Oligarchie der Geistlichkeit. Funktionsweisen und Grenzen des Klientelismus im Kirchenstaat der Frühen Neuzeit.

Abstract

Abstract: An Oligarchy of the Clergy

The following seminar paper is about clientelism and networking in the Papal States of the Early Modern Age. It will examine the functions and limits of interconnectedness between the dignitaries of the Curia and especially the role of the cardinal nepot. It will be shown that clientelism was a central tool of the early modern micropolitics of the church state.