4. Nobility maintaining traditional ways of life
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- French Nobles
- It's so nice here in Versailles, I knew that paying for a noble title was worth it! Now we don't have to pay those pesky income taxes anymore.
- Did you hear that the English nobles have to pay taxes though? Thank God we're not British.
- English Nobles
- The absolute audacity, Priscilla I cannot even! Those dirty peasants in our forest hunting our game! So what if they need to eat? It's distracting them from their work!!!
- When parliament meets again suggest stricter enforcement. See if you can't pull some strings in the House of Commons. You're a duke, you have lots of wealth and power. At least we're not poor like those Polish nobles.
- Sigh. I wish we were as wealthy as those other Nobles. I mean, we Szlacta have political power, but what good is that when you're not even rich?
- Polish Nobles
- What do you mean "you wish"? We're living pretty well here. We basically own our workers and don't have to do public service like those Nobles in Russia.
- Nobility in the 18th century generally lived lives of idleness. They had inherited land and special privileges like the right to hunt and not pay taxes. In France, one could become a noble through birth, office, paying, or the King's order. French nobility often did not have to pay the income tax, lived luxuriously, and flaunted their wealth.
- Russian Nobles
- ... so then I told Igor where he could shove it! Just because he's higher on the table of ranks now doesn't mean that I'm suddenly some serf he can order around.
- English nobles were smaller in number than French, but owned 1/4 of arable land in the country. One could only have a title if they were born into one of 400 noble families. Like France, England had game laws that prevented peasants from hunting or fishing (they did it anyways). English Nobles had the right to sit on the House of Lords and exerted extensive influence over the House of Commons.
- Prussian Nobles
- Polish nobles were very poor compared to nobles from other places on the continent. They often were not much better off than peasants. They held lots of political power within the country, but their weak government meant that they were unimportant in greater European politics. They had tax exemptions and military positions along with complete ownership of their serfs.
- Austrian/Hungarian Nobles
- ...I'm just saying that it would be nice to have something other than tax exemptions and authority
- Because of Peter the Great, nobles' statuses were linked to civil service in the table of ranks. Many nobles really hated this and petitioned the government to get rid of it. Eventually, mandatory public service for nobles was no longer a thing. Nobles also had increased power over serfs and exemptions from personal taxes.
- You tell him dear! At least your title isn't linked with military service though, I know how much you hate working.
- Junker nobles became strong after they were linked to the military. Nobles were the officers of the Prussian army. The military was ingrained into daily life and law, giving these nobles lots of power. They had extensive authority over their serfs, but were still controlled by a king.
- It's amazing how our king has managed to balance out our power and his power through giving us positions in the military.
- Yeah, I'd hate to have to pay out of pocket for a noble position just to not be able to do much.
- In Austria and Hungary, noble titles were often purchased. A title came with tax exemptions and judicial authority, but no benefits like being able to influence the government
- At least our status doesn't depend on arbitrary nonsense like at Versailles.
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