During the sixteenth century in the duchy of Württemberg, a variety of individuals attained political power at the highest levels of the government. Based on a prosopography Marcus compiled of over 200 councillors to the ruler, the purposes of this study were to determine which councillors had achieved extensive political power, and why they attained such influence at court. Using the case study method, Marcus has focused on the careers of fourteen leading councillors in order to reveal patterns of success as well as failure. To illustrate career movement among officials he has created an administrative model that includes all levels of the sixteenth century state: local, district and central government.
The period of analysis in this study begins with the founding of the duchy by Duke Eberhard the Bearded (1495-96) and ends with the reign of Duke Ludwig (1568-93). During a dynamic era of wars, Lutheran reforms, and competent and troublesome dukes alike, a steady process of state building continued virtually unabated. Members from the notables (die Ehrbarkeit), a network of administrative families from the duchy's towns, came to fill many government positions, and they managed to rise (or fall) in the adminstration depending on a variety of factors. With an emphasis on people rather than abstract institutions, this study is a social history of political elites who shared much in common with their administrative colleagues in states throughout early modern Europe.
The period of analysis in this study begins with the founding of the duchy by Duke Eberhard the Bearded (1495-96) and ends with the reign of Duke Ludwig (1568-93). During a dynamic era of wars, Lutheran reforms, and competent and troublesome dukes alike, a steady process of state building continued virtually unabated. Members from the notables (die Ehrbarkeit), a network of administrative families from the duchy's towns, came to fill many government positions, and they managed to rise (or fall) in the adminstration depending on a variety of factors. With an emphasis on people rather than abstract institutions, this study is a social history of political elites who shared much in common with their administrative colleagues in states throughout early modern Europe.