{"product_id":"9781441178671","title":"Nobility, Faith and Masculinity: The Hospitaller Knights of Malta, c.1580-c.1700","description":"This is an important study of elite European noblemen who joined the Order of Malta. The Order - functioning in parallel with the convents that absorbed the surplus daughters of the nobility - provided a highly respectable outlet for sons not earmarked for marriage. The process of becoming a Hospitaller was a semi-structured one, involving clear-cut (if flexible) social and financial requirements on the part of the candidate, and a mixture of formal and informal socialization into the ways of the Order. Once enrolled, a Hospitaller became part of a very hierarchical and ethnically mixed organisation, within which he could seek offices and status. This process was delineated by a complex interaction of internal factors - hierarchy, patriarchy and age - set within external mechanisms such as papal patronage and interference. This book is innovative in its methodology, drawing on a wide range of sources and applying historiographical approaches not previously brought to bear on the Order.","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47140104241392,"sku":"9781441178671","price":107.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781441178671_p0.jpg?v=1763794255","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781441178671","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}