Nobility of the Image 2

II.
While the basic social structure never changes, or never changes much, what does change is its justification. The nobility never really claims to be noble simply because they have a monopoly of wealth and resources. To do so would be crass and dangerous. But, they do not continue to call themselves gods either, thankfully. So, in the Roman and medieval context, the justification is no longer some secret connection to the gods, or God; it is valor. Because the nobility are willing to strap on armor and duke it out every few years, they justify their position through their supposed martial qualities. What is called a “nobility of the sword” develops; and understandably “valor” becomes the most important value in this society. The nobles have valor and the peasants are cowards, and the twain seldom get together for drinks.

Of course, the shift from a nobility of the supernatural to a nobility of the sword is relatively meaningless. Fairly wealthy families will be considered supernatural in one context and valorous in the other. Again, the justification changes, but the basic social structure does not. And, in a society based around martial values, the poor will not be able to take up arms themselves. In fact, the “fact” of their cowardice must be maintained to such an extent that they will be arrested or killed at any time that they attempt to prove themselves valorous.

Of course, the martial values permeated the lower classes in the form of bear baiting, brawls and so forth. These Medieval societies were rough places to live, peasants often beat each other up, nobility lopped each others’ heads off on the battlefield and, for fun, the nobles would ride around on their trusty steeds bashing the peasant’s heads in with croquet mallets. It was a time only a knight could love.

III.
Not surprisingly, the nobility eventually got sick of battling one another and seem to have realized that they could more easily pay someone else to do the fighting. Finally, peasants got their chance to lop each others’ heads off, all anyone ever wants really. One might suspect that, at this point, the peasants would become noble and the nobility decline, but it was not so. What developed instead were other justifications for nobility. Lawrence Stone has detailed how the English aristocracy became obsessed with family trees and shields. Descent became the justification for nobility. Similarly, in France, there was the traditional nobility that justified itself by its supposed descent from the Gauls, and a nobility that entered the legal profession. However, the nobility of the sword, who still called themselves the nobility of the sword even though most of their swords were hanging above their fireplaces, was rather hostile towards the nobility of the robe, who they considered to be illegitimate, in an example of the pot informing the kettle of its color.