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Court Appointment
Court appointments are the traditional positions within a royal, ducal, or noble household. In the early Middle Ages, when such households were established, most court officials had either domestic or military duties; the monarch's closest advisers were those who served in the household. However, as time went by, most of these positions became hereditary, and their role in the running of the household was gradually eroded. In England, for instance, the Lord Great ChamberlainBruce, Alistair, ''Keepers of the Kingdom'' (Cassell, 2002), and the Earl Marshal were originally responsible for the running of the royal household and the royal stables respectively; however, from the late medieval period onwards, their roles became largely honorary, their places in the household being taken by the Lord Chamberlain and the Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), to fully autocratic (absolute monarchy), and can expand across the domains of the executive, legislative, and judicial. The succession of monarchs in many cases has been hereditical, often building dynastic periods. However, elective and self-proclaimed monarchies have also happened. Aristocrats, though not inherent to monarchies, often serve as the pool of persons to draw the monarch from and fill the constituting institutions (e.g. diet and court), giving many monarchies oligarchic elements. Monarchs can carry various titles such as emperor, empress, king, queen, raja, khan, tsar, sultan, shah, or pharaoh. Monarchies can form federations, personal unions and realms with vassals through personal association with the monarch, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, Military organization, military unit, intelligence agency, embassy, school, labor union, business, Police, police department, fire department, university, sports club), or a private chapel. Though originally the word ''chaplain'' referred to representatives of the Christian faith, it is now also applied to people of other religions or philosophical traditions, as in the case of chaplains serving with military forces and an increasing number of chaplaincies at U.S. universities. In recent times, many lay people have received professional training in chaplaincy and are now appointed as chaplains in schools, hospitals, companies, universities, prisons and elsewhere to work alongside, or instead of, official members of the clergy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Almoner
An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '. History Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned in Acts 6:1–4, dealt with the distribution of the charity of the early Christian churches to needy members. Popes, bishops and Christian monarchs and organizations have since employed their own officers to organize their donations to the poor and needy. Such donations were referred to as alms and the officers as almoners and the position was one of considerable status. Roman Catholic Church The papal almoner, formally titled the "Almoner of His Holiness", is responsible for performing works of mercy on behalf of the pope. He is one of a small number of Vatican officials who continue in office when a pope dies or resigns. Until June 2022, he was a member of the papal household; since then he heads the Dicastery for the Service of Char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gentleman Usher
Gentleman Usher is a title for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. See List of Gentlemen Ushers for a list of office-holders. Gentlemen Ushers as servants Historical Gentlemen Ushers were originally a class of servants found not only in the Royal Household, but in lesser establishments as well. They were regularly found in the households of Tudor noblemen, and were prescribed by Richard Brathwait, in his ''Household of an Earle'', as one of the "officers and Servants the state of an Earle requireth to have". The Gentlemen Ushers occupied a level intermediate between the steward, the usual head, and the ordinary servants; they were responsible for overseeing the work of the servants "above stairs", particularly those who cooked and waited upon the nobleman at meals, and saw to it the great chamber was kept clean by the lesser servants. He was also responsible for overseeing other miscellaneous service, such as the care of the nobleman's chapel and bed-chamb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gentleman Of The Bedchamber
Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being first used in 1718. The duties of the Lords and Gentleman of the Bedchamber originally consisted of assisting the monarch with dressing, waiting on him when he ate, guarding access to his bedchamber and closet and providing companionship. Such functions became less important over time, but provided proximity to the monarch; the holders were thus trusted confidants and often extremely powerful. The offices were in the gift of The Crown and were originally sworn by Royal Warrant directed to the Lord Chamberlain. This is an ''incomplete'' list of noblemen who have served as Lord of the Bedchamber or Gentleman of the Bedchamber: Description and functions There were always several holders of the office, who were invariably gentlemen and almost ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falconry
Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person involved in falconry: a "falconer" flies a falcon; an "austringer" (Old French origin) flies a hawk (''Accipiter'', some buteos and similar) or an eagle ('' Aquila'' or similar). In modern falconry, the red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis''), Harris's hawk (''Parabuteo unicinctus''), and the peregrine falcon (''Falco perigrinus'') are some of the more commonly used birds of prey. The practice of hunting with a conditioned falconry bird is also called "hawking" or "gamehawking", although the words hawking and hawker have become used so much to refer to petty traveling traders, that the terms "falconer" and "falconry" now apply to most use of trained birds of prey to catch game. Many contemporary practitioners still use these words in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium BCE. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent domestics, for espionage or clandestine operations, castrato singers, concubines, or sexual partners, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants. Eunuchs would usually be servants or slaves who had been castrated to make them less threatening servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions—such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter, or even relaying messages—could, in theory, give a eunuch "the ruler's ear" and impa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doorward
The Hostarius (alternatively, Usher, Doorward or Durward) was an office in medieval Scotland whose holders, eventually hereditary, had the theoretical responsibility of being warden of the king's door: protecting the king's property. This is a list of ''hostarii''. * Malcolm de Molle, uncle of Alan fitz Walter, 2nd High Steward of ScotlandBalfour Paul vol.I p. 11 * Jocelin, reign of William the Lion * Thomas de Lundin (son of Máel Coluim son of Gille Críst, Earl of Mar), d. 1231 * Alan Durward (son of Thomas), d. 1275 The family of "Durward" (a later name for ''hostarius'') may have held the office hereditarily after Thomas of Lundie, and certainly kept the title as a surname (in Norman French, ''l'Ussier'' ("the Usher"); in English, ''Durward'') The office was no longer hereditary by the second half of the 13th century, and indeed, by then, there were many ''hostarii''. Unlike many other hereditary royal office holders, the "Durward" family were not of Anglo-Norman or Fren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Director Of The Royal Collection
The Director of the Royal Collection is head of the Royal Collection Department, a department of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The department is responsible for the day-to-day management and upkeep of the art collection of the British Royal Family; held in trust for the nation and successive monarchs, it is one of the largest and most important art collections in the world. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, about 150,000 old master prints, as well as historical photographs, tapestries, furniture, ceramics, books, and the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The Director of the Royal Collection is also an ex-officio trustee of Historic Royal Palaces Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity that manages some of the United Kingdom's unoccupied royal palaces. These are: * Tower of London * Hampton Court Palace * Kensington Palace (State Apartments and Orangery) * The Banqueting Hous .... Although containi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steward (office)
A steward is an official who is appointed by the legal ruling monarch to represent them in a country and who may have a mandate to govern it in their name; in the latter case, it is synonymous with the position of regent, vicegerent, viceroy, king's lieutenant (for Romance languages), governor, or deputy (the Roman ''Roman governor, rector'', ''prefect, praefectus'', or ''vicarius''). Etymology From Old English ''stíweard, stiȝweard'', from ''stiȝ'' "hall, household" + ''weard'' "wikt:warden, warden, keeper"; corresponding to Dutch language, Dutch: ''stadhouder'', German language, German ''Statthalter'' "place holder", a Germanic parallel to French ''lieutenant''. The Old English term ''stíweard'' is attested from the 11th century. Its first element is most probably ''stiȝ-'' "house, hall" (attested only in composition; its cognate ''stiȝu'' is the ancestor of Modern English ''sty''). Old French and Old Norse ''stívarðr'' are adopted from the Old English. The German and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cup-bearer
A cup-bearer was historically an officer of high rank in royal courts, whose duty was to pour and serve the drinks at the royal table. On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues (such as poisoning), a person must have been regarded as thoroughly trustworthy to hold the position. He would guard against poison in the king's cup, and was sometimes required to swallow some of the drink before serving it. His confidential relations with the king often gave him a position of great influence. The position of cup-bearer has been greatly valued and given only to a select few throughout history. The cup-bearer as an honorific role, for example as the Egyptian hieroglyph for "cup-bearer," was used as late as 196 BC in the Rosetta Stone for the Kanephoros cup-bearer Areia, daughter of Diogenes; each Ptolemaic Decree starting with the Decree of Canopus honored a cup-bearer. A much older role was the appointment of Sargon of Akkad as cup-bearer in the 23rd century BC. Cup-beare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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