Abstract
This chapter provides a global view of pre-modern elites. Dynastic rule predominates in history; it molded the shape of elites worldwide. Rulers’ offspring held elite status, and their alliances created a second elite. In addition to these two core groups, various types of servants can be found in most domains: domestics, administrators, soldiers, and spiritual leaders. Which forms of recruitment and legitimization can be found for these functional elites? Is it possible to establish regional typologies? How did these elites relate to the ruler, and how did their interaction take shape? How powerful were rulers, often styled as omnipotent? What tied the intermediary elites to the court, and what alienated them? The chapter closes with a brief comparison of pre-modern and modern political practices.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alderson, A. D. (1956). The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Balazs, E. (1965). Political Theory and Administrative Reality in Traditional China. London: University of London Press.
Crone, P. (1980). Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Duindam, J. (2016). Dynasties: A Global History of Power, 1300–1800. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ebrey, P. (2006). Succession to High Office: The Chinese Case. In D. R. Olson & M. Cole (Eds.), Technology, Literacy, and the Evolution of Society: Implications of the Work of Jack Goody (pp. 49–71). Mahwah: Psychology Press.
Elias, N. (1983). The Court Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Elliott, M. C. (2001). The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Elliott, J. H., & Brockliss, L. W. B. (Eds.). (1999). The World of the Favourite. New Haven/London: Yale University Press.
Elman, B. A. (2000). A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China. Berkeley/Los Angeles: California University Press.
Goody, J. (1970). Sideways or Downwards? Lateral and Vertical Succession, Inheritance and Descent in Africa and Eurasia. Man, 5(4), 627–638.
Guy, R. K. (2010). Qing Governors and Their Provinces: The Evolution of Territorial Administration in China, 1644–1796. Seattle: Washington University Press.
Khaldun, Ibn (1967). The Muqaddimah. An Introduction to History (Franz Rosenthal, Ed.). Princeton/Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Kunt, I. M. (1983). The Sultan’s Servants: The Transformation of Ottoman Provincial Government, 1550–1650. New York: Columbia University Press.
Lieberman, V. (2003). Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830, 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Machiavelli, N. (1961). The Prince. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Magdalino, P. (1997). In Search of the Byzantine Courtier: Leo Choirosphaktes and Constantine Manasses. In H. Maguire (Ed.), Byzantine Court Culture from 829 to 1204. Dumbarton Oaks: Dumbarton Oaks and Harvard University Press.
Rawski, E. S. (1998). The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Scott, H. (Ed.). (1995). The European Nobilities in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, 2 vols. London: Longman.
Syme, R. (1939). The Roman Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tardits, C. (1987). Princes & serviteurs du royaume: cinq études de monarchies africaines. Paris: Société d’ethnographie.
Tougher, S. (2002). Eunuchs in Antiquity and Beyond. Swansea/London: The Classical Press of Wales and Duckworth.
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and Society. An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Wilkinson, E. R. (2015). Chinese History. A New Manual. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Zmora, H. (2001). Monarchy, Aristocracy, and the State in Europe. London: Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Duindam, J. (2018). Pre-modern Power Elites: Princes, Courts, Intermediaries. In: Best, H., Higley, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Political Elites. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51904-7_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51904-7_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51903-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51904-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)