The etiquette that ruled the court of France touched on every part of everyday life - including something as mundane as sitting. Who could sit when and in the company of whom was entirely dependent on social status, rank or situation.
The Tabouret - a Coveted Symbol
The right to a tabouret - a chair without a back - was preserved for a very small circle of women: duchesses, princesses of the blood and princesses d'étrangères (foreign princesses). That particular privilege quickly established the superior rank of these titled ladies - especially when in company of ladies who were not entitled to sit. As such, it is hardly surprising that it was a right that was often hotly contended.
Over the years several other groups of court ladies (and their husbands) attempted to expand the circle of who could claim a tabouret. For instance, the Marèchaux argued that their wives should be entitled to one too but were eventually overruled.
Since the tabouret was a symbol of honour, the court naturally made a ceremony of it. The first time an entitled woman were to claim her tabouret - for instance, a newly married duchess - it would be brought forward by one of the valets. It was customary that the lady presented the valets with 100 pistoles on this occasion.
The tabouret also featured on the day of a duchess' presentation. When she had been officially presented to the queen, Her Majesty would then graciously offer her to take a seat upon a tabouret.
Initially, it was only the duchesses and princesses of the blood who were entitled to a tabouret. However, the king soon expanded the circle to include the daughters of princesses of the blood (and foreign princesses) with a single stipulation: they had to wait for the king to officially ask them to be seated. In contrast, a duchess could merely claim her seat as she entered.
One of the most famous anecdotes regarding the right to a tabouret occurred when the newly-minted Duchesse de Ventadour entered the king's salon only to find that no tabouret had been made available for her. The befuddled valets hesitated until Madame de Sévigné exasperated exclaimed: "Oh give it to her, she certainly bought it dear enough". The celebrated letter writer was quite right - the Duc de Ventadour was not only infamously ugly but rather depraved, too.
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| A tabouret belonging to the Comtesse d'Artois |
Gentlemen, remain standing!
Whereas the duchesses and princesses could take a seat, the court's gentlemen were rarely allowed to sit in the presence of the king and queen. Rather, they were required to remain standing. That changed, however, when there were no ladies present at all.
This would typically be the case when the king dined à petit couvert - that is "in private", or as private as a king could eat during Louis XIV's reign. At such occasions, gentlemen were the only ones present but not everyone were allowed to sit. For instance, neither princes of the blood nor cardinals were ever asked to sit with Louis XIV during his meals.
In comparison, it was not unknown for the king to ask his immediate family members to take a seat. This would primarily be his brother, his (legitimate) son and the his grandsons. Even so, they were never sure of being asked and had to make do with a less comfortable chair than that of the king.
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As can be seen, the gentlemen are standing while
the king is sitting |
The Armchair
At court, only the king and queen (and on very rare occasions Monsieur) were sitting in armchairs when in company - the only ones who would share this honour were visiting monarchs. It did not matter how old the king was in this respect; when the juvenile Louis XV was still a child, he would be taken weekly to Versailles where he was placed in an armchair and educated in matters of state by men such as the Regent (Philippe II d'Orléans) and Cardinal Dubois - all sitting in lesser chairs.
The armchair was also used a symbol of power in other manners. For instance, if a duchess was introduced to the queen, the latter would be receiving her in an armchair. That was solely reserved for duchesses. At council, too, the chair was a symbol of royal presence. While the king was always seated in such a chair, his councillors had to make do with armless chairs - even when the king did not participate in the council session, his armchair would be present.
Even when the nuclear royal family retired into the "privacy" of their apartments, the rules were not relaxed. In his later years, Louis XIV made it a habit of going into his private apartment with his entire family after dinner and rest there for about an hour. The doors were opened so the court could observe them and those who did would have noticed the king sitting in his armchair, Monsieur in either an armchair too or a similar chair and the princesses on low stools - the princes, however, were always standing. The family were not spread out according to their own whims but were seated according to rank.
Finally, the king would usually receive ambassadors while sitting in his armchair. On these occasions, he would be the only one sitting at all.
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Even surrounded by his closest heirs, the king
alone gets an armchair |
Circumventing the rules
Like any other set of rules, people spent remarkable amounts of time attempting to circumvent them - with varying success.
The so-called "non-titled" ladies - anyone below the rank of duchess - could sit in the presence of the king and queen if they were gambling with them, especially during the queen's gambling balls. This was naturally seized upon by the numerous countesses and marquises who would otherwise not be permitted to take a seat near royalty. That was also the case, if they were at theatrical performance.
Another ingenious method of avoiding standing in the presence of the queen was concocted by the very same class of ladies. Traditionally, the queen's ladies had often been employed in needlework but that was all but impossible to do standing. Therefore, it was accepted that a lady was allowed to sit in the queen's apartment if she was actively engaged in embroidery.
Snippets of Etiquette
It is further worth noticing a few other pieces of etiquette concerning the act of sitting that would have been followed punctually by the court.
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No gentleman were to touch the back of a chair if a lady was sitting in it - it would be seen as an immense sign of disrespect
Princes of the Blood could not sit with the ladies at the front rows of a theatrical performance - that particular right belonged solely to the Sons of France
If a cardinal held his position by virtue of a hereditary bishop-peerage, he was allowed to be seated when with the queen - but not with the king
The wives of ambassadors were permitted to sit when observing the queen's dinners but those of other delegates were not
Anecdotes
Considering how often the matter of sitting down occurred during the day, it is hardly surprising that the court memoirs abound with anecdotes of this particular branch of etiquette. To modern readers the vast majority seems ridiculous but it was taken deadly serious by the courtiers.
Only princes of the blood were allowed to sit with the Duchesse de Bourgogne while she dined. When the court went on one of its brief sojourns at Meudon, she contrived a way to engage in conversation with men below that rank by sitting on an armrest. Technically, it could not be said that the respective gentlemen had overstepped and thus she found a loophole.
Mesdames Adélaide, Victoire and Sophie were sticklers for etiquette but there is at least one instance where they relaxed the rules a bit. One of their ladies was married to a Monsieur de Béon who served as an officer of the king's bodyguard. Before Marie Antoinette elevated the officers who did not enjoy the rank of captain by inviting them to her balls, the officers were not considered to be particularly worthy of respect. This meant that although a friend of Mesdames, M. de Béon could not sit at their table when he was on active duty. He was only permitted this once when off-duty because Mesdames relented.
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