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8 - Servants to Others and Miscellaneous People

from PART II - WARDROBE BIOGRAPHIES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

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Summary

Those serving someone besides the Regent, including servants to the Regent's wife and children, appear in relatively small numbers and do not include any functionaries of the court or the wider government or military structure. They are few enough that they are most simply divided here based on whom they served. Within each group they are alphabetized by first name. These groups contain both upper and lower servants, and these are generally distinguishable by the quality of the clothing they were given.

SERVANTS TO MARGARET DOUGLAS, LADY ARRAN

Like many women of her station, the Regent's wife had a number of personal servants. Most of those receiving clothing were what are generally thought of today as ladies-in-waiting, but Lady Arran also employed a chaplain. The presence of these attendants formed an important part of her status and in many ways mimicked the arrangement of a royal court.

Ladies-in-waiting graced many of the royal courts of Europe, but their duties and circumstances varied depending on the court, the person whom they served, their personality, and their own family's wealth and connections. Their clothing was of particular importance, primarily to uphold the consequence of their mistress, whether royal or noble, but secondarily to further their own interests. Two of the Regent's daughters served as maidens of the chamber to Marie de Guise, and several other contemporary examples furnish illustrations of the type of wardrobe that might be required upon assuming such a role.

While they did provide service of various kinds, including companionship, entertainment (especially by dancing and making music), maintenance of clothing, dressing, and waiting at table, they also had the ear of their patron and others of influence at court and could bring their own or their family's causes to the attention of people in power. In addition, time at court served as something of a finishing school for young ladies, training them in various ways to move in powerful circles. And of course, they could find a valuable husband. Many maids of honor ended their term of service with marriage, although being married was no bar to such service.

Type
Chapter
Information
Dressing the Scottish Court, 1543–1553
Clothing In the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland
, pp. 607 - 650
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2019

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