Editor's note: Some time ago, I heard that a lady once wrote an article saying that three generations can cultivate an aristocrat, and later she opened an aristocratic college, and the tuition fee was as high as 990,000 yuan. Judging from this price, it may really take three generations to pay to cultivate the "nobility" that this lady calls, after all, it is really expensive. But does she understand the nature of nobility, and if she doesn't understand nobility, then what exactly is the "nobility" she wants to cultivate?
▲ "Three generations to cultivate a nobleman"
The nobles that this lady spoke of were the aristocrats of Europe. To understand this problem, we need to start with the definition of the European nobility itself. During the Anglo-Saxon period, Europe was already under the rule of the military aristocracy. By the 8th century, territorial nobility was already relatively common. The king provided land to the nobles, and the nobles had military obligations and dependencies on the king, but the aristocratic genealogy of the period was vague and frequently changed, and the status of the nobility was measured primarily by achievement, property, and status in the kingdom, rather than by blood and title. The French historian Mark Bloch even argued that, from a class perspective, there were no aristocrats in Europe before the 13th century.
In the 11th century, William I introduced chivalry into England. Also based on military service, the British feudal lords needed to bear the corresponding military obligations for the king while acquiring territory, including providing the king with a certain number of knights according to the number of caiyi in peacetime, and even needing to personally obey the king's dispatch in wartime. Downwards, the nobles of England also had to bear certain obligations, and they needed to provide public goods such as land, arbitration, and security to the lords to gain the support of the lords. If a lord cannot provide habeas corpus to a vassal, then a vassal can also refuse to pledge allegiance to a vassal. Unlike the land requirements of England, in Ireland, as long as there are more than 5 subordinate freemen, they can become nobles, and this "nobility" does not enjoy a large number of privileges.
After the 12th century, the measure of the nobility began to shift to private property, bloodline and lifestyle, and this aristocratic system began to show a hereditary and pedigree trend, and then changed to a hierarchical aristocracy. That is to say, the lady was referring to this later hierarchical aristocratic system. The hierarchical aristocracy was related to the actual situation in Europe. Since the great unification of China since the Qin Dynasty, the integration of concepts and organizations has been implemented in history, and the central government is more powerful than that of Europe, so in most of the time, China's nobles and scholars need to be dependent on the rule of the central government.
In Europe, however, weak central governments were powerless to limit the process of aristocracy of local power, while armed aristocratic groups consolidated their rule by violently expanding their territories on the one hand, and by providing public goods to their lords and seeking alliances and dependencies from other nobles. Although the upward military obligations of the nobility at this time were gradually weakened (especially in France, while the military obligations in the British areas still existed), the obligations to the lords were strengthened. Only after understanding the nature of the nobility can we discuss the education it received. After all, the purpose of this lady's aristocratic education school was to teach people how to become a "nobleman"—or rather, a hierarchical nobleman?
▲ The "aristocratic" level division of a live broadcast platform
But perhaps the lady was frustrated by the education of a European aristocratic woman on how to become a competent aristocratic lady—including obedience to her father, husband, and brother—including education in musical literacy, including how to manage the chores of the clan (arithmetic, English, cooking, sewing, and even knowledge of herbs), but not the basic education that modern society was exposed to. In fact, grammar schools at that time basically only allowed men to attend schooling, while women generally received only religious education in addition to private education. In some areas, religious education is even more important than others. (ReligionandEducationinEarlyModernEngland)
Becoming a qualified noblewoman of the rank is not a simple matter, because it is not something that can be done with just a little mastery of aristocratic etiquette. However, it seemed more difficult to become a qualified aristocratic man, who also had to devote a great deal of time to physical, swordsmanship, equestrianism, and military training. Of course, what is more difficult is that in the modern era when the feudal system has long disappeared into history, it is impossible to obtain the status of hierarchical nobility. If it is only some etiquette education, its value seems to be much lower than the 990,000 yuan of its list price. We don't know what kind of mentality this lady has instilled this bowl of poisonous chicken soup of "aristocratic education" to people, but this lady has a great misunderstanding of "nobility" and "aristocratic education" itself, and her propaganda is also quite seriously biased... As for the European aristocratic van? Don't you stand at the front of the neat line, lead the team to the machine gun positions, die for the country, and have the face to call yourself a European aristocrat?
This article is the original manuscript of the Cold Weapons Research Institute. The original outline of the editor-in-chief and the author Mingyue zhao bald cat, any media or public account without written authorization shall not be reprinted, and the offender will be investigated for legal responsibility.