As Marie Antoinette left Vienna, her mother, the Empress Maria Theresa decided to write a letter to

her son-in-law, the dauphin Louis:

Your bride, my dear dauphin, has just left me. I do hope that she will cause your happiness. I have
brought her up with the design that she should do so, because I have for some time forseen that she
would share your destiny.

I have inspired her with an eager desire to do her duty to you, with a tender attachment to your
person, with a resolution to be attentive to think and do every thing which may please you. I have
also been most careful to enjoin her a tender devotion toward the Master of all Sovereigns, being
thoroughly persuaded that we are but badly providing for the welfare of the nations which are
intrusted to us when we fail in our duty to Him who breaks sceptres and overthrows thrones
according to his pleasure.

I say, then, to you, my dear dauphin, as I say to my daughter: 'Cultivate your duties toward God.
Seek to cause the happiness of the people over whom you will reign (it will be too soon, come when
it may). Love the king, your grandfather; be humane like him; be always accessible to the
unfortunate. If you behave in this manner, it is impossible that happiness can fail to be your lot.' My
daughter will love you, I am certain, because I know her. But the more that I answer to you for her
affection, and for her anxiety to please you, the more earnestly do I entreat you to vow to her the
most sincere attachment.

Farewell, my dear dauphin. May you be happy. I am bathed in tears.

The Queen's toilet was a masterpiece of etiquette; everything was done in a prescribed form. Both
the dame d'honneur and the dame d'atours usually attended and officiated, assisted by the first
femme de chambre and two ordinary women. The dame d'atours put on the petticoat, and handed
the gown to the Queen. The dame d'honneur poured out the water for her hands and put on her
linen.

When a princess of the royal family happened to be present while the Queen was dressing, the
dame d'honneur yielded to her the latter act of office, but still did not yield it directly to the
Princesses of the blood; in such a case the dame d'honneur was accustomed to present the linen to
the first femme de chambre, who, in her turn, handed it to the Princess of the blood. Each of these
ladies observed these rules scrupulously as affecting her rights.

One winter's day it happened that the Queen, who was entirely undressed, was just going to put on
her shift; I held it ready unfolded for her; the dame d'honneur came in, slipped off her gloves, and
took it. A scratching was heard at the door; it was opened, and in came the Duchesse d'Orleans: her
gloves were taken off, and she came forward to take the garment; but as it would have been wrong
in the dame d'honneur to hand it to her she gave it to me, and I handed it to the Princess.
More scratching it was Madame la Comtesse de Provence; the Duchesse d'Orleans handed her the
linen. All this while the Queen kept her arms crossed upon her bosom, and appeared to feel cold;
Madame observed her uncomfortable situation, and, merely laying down her handkerchief without
taking off her gloves, she put on the linen, and in doing so knocked the Queen's cap off. The Queen
laughed to conceal her impatience, but not until she had muttered several times, "How
disagreeable! how tiresome!"[...]

The ladies-in-waiting, who were all obliged to be sworn, and to wear full Court dresses, were alone
entitled to remain in the room, and to attend in conjunction with the dame d'honneur and the
tirewoman. The Queen abolished all this formality. When her head was dressed, she curtsied to all
the ladies who were in her chamber, and, followed only by her own women, went into her closet,
where Mademoiselle Bertin, who could not be admitted into the chamber, used to await her. It was
in this inner closet that she produced her new and numerous dresses.

The Queen was also desirous of being served by the most fashionable hairdresser in Paris. Now the
custom which forbade all persons in inferior offices, employed by royalty, to exert their talents for
the public, was no doubt intended to cut off all communication between the privacy of princes and
society at large; the latter being always extremely curious respecting the most trifling particulars
relative to the private life of the former. The Queen, fearing that the taste of the hairdresser would
suffer if he should discontinue the general practice of his art, ordered him to attend as usual certain
ladies of the Court and of Paris; and this multiplied the opportunities of learning details respecting
the household, and very often of misrepresenting them.

One of the customs most disagreeable to the Queen was that of dining every day in public. Maria
Leczinska had always submitted to this wearisome practice; Marie Antoinette followed it as long as
she was Dauphiness. The Dauphin dined with her, and each branch of the family had its public dinner
daily. The ushers suffered all decently dressed people to enter; the sight was the delight of persons
from the country. At the dinner-hour there were none to be met upon the stairs but honest folks,
who, after having seen the Dauphiness take her soup, went to see the Princes eat their 'bouilli', and
then ran themselves out of breath to behold Mesdames at their dessert.

Very ancient usage, too, required that the Queens of France should appear in public surrounded only
by women; even at meal-times no persons of the other sex attended to serve at table; and although
the King ate publicly with the Queen, yet he himself was served by women with everything which
was presented to him directly at table. The dame d'honneur, kneeling, for her own accommodation,
upon a low stool, with a napkin upon her arm, and four women in full dress, presented the plates to
the King and Queen.
The dame d'honneur handed them drink. This service had formerly been the right of the maids of
honour. The Queen, upon her accession to the throne, abolished the usage altogether. She also
freed herself from the necessity of being followed in the Palace of Versailles by two of her women in
Court dresses, during those hours of the day when the ladies-in-waiting were not with her. From
that time she was accompanied only by a single valet de chambre and two footmen. All the changes
made by Marie Antoinette were of the same description; a disposition gradually to substitute the
simple customs of Vienna for those of Versailles was more injurious to her than she could possibly
have imagined.

When the King slept in the Queen's apartment he always rose before her; the exact hour was
communicated to the head femme de chambre, who entered, preceded by a servant of the
bedchamber bearing a taper; she crossed the room and unbolted the door which separated the
Queen's apartment from that of the King. She there found the first valet de chambre for the quarter,
and a servant of the chamber. They entered, opened the bed curtains on the King's side, and
presented him slippers generally, as well as the dressing-gown, which he put on, of gold or silver
stuff. The first valet de chambre took down a short sword which was always laid within the railing on
the King's side.

When the King slept with the Queen, this sword was brought upon the armchair appropriated to the
King, and which was placed near the Queen's bed, within the gilt railing which surrounded the bed.
The first femme de chambre conducted the King to the door, bolted it again, and, leaving the
Queen's chamber, did not return until the hour appointed by her Majesty the evening before. At
night the Queen went to bed before the King; the first femme de chambre remained seated at the
foot of her bed until the arrival of his Majesty, in order, as in the morning, to see the King's
attendants out and bolt the door after them. The Queen awoke habitually at eight o'clock, and
breakfasted at nine, frequently in bed, and sometimes after she had risen, at a table placed opposite
her couch.

In order to describe the Queen's private service intelligibly, it must be recollected that service of
every kind was honour, and had not any other denomination. To do the honours of the service was
to present the service to a person of superior rank, who happened to arrive at the moment it was
about to be performed. Thus, supposing the Queen asked for a glass of water, the servant of the
chamber handed to the first woman a silver gilt waiter, upon which were placed a covered goblet
and a small decanter; but should the lady of honour come in, the first woman was obliged to present
the waiter to her, and if Madame or the Comtesse d'Artois came in at the moment, the waiter went
again from the lady of honour into the hands of the Princess before it reached the Queen.

It must be observed, however, that if a princess of the blood instead of a princess of the family
entered, the service went directly from the first woman to the princess of the blood, the lady of
honour being excused from transferring to any but princesses of the royal family. Nothing was
presented directly to the Queen; her handkerchief or her gloves were placed upon a long salver of
gold or silver gilt, which was placed as a piece of furniture of ceremony upon a side-table, and was
called a gantiere. The first woman presented to her in this manner all that she asked for, unless the
tirewoman, the lady of honour, or a princess were present, and then the gradation pointed out in
the instance of the glass of water was always observed.

Whether the Queen breakfasted in bed or up, those entitled to the petites entrees were equally
admitted; this privilege belonged of right to her chief physician, chief surgeon, physician in ordinary,
reader, closet secretary, the King's four first valets de chambre and their reversioners, and the King's
chief physicians and surgeons. There were frequently from ten to twelve persons at this first entree.
The lady of honour or the superintendent, if present, placed the breakfast equipage upon the bed;
the Princesse de Lamballe frequently performed that office.

Was "Madame Etiquette"?

Marie Antoinette's royal family in Austria was quite informal, so the seemingly absurd etiquette at
French court annoyed her greatly. Marie Antoinette would pick at food, preferring a second meal be
served in her private chambers.

Etiquette Rules at Versailles:

It was in the Queen’s antechamber that the public meals were held, whose sumptuous ritual, Grand
Couvert, attracted a large crowd. Grand Couvert was a public ritual, in which the French King and
Queen ate their dinner in public view. Only the royal family could take their places at the table and
before them, seated, the duchesses, princesses or high-ranking persons who had the privilege to sit
on a stool, then, standing, the other ladies and persons who, due to their rank or with the
authorisation of the usher, had been allowed to enter.

The room where Marie-Antoinette didn't eat her dinner; The Salon of the "Grand Couvert" has been
restored to its past splendor, part of an ongoing refurbishment of the entire palace.

Louis XIV subjected himself to this performance almost every evening; Louis XV often preferred
intimate suppers; as for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, a testimony from that time reports that:

"The Queen sat on the King’s left. They had their backs turned to the fireplace […] The King ate with
a good appetite, but the Queen did not remove her gloves and did not use her serviette, which was
very wrong of her".

To counter this boredom, Marie-Antoinette asked for there always to be music in the Grand Couvert
and for that purpose a platform was set up for the musicians in this room.

Other Rules:
Those wanting to speak to the king were not to knock on his door. Instead, using the left little finger,
they had to gently scratch on the door until they were granted the permission to enter the room.
Many courtiers grew that fingernail longer than the others for that purpose.

A lady never held hands or linked arms with a gentleman. It was in very bad taste and nearly
impossible because a woman’s skirts were so wide. She was to place her hand on top of the
gentleman’s bent arm as they strolled through the gardens and chambers of Versailles. Ladies were
only allowed to touch their fingertips with the men.

The king and queen always had a fauteuil (armchair) to sit on. In their presence, no one else was
allowed an armchair, unless you were also a monarch.

A chair with a back but no arms was allowed for those closest in rank to the king, such as his brother
or children.

The tabouret, a padded stool was awarded to those holding the rank of duchess. Lesser ranking
nobility would be expected to stand.

For nightly Grand Couvert, men and women had to dress appropriately. Appropriate dress included
swords for the men. If a gentleman arrived at Versailles for Grand Couvert without his sword, it is
said he could rent one.

Etiquette for the aristocracy included how to use a napkin, how far to unfold it in one's lap and when
to use it .

Only ushers were allowed to open doors. If you desired to leave the room, you had to wait for the
usher to open the door.

Of Versailles and France, Margaret Visser wrote;

"During the 17th century, in France, manners became a political issue. King Louis XIV and his
predecessors, in collecting together the nobility of France to live with the sovereign at Versailles,
instituted a sort of school of manners. At the palace, the courtiers lived under the despotic
surveillance of the king, and upon their good behavior, their deference, and their observance of
etiquette their whole careers depended. If you displeased a Louis, he would simply "not see you" the
following day; his gaze would pass over you as he surveyed the people before him. And not being
"seen" by the king was tantamount to ceasing to count, at Versailles.
A whole timetable of ceremonies was followed, much of it revolving around the King's own person.
Intimacy with Louis meant power, and power was symbolically expressed in attending to certain of
the king's most private and physical needs: handing him his stockings to put on in the morning, being
present as he used to chaise percée, rushing when the signal sounded to be present as he got ready
for bed. It mattered desperately what closeness the king allowed you - whether he spoke to you, in
front of whom, and for how long.

The point about Versailles was that there was no escape: the courtiers had to "make it" where they
were. The stage was Louis's, and the roles that could be played were designed by him. It was up to
each courtier to fit him- or herself into one of the slots provided. The leaders of all the other towns
and villages of France were made, largely through the use of etiquette, and more specifically
through rudeness and judicious slighting by the tax-collecting intendants, to feel their subordination,
the distance from the court.

Once, the nobility had relied on strength, swagger, and vigor, even violence, personally to make their
mark and uphold their honour; at Versailles, the way to success became discretion, observation,
cunning, and the dissembling of one's aims and passions. At Versailles, and at the courts all over
Europe which imitated it - everything was done to make it very clear who was superior to whom;
and of course, each time anyone was polite, he or she was simultaneously acknowledging rank and
demonstrating who stood where.

The new manners - both the formal rules of protocol and precedence and the unspoken, more
profoundly enculturated rules like table manners - were seen increasingly, according to Elias, as
ways in which one did not offend other people. You were controlling yourself, so as to prevent other
people from being disgusted or "shocked." People lived very closely together at Versailles; everyone
was watched by everyone else, and actual physical proximity helped raise some of the new
sensitivity to other people's real or imagined susceptibilities. Men were expected on the whole to
give up physical force as a means of getting their way, and - as always when "the graces" are
preferred over brute strength - women begin to count for more. Within the aristocratic court circle,
people became, in spite of the obsession with rank, far more equal. Secure in the knowledge that
just being at court was the pinnacle of prestige, from which most of society was shut out, courtiers
could permit themselves to respect each other.

As the bourgeois became richer and more indispensable even at court, they demanded - and were
given, by self appointed experts who wrote manuals for them - instruction in how to behave as
people did in "the best circles." In 1672, Antoine de Courtin produced "Nouveau trait' de la civilité'
qui se pratique en France parmi les honnestes gens" or The "New Treatise of the Civility Which is
Practiced in France Among Honest People." ("Honest" -hônnete- kept its original association with
honour and the opposite-but-supporting motion, shame.) De Courtin writes about manners for both
hosts and guests, and invite advises his bourgeois readers on how they should address the nobility.
The church in France also produced handbooks of manners and talk to precept in schools. Gradually
gentility spread down from the court to the bourgeois, and finally trickled further down to the rest
of the population. The bourgeois were even stricter about standards of civility than were the nobility
were; having no ever-present King do enforce the rules, they imposed restraints on themselves.
Being more anxious to rise, they had more to lose by making slips and gaffes; so their self-inhibiting
mechanisms had to be deeper rooted, less obviously the donning of an external personna than the
nobility could permit themselves. The policing of emotions became internal, and finally invisible
even to themselves: they were able to think that they acted, not in obedience to power and self-
interest but for purely moral reasons."

Chateau Versailles

The Courtiers:

"The whole of France around the King"

The spacious quarters at Versailles allowed a large Court to live in residence close to the King.
Depending on the days, 3,000 to 10,000 people crowded there, forming a very varied society with a
rigid hierarchy. Some were there by birthright, others by social obligation, others out of self-interest
or curiosity, and others still to earn their living. The high-ranking nobility were often present,
currying the favours of the master of Versailles.

The courtiers were obliged to follow the rules of Etiquette. These extremely strict rules governed
priority, determining not only who was allowed to approach the important people in the Court, but
also where and when. Gestures and language were also codified and varied subtly according to the
circumstances: this included using titles to address different people, the right to sit down, and use an
armchair, a simple chair or a stool, etc.

Among the courtiers, those who held a role were said to be "established" at Court. These roles,
either inherited or purchased, often very dearly, corresponded to a function or office. For the most
important, the King's approval was essential; this was particularly the case for the secretaries of
State. But for a simple valet de chambre or barber, the agreement of the Grand Master of the King's
Household was sufficient. Living quarters in the palace were also highly sought after. They avoided
much travelling back and forth and provided a place of retreat for those moments when one was not
at Court. The princes of the royal family had apartments overlooking the gardens, while
"established" courtiers were accommodated on the town side or in the Palace outbuildings: in the
Grand Lodgings, the Stables and so on.

Serving the King in the army or in high administration was the principle means of gaining the
Monarch's favour, even if the art of appearances at Court remained essential. Personal attributes,
such as beauty or wit, rivaled with dazzling finery to attract the Monarch's attention. By granting the
Court greater importance than either Henri IV or Louis XIII had done, Louis XIV gave the nobles a
sense of service. Serving was a means of pleasing the Sovereign, it was useful to the kingdom and
contributed to a certain control over the nobility, thereby strengthening the royal authority.
The French court imposed elaborate codes of etiquette on the aristocracy, among them the way to
use a napkin, when to use it, and how far to unfold it in the lap. A French treatise dating from 1729
stated that "It is ungentlemanly to use a napkin for wiping the face or scraping the teeth, and a most
vulgar error to wipe one's nose with it." And a rule of decorum from the same year laid out the
protocol:

"The person of highest rank in the company should unfold his napkin first, all others waiting till he
has done so before they unfold theirs. When all of those present are social equals, all unfold
together, with no ceremony."

Fashionable men of the time wore stiffly starched ruffled collars, a style protected while dining with
a napkin tied around the neck. Hence the expression "to make ends meet." When shirts with lace
fronts came into vogue, napkins were tucked into the neck or buttonhole or were attached with a
pin. In 1774, a French treatise declared, "the napkin covered the front of the body down to the
knees, starting from below the collar and not tucked into said collar."

Of Nobility in France

Nobility in France was generally hereditary and was passed down through the male line. It had
certain privileges attached to it, such as being exempt from taxes, sole access to certain offices and
positions within the civil and military administrations of France, and all commissions in the army.
There was a sense that as a noble, one was possessed of greater intelligence, more refined
sentiments and in general more deserving of the best life had to offer.

In general, there were three ways to become a noble:

1) By birth ~ The father must be of noble blood. Illegitimate children could be ennobled by letters
patent from the sovereign. The king’s illegitimate offspring were automatically noble, and therefore
needed no ennobling. (However they were still illegitimate, and needed to be legitimated. This was
accomplished finally by naming only the father, and not the mother.)

2) By holding certain offices, either by purchase or appointment, such as in the king’s household, or
in the Parliament.

3) By royal decree.

These are the titles of nobility, and the order of their importance:

1) Duc
2) Comte

3) Marquis

4) Vicomte

5) Baron

These titles as well as the names of the family were derived from the properties they were attached
to, and only one person at a time could carry each of these titles. However, the presence or absence
of a title was not in itself a test of nobility, because there were generally more family members than
there were titles to go around.

One you have reached the threshold of nobility, there are still more degrees of nobility: How long
has your family been noble? How many of your paternal and maternal grandparents’ lineages were
noble? The oldest nobility was traced to the “Mists of Time,” back in the early recorded history of
France.

Of those already blessed enough to claim the ties of nobility, some could also claim peerages. These
peers originated from the twelve dukes who were raised in the 12thcentury above the other dukes
by the King as his direct vassals.

Though forks had established a foothold in the polite society of France, by the later 1500s, Louis XIV
still ate with his hands. He had plenty to say about using one's knife though... Etiquette required that
aristocratic nobleman always bring their own dining implements to banquets. Specifically, the
dagger used for both cutting and spearing their food. Some diners used the tip of their
daggers/knives to pick their teeth, which one can imagine was disgusting. Louis XIV put an end to
such spectacles by outlawing pointed, double-edged personal use daggers, thus creating a demand
for not with a rounded and and the single cutting edge that we have today. Louis XIV was also the
first king to provide his dinner guests with individual place settings of a knife fork and spoon so they
need not bring their own.

There were ecclesiastical peers, which ranked ahead of lay peers. For lay peers, the order of
precedence was determined by date of peerage’s creation- except as it applied to Princes of the
Blood, they gained precedence over the other peers, regardless of peerage creation date, because of
their claim to royal blood.

By the time of Louis XIV, the main role of the peers was to participate in the coronation ceremony.
This was important, because it created precedence in day-to-day life for the title-holder over others
without this distinction.
Even more important than title was rank. Rank in regards to the Court of France can be understood
as a degree of eminence within the class of nobility. It was measured from the king on down, so the
highest ranks were filled by the individuals most closely related to the king, and the higher the rank,
the greater the precedence.

Within the royal family, the rank and precedence of said persons was:

1) King and Queen

2) Dauphin and Dauphine (1st in line for throne)

3) Sons of the current king

4) Daughters of the current king

5) Sons of the former king

6) Daughters of the former king

After the immediate relatives, there were the Princes du Sang, or “of the blood,” who were related
to the royal blood in a lesser concentration than the immediate family.

The framework of rank and precedence were pretty firmly fixed. There might be wiggle room in
certain situations, but being that everyone was fiercely protective of their rights of precedence, any
concession a person finagled for their self would usually be nullified at the next occasion, and they
would be put back in their place.

The prestige attached to a name was a valuable commodity for those trying to advance themselves
or their connections at court. In everyone's eyes, the most important factors in determining a
family's prestige were:

How long had a given family been noble

Into what other families did it marry

What positions its members achieved and what offices they held
What actions they performed

Madame Etiquette was played by Judy Davis in 2006's "Marie Antoinette"

Etiquette, "Madame Etiquette" and Marie Antoinette

This hierarchy was played out through etiquette. Life at Versailles was centered on conversational
skill and interpersonal interactions, just as much of which was non-verbal in its expression. The way
courtiers moved through the day at court could be summed up with the housekeeping maxim: “A
place for everything, and everything in its place.”

While these distinctions seem unimportant today, in the 17th century knowledge and use of proper
etiquette was vital because it was the foundation of the social order and political system of the
ancien regime.

Using one of the most often cited subjects of this code of etiquette are the rules of seating
arrangements. The king and queen always had a fauteuil, an armchair to sit upon. Within their
presence, no one else was allowed an armchair, excepting another monarch. A chair with a back but
no arms was allowed for those closest in rank to the king, such as his brother or children. The
tabouret, a padded, drum-shaped stool was awarded to those holding the rank of duchess. Lesser
ranking nobility would be expected to stand.

At some point Louis XIV’s brother Philippe, Duc d’Orleans, lobbied for an armchair in the king’s
presence instead of the armless chair he was allowed already. In the Memoires of Madame de
Montespan, she records Louis’ explanation to his brother for denying to him this elevation of rank. In
Louis’ reasoning we understand better the power of etiquette as the expression of rank and
privilege:

It is in your interest, brother, that the majesty of the throne should not be weakened or altered; and
if, from Duc d'Orleans, you one day become King of France, I know you well enough to believe that
you would never be lax in this matter. Before God, you and I are exactly the same as other creatures
that live and breathe; before men we are seemingly extraordinary beings, greater, more refined,
more perfect. The day that people, abandoning this respect and veneration which is the support and
mainstay of monarchies,--the day that they regard us as their equals,--all the prestige of our position
will be destroyed. Bereft of beings superior to the mass, who act as their leaders and supports, the
laws will only be as so many black lines on white paper, and your armless chair and my fauteuil will
be two pieces of furniture of the selfsame importance.
In other words, the importance of your position at Court was dependent on how well you recognized
and defended etiquette. Personal feelings were irrelevant because the symbolic place held by a
person mattered more. Your place and the attention you received devolved from the treatment of
others around you.

Rank and precedence was the visible glue holding the structure of the ancient regime system
together. To ignore and disparage this meant that the whole system would come into question, as it
did in the reign of Louis XVI.

Obviously there were more factors involved in contributing to the great social upheaval that was the
French Revolution than etiquette being marginalized, but it is a way to compare and contrast why
society changed; why it happened in 1789 and not before (as there had been governmental
insolvency and peasant uprising during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV).

Madame de Campan, a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette, wrote of etiquette:

These servile rules were drawn up into a kind of code; they offered to a Richelieu, a La
Rouchefoucauld and a Duras, in the exercise of their domestic functions, opportunities of intimacy
useful to their interests; and their vanity was flattered by the customs which converted the right to
give a glass of water, to put on a dress, and to remove a basin, into honorable prerogatives.

So, while she was a victim in many ways, Marie Antoinette played a role in this marginalization of
etiquette: She did not want to dispatch the role of queen in the prescribed manner and chose
instead to retreat from the endless rules into an environment of informality, thus depriving the
Court of opportunities for acting out their duties (which were considered not to be a chore but an
honor to hold), and therefore made her position seem unnecessary at worst and meaningless at
best.

Who was Madame Etiquette?

Anne d'Arpajon, aka "Madame Etiquette" ~A French aristocrat and first lady of honour to Queens of
France, Marie Leszczyńska and Marie Antoinette, Anne d'Arpajon was called "Madame Etiquette" by
Marie Antoinette for her insistence that no minutia of court etiquette ever be disregarded or altered
in any way.

Versailles may have been one of the most glamorous courts in Europe, if not in the world, but living
there wasn't always easy or pleasant. Every little aspect of life was, in fact, strictly regulated by an
elaborate, and stifling, set of etiquette rules. Paris Atelier explores some of them. To quote:
*People who wanted to speak to the king could not knock on his door. Instead, using the left little
finger, they had to gently scratch on the door, until they were granted permission to enter. As a
result, many courtiers grew that fingernail longer than the others!

*When a gentleman sat down, he slid his left foot in front of the other, placed his hands on the sides
of the chair and gently lowered himself into the chair. The practical reason for this procedure was
that if he sat too quickly, his tight trousers might split.

*The king and queen always had a fauteuil (armchair) to sit on. In their presence, no one else was
allowed an armchair, unless you were also a monarch.

* Only ushers were allowed to open doors. If you desired to leave the room, you had to wait for the
usher to open the door.

*People of different rank were to enter a room in order, princes, then officers of the Court, and
finally courtiers. The page opened both halves of the tall double door for a prince, but for lower
ranked dignitaries, only one side swung open.

*The Grand~Couvert was a daily public ritual, where the King and Queen would eat their dinner in
public. Anybody could attend (anybody of any rank) provided they were dressed properly, for men,
this meant wearing a sword. You could rent one at the gates! Marie~Antoinette famously hated this
ritual (meant to signify that the Sovereigns were at the disposal of the people) and was frequently
criticized for not even removing her gloves. She often picked at her food and had a second meal
served in her private chambers with her friends.

To read the entire article, click here.

No wonder Marie Antoinette found it suffocating and enjoyed spending a lot of her time at the Petit
Trianon, where etiquette was more relaxed!

The famous memorialist the Duke of Saint-Simon wrote of Louis XIV: “With an almanach and a
watch, one could, from 300 leagues away, say with accuracy what he was doing”. The king’s day was
timed to the minute to allow the officers in his service to plan their own work accordingly. From
morning to evening his day ran like clockwork, to a schedule that was just as strictly ordered as life in
the Court.

In theory the Sun King’s daily schedule continued during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, but
neither of the later sovereigns could stand the oppressive ceremonial rituals. As often as possible
they took refuge in their private apartments or nearby royal residences. Over the years, the public
getting-up and going-to-bed ceremonies became rarer, and the courtiers complained that they never
saw the king, in contrast to the time of Louis XIV.

Mornings

8.30 am: the First Valet de Chambre woke the king with “Sire, it’s time to get up”. After a visit from
the First Doctor and First Surgeon, the first getting-up ceremony began. Members of the entourage,
those with important roles and certain friends who enjoyed the privilege of attending such moments
successively entered the King’s Bedchamber while the sovereign was washed, combed and shaved.
Then the Officers of the Chamber and of the Clothes Storehouse entered for the grand getting-up
ceremony, during which the king was dressed and drank soup for breakfast. As well as the most
important members of the Court, the closest royal servants were allowed to watch this ceremony.
The number of spectators, all male, was probably around 100.

10 am: a procession formed in the Hall of Mirrors at the exit of the King’s Apartments, and the king
crossed the State Apartments followed by his courtiers. At this point the crowd that had gathered
along the way could finally see the king. Some could speak briefly to him or slip him a written note.
The king sat down in the tribune in the Royal Chapel for mass, which lasted half an hour. The “Chapel
Music” choir, which was famous throughout Europe, sang a new piece every day, composed by Lully,
Delalande, and others.

11 am: upon returning to his apartment, the king held council in his chamber. On Mondays (every
two weeks), Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, the State Council, or “High Council”, was held. On
Tuesdays and Saturdays it was the Financial Council, while Fridays were taken up with the Council of
Conscience (religious affairs). Last but not least, the Dispatch Council (which dealt with national
affairs) met once a fortnight on Mondays when there was no State Council meeting. On these days
the king could also decide to examine the progress of works projects. Five or six ministers worked
with the monarch, who spoke little, listened closely, and always made the final decision.

1 pm: the king ate alone in his bedchamber, seated at a table facing the windows. In principle this
meal was taken in private, but Louis XIV had the habit of admitting all the men of the Court,
generally those present at the getting-up ceremony.

Afternoons
2 pm: the king gave his orders and announced his plans in the morning. If he went on a walk, it
would be in the gardens on foot or in a Barouche with the ladies. If he decided to go hunting, the
favourite sport of the Bourbons, the monarch would go to the park if he chose to hunt with
weapons, and to the surrounding forest when hunting on horseback.

6 pm or 7 pm: Louis XIV often left his son in charge of indoor entertainment, such as Evening
Gatherings. In the meantime the king would sign the numerous letters prepared by his secretary,
then go to the apartments of Mme de Maintenon, where he studied important paperwork with one
of his four Secretaries of State.

Evenings

10 pm: the crowd would hurry into the King’s Antechamber to attend the dinner at the Royal Table.
The king sat down to dinner with the members of the royal family. Once the meal was over, the
monarch crossed the room and entered the salon to greet the ladies of the court. He then retired to
his cabinet to converse more freely with his family and a few close friends.

11.30 pm: the going-to-bed ceremony. This public ritual, when the king retired to his bedchamber,
was the exact reverse of the getting-up ceremony.

Nobility

Nobility in France was generally hereditary and was passed down through the male line. It had
certain privileges attached to it, such as being exempt from taxes, sole access to certain offices and
positions within the civil and military administrations of France, and all commissions in the army.
There was a sense that as a noble, one was possessed of greater intelligence, more refined
sentiments and in general more deserving of the best life had to offer.

In general, there were three ways to become a noble:

1) By birth- the father must be of noble blood. Illegitimate children could be ennobled by letters
patent from the sovereign. The king’s llegitimate offspring were automatically noble, and therefore
needed no ennobling. (However they were still illegitimate, and needed to be legitimated. This was
accomplished finally by naming only the father, and not the mother.).

2) By holding certain offices, either by purchase or appointment, such as in the king’s household,
or in the Parliament.
3) By royal decree.

These are the titles of nobility, and the order of their importance:

1) Duc

2) Comte

3) Marquis

4) Vicomte

5) Baron

These titles as well as the names of the family were derived from the properties they were attached
to, and only one person at a time could carry each of these titles. However, the presence or absence
of a title was not in itself a test of nobility, because there were generally more family members than
there were titles to go around.

One you have reached the threshold of nobility, there are still more degrees of nobility: How long
has your family been noble? How many of your paternal and maternal grandparents’ lineages were
noble? The oldest nobility was traced to the “Mists of Time,” back in the early recorded history of
France.

Of those already blessed enough to claim the ties of nobility, some could also claim peerages.
These peers originated from the twelve dukes who were raised in the 12th century above the other
dukes by the King as his direct vassals.

There were ecclesiastical peers, which ranked ahead of lay peers. For lay peers, the order of
precedence was determined by date of peerage’s creation- except as it applied to Princes of the
Blood, they gained precedence over the other peers, regardless of peerage creation date, because of
their claim to royal blood.

By the time of Louis XIV, the main role of the peers was to participate in the coronation ceremony.
This was important, because it created precedence in day-to-day life for the title-holder over others
without this distinction.

Even more important than title was rank. Rank in regards to the Court of France can be understood
as a degree of eminence within the class of nobility. It was measured from the king on down, so the
highest ranks were filled by the individuals most closely related to the king, and the higher the rank,
the greater the precedence.
 Within the royal family, the rank and precedence of said persons was:

1) King and Queen

2) Dauphin and Dauphine (as first in line for the throne)

3) Sons of the current king

4) Daughters of the current king

5) Sons of the former king

6) Daughters of the former king

After the immediate relatives, there were the Princes du Sang, or “of the blood,” who were
related to the royal blood in a lesser concentration than the immediate family.

The framework of rank and precedence were pretty firmly fixed. There might be wiggle room in
certain situations, but being that everyone was fiercely protective of their rights of precedence, any
concession a person finagled for their self would usually be nullified at the next occasion, and they
would be put back in their place.

The prestige attached to a name was a valuable commodity for those trying to advance themselves
or their connections at court. In everyone's eyes, the most important factors in determining a
family's prestige were:

how long had a given family been noble (l'ancienneté),

into what other families did it marry (les alliances),

what positions its members achieved and what offices they held (les dignités),

what actions they performed (les illustrations).(1)

Etiquette

This hierarchy was played out through etiquette. Life at Versailles was centered on conversational
skill and interpersonal interactions, just as much of which was non-verbal in its expression. The way
courtiers moved through the day at court could be summed up with the housekeeping maxim: “A
place for everything, and everything in its place.”

While these distinctions seem unimportant today, in the 17th century knowledge and use of proper
etiquette was vital because it was the foundation of the social order and political system of the
ancien regime (2).
 Using one of the most often cited subjects of this code of etiquette are the rules of seating
arrangements. The king and queen always had a fauteuil, an armchair to sit upon. Within their
presence, no one else was allowed an armchair, excepting another monarch. A chair with a back but
no arms was allowed for those closest in rank to the king, such as his brother or children. The
tabouret, a padded, drum-shaped stool was awarded to those holding the rank of duchess. Lesser
ranking nobility would be expected to stand.

At some point Louis XIV’s brother Philippe, Duc d’Orleans, lobbied for an armchair in the king’s
presence instead of the armless chair he was allowed already. In the Memoires of Madame de
Montespan, she records Louis’ explanation to his brother for denying to him this elevation of rank.
In Louis’ reasoning we understand better the power of etiquette as the expression of rank and
privilege:

It is in your interest, brother, that the majesty of the throne should not be weakened or altered; and
if, from Duc d'Orleans, you one day become King of France, I know you well enough to believe that
you would never be lax in this matter. Before God, you and I are exactly the same as other creatures
that live and breathe; before men we are seemingly extraordinary beings, greater, more refined,
more perfect. The day that people, abandoning this respect and veneration which is the support
and mainstay of monarchies,--the day that they regard us as their equals,--all the prestige of our
position will be destroyed. Bereft of beings superior to the mass, who act as their leaders and
supports, the laws will only be as so many black lines on white paper, and your armless chair and my
fauteuil will be two pieces of furniture of the selfsame importance.

In other words, the importance of your position at Court was dependant on how well you
recognized and defended etiquette. Personal feelings were irrelevant because the symbolic place
held by a person mattered more. Your place and the attention you received devolved from the
treatment of others around you.

Rank and precedence was the visible glue holding the structure of the ancien regime system
together. To ignore and disparage this meant that the whole system would come into question, as it
did in the reign of Louis XVI.

Obviously there were more factors involved in contributing to the great social upheaval that was
the French Revolution than etiquette being marginalized, but it is a way to compare and contrast
why society changed; why it happened in 1789 and not before (as there had been governmental
insolvency and peasant uprising during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV).

Madame de Campan, a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette, wrote of etiquette:

These servile rules were drawn up into a kind of code; they offered to a Richelieu, a La
Rouchefoucauld and a Duras, in the exercise of their domestic functions, opportunities of intimacy
useful to their interests; and

their vanity was flattered by the customs which converted the right to give a glass of water, to put
on a dress, and to remove a basin, into honorable prerogatives.

So, while she was a victim in many ways, Marie Antoinette played a role in this marginalization of
etiquette: She did not want to dispatch the role of queen in the prescribed manner and chose
instead to retreat from the endless rules into an environment of informality, thus depriving the
Court of opportunities for acting out their duties (which were considered not to be a chore but an
honor to hold), and therefore made her position seem unnecessary at worst and meaningless at
best.

Paris Atelier explains the elaborate rules of etiquette at the French court which drove Marie-
Antoinette to distraction. (Her family had been very informal, as royals go.) Here are a few of the
rules:

*People who wanted to speak to the king could not knock on his door. Instead, using the left little
finger, they had to gently scratch on the door, until they were granted permission to enter. As a
result, many courtiers grew that fingernail longer than the others!

*A lady never held hands or linked arms with a gentleman. It was in very bad taste and nearly
impossible because a woman’s skirts were so wide. She was to place her hand on top of the
gentleman’s bent arm as they strolled through the gardens and chambers of Versailles. Ladies were
only allowed to touch their fingertips with the men. Imagine that! Funny with all of the scandal that
went on!

*The king and queen always had a fauteuil (armchair) to sit on. In their presence, no one else was
allowed an armchair, unless you were also a monarch.

*A chair with a back but no arms was allowed for those closest in rank to the king, such as his
brother or children.

*The tabouret, a padded stool was awarded to those holding the rank of duchess. Lesser ranking
nobility would be expected to stand.

* Only ushers were allowed to open doors. If you desired to leave the room, you had to wait for the
usher to open the door.

HOW TO SURVIVE THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV 101: ETIQUETTE WITH ACHILLE ARCHAMBAULT,
MARQUIS DE SAINT CROIX
MARCH 5, 2016 AMYQUINTON 5 COMMENTS

I have two guests on the blog today! Please welcome my favorite author, Jessica Cale! And with her,
from her latest release, The Long Way Home, is Achille Achambault, the Marquis de Saint Croix – .
(…who just so happens to like my books… )

Today, Jessica and Achille are here to talk about Etiquette in the Court of Louis XIV. So without
further ado, Jessica…

Life as a courtier in Versailles was very difficult with hundreds of rules of etiquette and precedence
to bear in mind at all times. I had hoped to write a post about it for you, but on this subject, I
thought it would be better to leave it to the expert. It is Achille Archambault, the Marquis de Saint
Croix, who helps ex-pickpocket Jack Sharpe navigate the intricacies of court life, so I’m going to leave
it up to him to explain it to you. I present to you the charming (and very handsome) Marquis de Saint
Croix:

Bonjour tous le monde! Je m’appelle Achille, et aujourd’hui, je vais vous apprendre un peu le
français et l’étiquette. Pour commencer, nous allons–

[(cough) Achille! En Anglais, s’il vous plait?]

Quoi? Mais oui, d’accord. Hello everyone! I shall begin again. I am Achille Archambault, Marquis de
Saint Croix. It is my great honor to visit you in your time to speak to you of mine. Much has changed,
but I believe things are still the same, non? La Cale has brought me forth and has given many very
interesting books to take back with me. I found Madame Quinton’s Quoi Le Duc Desires to be most
moving and informative. Perhaps this one shall seek love with an English peasant as well! (laughs) La
Cale is a generous benefactor, but I believe she would not be above arranging such a ridiculous
match. In my language, a cale is a kind of wedge, a tool for immobilization, and La Cale is likewise
stubborn in her desires. C’est tres amusant, non? En Francais, Quinton is only Quinton, and that is
not so fun, although I very much admire her works. The one about the Marquess raised a blush to
even this dark complexion!

If you are to journey back with me to my time, I would be most honored to accommodate you in my
rooms in Versailles. Monsieur Sharpe and Monsieur Sedley have gone and there is room, and you
will be happy to hear my manservant, Armand, has recently succeeded in removing the corpse smell
from Monsieur Sharpe’s room.

Bon! I will show you the grandeur of Versailles. You will be presented to the king and you will meet
many great people, and no few dogs as well. The Duc de Languedoc is likely to attempt to take
liberties, if he can remove his eyes from my virtuous niece long enough to do so. It is a beautiful
place, and very refined, but it is terrible as well. If you hope to survive the court for any length of
time without disgracing yourself or inviting ridicule, there are a few small rules you must know.

If you come across a friend in your travels, as you are likely to do, it is fort mauvais to ask him where
he is coming from or where he is going.

A man must not enter a room with a button unbuttoned that his tailor intended to be buttoned.

If you are in mixed company, women must not raise their skirts to warm their legs beside the fire.

Do not fidget with your hat, gloves, stick, or with your hostess’ fire irons.

Do not yawn, spit, take snuff, or offer your hostess the loan of your handkerchief.

If someone should sneeze, it is ill-bred to say “God bless you,” but correct to say it silently to
yourself while taking off your hat.

It is otherwise most uncivil to remove your hat inside the house, unless you are speaking to a person
of the highest quality, such as myself.

Never in any circumstances sit down to a meal without your hat on, but until every guest is seated,
you must keep your hat in your hand.

You may go hatless in the anteroom if civility demands it.

If the servant of a superior brings you a message, you must receive him standing, and remove your
hat.

If you have the honor of eating with the king in the field, you must wear your hat while the king
alone will remain bare-headed.

If one of the king’s meals should happen to pass you during your stay in the palace, you must bow or
curtsey until it is gone, sweep the floor with your hat, and say reverently but distinctly, “La viande du
Roi.”

At supper, do not wash your hands or face in a bowl that has been used by your social superior.

You must never knock on a door inside the palace. It is correct to scratch at them with the nail on
your left pinkie finger, which you should grow long for that purpose.

If you visit someone within the town outside of the palace, you must not scratch, but knock.

If you are visiting a lady of quality, you must strike the knocker once and no more.

You must never under any circumstances sit above your social superior. Unless invited or alone, it is
safer to remain standing at all times.

You must never discuss affairs of the state. Men may discuss hunting and horses, and ladies may
discuss scandal and frocks. Discussing politics will ruin you as surely as drunkenness or debauchery.

Never attempt to sit at a gaming table if you yourself are not playing.

If the king offers you food, you must not refuse him, nor may you let on under any circumstances
that you are having less than a splendid time. The king cannot abide misery and will stand for
nothing less than gaiety at all times.
These are only some of the things you must remember if you are to be a successful courtier.
Forgetting any of the rules will betray you as ill-bred and ruin your reputation as swiftly as sulking or
discussing politics within sight of the king.

Never fear, I will tutor you on everything you must know before we reach Versailles. I suggest you
read Courtin’s Nouveau Traite de la Civilite while we travel. There is much we have yet to discuss!

Common Courtesy

These are some of the "simple" rules that everyone associated with court life knew to follow.

One is never to knock at a door to gain admittance. Instead, a visitor may use their fingernail to
scratch on the door frame

When promenading a gentleman must always acknowledge an acquaintance. If this was a lady he
was to bow - but only if she acknowledged him first

Ladies walking together must take care not to walk more than two abreast so as to not block the
way for others

Courtiers were not allowed to address members of the royal family directly. They were to
respectfully remove their hats if they chanced upon them (if they were gentlemen). The only time a
courtier could directly address royalty was if they were spoken to

When standing it is considered well-mannered to have the left foot in front and the legs slightly bent

One can never immediately turn their back on their superior. If one is to leave the presence of a
superior it is customary to bow and take a few step backwards while still facing the superior. Then
one may leave.

Dining in Style

These contain both the etiquette for the King's dinners and for dining amongst the nobility in
general.

Each course was prescribed a specific place on the table and was not to be moved from that spot

All the food was served at once - this was known as dining a la Francaise in comparison to dining a la
Russe (in the Russian style) where dishes were served individually

Courtiers helped themselves to whatever they desired but could not get up to get to a dish out of
their reach. Instead, it was normal to pass a plate along for their neighbour to fill it with the desired
dish - but with moderation

There were three courses: soup/fish, roasts and desserts

Gentlemen must always remove their hats when at the King's dinner table even if the King is not
there in person

All food and drink provided for the royal family was served to them since royalty could not reach for
anything themselves

When the King dines with the Queen au grand couvert they are served by ladies only and not by the
King's own servants. This stems from an ancient tradition whereas the Queen is only to be seen
surrounded by her ladies

Tip Toe Gallantry - the Rules of a Ball

Louis XIV's reign saw the emergence of court balls on a completely new level since they were now
also a perfect for making new acquaintances or advancing - but only if you remembered the court
etiquette while enjoying yourself. When Louis XIV was a young King it was custom that one ball was
held every week; when France was at war the number of balls rose to give not only the people but
other countries the impression that France was indeed grandiose and plentiful. Just imagine how
much money went to furnish yourself with a fashionable new gown! This continuing stream of balls
also meant that more dances were introduced and if you wanted to stay ahead you have to learn
them all. Consequently, it became custom for courtiers to learn between 2-4 new dances every year!

Those who could be invited to a court ball hosted by the King was those who held the Honours of
the Court whereas those who had the Honours of Versailles would rarely be seen at these social
gatherings - if ever!

When the ball was to be held was up to the King alone to decide just like the ball begun by the King
himself. He would do so by rising which meant that no other courtier could remain seated - unless
they had a specific arrangement with the King - which made it the perfect opportunity to began the
dancing.

The first type of dance was a so-called danse à deux (dance for two) and could be a gavotte, a branle
or the very popular menuet.

The dancing was always performed in a very specific order; first the King and Queen would dance
during which the courtiers were expected to stand. After them it all came down to precedence again
so the Dauphin and Dauphine would most likely be next followed by other blood relatives to the
crown. Meanwhile the dancers would be scrutinized thoroughly by those who did not dance.

These were just some of the very basic rules. Others also count these specific ones; notice that the
etiquette was decided by the gender of the courtier which meant that women did not follow the
same rules as men (just to make it even more complicated):
Whenever a lady arrived at a ball she was expected to turn her body towards the hostess, smile and
make a short - yet witty - remark. A man was to bow before his female host and also make a short
remark.

Likewise you did not just go over and talk to someone you did not know. In order to be introduced to
new people a lady would be asked whether she wished the introduction and could only be
introduced by the host/hostess or her companion - a woman always had a companion at balls. If the
unknown guest was a woman the lady would do as she had done with the hostess. However, if it was
a man it depended on whether he was married or not. If he was then she ought to make a nice
comment and if he was not to smile and repeat his name when introduced. Gentlemen who were
introduced to an unmarried woman it was necessary for his companion to ask the lady first (imagine
how awkward it was when she said no...). Then the strangers could meet.

Before a dance were to begin it was always the gentleman who asked the lady to dance - the other
way around was unthinkable. Once again the gentleman must first ask the lady herself or her
companion for permission. The positive thing was that the risk of being stood up was next to none
since it was considered a promise by the gentleman and as such his honour depended on his keeping
it. When the dance is over the gentleman would offer his arm to the lady and then lead her to a seat
where she would "free" him from his promise of a dance so that he could make another.

Take a Seat: Seating Etiquette

Sitting was considered a privilege when in the presence of royalty and as such was the privilege of
the few. As with everything else at Versailles the rules became ever more complicated - some could
sit near princes while others could only when no royal was present. Further than that was what type
of seating one was entitled to.

The most discussed seating arrangement was the special privilege awarded exclusively to duchesses
and princesses - princesses being allotted a chair with a back whilst a duchesse had to make do with
a tabouret. They had the honour of a tabouret - a stool without a back - in the presence of the King
and royal family. However, if the duchesse was with a grandchild of France she could have a chair
with a back.

The French court was the epicentre of sophistication and of course every court in Europe knew what
happened. The King of Poland, Sobieski, had married Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien
(a Frenchwoman by birth) and he was all too aware of the hoops his wife had been willing to jump
through in order to achieve her tabouret. He is alleged to have said: "To think how she longs for that
miserable stool on which nobody can sit at ease!"

Billedresultat for versailles chair etiquette

This is a tabouret which duchesses had monopoly on

At fêtes and balls seating was arranged depending on two things: where the King was and the rank
of the seated. The closer you were to the King, the higher rank you possessed. Then there was the
question of the type of seat provided. All in all, the rank went from an armchair, an armless chair, a
sofa, high stool, low stool or no seating at all.

The King and Queen was given the comfort of a decently padded armchairs. The only other people
who were given such an honour were other monarchs. This included the exiled King James of
England and his Queen as well as visiting royalty.

This has generally been seen as a sure sign of Louis XIV's secret marriage to Madame de Maintenon
since the latter was often observed seated in an armchair in the King's presence - something the
King would never allow had they not been equally supreme in rank. As a contrast, his greatest
favourite, Madame de Montespan, never acquired a tabouret because her husband refused to
accept it as a sign of spite of the affair. Consequently, she was obliged to stand although being
widely recognised as the unofficial Queen of Versailles and the mother of several children by the
King.

Likewise, the unofficial second wife of the Grand Dauphin (the non-aristocratic Mademoiselle de
Choin) was seated in an armchair when her husband was present.

The children of the King could only claim a stool in their father's presence. Princesses of the blood
were generally entitled to a chair with a back but not to one with arms.

Cardinals could sit on a sofa when a prince of the blood was in the room but if the Queen entered he
had to move to a stool.

The only time a "gentleman of quality" could sit was when he was with princes and princesses of the
blood.

Everyone who was not a part of these categories had to stand - regardless of age or condition. For
most courtiers court life involved a lot of standing and walking but only very little sitting. The only
other way to attain the honour of being allowed to sit at court was by being granted the honour of
the Louvre which in itself was quite a reward. As it happens the Prince de Salm made it a condition
for a marriage to made between a member of his own family and a daughter of the Duc de Croÿ; the
marriage was only to take place if the bride's father could obtain the right for her to be seated at
court. The Duc de Croÿ immediately took advantage of his connection to Prince de Soubise - a
favourite of Louis XV - who obtained the honour for his family. Duly, the entire Croÿ-family travelled
to Versailles in order to witness the bride-to-be being seated for the first time.

Several serious disputes were caused over the rights of seating which we know about largely thank
to the countless memoirs of the age.
In one instance the Duc de Lorraine was the source of the problem. At the French court he had the
title of prince étranger or Foreign Prince but he had recently been travelling abroad. There - at the
court of the Austrian Emperor - he had been offered an armchair. Once he returned he asked for one
of Louis XIV who refused. As the King said the monarchs each had their own etiquette but the matter
was not completely dropped. Philippe (Monsieur) proposed a middle-way by the way of a chair with
a back which Louis agreed to. However, this was not enough for the Duc de Lorraine. The
consequence was that the Duc and Duchesse d'Orléans' projected trip to Bar (where the Duc de
Lorraine stayed) had to be cancelled to avoid further conflict.

Léopold duc de Bar et de Lorraine 00206.jpg

The Duc de Lorraine

Later, in 1699, the House of Lorraine was the cause of another row over seating. The Duchesse de
Bourgogne was the hostess of a soiree at which the Lorraine ladies intentionally arrived too early.
Thus, they could sit on the chairs closest to the hostess on her right side - reserved for the
duchesses. However, there was one person who had arrived there before: a duchesse was already
seated in her proper place. This only angered the Lorraine ladies further and in an aggressive
attempt at fulfilling to scheme the Princesse d'Harcourt grabbed a hold of the Duchesse and force
her away from the seat!

One of the few places of exception was at Marly where the King allowed his courtiers a far freer
seating arrangement - another reason why an invitation was so coveted.

Since the honour of being allotted a seat was so great it was customary for the monarchs to give
those who had recently received the right to a seat the chance to publicly show off that right. This
would usually happen by the monarch either offering the "new-comer" a seat (normally this was the
King's way since it was considered polite to let ladies sit) or taking a seat themselves. So, Marie
Leszczynska received the Duchesse de Châtillon - who had recently been elevated to that rank - and
promptly took her seat which enabled the new duchesse to also sit down.

Seating etiquette was not only a matter of entitlement but also of duty. It was the duty of everyone
hosting a soiree at Versailles (which anyone with a decent apartment could) to make sure that the
correct number of chairs were available - and the correct varieties.

Relateret billede

An armchair in Louis XIV's style

Not even the King's brother could be granted a decent seat in the King's presence. Philippe, Duc
d'Orléans requested such an honour from his brother but was met with a refusal. Not only would it
be a breach of etiquette but it would also serve in Philippe's own interest that things were not eased
of; it would only diminish his position if the marks of honour were erased. As Louis XIV reasoned if
everyone sat down then what was to distinguish a baron from a King?

Etiquette for Versailles Courtiers

A classic study of the life of the nobility at the royal court of France, especially under Louis XIV, by
Norbert Elias, showed how courtiers - and finally even the king himself - were entrapped in a web of
etiquette and ceremony, how their expenses, even down to details of their houses and household,
were dictated by their rank rather than their income.

Courtiers depicted standing behind Kirsten Dunst's "Marie Antoinette" in the movie of the same
name. Polite eating habits are very important to the French: Eating with one's mouth shut; finishing
one's plate; hands on the table (but not one's elbows); not making slurping sounds when drinking;
etc...

What was a Courtier?

A courtier was a person who one would find was in attendance frequently at a "court" of a reigning
monarch. Historically, a court was usually located at a monarch’s residence as it was the central
location of most, if not all, of the affairs of the government. The Palace of Versailles was a "court" so
enormous, space was provided for most courtiers to reside there.

As life at court would often blur the distinction between the political and the social spheres of
government, life for a courtier could be very difficult. This was especially true of the court at the
most famous of all royal courts in European history– The court of the Palace of Versailles and of King
Louis XIV.

During his reign, Louis XIV was driven to become an absolute monarch, wanting to attain complete
control over all political, economic, religious, and social facets of French life, and he was much more
successful than his predecessors in centralizing the state and phasing out the remnants of feudalism.
Feudalism was the preceding system, which had endowed the uppermost of the noble class with a
significant amount of power and influence.

The King built the Palace of Versailles outside of Paris to compel the members of his court to spend
part of the year living there. They would be in relative isolation from other parts of society. By
isolating them, Louis XIV was able to diminish the strength of the nobility by requiring their very
presence at his court in Versailles.
The court at Versailles ranged from 3,000 to 10,000 people, all of whom were expected to abide by a
complex set of somewhat odd etiquette, rules and customs that he personally established.

In addition to the complex and often fluctuating rules of etiquette that noble courtiers, in particular,
were expected to follow, Louis controlled the behavior of the aristocracy by continually changing or
adding accessories to the royal wardrobe. In order to maintain their rank at court, the courtiers were
required to observe the latest trends in fashion. In return for their service and loyalty, the king’s
courtiers were awarded royal pensions and received access to some of the state’s most privileged
ceremonies and celebratory events.

The Profile of a Courtier

Because of the enormous size of Versailles, there were thousands of courtiers living and working
there at any given time. Among the courtiers there was a rigid social hierarchy that dictated their
daily routine and schedule. Some courtiers were not even members of the aristocracy.

Approximately 5,000 personal servants and 9,000 soldiers for Louis XIV, resided at Versailles, along
with the regular services of a wide array of middlemen and agents for the king, including soldiers,
clerks, secretaries, and clergymen.

Courtiers at every level, naturally sought to obtain valuable information as a way to impress the King
and gain admiration from him. Access to privileged and valuable information, was one of the most
desired commodities a courtier could hope to obtain.

At any class level, many courtiers tried to use their service at court as a means of social mobility.
After all, it was considered a great honor and privilege to serve as a member of a royal court. It could
potentially lead to an elevation in the courtier's social status, if an ambitious soldier or member of
the court administration, was able to attract the king’s attention, gaining his favor.

Etiquette also applied to a courtier’s style of dress, and courtiers were always trying to acquire the
latest styles of clothing.

During the Middle Ages promotions at court had been frequent, but the divisions between classes at
court became more pronounced during the early modern period. By the reign of Louis XIV it had
become very difficult for someone who was considered a menial servant to rise through the ranks at
court. An unusual exception to this was Alexandre Bontemps, the head valet to Louis XIV. Through
his court appointment Bontemps was able to establish his family in the ranks of the nobility.

Noble courtiers were given access to some of the most privileged positions at court. High-ranking
members of the aristocracy who enjoyed a specific role or position at court we considered to be
“established” at Versailles. The services that established courtiers were expected to perform were
traditionally linked to a specific function or office, and were usually inherited or purchased. Unlike
members of court who worked in more menial services, such as barbers, valets and even dog
groomers, noble courtiers, like the secretaries of state, desperately sought Louis’s direct approval.

For courtiers, securing living quarters at the Palace of Versailles was an important aspect of life at
court. This ensured a secure place for them to reside during their time at court. At any given time,
there were approximately 1,000 nobles and their 4,000 servants living at Versailles. Members of the
royal family received apartments in the most desirable areas of the palace, such as the apartments
with views of the gardens. The established courtiers typically resided in some of the palace’s
outbuildings, such as the Grand Lodgings or the Stables. Not only did private accommodations signify
social status and rank, they also prevented courtiers from the need to travel back and forth between
Versailles and their primary residences.

Etiquette at the Court of Louis XIV

Relocating the court to Versailles and demanding a lengthy attendance at court were merely two of
the ways that Louis wielded control over the nobility. In addition to these requirements Louis
established an elaborate and strict set of rules and procedures that courtiers were forced to follow.

Following the proper conduct, or etiquette, at court was an extremely important part of life as a
courtier under Louis XIV. Many courtiers spent the majority of their time at Versailles seeking the
approbation of the king. They were obligated to regularly visit the royal residences and were
expected to always be available for the king. A courtier’s absence from court was considered a
punishable offense.

The rules of etiquette at Versailles guided and shaped the social interactions and structure of the
court. They also determined and reflected a courtier’s prestige. For example, the rules dictated who
was able to approach a high-ranking member of court, and where and when it was appropriate.
These rules applied to nearly all areas of a courtier’s behavior, including when and how to sit down
and how to address different members of court.

Etiquette also applied to a courtier’s style of dress, and courtiers were always trying to acquire the
latest styles of clothing. There was also a complex and ever-changing set of rules for dancing, and
courtiers would spend countless hours preoccupied with learning the latest dance steps.
The following list provides a few examples of the intricate rules of etiquette that courtiers were
required to follow at the court of Louis XIV:

People who wanted to speak to the king could not knock on his door. Instead, using the left pinkie
finger, they had to gently scratch on the door, until they were granted permission to enter.

A lady never held hands or linked arms with a gentleman. Instead, she was toplace her hand on top
of the gentleman’s bent arm as they strolled through thegardens and chambers of Versailles.

When a gentleman sat down, he slid his left foot in front of the other, placed his hands on the sides
of the chair and gently lowered himself into the chair.

Women and men were not allowed to cross their legs in public.

When a gentleman passed an acquaintance on the street, he was to raise his hat high off his head
until the other person passed.

A gentleman was to do no work except writing letters, giving speeches, practicing fencing, or
dancing. For pleasure, however, gentlemen were permitted to engage in hawking, archery, hunting
and indoor tennis.

Napoleon was one of the rudest monarchs in history

Napoleon Bonaparte on the other hand, outdid Louis XIV when it came to etiquette edicts, while
ruling France. According to author Dr. Philip Mansel:

"Napoleon was one of the rudest monarchs in history: he attacked in conversation as well as on the
battlefield. He insulted foreign ambassadors, taunted Marshal Berthier, his grand huntsman, and
General Caulaincourt, his grand equerry, with their wives’ alleged infidelities, and called Talleyrand,
his grand chamberlain (who was also foreign minister), “a lump of shit in a silk stocking”. It was said
that Napoleon had a “green laugh”.

Among those who knew him well, Napoleon inspired little personal loyalty: almost all his courtiers
turned against him after his defeats in 1814 and 1815, and in both years they forced him to abdicate.
Almost all those who followed him to Saint Helena were trying to obtain financial rewards, or
material for a book of memoirs, rather than acting out of loyalty. Napoleon maintained court
etiquette on the island, keeping courtiers standing in his presence and insisting on being treated as
an emperor.

Napoleon’s court also shows him to have been more obsessed with status than other monarchs of
the day. He wanted more palaces and more formal etiquette, and was more autocratic than the
Bourbons. He had more than 100 chamberlains, and a total of around 3,000 men in his household,
whereas Louis XVI had had only four first gentlemen of the chamber, and around 2,000 in his
household. In January 1814, when speakers in the chamber of representatives demanded peace, he
was infuriated. At a reception in the Tuileries palace, he declared: “Everything resides in the throne. I
alone represent the people”. He believed that France needed him more than he needed France.

In June 1815, Napoleon alienated opinion by preferring to wear the elaborate embroidered ‘Petit
Costume de l’Empereur’ rather than the uniform of the Paris National Guard. He insisted on sending
messages to the chamber of representatives through his chamberlains rather than through a
responsible minister. After Waterloo, it voted his deposition."