French Royal Dining History

 

One popular myth regarding Catherine de Medici, is that she introduced ice cream, sorbets and sherbets to the French, after bringing her personal chefs to France upon her marriage to King Henry II. However, that myth is dispelled in both Elizabeth David’s, “Harvest of the Cold Months: The Social History of Ice and Ices” and Esther B. Aresty’s, “The Exquisite Table – A History of French Cuisine.” Quoting “What’s Cooking, America,” ‘Catherine, fourteen at the time, was accompanied by twelve young ladies-in-waiting near her own age, and, undoubtedly, a large retinue that included cooks and servants to wait on the large party that brought her by ship to Marseilles and cared for the travelers on the overland voyage to the French Court. But as for installing cooks at the court of Francis I to serve her own needs – that would have been bringing coals to Newcastle, and unthinkable in any case with a Monarch like Francis I. At that time his court was far more elegant than any court in Italy.’

Napoleon I Bolted Food When He Ate and

Catherine de Medici Was a Heavy Eater

⚜️A 2nd Debut Article originally shared in 2017⚜️

Although furnished as an advertisement, a book has just appeared from an authoritative pen which contains a lot of interesting information on the menus of the Kings of France and how they dispatched them, writes a Paris correspondent of the Philadelphia Ledger: 

The great Napoleon, we are told, did not waste much time at the table. His schedule was three minutes for coffee, ten for luncheon and half an hour for dinner, without conversation. In other words, the author says: “He bolted his food, to which he owed the disease which took him to an early grave.” 

Francois I and Henri II are described as having been only poor eaters; but Catherine de Medici seems to have been, on the contrary, a tremendous gourmand. She was especially partial to kidneys and to a light poultry dish, to which, on one occasion, as a contemporary chronicler records, she did such ample justice that she nearly succumbed. 

Louis XVI, like Louis XIV, who would often have a substantial meal served up in the middle of the night, was a big feeder. He had what was called “the appetite of the Bourbons.” He, like Napoleon, did not eat; he bolted his food. But few people in the audience know what is going on behind the drop curtain, and it is probably just as well they don't. – San Francisco Call, 1911

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Pompous Etiquette at Versailles

The honor of handing the clean shirt to those persona was reserved to the sons and daughters of France, or, in their absence, to the Princes of the blood or those legitimatized, or in default of these, to the Grand Chamberlain or the First Gentleman of the Bedchamber. The shirt having been regularly and formally delivered, the First Valet of the Wardrobe and the First Valet de Chambre held up the garment by the right and left sleeves respectively, while two other valets extended a dressing gown in front of the King to serve as a screen. 

Etiquette in Ye Olden Time

A hundred years ago the court of France was ruled by an etiquette so pompons and ceremonious as to make the King’s life a burden to himself and a jest to a philosopher. He was never alone, except at rare intervals. The eyes of forty or fifty persons saw him dress and undress, and the operation of putting on his shirt was something fearful. The Grand Master of the Wardrobe drew off the King’s nightshirt by the right arm, and the First Valet of the Wardrobe by the left arm, and both of them united in handing the nightshirt to an Officer of the Wardrobe. Another Valet of the Wardrobe brought a clean shirt, but he had no right to hand it to the persons who were to put it on the King. 

The honor of handing the clean shirt to those persona was reserved to the sons and daughters of France, or, in their absence, to the Princes of the blood or those legitimatized, or in default of these, to the Grand Chamberlain or the First Gentleman of the Bedchamber. The shirt having been regularly and formally delivered, the First Valet of the Wardrobe and the First Valet de Chambre held up the garment by the right and left sleeves respectively, while two other valets extended a dressing gown in front of the King to serve as a screen. Behind this screen his Majesty at last got the shirt on his back. Every day, immediately after being dressed, the King said his prayers. And it is to be hoped that he never failed to offer up a devout thanksgiving for having passed safely through the awful process of putting on his shirt, and that the coming man would be able to make for the coming King’s shirts that could be put on with more ease and less ceremony. — Morning Press, 1883

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette and the Petit Trianon

Built by Louis XV of France, the Petit Trianon was not only an escape for Marie Antoinette from the formality of French Court life, but it also allowed her to shake off the burden of her many Royal responsibilities. She was under considerable pressure and judgement at Versailles, from both the Royal Court, but her family. The Petit Trianon was her place of leisure, where she could rest from the etiquette and formality of her life at Versailles. Since all was “de par la Reine” (by order of the Queen), no one, including her husband Louis XVI, were permitted to disturb her there or enter the property, without the Queen's express permission. This exclusivity alienated Royal Court Nobility, and allowed only the Queen's close inner circle (including Gabrielle de Polastron, the Duchesse de Polignac, and Princess de Lamballe) to be invited.

The Petit Trianon

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The Favorite Resort of Queen Marie Antoinette of France

Louis XVI gave the Petit Trianon to Marie Antoinette, and it became her favorite residence. To this turf, which she pressed with so light a step, the Queen of France came to forget the ennui and etiquette of Royal Majesty. Once at the Petit Trainon, the lovely Queen felt more happy. All her diadem was the flowers of her garden; she held, with a joyous hand, the light crook; in her Swiss dairy, which is still standing on the banks of a little brook, she herself prepared— with such delightful awkwardness—the milk of her cows! Poor Queen! How much site must afterward have regretted the sun, the waters, the flowers, the cream, and the strawberries, the sheep and the heifers of the Petit Trianon.– San Francisco Call, 1891

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette of French Nobility

Along with the demands of the exacting rules of court etiquette, there came a feeling of entitlement and narcissism. There was a sense that as a noble, one was possessed of greater intelligence, more refined sentiments and in general more deserving of the best life had to offer.

French Nobility

Nobility in France was hereditary, passed down through the male line. Being of noble birth had its privileges, such as being exempt from paying taxes, having the sole access to certain offices, coveted positions within the civil and military administrations of France, and all of the commissions in the army. 

There was a sense that as a noble, one possessed greater intelligence, more refined sentiments and, in general, that being of noble birth meant one was more deserving of all the best that life had to offer. Your position at the French Court was dependant on how well you recognized and defended etiquette. Personal feelings became irrelevant because the symbolic place held by a person actually mattered more. The attention you received from the place you held in the order of precedence, devolved from the treatment of others around you.

In general, there were 3 ways to become a noble:
1) By birth ~ The father must be of noble blood, known as Noblesse d'épée (Nobility of the sword), also known as Noblesse de race ("Nobility through breeding"). Noblesse uterine ("Nobility of the female line"), was for titles that were matrilineal (held through the mother's line) and could be inherited by female heirs; this was found in some families in the former independent territories of Champagne, Lorraine and Brittany. Illegitimate children could be ennobled by letters patent from the sovereign. The king’s illegitimate offspring were automatically noble, and therefore needed no ennobling. but they were still illegitimate, and needed to be legitimated, accomplished by naming only the father, and not the mother.

2) By holding certain offices ~ Noblesse de robe (Nobles of the Robe or Nobles of the Gown) were French aristocrats whose rank came from holding certain judicial or administrative posts, either by purchase or appointment, such as in the King’s household, or in the French Parliament.

3) By a royal decree ~ Chevalier an otherwise untitled nobleman who belonged to an order of chivalry; earlier, a rank for untitled members of the oldest noble families. Later distinction was that a Knight (Sieur) went through the dubbing ceremony (touched with a sword on the head and shoulders by the King), while the lesser rank of Chevalier or Knight Bachelor received the rank without the ceremony.

Écuyer (Shield Bearer) was the lowest specific rank in the nobility, to which the vast majority of untitled nobles were entitled; also called valet or noble homme in certain regions.

Gentilhomme (Gentleman) was the lowest non-specific rank indicating nobility

The following were the titles of nobility, the order of their importance and precedence:

1) Duc
2) Comte
3) Marquis
4) Vicomte
5) Baron

These titles, as well as the names of the family derived from, and the properties they were attached to, could each only be carried by one person. However, the presence or absence of a title was not in itself a test of nobility, because there were generally many more family members than there were actual titles to go around.

One you had reached the threshold of nobility, there were still more degrees of nobility that affected one's rank: How long had your family been noble? How many of your paternal and maternal grandparents’ lineages were noble? The oldest nobility was traced to the “Mists of Time,” back in the early recorded history of France.

Of those already blessed enough to claim the ties of nobility, some could also claim peerages. These peers originated from the twelve dukes who were raised in the 12th century above the other dukes by the King as his direct vassals. There were two kinds of titles used by French nobles: some were personal ranks and others were linked to the fiefs owned, called fiefs de dignité.

There were ecclesiastical peers, which ranked ahead of lay peers. For lay peers, the order of precedence was determined by date of peerage’s creation- except as it applied to Princes of the Blood, they gained precedence over the other peers, regardless of peerage creation date, because of their claim to royal blood. –Sourced from books and several online nobility websites, including Wikipedia, www.nobility.org and www.heraldic.org

Etiquette Enthusiast Maura J Graber is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Talleyrand's Etiquette

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born in Paris, 1754, to a noble family during the reign of Louis XV. During his long life, he became a  bishop, politician and diplomat, working at the highest levels of successive French governments, most commonly as foreign minister or in another diplomatic capacity. His career spanned the regimes of Louis XVI, the French Revolution, Napoleon, Louis XVIII, and Louis-Philippe. Those he served often distrusted Talleyrand but, as with Napoleon, found him extremely useful. The name "Talleyrand" has become a byword for crafty, cynical diplomacy, but he is considered by many, to be "the patriarch of modern diplomacy."

Talleyrand's Etiquette

Talleyrand, like most diplomatists, was famous for his attention to the details of etiquette. He prided himself on his ability to adjust his mode of address to the rank and position of the person to whom he was speaking. On one occasion, when a number of distinguished men were dining with him, he varied his formula when inviting them to partake of beef in such a manner as to suit the rank of the restorative persons. 

"May I have the honor of sending your highness a little beef?" he asked a Prince of the blood. To a Duke he said: "Monsigneur, permit me to send you a little beef." "Marquis," he continued, "May I send you some beef?" "Viscount, pray have a little beef." "Baron, do you take beef?" ran the next interrogation. "Monsieur." he said to an untitled gentleman, "Some beef?" To his secretary, he remarked, casually, "Beef?" But there was one gentleman left who deserved even less consideration than the secretary, and Talleyrand, poising his knife in the air, favored him with a mere look of interrogation. —New York Evening World, 1890

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia