Courtesy
Aptitude (French droit d'être admis à la cour , English right of presentation at court ) is the prerequisite "to frequent court ", that is, to be able to participate in courtly events. Until the First World War , courtesy was one of the most desirable social qualities. Originally it was a prerogative of the ancient nobility . It was linked to individual birth or rank classes; smaller farms behaved more restrictively than larger ones.
The circle expanded in the 19th century: In Austria-Hungary, for example, all court dignitaries, all officers and all knights of the Austrian and Hungarian orders were acceptable. In Prussia all officers, civil servants from the rank of councilors upwards and all members of the nobility (including those of the letter nobility ) were acceptable.
In a figurative sense, courage has recently also been used to mean “social ability”, that is, it is associated with a confident appearance in “good” company. The historical development of the ability to be hopeful from an almost unchangeable social prerequisite to learnable “good behavior” is an example of overcoming the boundaries of class (cf. for example the term aplomb as a connection between ability and self-confidence).