Aristocratic lifestyle

Depends on the country and time period. In many country following a military career was expected in youth from the middle-age to the early 20th century.

>>3027544
Did nobility necessarily have to learn to fight well, say in medieval periods, with sword, bow, pole arm or what have you, or were they more concerned with just learning to lead men into battle and being good war strategists?

>>3027537
I'm talking more about the later aristocracy in like the 1800s

>>3027537
Pretty much nothing.
Past the middle ages/renaissance, aristocratic families were generally well established enough to be able to feed off their possessions without having to do anything. Most of the real work was done by the house accountants, attorneys and the local clerics.
Literary works describe the life of the average aristocratic youth as gambling and drinking all night and waking up late the next day. A lot of time was also spent exchanging pleasantries, holding galas, tea parties, affairs with other members of the aristocracy. The more scholarly aristocrats might dedicate themselves to intellectual undertakings.

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>>3027643
In the western european middle ages neither, they just had to be noble.

Do not be charmed by the bourgeois and other aristocrats. Most of them live an existence full of spooks and are miserable just like the plebs.

>>3027726
who is happy then

>>3027702
>tfw not a handsome noble in france 1750 fucking other noblewomen and maids.

>>3027537
Depend on year and place. In Emperor Great Peter I Russian Empire, aristocratic have duty serve in army, in officer rank of course, and serve in civil service.
>Pretty much nothing.
That was too, but before Emperor Ivan IV as I read

>>3027707
Really? So they just appointed generals to win all their battles for them? Wow.
They definitely changed a lot from what Rome did. The nobility needed to at least serve as high level officers and lead armies.
What about other countries then?

>>3027707
I thought dukes at least lead armies(assuming they were loyal) in the name of the king from their own banner men though? Was this only knights who rose to be lords or whatever who actually did this?

>>3027702
One of my relatives was an aristocrat. This is basically what they did, and none of their neighbors survived the fall of empire. When the Tsar got shot the family got the loyal servants together and started learning from them how to survive in normal society--she remembers doing chores for the first time as people were being let go and the house got increasingly empty. They ended up moving in with German relatives, tried to figure out what the fuck jobs and finances were, and then fled Europe entirely.

She obsessively tracked down and recorded what happened to every heir to the family name, and what her old property was like, everything related to the noble blood. I looked through it and asked what happened to those servants she liked as a kid. She paused and said that she had never actually thought to look. They were like furniture, you could really like a chair and enjoy how it felt but you were not friends with that chair.

All her records are buried in her house somewhere, I intend to scan it and see if anyone cares when my work ends in a few months.

>>3028648
Didn't at least some aristocratic families invest in other business ventures or marry their daughters to rich business men as to preserve become richer or preserve the family funds and name?

>>3028660
She only survived at all because her dad had started throwing money at electrical companies in America, because America seemed safe and lightbulbs were the most cutting edge things he could think of. His cousin chose chemistry and got filthy rich again, dude would throw money their way out of pity.

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>>3027643
>Did nobility necessarily have to learn to fight well, say in medieval periods, with sword, bow, pole arm or what have you, or were they more concerned with just learning to lead men into battle and being good war strategists?

The very first knights were regular soldiers who had money to arm themselves with a horse and decent weapons and armor, from these elites we got our nobility. Usually these elites would conquer land and gain noble titles as a reward. You can see this perfectly with the Normans, pirates who became dukes of Normandy and then Kings of England, the pure bloodlines bullshit only came about much later. Also have in mind Agincourt, most of the French cavalry were nobleman. So yes they did fight. Also can anyone explain if nobility had any hairstyles that were seen as, well, noble? I find the haircuts here interesting.

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>>3028703
Was this mostly in England and France or was it elsewhere in Europe too?
As for hairstyles, from what I know about /his/ fashion, if we are talking about men, there wasn't much difference with hairstyles. One exception maybe they actually had it combed and their beards well groomed compared to non nobles. Also cute hats.