In 18th- and 19th-century
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, the ''cicisbeo'' ( , , ;
plural
The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...
: ''cicisbei'') or (french: chevalier servant) was the man who was the professed gallant or lover of a woman married to someone else. With the knowledge and consent of the husband, the cicisbeo attended his mistress at public entertainments, to church and other occasions, and had privileged access to this woman. The arrangement is comparable to the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
''cortejo'' or ''estrecho'' and, to a lesser degree, to the
French ''petit-maître''. The exact
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
of the word is unknown; some evidence suggests it originally meant "in a whisper" (perhaps an
onomatopeic
Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
word). Other accounts suggest it is an inversion of ''bel cece'', which means "beautiful chick (pea)". According to the
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
, the first recorded usage of the term in English was found in a letter by
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served a ...
dated 1718. The term appears in Italian in Giovanni Maria Muti's ''Quaresimale Del Padre Maestro Fra Giovanni Maria Muti De Predicatori'' of 1708 (p. 734).
Social importance
This arrangement, called the ''cicisbeatura'' or ''cicisbeismo'', was widely practised, especially among the
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
of the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
cities of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
,
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
,
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
[Krünitz, ''Cicisbeo''.] While many contemporary references to ''cicisbei'' and descriptions of their social standing exist, scholars diverge on the exact nature of the phenomenon. Some maintain that this institution was defined by marriage contracts, others question this claim and see it as a peculiarity of 18th-century customs that is not well defined or easily explained. Other scholars see it as a sign of the increasing emancipation of aristocratic women in the 18th century.
[Cazzoli, 2028–35. Cited in Patriarca.]
The ''cicisbeo'' was better tolerated if he was known to be
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
.
Louise d'Épinay
Louise or Luise may refer to:
* Louise (given name)
Arts Songs
* "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005
* "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984
* "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013
* "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929
*"Louise", by Clan of ...
wrote from Paris to her friend
Ferdinando Galiani
Ferdinando Galiani (2 December 1728, Chieti, Kingdom of Naples – 30 October 1787, Naples, Kingdom of Naples) was an Italian economist, a leading Italian figure of the Enlightenment. Friedrich Nietzsche referred to him as "a most fastidious and ...
about the impending departure of marchese Alvise Mocenigo, the Venetian ambassador, whose tastes the ambassador had displayed in Paris:
Regardless of its roots and technicalities, the custom was firmly entrenched. Typically, husbands tolerated or even welcomed the arrangement:
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
, for example, was ''cicisbeo'' to
Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli
Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli (1800–1873) was the married lover of Lord Byron while he was living in Ravenna and writing the first five cantos of ''Don Juan''. She wrote the biographical account ''Lord Byron's Life in Italy''.
On 19 January 1 ...
. After Byron's death, the Contessa's second husband, the Marquis de Boissy, was known to brag about the fact,
[Hodgson, 16.] introducing her as "Madame la Marquise de Boissy, autrefois la Maitresse de Milord Byron" (the Marquise de Boissy, formerly the mistress of Lord Byron). Byron also famously analyzed the institution from an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
point of view in his poem ''
Beppo''. Attempts by the husband to ward off prospective ''cicisbei'' or disapproval of the practice in general was likely to be met with ridicule and scorn:
''Cicisbei'' played by set rules, generally avoiding public displays of affection. At public entertainments, they would typically stand behind their seated mistress and whisper in her ear.
Customs of the time did not permit them to engage in relationships with any other women during their free time, making the arrangement rather demanding. Either party could decide to end the relationship at any time. A woman's former ''cicisbei'' were called ''spiantati'' (literally ''penniless'', ''destroyed''), or cast-offs.
In the arts
The topic can be found in the contemporary poem ''
Il Giorno'' (1763) by
Giuseppe Parini
Giuseppe Parini (23 May 1729 – 15 August 1799) was an Italian enlightenment satirist and poet of the neoclassic period.
Biography
Parini (originally spelled Parino) was born in Bosisio (later renamed Bosisio Parini in his honour) in Brianza ...
. Other works from the period which make good (subjectively) use of the topic include:
* ''
Così fan tutte
(''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte w ...
'' Act II scene 1 (1790), an opera by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
* ''
The Antiquarian's Family
''The Antiquarian's Family, or The Mother-in-law and the Daughter'' (''La famiglia dell'antiquario, ossia La suocera e la nuora'') is a comedy by Venetian author Carlo Goldoni, first published in 1749.
Plot Introduction
In the introduction, Gol ...
'' (1749), a comedy by
Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
*Carlo (name)
*Monte Carlo
*Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...
* ''
L'italiana in Algeri
''L'italiana in Algeri'' (; ''The Italian Girl in Algiers'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca. It premiered at the Teatro San ...
'' (1813) and ''
Il turco in Italia
''Il turco in Italia'' (English: ''The Turk in Italy'') is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani. It was a re-working of a libretto by Caterino Mazzolà set as an opera (w ...
'' (1788), operas by
Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
* ''
La Tosca
''La Tosca'' is a five-Act (drama), act drama by the Nineteenth-century theatre, 19th-century Theatre of France, French playwright Victorien Sardou. It was first performed on 24 November 1887 at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris, wi ...
'' (1887), play by
Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 18318 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-centur ...
, the basis of the opera ''
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'' by
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
* ''
Beppo'' (1817), a poem by
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
.
See also
*
Chaperone
*
Courtly love
Courtly love ( oc, fin'amor ; french: amour courtois ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing vari ...
*
Cuckoldry
A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is a ...
*
Gigolo
A gigolo () is a male escort or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship, often living in her residence or having to be present at her beck and call.
The term ''gigolo'' usually implies a man who adopts a lifest ...
*
Mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...
*
Polyandry
Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives" ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Marzio Barbagli, ''Sotto lo stesso tetto: Mutamenti della famiglia in Italia dal XV al XX secolo'', (Bologna, 2000)
* Roberto Bizzocchi, "Cicisbei: La morale italiana," ''Storica'' 3 (1997)
* Roberto Bizzocchi. A Lady's Man: The Cicisbei, Private Morals and National Identity in Italy. Translated by Noor Giovanni Mazhar. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 320 pp.
* Jeremy Black, ''Italy and the Grand Tour'', (New Haven, Conn., 2003)
*
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...
, ''Boswell on the Grand Tour: Italy, Corsica, and France 1765–1766'', Frank Brady, ed. (New York, 1955)
* Carla Pellandra Cazzoli, "Dames et sigisbées: Un début d'emancipation feminine?". ''Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century'' 193 (1980)
*
John Forsyth, ''Remarks on the Antiquities, Arts, and Letters during an Excursion in Italy in 1802 and 1803'', 2nd edn., (London, 1816)
* Barbara Hodgson, ''Italy Out of Hand: A Capricious Tour'', Chronicle Books LLC, 2005
*
J.G. Krünitz (ed.), ''Oekonomische Encyklopädie oder allgemeines System der Staats- Stadt- Haus- und Landwirthschaft'', Volume 8, 1776
''Cicisbeo'' Retrieved on March 27, 2006
*
*
Jean Charles Léonard Simonde de Sismondi
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jean ...
, ''Histoire des Républiques Italiennes du Moyen Age'', 5th edn., vol. 8 (1807–1818; Brussels, 1839)
*
Tobias Smollett
Tobias George Smollett (baptised 19 March 1721 – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for picaresque novels such as ''The Adventures of Roderick Random'' (1748), ''The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'' (1751) a ...
, ''
Travels through France and Italy'', numerous editions.
*
*
External links
*
{{Interpersonal relationships footer
18th century in Italy
19th century in Italy
*