The Continuity of Feudal Power

The first modern, full-length study of an aristocratic family in the kingdom of Naples, this book focuses on the social history of the family. It examines their power structure, wealth and influence.

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The Continuity of Feudal Power is an analytic study of a family of the Neapolitan aristocracy during the early modern period, with particular focus on the time of Spanish rule (1503–1707). The Caracciolo marquis of Brienza were a branch of one of the oldest and most powerful clans in the kingdom of Naples, and they numbered among the hundred wealthiest feudal families throughout the early modern period. Professor Astarita reconstructs the family's patrimony, administration and revenues, the family's relationship with the rural communities over which it had jurisdiction, its marriage and alliance policies, and the relations between the aristocracy and the monarchical government. His emphasis is on the continuing importance of feudal traditions, institutions and values both in the definition of the aristocracy's status and in its success in ensuring the persistence of its wealth and power within the kingdom.