ABSTRACT
The most anomalous position in the complex history of the German nobility in the nineteenth century was that of the mediatized princes. The bond between the nobility as a whole and that other great conservative institution, the church, was strong throughout the century, in Protestant as well as Catholic regions, and perhaps in no group more than the Catholic mediatized princes. The history of the rest of the south German nobility has been much less studied, and information must often be gleaned from memoirs and correspondences. In Saxony and in Prussia the nobility lost certain legal rights during the land reforms, but still dominated rural life, especially in the east, and they continued to find preference over commoners in the army and government. The focal point of the social life of the aristocracy was the court Social obligations of this kind were very expensive and many entitled to appear at court never did so.
