ABSTRACT
In early modern Catholic Europe, the liturgical calendar deeply influenced court life. The ritual structuring of sacred time had significant implications not only on the ceremonial sphere, but also on the sovereign’s mobility, the dialectic between (his) residence and the capital, and relations between courtly and urban spaces. The way in which liturgical solemnities were celebrated expressed the prince’s devotional sensibilities, the court’s religious orientations and the state’s political and diplomatic equilibrium. Analysing the rituals linked to the liturgical calendar thus entails comprehending a language shared and practised in all the courts and, at the same time, identifying the particular elements through which each court defined its own specific identity.
