1st Edition

Patronage in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century France

By Sharon Kettering Copyright 2002
    304 Pages
    by Routledge

    The dual themes of this volume are the characteristics of patronage relationships and their political uses in early modern France. The first essays provide an overview of the scholarly literature and suggest that the obligatory reciprocity of the patron-client exchange was a defining characteristic. The third and fourth essays compare patronage relationships with kinship and friendship, while the following two focus on the patronage role of noblewomen. Professor Kettering then looks at the role of brokerage in state formation in early modern France, comparing this with other early modern societies. In the final section she explores the role of patronage in the religious wars of the late 16th century and in the civil war of the Fronde a half century later, and the ways in which it was affected by the changing lifestyles of the great nobles during the late 17th century.

    Contents: Introduction; A Question of Reciprocity: Patronage in early modern France; Gift-giving and patronage in early modern France; Patronage and kinship in early modern France; Friendship and clientage in early modern France; Patronage and Noblewomen: The patronage power of early modern French noblewomen; The household service of early modern French noblewomen; Brokers in Early Modern Societies: The historical development of political clientelism; Brokerage at the court of Louis XIV; The Political Impact of Patronage: Clientage during the French Wars of Religion; Patronage and politics during the Fronde; The decline of great noble clientage during the reign of Louis XIV; Bibliographical note; Index.

    Biography

    Sharon Kettering

    'Sharon Kettering is the queen of early modern patronage studies...' H-France Reviews '... tightly themed volume... useful and convenient...' History 'Throughout the collection, argument is exceptionally clear without being overly systematic; documentation is exhaustive; and engagement with other scholarship both wide-ranging and precise... Early modern scholars across a wide range of disciplines will find much of value here.' Sixteenth Century Journal