This article discusses the problem of why there was a constant demand for ennoblement in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Central Europe, even though those who aspired to it had little or no prospect of integration into the established feudal nobility. Nobility was first and foremost an ideological concept closely connected to power and rule. The Holy Roman emperors ennobled persons who exercised power precisely because, in the premodern social order, the exercise of power was a prerogative of the nobility. However, the newly ennobled had only their title in common with the old aristocratic families and rarely attained the other privileges enjoyed by these families. For this reason, the emperors’ practice of ennoblement gradually reshaped the nobility as a whole and simultaneously the ideological notion of nobility. Certainly, ennoblement still served a strategic purpose in the context of social advancement. Particularly for civil servants and military officers, it was the most effective means of preserving their newly acquired status for their descendants and possibly establishing their families in a new bureaucratic and military hereditary elite, which in some places coexisted with the old aristocracy. The central element of the new ideological concept was the notion of the nobility as a hereditary ruling class, both qualified for and entitled to the exercise of power on account of inherited superiority.

中文翻译：

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贵族的概念和贵族对早期现代中欧的影响

本文讨论了为什么 17 和 18 世纪中欧对贵族的需求不断增加，尽管那些渴望成为贵族的人几乎没有或根本没有融入既定的封建贵族的前景。贵族首先是一个与权力和统治密切相关的意识形态概念。神圣罗马帝国皇帝将行使权力的人封为贵族，正是因为在前现代社会秩序中，行使权力是贵族的特权。然而，新晋贵族只有旧贵族家族共有的头衔，很少获得这些家族所享有的其他特权。正因如此，帝王的升华实践逐渐重塑了整个贵族，同时也重塑了贵族的思想观念。当然，在社会进步的背景下，贵族化仍然具有战略目的。特别是对于公务员和军官来说，这是为后代保留他们新获得的地位并可能在新的官僚和军事世袭精英中建立家庭的最有效手段，这些精英在某些地方与旧贵族并存。新意识形态概念的核心要素是贵族作为世袭统治阶级的概念，由于继承的优越性，他们有资格并有权行使权力。这是为后代保留新获得的地位并可能在新的官僚和军事世袭精英中建立家庭的最有效手段，这些精英在某些地方与旧贵族共存。新意识形态概念的核心要素是贵族作为世袭统治阶级的概念，由于继承的优越性，他们有资格并有权行使权力。这是为后代保留新获得的地位并可能在新的官僚和军事世袭精英中建立家庭的最有效手段，这些精英在某些地方与旧贵族共存。新意识形态概念的核心要素是贵族作为世袭统治阶级的概念，由于继承的优越性，他们有资格并有权行使权力。