Philip Haas: Fürstenehe und Interessen. Die dynastische Ehe der Frühen Neuzeit in zeitgenössischer Traktatliteratur und politischer Praxis am Beispiel Hessen-Kassels

The Fabric of Power: Political Histories of the Late Medieval and Early Modern Court

“…13 It emerges now that the distinct organization of these areas often facilitated alternative communicative pathways which could enable courtly actors to negotiate tentative alliances without losing face should these not come to fruition. 14 The court now emerges as a truly polycentric political entity. Finally, the shared modes of communication that organized patronage, ritual, and status interaction also helped to foster a certain cohesion among the extremely heterogeneous courtly actors: though many of them were engaged in confrontational competition, nevertheless they were all invested in the same marketplace and thus sustained it.…”