Politische Freundschaft bei Hofe

Repräsentation und Praxis einer sozialen Beziehung im französischen Adel des 17. Jahrhunderts

By (author) Christian KĂĽhner Series edited by Ronald G. Asch Series edited by Hans-Helmuth Gander Series edited by Sabine Dabringhaus

Book cover: Politische Freundschaft bei Hofe

Extent: 364 pages

Publisher: V&R unipress

Subjects: French Studies, Social Sciences , Twentieth- & Twenty-First- Century History

Language: German

Hardback (Published)

(March 2013)

ISBN: 9783847100324

6.42 x 9.65 inches

Price: $94.00

In stock

Politik als Freundschaft und Freundschaft als Politik


This book describes friendship as a social bond in the aristocratic society of the French seventeenth century, the “Grand Siecle”, with a particular emphasis on the milieu of the court and the role of friendship in its political dynamics. Based on letters and memoirs of the period, it examines the different dimensions of the phenomenon. Besides the semantics of the words “ami” and “amitie”, the representations of friendship are analyzed. The language of friendship, its vocabulary and rhetoric are also described. The practices of friendship, its rituals and gestures are examined, as well as the objects that could become symbols of friendship, and the services among friends, notably in the fields of politics, of mutual material help and of assistance in armed conflicts. The results of this analysis are embedded in a “longue duree” perspective, which outlines the evolution of friendship and the changes between the early modern and the modern age. The study’s results show that it is necessary to historicize the concept of friendship itself in order to understand early modern friendship.

  • By (author) Christian KĂĽhner
  • Series edited by Ronald G. Asch
  • Series edited by Hans-Helmuth Gander
  • Series edited by Sabine Dabringhaus