Aristocracy

Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats.

thumb|The [[Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk|6th Duke of Norfolk, a 17th-century English aristocrat and politician who held the hereditary office of Earl Marshal of England]]

Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian countries, the aristocracy was mostly equal with magnates, also known as the titled or higher nobility, however the members of the more numerous social class, the untitled lower nobility (petty nobility or gentry) were not part of the aristocracy.

Classical aristocracy

In ancient Greece, the Greeks conceived aristocracy as rule by the best-qualified citizens—and often contrasted it favorably with monarchy, rule by an individual. The term was first used by such ancient Greeks as Aristotle and Plato, who used it to describe a system where only the best of the citizens, chosen through a careful process of selection, would become rulers, and hereditary rule would actually have been forbidden, unless the rulers' children performed best and were better endowed with the attributes that make a person fit to rule compared with every other citizen in the polity. This belief was rooted in the assumption that the masses could only produce average policy, while the best of men could produce the best policy, if they were indeed the best of men.

Modern aristocracy

In modern times, aristocracy was usually seen as rule by a privileged group, the aristocratic class, and has since been contrasted with democracy.

Plato's concept of aristocracy envisions an ideal state governed by a philosopher-king—a ruler who possesses wisdom and a love for truth. He defines these "philosopher-kings" as individuals who "love the sight of truth." To illustrate this idea, Plato uses analogies such as a captain steering a ship and a doctor administering medicine, emphasizing that just as not everyone is naturally suited to navigation or medicine, not everyone is fit to govern. A significant portion of the Republic is then dedicated to outlining the educational system necessary to cultivate philosopher-kings.

In contrast, the 1651 book Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes describes an aristocracy as a commonwealth in which the representative of the citizens is an assembly by part only. It is a system in which only a small part of the population represents the government; "certain men distinguished from the rest."

Modern depictions of aristocracy tend to regard it not as the ancient Greek concept of rule by the best, but more as an oligarchy or plutocracy—rule by the few or the wealthy.

Differentiation

Aristocracy's corrupt counterpart is oligarchy. Socrates describes oligarchy as a system rife with corruption and instability. As the ruling elite prioritize their own wealth, they enact laws that further concentrate power and resources in their hands. This deepens economic divisions between the rich and the poor, leading to class conflict and internal strife.

According to Tomás Fernández de Medrano in his 1602 República Mista, aristocracy's opposite, oligarchy, occurs when a small group of noble or wealthy individuals control public administration but neglect the needs of the poor, prioritizing personal gain over the common good. Such governance inevitably turns into tyranny, as historically seen in Sicily and other ancient oligarchies. While many former slaveowners kept control of their land and remained politically influential, according to C. Vann Woodward, the Civil War weakened and in some cases destroyed the planter aristocracy.

Beginning in Britain, industrialization in the 19th century brought urbanization, with wealth increasingly concentrated in the cities, which absorbed political power. However, as late as 1900, aristocrats maintained political dominance in Britain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Russia, but it was an increasingly-precarious dominion.

20th century

The First World War had the effect of dramatically reducing the power of aristocrats in all major countries. In Russia, aristocrats were imprisoned and murdered by the communists. After 1900, liberal and socialist governments levied heavy taxes on landowners, spelling their loss of economic power.

Outside Europe

In the Chola dynasty, the local (village) administration included a Sabha (meaning council or assembly in Tamil), which consisted entirely of Brahmins from the Brahmadeya villages—which were considered the "elite" of the time (i.e., being the highest caste in India).

References

External links

Aristocracy at Encyclopædia Britannica