The basic functions of the Court consisted in providing the princely family with all they needed in their daily lives and to support the monarch in the execution of the affairs of state. These tasks were accomplished by a strict hierarchy of staff consisting of dignitaries (ceremonial positions), officials and servants, in sum making up the court household.
Another function of the Court was to create a suitably stately environment for the holding of festivities and events of state which unfolded according to the rules of ceremonial. The nobility constituted a kind of ‘public audience’ at these events, forming a society to which access was strictly limited (‘presentability at Court’) and which sought to distance itself from the rest of society through particular forms of conduct and an exclusive lifestyle.