French court

In the Middle Ages, this courtly world included not only great lords but also royal and ministerial officers responsible for the administration of the realm, as well as advisors.

[1] The modern spelling without -t is explained by an erroneous etymology based on the classical Latin curia (> curie, a learned loan, but whose regular evolution into French would have been into *coire), some of whose meanings are close.

[3] In the Middle Ages, the court of the King of France was an administrative body comprising high-ranking officials such as the constable, the seneschal, and the chancellor, who were appointed from among the trusted nobles.

Over time, as the kings moved away from the Palais de la Cité in Paris, the judicial functions became increasingly distinct from the royal residence.

[5] Apart from the Palais de la Cité and later (under Louis IX and the last direct Capetians) the Château du Louvre, the main residences of medieval monarchs were Vincennes, Compiègne, Fontainebleau, Melun, Senlis and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

The king spent a considerable portion of his time away from Paris, although this figure may be somewhat exaggerated, as numerous acts were produced in the sovereign's name by administrations based in the capital.

[9] The end of the Hundred Years' War, and the growing influence of the Italian Renaissance, led to profound changes in French court life.

Galleries covered with paintings and Mannerist frescoes, salons with ceilings carved from rare woods and surrounded by tapestries, landscaped parks dotted with marble statues rivaling the antiques, were the setting for the splendors of the court.

These included artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Primaticcio and Benvenuto Cellini, writers like Ronsard, Du Bellay and Clément Marot, and humanists like Montaigne and Guillaume Budé.

Under Henry III, this position was known as the Grand Master of Ceremonies, and its purpose was to organize the ceremonial surrounding the life of the king and royal family (births, christenings, weddings, funerals), the solemnities associated with the monarchy (joyful entries, coronations), and major political events (ambassadorial receptions, lit de justice, Estates General and assemblies of notables).

Parties, balls, banquets, concerts, hunting, architectural renewal, promotion of the arts and sciences and the development of fashion were all elements that made the Valois-Angoulême court the most sumptuous in Europe.

This sophistication was also reflected in the care given to the education of the nobility, who undertook to teach their sons and daughters disciplines as diverse as music, song, dance, rhetoric, dialectics, philosophy, literature, Greek and Latin.

This prince was gallant, well-made and amorous; although his passion for Diane de Poitiers, duchess of Valentinois, had begun more than twenty years earlier, it was no less violent, and he gave no less glowing testimony to it.

This prince loved the commerce of women, even those with whom he was not in love: he stayed every day at the queen's at circle time, where all that was most beautiful and best made, of both sexes, did not fail to be found [...].Although Henry IV and Louis XIII limited the development of the court and gave priority to their private lives,[4] the court began to take shape from the time of the last Valois kings and the first two kings of the House of Bourbon.

These courtiers can be divided into four categories: At the beginning of his reign, Louis XIV still followed the tradition of an itinerant court, which moved to the Louvre Palace or the châteaux of Saint-Germain, Vincennes, Fontainebleau or even Chambord, depending on the hunting season and the king's wishes.

[13] Under Louis XIV, it is estimated that, depending on the day, between 3,000 and 10,000 courtiers[14] flocked to the court, in a highly heterogeneous and hierarchical society: some were there by birthright, others by social obligation, still others out of interest or curiosity, and still others to earn a living.

This process of domesticating the nobility, made necessary by the Fronde episode at the beginning of the reign, turned aristocrats into the king's servants, encouraging them to seek his favor.

The court also retained its role as the center of the kingdom's cultural life: the king invited numerous artists, including the writers Molière, Racine and Boileau, the composer Lully, and the painters Le Brun and Rigaud.

In particular, it played a decisive role in what Elias calls the "process of civilization", i.e. the internalization of moral standards by individuals and the repression of aggressive impulses.

A modest and shy man, Louis XV wished to separate his private life from the obligations of representation imposed by his predecessor's model.

"In future, no woman will be presented to His Majesty, nor will any man be allowed to ride in his carriages[note 1] or follow him hunting, unless he has first produced, before the genealogist of his Orders, three titles establishing each degree of the husband's family: such as marriage contract, will, partition, act of guardianship, donation, etc., by which filiation will be clearly established since 1400.”[18] In a kingdom experiencing ever-increasing financial difficulties, the sumptuary expenses of the court were a major burden: as soon as Louis XVI ascended the throne, the king set about reducing them.

However, in his desire to abolish unnecessary charges, the king had to buy them back from their holders at a high price,[19] and give extra wages to officers for their catering expenses.

Since the establishment of the court at Versailles, honorary privileges, veritable instruments of reward, have provoked intrigues among courtiers and encouraged the formation of parties and coteries.

[20] In the eyes of contemporaries, any reform of the court system would have involved altering the monarchical model inherited from Louis XIV, and would therefore have threatened to undermine the foundations of royal power.

[22] The court was a revival of monarchical traditions and comprised members of the imperial dynasty, high dignitaries, and officers of the crown, as well as various attendants such as squires, heralds, and pages.

As a political tool, the court was a means of attracting Ancien Régime aristocrats, many of whom had returned from emigration, controlling the Empire's leading figures, and creating the conditions for a mix between the old nobility and the new elite.

The Comtesse de Boigne saw in these celebrations the reflection of an "obvious desire to move up the ladder of royalty",[29] while Count Rodolphe Apponyi, attaché to the Austrian Embassy in Paris, wrote in his diary:[30]Never, since King Louis-Philippe has been on the throne, have I seen the court more brilliant, more reassured, more solidly established than at Fontainebleau; the ministers looked radiant, from all sides came the happiest news : the camps had been brilliant, the army had shown itself to be beautiful, animated by a good spirit, the provinces calm; the elections had surpassed all expectations, to the point where it was feared that the opposition would be too much in the minority and that this Chamber would become similar to the one that, under the Restoration, was nicknamed the Untraceable.When the Second Empire was proclaimed, Emperor Napoleon III intended to enhance the prestige of his young regime by restoring the lustre of court life.

The court was characterized by its cosmopolitan and brilliant nature, though it was also criticized as being overly frivolous and carefree, earning the description of a constant "imperial party."

Consequently, it was natural for the emperor, who retained his title, to adopt the customs of the imperial court at his residences (the Palazzina dei Mulini and the Villa Napoleonica).

It is true that it was a weakness of Buonaparte's, stemming perhaps from the fact that he was a parvenu among the crowned heads of Europe, to show himself on all occasions excessively anxious and jealous that the strictest etiquette and the greatest ceremonial be observed at his court and towards his person.