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96-450: A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting ) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court , attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman . Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom she attended. Although she may either have received a retainer or may not have received compensation for

192-828: A funeral . As didactic texts, books of etiquette (the conventional rules of personal behaviour in polite society) usually feature explanatory titles, such as The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness: A Complete Hand Book for the Use of the Lady in Polite Society (1860), by Florence Hartley ; Amy Vanderbilt 's Complete Book of Etiquette (1957); Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior (1979), by Judith Martin ; and Peas & Queues: The Minefield of Modern Manners (2013), by Sandi Toksvig . Such books present ranges of civility, socially acceptable behaviours for their respective times. Each author cautions

288-424: A gentleman , a man of good and courteous conduct; their stated editorial goal was "to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality… to bring philosophy out of the closets and libraries, schools and colleges, to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and coffeehouses"; to which end, the editors published articles written by educated authors, which provided topics for civil conversation, and advice on

384-527: A social group . In modern English usage, the French word étiquette (label and tag) dates from the year 1750. In the third millennium  BCE , the Ancient Egyptian vizier Ptahhotep wrote The Maxims of Ptahhotep (2375–2350  BCE ), a didactic book of precepts extolling civil virtues such as truthfulness, self-control, and kindness towards other people. Recurrent thematic motifs in

480-744: A behavioural model in which manners are a means of mitigating social differences, curbing undesirable personal behaviours, and fostering co-operation within the social group. Natural selection favoured the acquisition of genetically transmitted mechanisms for learning, thereby increasing a person's chances for acquiring locally adaptive behaviours: "Humans possess a reliably developing neural encoding that compels them both to punish individuals who violate group norms (common beliefs or practices) and [to] punish individuals who do not punish norm-violators." Social manners are in three categories: (i) manners of hygiene , (ii) manners of courtesy , and (iii) manners of cultural norm . Each category accounts for an aspect of

576-799: A class of imperial women acting as consorts or concubines, who had not previously held other roles, existed. However, female court attendants were also all available for promotion to concubinage or the position of consort by the emperor. During the Qing dynasty, imperial women were selected from among the teenage daughters of the Manchu official banner families, who were drafted to an inspection before they could marry. Similarly, palace maids were drafted from lower official and banner classes before they could marry. After their selection, palace maids were educated as personal attendants to consorts, female officials within court rituals or other tasks, and were also available for

672-499: A codified etiquette to tame the French nobility and assert his supremacy as the absolute monarch of France. In consequence, the ceremonious royal court favourably impressed foreign dignitaries whom the king received at the seat of French government, the Palace of Versailles , to the south-west of Paris. In the 18th century, during the Age of Enlightenment , the adoption of etiquette was

768-625: A different route to work based on road or travel conditions), finance (paying bills, buying and selling stocks), and shopping (meal planning, remembering special occasions like birthdays). An Assistant often acts as the manager's first point of contact with people from both inside and outside the organization. This means that his/her tasks and skills can often be divided into two fields: technical skills, and personal skills. Tasks may include but are not limited to: In addition to supporting managers, their team and departments, many PA's also have their own personal workload and responsibilities. The scope of

864-516: A group of five ladies ( Dames ) and maids-in-waiting ( Damoiselles ). In the 1480s, the French ladies-in-waiting were divided into Femmes Mariées (married ladies-in-waiting) and Filles d'honneur (Maids of Honour). However, the queen's household and the number of female courtiers during the Middle Ages was very small in France, as in most European courts. It was not until the end of

960-469: A harem of thousands of 'palace women', although the actual numbers are unconfirmed. At least during the Song dynasty (960–1279), palace women were divided in three groups: imperial women (consisting of concubines and consorts), imperial daughters (consisting of daughters and sisters of the emperor), and the female officials and assistants, who performed a wide range of tasks and could potentially be promoted to

1056-476: A means for people to display their social status, and a means of demarcating, observing, and maintaining the boundaries of social identity and of social class . In The Civilizing Process (1939), sociologist Norbert Elias said that manners arose as a product of group living, and persist as a way of maintaining social order. Manners proliferated during the Renaissance in response to the development of

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1152-415: A means of presenting the self and of evaluating others, and thus the control of the outward self was vital." Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu applied the concept of habitus to define the societal functions of manners. The habitus is the set of mental attitudes, personal habits, and skills that a person possesses—his or her dispositions of character that are neither self-determined, nor pre-determined by

1248-466: A melancholy nor a cynical disposition, and am as willing and as apt to be pleased as anybody; but I am sure that since I have had the full use of my reason nobody has ever heard me laugh. In the 19th century, Victorian era (1837–1901) etiquette developed into a complicated system of codified behaviours, which governed the range of manners in society—from the proper language, style, and method for writing letters, to correctly using cutlery at table, and to

1344-469: A mere five in 1286 and still only 23 in 1490, to 39 in 1498 and roughly 54 during the 16th century. This expansion of female presence at court has been attributed to both Anne of Brittany , who encouraged all male courtiers to send their daughters to her, and to Francis I of France , who was criticized for bringing to court "the constant presence" of large crowds of women, who gossiped and interfered in state affairs. Francis I once said: "a court without ladies

1440-625: A personal assistant can be varied, such as answering phone calls, taking notes, scheduling meetings, emailing, texts, etc. In business or personal contexts, assistants are people who provide services that relieve his or her employer from the stress of tasks that are associated with managing one's personal and/or business life. They assist with a variety of life management tasks, including running errands, arranging travel (e.g., travel agent services such as purchasing airline tickets, reserving hotel rooms and rental cars, and arranging activities, as well as handling more localized services such as recommending

1536-414: A self-conscious process for acquiring the conventions of politeness and the normative behaviours (charm, manners, demeanour) which symbolically identified the person as a genteel member of the upper class . To identify with the social élite, the upwardly mobile middle class and the bourgeoisie adopted the behaviours and the artistic preferences of the upper class. To that end, socially ambitious people of

1632-438: A son, they would become members of the royal family, after being promoted to sug-won (junior 4th) and until the 18th century, they could advance as high as becoming queen (the most notable example being Jang Ok-jeong , a concubine of Sukjong of Joseon and mother of Gyeongjong of Joseon ). Personal assistant An assistant helps with time and daily management, of meetings, correspondence, and note-taking. The role of

1728-426: A young man; how to walk and talk, speak and act in the company of adults. The practical advice for acquiring adult self-awareness includes explanations of the symbolic meanings—for adults—of a boy's body language when he is fidgeting and yawning, scratching and bickering. On completing Erasmus's curriculum of etiquette, the boy has learnt that civility is the point of good manners: the adult ability to 'readily ignore

1824-654: Is a court without a court". During the First Empire , the principal lady-in-waiting of the empress was the Dame d'honneur , followed by between 20 and 36 Dames du Palais . During the Bourbon Restoration , Marie Thérèse of France restored the pre-revolutionary court hierarchy. During the Second Empire , the female courtiers of the empress were composed of the first rank, Grand Maitresse , and

1920-468: Is a risk: 'If threats, such as these, are left unchecked, the costs of sociality will quickly exceed its benefits. Thus, to maximize the returns on group "living", individual group members should be attuned to others' features or behaviors.' Therefore, people who possess the social traits common to the cultural group are to be trusted, and people without the common social traits are to be distrusted as 'others', and thus treated with suspicion or excluded from

2016-554: Is an element of culture shock for businesspeople. In 2011, etiquette trainers formed the Institute of Image Training and Testing International (IITTI) a non-profit organisation to train personnel departments in measuring and developing and teaching social skills to employees, by way of education in the rules of personal and business etiquette, in order to produce business workers who possess standardised manners for successfully conducting business with people from other cultures. In

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2112-406: Is controlled" within the culture. In studying the expression of emotion by humans and animals, naturalist Charles Darwin noted the universality of facial expressions of disgust and shame among infants and blind people, and concluded that the emotional responses of shame and disgust are innate behaviours. Public health specialist Valerie Curtis said that the development of facial responses

2208-661: The Cavalerizzo ), and a large number of Dame di Corte (Court Ladies). In 1861, the Italian Peninsula was united in to the Kingdom of Italy . The ladies-in-waiting of the queen of Italy were headed by the Dama d'Onore , followed by the Dame di Corte , and finally the Dame di Palazzo . The Dama d'Onore was nominally the chief lady-in-waiting, but in practice often limited her service to state occasions;

2304-444: The Dame di Corte was the regular lady-in-waiting who personally attended to the queen, while the Dame di Palazzo were honorary courtiers attached to the royal palaces in particular cities, such as Florence, Turin, and so forth, and only served temporary when the queen visited the city in question: among these, only the Dame di Palazzo attached to the royal palace of the capital of Rome served more than temporary. In Japan,

2400-573: The Hofmesterees , as well as being in charge of the Eredames (Maids of Honour), also known as Demoiselle d'honneur , Fille d'honneur or Junckfrauen depending on language ( Dutch , French and Austrian German respectively), and finally the Kamenisters (Chamber Maids). However, during the tenure of Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress in the mid-16th century, the court of

2496-516: The nyokan , or ladies-in-waiting who held court offices: naishi-kami ( shoji ) naishi-suke ( tenji ) and naishi-no-jo ( shoji ). The second class were the female palace attendants: myobu , osashi , osue and nyoju . The ladies-in-waiting worked as personal assistants, tending to the emperor's wardrobe, assisting the emperor's baths, serving meals, performing and attending court rituals. Ladies-in-waiting could be appointed as concubines, consorts or even empresses by

2592-708: The Jiajing Emperor by a group of serving women. Led by palace maid Yang Jinying in 1542, the failed assassination attempt involved several maids sneaking into the emperor's bedchamber as he slept, to strangle him with a curtain cord. The attempt ultimately failed, and all the women involved were put to death, although this type of violent revolt by serving women had never been seen before in the Ming dynasty. Due to slanderous literary propaganda written and spread by male officials and Confucian authors, higher-class female officials also saw their power begin to weaken throughout

2688-650: The Ming dynasty (1368–1644), palace women were sorted into roughly the same three categories as in the Song dynasty. However, female officials and assistants in the Ming dynasty were organized into six established government groups, called the Six Bureaus: the Bureau of General Affairs, Bureau of Handicrafts, Bureau of Ceremonies, Bureau of Apartments, Bureau of Apparel, and Bureau of Foodstuffs. These groups were all overseen by

2784-572: The Royal Victorian Order . The ladies-in-waiting in China, referred to as palace women , palace ladies or court ladies , were all formally, if not always in practice, a part of the emperor's harem , regardless of their task, and could be promoted by him to the rank of official concubine, consort, or even empress. The emperors of the Han dynasty (202 BC–220 AD) are reported to have had

2880-404: The etiquette , languages, dances, horse riding, music making, and painting prevalent at court; keeping her mistress abreast of activities and personages at court; care of the rooms and wardrobe of her mistress; secretarial tasks; supervision of servants, budget and purchases ; reading correspondence to her mistress and writing on her behalf; and discreetly relaying messages upon command. In

2976-536: The retail branch of commerce, the saying "the customer is always right" summarises the profit-orientation of good manners, between the buyer and the seller of goods and services: There are always two sides to the case, of course, and it is a credit to good manners that there is scarcely ever any friction in stores and shops of the first class. Salesmen and women are usually persons who are both patient and polite, and their customers are most often ladies in fact as well as "by courtesy." Between those before and those behind

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3072-473: The 'absolute state'—the progression from small-group living to large-group living characterised by the centralized power of the State. The rituals and manners associated with the royal court of England during that period were closely bound to a person's social status . Manners demonstrate a person's position within a social network, and a person's manners are a means of negotiation from that social position. From

3168-477: The 15th century and early 16th century that emulation of the new courts of the Italian Renaissance made ladies-in-waiting fashionable in official court ceremonies and representation, and female court offices became more developed and numerous in the French court as well as in other European courts. The introduction of ladies-in-waiting increased in great numbers at the French court at this time: from

3264-613: The 16th century, when the Burgundian Netherlands , Spain and Austria were united through the House of Habsburg . In the early and mid-16th century, the female courtiers kept by female Habsburgs in the Netherlands and Austria was composed of one Hofmesterees (Court Mistress) or Dame d'honneur who served as the principal lady-in-waiting; one Hofdame or Mere de Filles , who was second in rank and deputy of

3360-467: The Chinese and Australian approaches to conflict resolution. The Chinese business philosophy is based upon guanxi (personal connections), whereby person-to-person negotiation resolves difficult matters, whereas Australian business philosophy relies upon attorneys-at-law to resolve business conflicts through legal mediation; thus, adjusting to the etiquette and professional ethics of another culture

3456-595: The Courtier (1528), by Baldassare Castiglione , identified the manners and the morals required by socially ambitious men and women for success in a royal court of the Italian Renaissance (14th–17th c.); as an etiquette text, The Courtier was an influential courtesy book in 16th-century Europe. On Civility in Children (1530), by Erasmus of Rotterdam , instructs boys in the means of becoming

3552-596: The French model and composed of one Dame d'honneur , followed by several ladies-in-waiting with the title Dame du Palais , in turn ranking above the Première femme de chambre and the Femme de chambre . The ladies-in-waiting have historically been chosen by the queen herself from the noblewomen of the Catholic Noble Houses of Belgium . The chief functions at court were undertaken by members of

3648-468: The Middle Ages, however, the household of a European queen consort was normally small, and the number of actually employed ladies-in-waiting, rather than wives of noblemen accompanying their husbands to court, was very small: in 1286, the queen of France had only five ladies-in-waiting in her employment, and it was not until 1316 that her household was separated from that of the royal children. The role of ladies-in-waiting in Europe changed dramatically during

3744-493: The Ming dynasty progressed, living and working conditions for palace women began to deteriorate. Lower-ranked serving women working in the Imperial palace were often underpaid and unable to buy food, leaving them to support themselves by selling embroidery at the market outside the palace via eunuchs . Overall, living conditions and punishments for misbehaving eventually grew so bad that there was an assassination attempt against

3840-485: The Ming dynasty. These prominent government men began to disparage having educated women in government and state roles in response to the influence Imperial women had held over the nation in the past. This prompted a gradual overtaking of female official roles by palace eunuchs that continued throughout the remainder of the dynasty. The system of palace women continued mostly unchanged during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), when

3936-581: The Mistress of the Robes, normally an elder widow, who supervised the rest of the ladies-in-waiting. The rest of the female courtiers were mainly Kammerfrøken (Senior Maid of Honour), followed by a group of Hofdame (Court Lady) and the Hoffrøken ( Maid of Honour ). They were followed by the non-noble female court employees not ranking as ladies-in-waiting, such as the chambermaids. This hierarchy

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4032-771: The Office of Staff Surveillance, headed by a female official. Women workers in the imperial palace were distinguished as either permanent or temporary staff. Permanent palace staff included educated and literate female officials serving in the Six Bureaus, and wet nurses caring for imperial heirs or other palace children. These women received great wealth and social acclaim if their jobs were performed well. Seasonal or temporary palace women included midwives, female physicians, and indentured contractors (these were usually women serving as maids to consorts, entertainers, sewing tutors, or sedan-chair bearers). These women were recruited into

4128-461: The PA's role can be extensive and additional duties may include: Etiquette Etiquette ( / ˈ ɛ t i k ɛ t , - k ɪ t / ) is the set of norms of personal behaviour in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviours that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practised by a society , a social class , or

4224-471: The age of the Renaissance , when a new ceremonial court life, where women played a significant part, developed as representation of power in the courts of Italy , and spread to Burgundy , from Burgundy to France, and to the rest of the courts of Europe. The court of the Duchy of Burgundy was the most elaborate in Europe in the 15th century and became an example for France when the French royal court expanded in

4320-421: The anthropologist Mary Douglas said that manners, social behaviors, and group rituals enable the local cosmology to remain ordered and free from those things that may pollute or defile the integrity of the culture. Ideas of pollution, defilement, and disgust are attached to the margins of socially acceptable behaviour in order to curtail unacceptable behaviour, and so maintain "the assumptions by which experience

4416-491: The civility expected of the members. Besides The Spectator , other periodicals sought to infuse politeness into English coffeehouse conversation, the editors of The Tatler were explicit that their purpose was the reformation of English manners and morals; to those ends, etiquette was presented as the virtue of morality and a code of behaviour. In the mid-18th century, the first, modern English usage of etiquette (the conventional rules of personal behaviour in polite society)

4512-461: The classification, such as musuri (women from the lowest class who did odd jobs, such as drawing water and distributing firewood), gaksimi (also known as bija and bangja , who were personal servants of a sanggung ), sonnim (literally translated to 'guest', were maids brought in the palace to work for the royal concubines, most of the time connected to the families of the concubines) and uinyeo (selected from public female slaves, they worked at

4608-592: The court aristocracy, but were required to have sufficient education in Chinese classics to be accepted. During the Sengoku period (1467–1603), the highest rank of a lady-in-waiting was the 'Female Assistant to the Major Counselor', who ran the affairs of the daily life of the Imperial Household. The second rank was Koto No Naishi (Female Palace Attendant) , who acted as intermediary between

4704-470: The emotional restraint characteristic of polite social intercourse in 18th-century society: I would heartily wish that you may often be seen to smile, but never heard to laugh while you live. Frequent and loud laughter is the characteristic of folly and ill-manners; it is the manner in which the mob express their silly joy at silly things; and they call it being merry. In my mind there is nothing so illiberal, and so ill-bred, as audible laughter. I am neither of

4800-532: The emperor and those seeking an audience and issued his wishes in writing. Ladies-in-waiting acted as imperial secretaries and noted the events at court, visitors and gifts in the official court journals. In contrast to China, female palace attendants managed the palace of the imperial harem rather than eunuchs , and could hold high court offices in the emperor's personal household. Female palace attendants were divided into two classes, which in turn had several ranks, signifying their task. The first class consisted of

4896-401: The emperor or the heir to the throne. The function of a lady-in-waiting as potential concubine was abolished in 1924. Gungnyeo (literally 'palace women') is a term that refers to women who worked in the palace and waited upon the king and other members of the royal family. It is short for Gungjung Yeogwan , which translates to 'woman officer of the royal court'. Gungnyeo consisted of

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4992-689: The emperor to promote to consort or concubine. Below the palace maids were the maidservants, who were selected the same way by a draft among the daughters of soldiers. The early modern Danish court was organized according to the German court model, in turn inspired by the Austrian imperial court model, from the 16th century onward. The highest rank female courtier to a female royal was the Hofmesterinde (Court Mistress) or, from 1694/98 onward, Overhofmesterinde (Chief Court Mistress), equivalent to

5088-604: The empress was organised in accordance with the Spanish court model, and after she left Austria, there was no further household of an empress until the 1610s. This resulted in a mix of Burgundian and Spanish customs when the Austrian court model was created. In 1619, a set organisation was finally established for the Austrian imperial court, which came to be the characteristic organisation of the Austrian-Habsburg court roughly kept from this point onward. The first rank of

5184-419: The external environment, but which are produced and reproduced by social interactions—and are "inculcated through experience and explicit teaching", yet tend to function at the subconscious level. Manners are likely to be a central part of the dispositions that guide a person's ability to decide upon socially-compliant behaviours. In Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (2003)

5280-572: The faults of others, but avoid falling short, yourself,' in being civilised. Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home (1922), by Emily Post documents the "trivialities" of desirable conduct in daily life, and provided pragmatic approaches to the practice of good manners—the social conduct expected and appropriate for the events of life, such as a baptism , a wedding , and

5376-685: The female courtiers was the Obersthofmeisterin ( Mistress of the Robes ), who was second in rank after the empress herself, and responsible for all the female courtiers. Second rank belonged to the Ayas , essentially governesses of the imperial children and heads of the children's court. Third in rank was the Fräuleinhofmeisterin , who was the replacement of the Obersthofmeisterin when necessary, but otherwise had

5472-418: The function and nature of politeness in the social discourse of a commercial society: 'Politeness' may be defined as dext'rous management of our words and actions, whereby we make other people have better opinion of us and themselves. Periodicals, such as The Spectator , a daily publication founded in 1711 by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele , regularly advised their readers on the etiquette required of

5568-419: The functional role that manners play in a society. The categories of manners are based upon the social outcome of behaviour, rather than upon the personal motivation of the behaviour. As a means of social management, the rules of etiquette encompass most aspects of human social interaction; thus, a rule of etiquette reflects an underlying ethical code and a person's fashion and social status . The Book of

5664-435: The group. That pressure of social exclusivity, born from the shift towards communal living , excluded uncooperative people and persons with poor personal hygiene. The threat of social exclusion led people to avoid personal behaviours that might embarrass the group or that might provoke revulsion among the group. To demonstrate the transmission of social conformity , anthropologists Joseph Henrich and Robert Boyd developed

5760-510: The higher nobility, involving much contact with the royal ladies. Belgian princesses were assigned a lady upon their 18th birthdays. Princess Clementine was given a Dame by her father, a symbolic acknowledgement of adulthood. When the queen entertains, the ladies welcome guests and assist the hostess in sustaining conversation. In Cambodia, the term ladies-in-waiting refers to high ranking female servants who served food and drink, fanned and massaged, and sometimes provided sexual services to

5856-633: The imperial German court, the ladies-in-waiting were composed of one Oberhofmeisterin in charge of several Hofstaatsdamen or Palastdamen . During the Byzantine Empire , the Byzantine empress was attended by a female court (the Sekreton Tōn Gynaikōn ), which consisted mostly of the wives of high-ranking male court officials, who simply used the feminine versions of their husbands' titles. The only specifically female dignity

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5952-531: The imperial court offices were normally reserved for members of the court aristocracy and the ladies-in-waiting or 'palace attendants' were commonly educated members of the nobility. During the Heian period (794–1185) women could hold court offices of substantial responsibility, managing the affairs of the emperor. Female palace attendants were employed by the Imperial Bureau of Palace Attendants from among

6048-588: The king. Conventionally, these women could work their way up from maids to ladies-in-waiting, concubines , or even queen . Srey Snom ( Khmer : ស្រីស្នំ ) is the Cambodian term for the Khmer lady-in-waiting. The six favorite court ladies of King Sisowath of Cambodia were probably initially drawn from the ranks of classical royal dancers of the lower class. He was noted for having the most classical dancers as concubines. The imperial celestial dancer, Apsara ,

6144-409: The ladies-in-waiting—both high-ranking court ladies and the ordinary maids (known as nain ) responsible for most of the labour work—who were divided into ranks from 9 to 5 (the ranks from 4 to 1 were the official concubines of the king), with two levels each (senior and junior), the highest attainable rank being sanggung (senior 5th), as well as other types of working women who were not included in

6240-427: The late 15th century and introduced new offices for both men and women to be able to answer to the new renaissance ideal. From small circle of married Femmes and unmarried Filles , with a relatively humble place in the background during the Middle Ages, the number of French ladies-in-waiting were rapidly expanded, divided into an advanced hierarchy with several offices and given an important and public role to play in

6336-475: The late Middle Ages, when the court of the emperor no longer moved around constantly, the household of the empress, as well as the equivalent household of the German princely consorts, started to develop a less fluid and more strict organisation with set court offices. The court model of the Duchy of Burgundy, as well as the Spanish court model, came to influence the organisation of the Austrian imperial court during

6432-496: The maxims include learning by listening to other people, being mindful of the imperfection of human knowledge, that avoiding open conflict whenever possible should not be considered weakness, and that the pursuit of justice should be foremost. Yet, in human affairs, the command of a god ultimately prevails in all matters. Some of Ptahhotep's maxims indicate a person's correct behaviours in the presence of great personages (political, military, religious), and instructions on how to choose

6528-416: The middle classes occupied themselves with learning, knowing, and practising the rules of social etiquette, such as the arts of elegant dress and gracious conversation, when to show emotion , and courtesy with and towards women. In the early 18th century, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury , wrote influential essays that defined politeness as the art of being pleasing in company; and discussed

6624-682: The middle rank of Kammerfräulein (Maid of Honour of the Chamber). The German princely courts in turn became the role model of the Scandinavian courts of Denmark and Sweden in the 16th century. After the end of the German Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and the establishment of several minor kingdoms in Germany, the post of Staatsdame (married ladies-in-waiting) were introduced in many German princely and royal courts. At

6720-504: The minute regulation of social relations and personal interactions between men and women and among the social classes. In a society, manners are described as either good manners or as bad manners to indicate whether a person's behaviour is acceptable to the cultural group. As such, manners enable ultrasociality and are integral to the functioning of the social norms and conventions that are informally enforced through self-regulation. The perspectives of sociology indicate that manners are

6816-644: The new ceremonial court life in early 16th century France. This example was followed by other courts in Europe, when courts expanded and became more ceremonial during the 16th century, and the offices, numbers and visibility of women expanded in the early modern age. During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, however, most European courts started to reduce their court staff, often due to new economic and political circumstances which made court representation more questionable. The duties of ladies-in-waiting varied from court to court, but functions historically discharged by ladies-in-waiting included proficiency in

6912-507: The palace when necessary and then released following the termination of their predetermined period of service. Throughout the Ming dynasty, there was frequent movement between the palace service industry and the low levels of the Imperial Harem. Although emperors frequently selected minor consorts from Imperial serving women, few selected women ever reached the higher ranks of the consort structure or gained significant prominence. As

7008-524: The palace, and after learning court language and etiquette, they could be elevated to a nain . When they had served the court for more than 15 years, they would eventually be promoted to higher ranks; however, they were eligible for the rank of sanggung only after a minimum of 35 years of work. Ladies-in-waiting could become concubines if the king favored them. They would be elevated to the highest rank (senior 5th) and would be known as seungeun sanggung (or 'favored/special court lady'). If they gave birth to

7104-570: The perspective of public health , in The Healthy Citizen (1995), Alana R. Petersen and Deborah Lupton said that manners assisted the diminishment of the social boundaries that existed between the public sphere and the private sphere of a person's life, and so gave rise to "a highly reflective self, a self who monitors his or her behavior with due regard for others with whom he or she interacts, socially"; and that "the public behavior of individuals came to signify their social standing;

7200-422: The preservation of manners and social norms . The feeling of "foreignness"—which people experience in their first social interaction with someone from another culture—might partly serve an evolutionary function: 'Group living surrounds one with individuals [who are] able to physically harm fellow group members, to spread contagious disease, or to "free ride" on their efforts'; therefore, a commitment to sociality

7296-414: The princely courts in Germany. The German court model in turn became the role model of the early modern Scandinavian courts of Denmark and Sweden. The Kingdom of Belgium was founded in 1830, after which a royal court was founded, and ladies-in-waiting were appointed for Louise of Orléans when she became the first queen of Belgium in 1832. The female officeholders of the queen's household were created after

7392-433: The pursuit of justice in personal dealings, and sincerity in all personal relations. Baldassare Castiglione (1478–1529  CE ), count of Casatico, was an Italian courtier and diplomat , soldier, and author of The Book of the Courtier (1528), an exemplar courtesy book dealing with questions of the etiquette and morality of the courtier during the Italian Renaissance . Louis XIV (1638–1715), King of France, used

7488-467: The queen as well as the king. Merovingian queens are assumed to have had their personal servants, and in the 9th century it is confirmed that Carolingian queens had an entourage of guards from the nobility as a sign of their dignity, and some officials are stated to belong to the queen rather than the king. In the late 12th century, the queens of France are confirmed to have had their own household, and noblewomen are mentioned as ladies-in-waiting. During

7584-430: The rank of concubine or consort. Women from official elite families could be chosen to become empress, consort or concubine immediately upon their entrance in the palace, but the emperor could also promote any female court official to that post, as they were officially all members of his harem. The female court officials and attendants were normally selected from trusted families and then educated for their task. During

7680-516: The reader that to be a well-mannered person they must practise good manners in their public and private lives. The How Rude! comic-book series addresses and discusses adolescent perspectives and questions of etiquette, social manners, and civility. In commerce, the purpose of etiquette is to facilitate the social relations necessary for realising business transactions; in particular, social interactions among workers, and between labour and management. Business etiquette varies by culture, such as

7776-459: The requisite manners for carrying a polite conversation, and for managing social interactions. Conceptually allied to etiquette is the notion of civility (social interaction characterised by sober and reasoned debate) which for socially ambitious men and women also became an important personal quality to possess for social advancement. In the event, gentlemen's clubs , such as Harrington's Rota Club, published an in-house etiquette that codified

7872-467: The responsibility of the unmarried female courtiers, their conduct and service. The rest of the female noble courtiers consisted of the Hoffräulein ( Maid of Honour ), unmarried women from the nobility who normally served temporarily until marriage. The Hoffräulein could sometimes be promoted to Kammerfräulein (Maid of Honour of the Chamber). The Austrian court model was the role model for

7968-425: The right master and how to serve him. Other maxims teach the correct way to be a leader through openness and kindness, that greed is the base of all evil and should be guarded against, and that generosity towards family and friends is praiseworthy. Confucius (551–479  BCE ) was a Chinese intellectual and philosopher whose works emphasized personal and governmental morality , correctness of social relationships,

8064-444: The royal infirmary or public clinics, and practiced simple medicine skills). Generally, the ladies-in-waiting were chosen from among the young girls of the sangmin (commoners) and the private female slaves of the sadaebu (governing class). Later, the candidates were also picked from among the government slaves, together with the daughters of noblemen's concubines (who were former courtesans or slaves). The appointment process

8160-667: The second rank 'Dame d'honneur' , and the third rank 'Dame de Palais' . Prior to the unification, the greatest of the Italian states was the Kingdom of Naples, later called Kingdom of the Two Sicilies . In 1842, the ladies-in-waiting of the queen of the Two Sicilies were composed of one Dama di Onore (Lady of Honor, ranked just below the Cavaliere di Onore ), three Dama di Compagnia (Lady Companions, ranked below

8256-423: The second rank, Dame d'honneur , followed by six (later twelve) Dames du Palais . The early modern princely courts in Germany were modeled after the Austrian imperial court model. This court model divided the ladies-in-waiting in a chief lady-in-waiting named Oberhofmeisterin (a widowed or married elder woman) who supervised the Hoffräulein (Maids of Honour), of which one or two could be promoted to

8352-427: The service she rendered, a lady-in-waiting was considered more of a secretary , courtier , or companion to her mistress than a servant . In some other parts of the world, the lady-in-waiting, often referred to as palace woman , was in practice a servant or a slave rather than a high-ranking woman, but still had about the same tasks, functioning as companion and secretary to her mistress. In courts where polygamy

8448-686: The sovereign, her parents, her husband, or the sovereign's ministers (for example, in the Bedchamber crisis ). In Europe, the development of the office of lady-in-waiting is connected to that of the development of a royal court. During the Carolingian Empire , in the 9th century, Hincmar describes the royal household of Charles the Bald in the De Ordine Palatii , from 882, in which he states that court officials took orders from

8544-419: The widow of the diplomat Philip Stanhope , Chesterfield's bastard son. Throughout the correspondence, Chesterfield endeavoured to decouple the matter of social manners from conventional morality , with perceptive observations that pragmatically argue to Philip that mastery of etiquette was an important means for social advancement, for a man such as he. Chesterfield's elegant, literary style of writing epitomised

8640-518: Was by Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield , in the book Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774), a correspondence of more than 400 letters written from 1737 until the death of his son, in 1768; most of the letters were instructive, concerning varied subjects that a worldly gentleman should know. The letters were first published in 1774, by Eugenia Stanhope ,

8736-549: Was concomitant with the development of manners, which are behaviours with an evolutionary role in preventing the transmission of diseases , thus, people who practise personal hygiene and politeness will most benefit from membership in their social group, and so stand the best chance of biological survival, by way of opportunities for reproduction . From the study of the evolutionary bases of prejudice , social psychologists Catherine Cottrell and Steven Neuberg said that human behavioural responses to ' otherness ' might enable

8832-439: Was different for nain associated with the inner quarters for the king and queen, who were recruited by the high ranked court ladies themselves, through recommendations and connections. The nain for the departments with specific skills such as sewing and embroidery were from the jungin (middle class), with the lowest class of gungnyeo coming from the cheonmin (vulgar commoners). They could be as young as 4 when entering

8928-686: Was one of these. This practice of drawing from the ranks of royal dancers began in the Golden Age of the Khmer Kingdom. Several Canadian ladies-in-waiting have also been appointed to the Royal Household of Canada . Canadian ladies-in-waiting are typically appointed in order to assist the monarch of Canada when carrying out official duties in Canada and royal tours in the country . Five Canadian ladies-in-waiting were made Lieutenants of

9024-483: Was practiced, a court lady was formally available to the monarch for sexual services, and she could become his wife , consort , courtesan , or concubine . Lady-in-waiting or court lady is often a generic term for women whose relative rank, title, and official functions varied, although such distinctions were also often honorary. A royal woman may or may not be free to select her ladies, and, even when she has such freedom, her choices are usually heavily influenced by

9120-436: Was roughly in place from the 16th century until the death of King Christian IX of Denmark in 1906. During the 20th century, most of these titles came of use, and all ladies-in-waiting at the royal Danish court are now referred to as Hofdame (Court Lady). The queen of France is confirmed to have had a separate household in the late 12th century, and an ordinance from 1286 notes that Joan I of Navarre, Queen of France , had

9216-469: Was that of the Zoste patrikia , the chief lady-in-waiting and female attendant of the empress, who was the head of the women's court and often a relative of the empress; this title existed at least since the 9th century. The Kingdom of Greece was established in 1832 and its first queen, Amalia of Oldenburg , organized the ladies-in-waiting of its first royal court with one ' Grande Maitresse ', followed by

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