Royal court place. One of the criteria of Norbert Elias' concept of a court society is that it existed in space.. The German word "Hof", meaning an enclosed courtyard, can also apply to a rural farmstead with outbuildings and walls forming the perimeter. It has also been used for the palatial seat where the court was held. Thus "Hof" or "court" can become transferred to the building itself. For example, the grand residence Hampton Court Palace on the River Thames above London was where Thomas Wolsey held court as Catholic cardinal (built after the Italian ideal for a cardinal's palace) until his
Hampton Court Beauties century. Isabella Bennet, Duchess of Grafton (1667–1713), Margaret Cecil, Countess of Ranelagh (1672–1727), Carey Fraser, Countess of Peterborough (c.1658–1709), Frances Whitmore, Lady Middleton (1666–1694), Mary Scrope, later Mrs Pitt (born 1676), Diana De Vere, Duchess of St Albans (1679–1742), Lady Mary Bentinck, Countess of Essex (died 1726), Mary Compton, Countess of Dorset (1669–1691) Hampton Court Beauties The Hampton Court Beauties are a series of portraits by Sir Godfrey Kneller, commissioned by Queen Mary II of England, depicting the most glamorous ladies from the court of William III. They adorn the state rooms of King William III at Hampton Court Palace.