Power and Place: The Duke and the Nobility in Early Modern Lorraine

T his book by Anne Motta aims to analyse the relationships between prince and nobility in Lorraine, from the reign of Duke Charles IV (–) to the reign of Francis III (–) who was not able nor willing to prevent the former king of Poland, Stanislaus Leszczynski, replacing him in Lorraine before its definitive annexation to France. According to Motta, the evolution of relations between the prince and the nobility of Lorraine occurred in the wider context of both a reinforcement of princely authority in European states and a phase of transition for the history of Lorraine. The key question for the nobility was, indeed, how to find a balance between their traditional loyalty to the prince and their desire for independence which animated the nobility particularly confronted with a sovereign exiled from his own territory. As the author points out, like the nobility in other European states, the nobility of Lorraine did not constitute an homogeneous order. However, due to the administrative configuration of the state, it presented characteristic features. Lorraine was a parcelled territory, enclosed by France, the Empire and Franche Comté, composed of three principal entities: the three archbishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun which were subject to the king of France from , the duchy of Lorraine and the duchy of Bar. These two duchies, legally and politically connected since the end of the fifteenth century, are the main topic of this study: one primary objective is to question the traditional image of a Lorraine nobility constant in its loyalty to the prince and in its resistance to French occupations. The idea of a general consensus among the Lorraine nobility has already been questioned by some historians, such as Yves Le Moigne and, more recently, Philippe Martin. As Anne Motta notes, we still lack an overall study of the political dimension of the Lorraine nobility as a social grouping in order to understand the real place of local nobility in princely circles and to evaluate the effective impact of its practices of power. The central topic of Motta’s study being the nobility as a political force, her analysis only takes into account the most representative families, close to the prince and directly involved in government. She therefore does not address minor rural nobility or nobles settled abroad, in foreign courts. The linkages between local nobility and the prince grew in strength at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when the so-called second order was incarnated by ancient feudality. In a second phase, from  to , the nobility experienced the exile of the prince and the French occupation of the duchy; the return of stability opened a new phase, from  to , in which the prince attempted to restore his power with the initial support of a destabilized nobility. If Duke Leopold I (–) chose to conciliate the