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''Surintendante de la Maison de la Reine'' ("Superintendent of the Queen's Household"), or only ''Surintendante'', was the senior lady-in-waiting at the royal court of France from 1619 until the French revolution. The ''Surintendante'' was selected from the members of the highest
''Surintendante de la Maison de la Reine'' ("Superintendent of the Queen's Household"), or only ''Surintendante'', was the senior lady-in-waiting at the royal court of France from 1619 until the French revolution. The ''Surintendante'' was selected from the members of the highest French nobility
The French nobility (french: la noblesse française) was a privileged social class in France from the Middle Ages until its abolition on June 23, 1790 during the French Revolution.
From 1808 to 1815 during the First Empire the Emperor Napol ...
.
History
The office was created in 1619. Nadine Akkerman & Birgit Houben, eds. ''The Politics of Female Households: Ladies-in-waiting across Early Modern Europe''. Leiden: Brill, 2013 The Surintendante and the ''Governess of the Children of France The Governess of the Children of France (sometimes the Governess of the Royal Children) was office at the royal French court during pre-Revolutionary France and the Bourbon Restoration. She was charged with the education of the children and grandchi ...
'' were the only female office holders in France to give an oath of loyalty to the King himself.Jeroen Frans Jozef Duindam: ''Vienna and Versailles: The Courts of Europe's Dynastic Rivals, 1550-1780''.
The surintendante had about the same tasks as the ''Première dame d'honneur
''Première dame d'honneur'' ('first lady of honour'), or simply ''dame d'honneur'' ('lady of honour'), was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. Though the tasks of the post ...
'': receiving the oath of the female personnel before they took office and supervising them and the queen's daily routine, as well as organizing the accounts and staff list, but she was placed in rank above the première dame d'honneur. Whenever the surintendante was absent, she was replaced by the première dame d'honneur. The post of surintendante could be left vacant for long periods, and was abolished between the death of Marie Anne de Bourbon in 1741 and the appointment of Princess Marie Louise of Savoy
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
in 1775.
During the Second Empire, the ''Grande-Maitresse'' was the equivalent of the Surintendante, being formally the highest female official at court but in practice with the same tasks as the dame d'honneur.Seward, Desmond: ''Eugénie. An empress and her empire''. (2004)
List of Surintendante de la Maison de la Reine to the queen of France
Surintendante to
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 unti ...
1619-1666
* 1619-1637: Marie de Rohan
Marie Aimée de Rohan (December 1600 – 12 August 1679) was a French courtier and political activist, famed for being the center of many of the intrigues of the first half of the 17th century in France. In various sources, she is often known ...
* 1657-1666: Anne Marie Martinozzi, Princess of Conti
Surintendante to
Maria Theresa of Spain
Maria Theresa of Spain ( es, María Teresa de Austria; french: Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche; 10 September 1638 – 30 July 1683) was Queen of France from 1660 to 1683 as the wife of King Louis XIV. She was born an Infanta of Spain and Portugal a ...
1660-1683
* 1660-1661: Anne Gonzaga
Anna Gonzaga (Anna Marie; 1616 – 6 July 1684) was an Italian French noblewoman and salonist. The youngest daughter of Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, and Catherine de Mayenne (herself daughter of Charles, Duke of Mayenne), An ...
* 1661-1679: Olympia Mancini, Countess of Soissons
Olympia Mancini, Countess of Soissons (French: ''Olympe Mancini''; 11 July 1638 – 9 October 1708) was the second-eldest of the five celebrated Mancini sisters, who along with two of their female Martinozzi cousins, were known at the court of Ki ...
* 1679-1683: Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Surintendante to
Marie Leszczyńska
Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska (; ; 23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768), also known as Marie Leczinska, was Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XV from their marriage on 4 September 1725 until her death in 1768. The daughter of Stanis ...
1725-1768
* 1725-1741: Marie Anne de Bourbon
* 1741-1768: ''Abolished''
Surintendante to Marie Antoinette 1775-1792
* 1775-1792:Princess Marie Louise of Savoy
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
See also
*Mistress of the Robes
The mistress of the robes was the senior lady in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom.
Formerly responsible for the queen consort's/regnant's clothes and jewellery (as the name implies), the post had the responsibility for arranging the rota ...
, British equivalent
* Camarera mayor de Palacio
The Camarera mayor de Palacio (First Lady of the Bedchamber) was the Official of the Royal Household and Heritage of the Crown of Spain, who was in charge of the person and the rooms of the Queen of Spain.
Historical precedents and regime during ...
, Spanish equivalent
* Chief Court Mistress
Court Mistress ( da, hofmesterinde; nl, hofmeesteres; german: Hofmeisterin; no, hoffmesterinne; sv, hovmästarinna) or Chief Court Mistress ( da, Overhofmesterinde; ('grand mistress'); ; no, overhoffmesterinne; sv, överhovmästarinna; russia ...
, Dutch, German, Scandinavian and Russian equivalent
References
{{Reflist Ancien Régime Ancien Régime office-holders Government of France French monarchy Court titles in the Ancien Régime Gendered occupations