When did the nobles of Europe revert to being "ordinary" citizens?
Upvote:0
Citizenship, then as now, entailed a specific group of privileges and responsibilities. One of which was some degree of say in how Rome was governed (optimo iure). As the Roman Republic originally expanded from the city-state of Rome, full citizenship (Cives Romani) was initially limited geographically to Rome itself instead of outlying Latin holdings.
Who got what level of Roman citizenship was used as an incentive model to recruit the best and brightest from outlying provinces, especially during Rome's early growth. Holding Roman citizenship also invested a personal stake in the welfare of Rome, since either you or your ancestor may have gone to considerable lengths to acquire it in the first place.
Nobles in Rome would have always been full citizens of Rome. The status of aristocrats in the provinces would changed as Rome changed; but typically anyone you consider a "Roman noble" had, as a historical family unit, acquired full citizenship by marriage or adoption or relocation and naturalisation of the senior branch to Rome.
When the Edict of Caracalla (Constitutio Antoniniana) expanded Roman citizenship to all free males in the Empire; no one lost their existing citizenship. Technically the expansion of citizenship was primarily an expansion of responsibilities (taxes, military service) than an expansion of rather diluted privileges. It was part of the barbarization of the Roman Empire.
If feudalism marked a shift of citizens into subjects, this was due a shift in how the relationship between rulers and ruled was interpreted. Being rich and powerful was useful in and of itself, regardless of the concept of citizenship.
Modern citizenship (from a Eurocentric perspective) arose from concepts of social contracts and popular sovereignty that preceded the American and French revolutions. If you were an aristocrat that successfully integrated into the new political paradigm, you would have had the highest level of citizenship due to your level of property ownership.
In so far as citizenship was "reintroduced", French nobles quickly became full citizens once the head chopping phase had passed - that is, after the Thermidorian Reaction of 1794. The aristocracy and their descendants (private equity) have kept a lower profile ever since.
(Roman section of this answer applicable to Revision 1 of the question.)
Upvote:3
Citizenship Citizenship is the status of a person recognized under the custom or law of a state that bestows on that person (called a citizen) the rights and the duties of citizenship.
Nobility is a special class of citizens with extraordinary rights and privileges.
The wikipedia page clarifies the Roman concept of citizenship, the concept of citizenship in the middle ages and subsequently.
The wikipedia page omits discussion of citizenship in the French Revolution. The French Revolution abolished all special forms of privilege, including nobility, clergy, etc. The term "Citizen" became synonymous with "Not yet convicted as an enemy of the state".
The question rests on a false premise; nobles never reverted to being citizens, they were always citizens. Even when their subjects were chattel, the nobles remained citizens of the state and entitled to the privileges and prerogatives thereof.
You could make the argument that nobility "reverted" in each country when the country transitioned from Monarchy to Liberal Democracy. But you'd need to develop a fuller, more nuanced definition of the terms.
More post
- 📝 Why was Hannah Ocuish believed to have been mentally disabled?
- 📝 Why didn't Wehrmacht soldiers refuse to kill civilians?
- 📝 What relation do the early sexual experiences of Lolita and her classmates bear to the real experience of children in New England in 1947?
- 📝 Why do people refuse to acknowledge the Holocaust?
- 📝 Was the British Army a millionaire factory in the early 20th century?
- 📝 How do Friedman and Bernanke's explanations about the causes of the Great Depression compare?
- 📝 Are there any images within the time period of contemporary history (1945 to the present) that had different interpretations by historians?
- 📝 On the eve of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's independence, the country had virtually zero doctors, or any other intellectuals?
- 📝 After their rise to power in 1932, were any of the elections or referenda under the Nazis legitimate?
- 📝 Which military first mandated After-Action Review?
- 📝 Why wasn't Angelica Schuyler in danger in London despite supporting revolution?
- 📝 How is it known that Xenophon saw the ruins of Nineveh?
- 📝 What is the earliest recorded female name in history?
- 📝 What was the available transport to Kimberley in 1871?
- 📝 Did Emanuel Lasker write a book declaring that Germany had to win World War I if civilization were to be saved?
- 📝 Prominent examples of scientific racism in ancient Greece
- 📝 Why was "leaping into the river" a valid trial outcome to prove one's innocence?
- 📝 Has there ever been a war between members of a personal union?
- 📝 Why was Truman considered a heavy underdog in the 1948 election?
- 📝 Are states affected by federal law before admission to the union?
- 📝 Why did the Government of India Act create separate electorates for the depressed classes?
- 📝 Proportion of population that works in agriculture (1000 - today)
- 📝 Why was there an autumn recess in Britain in 1641?
- 📝 Before ww2, why did Japan allow Chinese students to study military science?
- 📝 Where can I find more information about this use of Yakuza against a demonstration in 1960?
- 📝 What are good predictors of the construction year of residential buildings?
- 📝 When did the Russians first employ a successful envelopment tactic?
- 📝 What did farmers/laborers use for boots before modern rubber existed?
- 📝 Was There Compensation For Requisitioned / Impressed Aircraft In WW2?
- 📝 How cheap were sailing ships in Gold Rush California?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 When did the nobles of Europe revert to being "ordinary" citizens?
- 📝 When did "&" stop being taught alongside the alphabet?
- 📝 When did last names start being used, and who introduced the concept?
- 📝 When did the Commonwealth of England start being considered a Republic?
- 📝 When did the accusations of convict stain against white Australians stop being culturally significant?
- 📝 Were titles in the British Peerage ever connected to land grants, and if so, when did they stop being connected to land?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 When did people decide that all caps means the writer is shouting?
- 📝 When did the allies find out about the killing of Jews during WW2
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 How and when did the word "nuclear" replace the word "atomic"?
- 📝 Why did Britain and France not declare war against the Soviet Union when it invaded Poland in WW2?
- 📝 Did it take 3 minutes to reload a musket when the second amendment to the US constitution was ratified?
- 📝 When did humans develop the ability to sail any direction regardless of wind direction?
- 📝 When and how did the USA and the UK become allies?
- 📝 When did the Romans finally acknowledge that they were living in an empire?
- 📝 When did the Greeks stop calling themselves "Roman"?
- 📝 Why did Europe not see Roman-era numbers of men participating in battles until the 17th century?
- 📝 Where did Hitler get the funds to invest in economic development programs such as the autobahn when the German economy was in a depression?
- 📝 When did the Roman Empire fall according to contemporaries?
- 📝 When did the practice of formally "declaring war" cease and why?
- 📝 When did the U.S. Army start saying "oh-six-hundred" for "6 AM"?
- 📝 Did anyone in Europe predict the existence of the Americas?
- 📝 When did official documentation stop referring to black people as Negros in the States?
- 📝 When and why did the use of the lifespans of royalty to limit clauses in contracts come about?
- 📝 When did the hypocrisy to call a dictatorship "free, democratic, republic etc." start?
- 📝 When the Portuguese began the exploration of the West African Coast, did they believe the Indian Ocean was an enclosed sea?
- 📝 When Israel won the Six Day War, did they consider expelling all Arabs from the annexed territories?
- 📝 When did Britain learn about the American Declaration of Independence?
- 📝 When did the term "Nationality" first come into use? How did ancient civilizations refer to themselves? By ethnicity?
