knightdom

Only a few years before his birth on May 18, 1824, in the baronial castle, the tiny but largely autonomous knightdom had been annexed by Bavaria during the Napoleonic wars.

Indeed, in the 1830's, in his diary Ranke himself suggested that a world history be written which would emphasize the growth of population and stress economic and cultural activities; colonization, knightdom, the building of churches, art, and religion in the Middle Ages; agriculture and public works in the eighteenth century and the “tremendous development of industry and highways” in the nineteenth century.

The dregs of knightdom and various men-at-arms shared the tables and benches in noisome sleep.