Books IX to XI are the third part of The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola. They consist of altogether 1,128 pages and 2 pages of notes. This is the most important part of the work with the largest number of illustrations (370) and 9 long appendices.
Book IX – on 122 pages Valvasor writes about the administrative and constitutional organization of Carniola. The book also deals extensively with the noble families of Carniola. In twelve chapters there are descriptions of dignity, authority (inherited), service; two extensive chapters deal with the state governors and brotherhoods. A list of noble families is also provided. The section includes a register of the nobility’s coat-of-arms. There are 37 copper engravings and 62 coats-of-arms. The author used primary sources for this section, referring to them in the text.
Book X is exclusively historical. It presents the political history of the dukes and state princes – the country rulers. On 274 pages (8 illustrations) and an appendix, there are 30 chapters that offer an overview of history from antiquity to the year 1689. The author of the book is Francisci who used classical historians for the earlier periods, and for more recent times he probably used as a basis the literature and writings provided by Valvasor.
Book XI is the most famous in the whole opus of The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola. The book of castles, known also under this name, is the most extensive one. It has 730 divided numbered pages, 324 illustrations (that is 3/5 of all illustrations in The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola) and 13 copper engravings. Valvasor describes and illustrates towns, market towns, old and new castles, monasteries, in alphabetical order. At each and in order he deals with the German and Slovenian origin of its name, its location, history, other important information and interesting details. To compare with The Topography of the Contemporary Duchy of Carniola from which the author drew (most of the illustrations were published there and later just re-arranged for The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola), there are 26 new units added, so there are 337 descriptions altogether. The important castles, towns, monasteries and market towns are described in greater detail; the most extensive is the description of the capital city, Ljubljana. The book took the longest time to complete. Janez Vajkard Valvasor’s main sources were the archives and the field trips that he made.