institution
Hungarian lesser nobility
lesser nobility
also: köznemesség, bene nati, gentry
The Hungarian lesser nobility (köznemesség), the broad middling stratum of the noble estate below the great magnates (főnemesek). They enjoyed noble privileges — tax exemption, personal freedom, right to bear arms — but little political influence at the national level; their arena was the county assembly (vármegye). They formed the largest component of Hungary's pre-modern political nation.
Reading notes
- Louis II (Fragment) §33 A köznemesség
The Hungarian lesser nobility (köznemesség), the broad middling stratum of the noble estate below the great magnates (főnemesek). They enjoyed noble privileges — tax exemption, personal freedom, right to bear arms — but little political influence at the national level; their arena was the county assembly (vármegye). They formed the largest component of Hungary's pre-modern political nation.