Modeler le comportement de la reine par l’étiquette

• Main Author: Elisa García Prieto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centre de Recherche du Château de Versailles 2016-10-01
• Series: Bulletin du Centre de Recherche du Château de Versailles
• Subjects: Anne of Austria; Etiquette; queen’s household; conduct; political influence; informal power
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/crcv/13945

After the marriage of Philip II and his niece, the Archduchess Anne of Austria, and the arrival of the new sovereign, a process of reformation was implemented in the queen’s household, which took shape in a new Etiquette. Through the following centuries this text gave structural support - with some slight modifications to earlier versions - to the queen’s household. It established the obligations of the different positions in the house and also shaped the servants’ conduct at the palace. This process also affected the queen’s person; so the text itself and the daily administration of the household allow us to understand the type of queen consort Philip II desired for his last wife, and by extension, for the women who were chosen to become Catholic queen. With this proposal we want to visualize how this process was conducted, and also the challenges and difficulties in implementing it. In that way we will learn not only about the Etiquette itself, but also Anne of Austria’s role in this process.