The nobility and modern language learning

Between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, in the light of significant social, political, and military changes – such as the rise of the noblesse de robe (a non-military nobility at the service of the state), the increasing complexity of the state system, the crisis of civil wars, and the evolution of the techniques of warfare – the old French nobility was confronted with a deep questioning of its identity, its functions, and the basis of its power. A process of redefinition of this kind was most clearly expressed through the emergence of new ideas – often arising from among the nobility itself – on how to educate the young representatives of illustrious families traditionally identified with military activity alone and perceived as hostile to any form of instruction. The nobility now needed to found its power and inherited privileges on the mastery of specific skills: young nobles required instruction that would enable them to perform the political and military tasks entrusted to them, and furthermore, provide them with the elements of a social and cultural identity imposing self-control and respect for the social codes of the nobility.