Patent of nobility

), or diploma of nobility documented the legal act of ennoblement (granting rights of a nobleman to a "new man" and his family).

[1] The preparation of diploma of nobility was usually done at the expense of a future noble, so his wealth and sense of aesthetics influenced the grandeur and appearance of the document.

[3][4] While the rules for granting the patents were established by the son of Philip III, Philip IV of France, these were "far from irreversible", and the clear picture of French nobility as the men either able to claim the knightly descent or holding the patent only emerged by the second half of the 14th century.

[5] The oldest diploma of nobility in Germany was granted in the 1360 by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, to his court chaplain, Wicker Frog [de].

At an extreme, in the 19th century Austrian "old" aristocracy did not mingle with briefadel at all, this was helped by the former group's general disinterest in the day-to-day running of the country.