Be this as it may in theory, even the most bloodthirsty aristocrat did not spend their entire life in warfare. If that were the case, we would have soon run out of them and the entire class would cease to exist. Actual wars in the medieval period, as much as now, were quite expensive, not only in the way they cost actual money, but also in the way they engaged peasants who would otherwise tend to the domain and generate actual profit off of the land. With that in mind, while the duty of an aristocrat was to be a soldier, trained in the art of war as well as in martial arts, their actual role was more to rule than to fight. Ruling in those days meant, above all, perpetually showing oneself to the world at any given occasion, and radiating all of the conceivable qualities one can imagine. The purpose of the aristocrat was to shine like a diamond everywhere they went, and to inspire awe in their surroundings. While the peasant was busy tilling the soil, the bourgeois counting the money, the scholarly member of the clergy doing research, reading and writing, the aristocrat spent their time making sure that every aspect of their being and of their presentation was absolutely impeccable. Of course, this is easier to understand and illustrate if we move away from the medieval period, and consider the aristocracy of the 17th and of the 18th century, most frilly and fabulous by today’s standards. In the medieval period, they essentially had the same role, minus the wigs, the makeup, fancy stockings and high heels. The virtue the medieval aristocrat portrayed was that of a war minded person, exuding qualities needed in such an affair. It comes as no surprise that many of them had portraits done in armor, a habit that stuck well into the later periods. #medieval #middleages #medievalarchitecture #medievalart #medievalaristocracy #aristocracy #body #bodypolitics https://www.instagram.com/p/CKlVjU4prY0/?igshid=1s8ot6im1g9rj