ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 focuses on the position of the nobility in Austrian society. It examines the nature of the estate system in an international context and evaluates the implications of the religious schism for the relationship between monarchs and nobles. Thwarted in their efforts to enforce confessional orthodoxy in the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburgs were determined to retain control of their patrimonial lands. The Protestant nobility found itself increasingly isolated politically and confessionally.
