Aristocracy

This article is about the form of government. For the social class, see Aristocracy (class). For other uses, see Aristocrat (disambiguation).

Aristocracy (from Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατίᾱ (aristokratíā) 'rule of the best'; from ἄριστος (áristos) 'best' and κράτος (krátos) 'power, strength') is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats.

The 6th Duke of Norfolk, a 17th-century English aristocrat and politician who held the hereditary office of Earl Marshal of England

Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian countries, the aristocracy was mostly equal with magnates, also known as the titled or higher nobility, however the members of the more numerous social class, the untitled lower nobility (petty nobility or gentry) were not part of the aristocracy.

The modern understanding of aristocracy is different from its classical use which referred to the citizens with good qualifications to rule.