In an exploration of the life and customs of the Hungarian nobility, this book compares historical reality and legal literature with the example of one noble kindred the Elefanthy of northern Hungary (present-day Slovakia). The book begins by outlining the customary laws regarding noble status, inheritance and marriage, as summarized in the famous tripartitus of Stephen Werboczy (1514). The author then compares these norms with the documentary evidence and establishes that the legal literature differs in regard to social mobility and kindred solidarity. With this in mind, the fate of the...