Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom she attended. Although she may either have received a retainer or may not have received compensation for the service she rendered, a lady-in-waiting was considered more of a secretary, courtier, or companion to her mistress than a servant.
In some other parts of the world, the lady-in-waiting, often referred to as palace woman, was in practice a servant or a slave rather than a high-ranking woman, but still had about the same tasks, functioning as companion and secretary to her mistress. In courts where polygamy was practiced, a court lady might have been formally available to the monarch for sexual services, and she could become his wife, consort, courtesan, or concubine.
Lady-in-waiting or court lady is often a generic term for women whose relative rank, title, and official functions varied, although such distinctions were also often honorary. A royal woman may or may not be free to select her ladies, and, even when she has such freedom, her choices are usually heavily influenced by the sovereign, her parents, her husband, or the sovereign's ministers.
History
In Europe, the development of the office of lady-in-waiting is connected to that of the development of a royal court. During the Carolingian Empire, in the 9th century, Hincmar describes the royal household of Charles the Bald in the De Ordine Palatii, from 882, in which he states that court officials took orders from the queen as well as the king. Merovingian queens are assumed to have had their personal servants, and in the 9th century it is confirmed that Carolingian queens had an entourage of guards from the nobility as a sign of their dignity, and some officials are stated to belong to the queen rather than the king.In the late 12th century, the queens of France are confirmed to have had their own household, and noblewomen are mentioned as ladies-in-waiting. During the Middle Ages, however, the household of a European queen consort was normally small, and the number of actually employed ladies-in-waiting, rather than wives of noblemen accompanying their husbands to court, was very small: in 1286, the queen of France had only five ladies-in-waiting in her employment, and it was not until 1316 that her household was separated from that of the royal children.
The role of ladies-in-waiting in Europe changed dramatically during the age of the Renaissance, when a new ceremonial court life, where women played a significant part, developed as representation of power in the courts of Italy, and spread to Burgundy, from Burgundy to France, and to the rest of the courts of Europe. The court of the Duchy of Burgundy was the most elaborate in Europe in the 15th century and became an example for France when the French royal court expanded in the late 15th century and introduced new offices for both men and women to be able to answer to the new renaissance ideal.
From small circle of married Femmes and unmarried Filles, with a relatively humble place in the background during the Middle Ages, the number of French ladies-in-waiting were rapidly expanded, divided into an advanced hierarchy with several offices and given an important and public role to play in the new ceremonial court life in early 16th century France. This example was followed by other courts in Europe, when courts expanded and became more ceremonial during the 16th century, and the offices, numbers and visibility of women expanded in the early modern age.
During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, however, most European courts started to reduce their court staff, often due to new economic and political circumstances which made court representation more questionable.
Duties
The duties of ladies-in-waiting varied from court to court, but functions historically discharged by ladies-in-waiting included proficiency in the etiquette, languages, dances, horse riding, music making, and painting prevalent at court; keeping her mistress abreast of activities and personages at court; care of the rooms and wardrobe of her mistress; secretarial tasks; supervision of servants, budget and purchases; reading correspondence to her mistress and writing on her behalf; and discreetly relaying messages upon command.By court
Austria
In the late Middle Ages, when the court of the emperor no longer moved around constantly, the household of the empress, as well as the equivalent household of the German princely consorts, started to develop a less-fluid and a more strict organisation with set court offices.The court model of the Duchy of Burgundy, as well as the Spanish court model, came to influence the organisation of the Austrian imperial court during the 16th century, when the Burgundian Netherlands, Spain and Austria were united through the House of Habsburg. In the early and mid-16th century, the female courtiers kept by female Habsburgs in the Netherlands and Austria was composed of one Hofmesterees or Dame d'honneur who served as the principal lady-in-waiting; one Hofdame or Mere de Filles, who was second in rank and deputy of the Hofmesterees, as well as being in charge of the Eredames, also known as Demoiselle d'honneur, Fille d'honneur or Junckfrauen depending on language, and finally the Kamenisters. However, during the tenure of Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress in the mid-16th century, the court of the empress was organised in accordance with the Spanish court model, and after she left Austria, there was no further household of an empress until the 1610s. This resulted in a mix of Burgundian and Spanish customs when the Austrian court model was created.
In 1619, a set organisation was finally established for the Austrian imperial court, which came to be the characteristic organisation of the Austrian-Habsburg court roughly kept from this point onward. The first rank of the female courtiers was the Obersthofmeisterin, who was second in rank after the empress herself, and responsible for all the female courtiers. Second rank belonged to the Ayas, essentially governesses of the imperial children and heads of the children's court. Third in rank was the Fräuleinhofmeisterin, who was the replacement of the Obersthofmeisterin when necessary, but otherwise had the responsibility of the unmarried female courtiers, their conduct and service. The rest of the female noble courtiers consisted of the Hoffräulein, unmarried women from the nobility who normally served temporarily until marriage. The Hoffräulein could sometimes be promoted to Kammerfräulein. The Austrian court model was the role model for the princely courts in Germany. The German court model in turn became the role model of the early modern Scandinavian courts of Denmark and Sweden.
Belgium
The Kingdom of Belgium was founded in 1830, after which a royal court was founded, and ladies-in-waiting were appointed for Louise of Orléans when she became the first queen of Belgium in 1832. The female officeholders of the queen's household were created after the French model and composed of one Dame d'honneur, followed by several ladies-in-waiting with the title Dame du Palais, in turn ranking above the Première femme de chambre and the Femme de chambre.The ladies-in-waiting have historically been chosen by the queen herself from the noblewomen of the Catholic Noble Houses of Belgium. The chief functions at court were undertaken by members of the higher nobility, involving much contact with the royal ladies. Belgian princesses were assigned a lady upon their 18th birthdays. Princess Clementine was given a Dame by her father, a symbolic acknowledgement of adulthood. When the queen entertains, the ladies welcome guests and assist the hostess in sustaining conversation.
Cambodia
In Cambodia, the term ladies-in-waiting refers to high-ranking female servants who served food and drink, fanned and massaged, and sometimes provided sexual services to the king. Conventionally, these women could work their way up from maids to ladies-in-waiting, concubines, or even queen. is the Cambodian term for the Khmer lady-in-waiting.The six favorite court ladies of King Sisowath of Cambodia were probably initially drawn from the ranks of classical royal dancers of the lower class. He was noted for having the most classical dancers as concubines. The imperial celestial dancer, Apsara, was one of these. This practice of drawing from the ranks of royal dancers began in the Golden Age of the Khmer Kingdom.
Canada
Several Canadian ladies-in-waiting have also been appointed to the Royal Household of Canada. Canadian ladies-in-waiting are typically appointed in order to assist the monarch of Canada when carrying out official duties in Canada and royal tours in the country. Five Canadian ladies-in-waiting were made Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order.China
Han
The ladies-in-waiting in China, referred to as palace women, palace ladies or court ladies, were all formally, if not always in practice, a part of the emperor's harem, regardless of their task, and could be promoted by him to the rank of official concubine, consort, or even empress.The emperors of the Han dynasty are reported to have had a harem of thousands of 'palace women', although the actual numbers are unconfirmed.
Song
At least during the Song dynasty, palace women were divided in three groups: imperial women, imperial daughters, and the female officials and assistants, who performed a wide range of tasks and could potentially be promoted to the rank of concubine or consort.Women from official elite families could be chosen to become empress, consort or concubine immediately upon their entrance in the palace, but the emperor could also promote any female court official to that post, as they were officially all members of his harem.
The female court officials and attendants were normally selected from trusted families and then educated for their task.