culture to stabilize an empire inhabited by huge non-Islamic populations spanning threecontinents. Everything fromAlgeria to theBalkans toYemen was controlled by the court inIstanbul.
The royal courts in theIslamic world were mostly run by rulers, but there were the exceptions of important elite families such asBarmakids andNizams who established their own minor courts, enabling them to encourage arts and improve the empire even if the ruling king was useless.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) On the sociology of the court, originally completed in 1939.
