Dame d'atours

Leonora Dori Galigaï
Marie d'Hautefort

Dame d'atour was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. The dame d'honneur was selected from the members of the highest French nobility. They were ranked between the Première dame d'honneur and the Dame du Palais.

History

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At least from Isabeau of Bavaria's tenure as queen, there had been a post named demoiselle d'atour or femme d'atour, but this had originally been the title of the queen's chambermaids and shared by several people.[1]

The office of dame d'atour, created in 1534, was one of the highest-ranking offices among the ladies-in-waiting of the queen and given only to members of the nobility.[2]

The dame d'atour was responsible for the queen's wardrobe and jewelry and supervised the dressing of the queen and the chamber staff of femme du chambre.[2]

When the dame d'honneur was absent, she was replaced by the dame d'atour as the supervisor of the female personnel of the queen.[2]

List of dames d'atour to the queens and empresses of France

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Louise of Lorraine, 1575–1601

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Marie de' Medici, 1600–1632

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Anne of Austria, 1615–1666

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Marie Leszczyńska, 1725–1768

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Marie Antoinette, 1770–1791

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Marie Louise, 1810–1814

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Caroline zum Kolk, "The Household of the Queen of France in the Sixteenth Century", in: The Court Historian; vol. 14, number 1, June 2009
  2. ^ a b c Nadine Akkerman & Birgit Houben, eds. The Politics of Female Households: Ladies-in-waiting across Early Modern Europe Leiden: Brill, 2013
  3. ^ Bonte, Pierre; Gené, Enric Porqueres I.; Wilgaux, Jérôme (4 July 2014). L'Argument de la filiation: Aux fondements des sociétés européennes et méditerranéennes. Les Editions de la MSH. ISBN 9782735116836.
  4. ^ "Les membres des maisons royales de la cour de France - Résultat de recherche".
  5. ^ Catherine de Médicis
  6. ^ Milstein, Joanna (9 March 2016). The Gondi: Family Strategy and Survival in Early Modern France. Routledge. ISBN 9781317030010.
  7. ^ Marie de Medicis and the French court in the XVIIth century
  • Mathieu da Vinha & Raphaël Masson: Versailles: Histoire, Dictionnaire et Anthologie
  • Anselme de Sainte-Marie & Ange de Sainte-Rosalie: Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la Maison Royale de France