Einleitung: Subalterne Körper an frühneuzeitlichen Fürstenhöfen

This introductory essay argues that a focus on subaltern servants and their bodies offers new insights into the functioning of princely courts. In early modern language use, the term “subaltern” (subalternus) designated people subordinated in two ways: by their lower rank and by their servant function. Some courtly servants of low birth lived and worked in close proximity to the rulers and their families. Bodyguards, wet nurses, and valets could be socially ignored despite their physical presence – they were visible and invisible at the same time. By bringing their own bodies and skills to the stage, they protected, served, and symbolically magnified the body of the sovereign without appearing as players in the struggles for power and precedence among the aristocratic elite. However, their proximity to the centre of power also opened up opportunities for individual and family advancement compared to their milieu of origin. A look at the common servants and the uses of their bodily capital at court thus offers new perspectives on the possibilities and limits of social mobility in a society of orders.