Balls, rich grooms, chic outfits and expensive jewelry - the maid of honor of the empress got access to this. Is this not a dream job? What kind of "resume" was needed in order to take such a sweet position, and what were the competitors ready to do in the fight for it?
Rigid hierarchy
"Bedding", "mothers", "nannies" and all sorts of helpers for queens and princesses have been since the time of the Rurikovichs, or even earlier. But the "court girls" received official positions under Peter I in 1722. Women's court positions were enshrined in the "Table of Ranks" (a law that qualified military, civil and court ranks). This is due to Peter's "business trip" to Europe - in France, Peter spied on the ladies' hierarchy of the court.
In accordance with the "report card", the ladies of the court were divided into: chief clerk, wives of real privy councillors, real state ladies, real chamber maids, gof ladies, gof maidens, chamber maidens. If the chamberlains were responsible, for example, for the office of the empress, then the chamber maids could mainly deal with less responsible matters, but at the same time they had access to the empress's chambers.
Under Peter I and his wife Catherine, the report card was not strictly observed. The final list of positions and titles was formed in late XVIII century.
Ober-Hofmeisterina - was in charge of the court women's staff and the office of the Empress, the highest rank
Chamberlain - represented the Empress ladies who appeared at the audience. AT holidays put on a crimson velvet overcoat and white skirt with gold embroidery
State lady - de facto most time was engaged in small children of the emperor. On the days of celebrations, state ladies could be easily distinguished by a velvet green dress with gold embroidery and a white skirt.
Chamber maid of honor is a senior court position for unmarried women. Her duties included serving different needs"Empresses. Went in an outfit similar to a lady of state
Maid of honor - was the rank that complained most often
(1881: 189 ladies-in-waiting out of 203 court ladies). Only unmarried women could be chambermaids and ladies-in-waiting.
In the 18th century, it was mainly representatives of noble families who became ladies-in-waiting. By the end of the century, "being a girl" became a prerequisite. As soon as a girl got married, she was promoted in rank or, conversely, demoted. The historian Pavel Karabanov even mentions the five-year-old ladies-in-waiting who "received" the position for the merits of their fathers. Average age such "specialists" developed in the 19th century and amounted to 15-18 years.
Requirements
First of all, it was necessary to be born into a noble family. Empresses could make an exception for such a "minus in the resume", but rarely. So, for example, the best students of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens were accepted to the court. Only to get into the latter, and even more so to earn the title of the best there, was incredibly difficult.
The girls themselves had to have charm, a bright appearance (not always it was equal to beautiful). When selecting applicants, knowledge of languages and court etiquette, the ability to sing and play musical instruments, dance. One of the requirements was the ability to behave at court.
Periodically, the empresses went against the grain accepted system and the main requirement was considered not appearance or knowledge, but the good manners of their subordinates. So, the maid of honor of the wife of the "tsar-liberator" Alexander II (who canceled serfdom in Russia) Anna Tyutcheva wrote in her diary that the court of the ruler as a whole did not differ in beauty or high manners. But most of the ladies could not find fault in terms of reputation (well, men did not like them). More often, such measures were resorted to in order to keep the emperor from another "turn to the left." It didn't always help.
The very first
The first Chief Chamberlain was the sister-in-law (sister of the wife) of the favorite of Peter I, Alexander Menshikov. Varvara Arsenyeva, as the historian Kazimir Valishevsky writes, did not differ in beauty (contemporaries recall her humpbackedness), but she had many other enviable qualities. For example, she was cheerful and sociable, which amused the queen.
What exactly became the main factor due to which the girl came to court is unknown. Historians identify several possible versions. As Elena Mayorova ("Personal Life of Peter the Great", 2011) notes, she was the mistress of Emperor Peter I. Villebois describes Varvara as ugly, but very smart and evil. “Peter loved everything extraordinary. At dinner, he said to Varvara: “I don’t think anyone is captivated by you, poor Varya, you are too bad; but I won't let you die without experiencing love. "And then, in front of everyone, he threw her on the sofa and fulfilled his promise," he writes.
She was also a relative of his favorite Alexander Menshikov. In addition, Catherine I was not averse to having at least one "ugly" maid of honor in her staff in order to stand out more against her background. And Catherine herself, as they say, was "not Hollywood" in appearance. Arsenyeva was admitted to all the secrets of the Empress and knew, probably, even more than most court ladies could. In the palace, she even had her own rooms - "Barbara's Chambers".
She graduated, however, as a nun. The fact is that shortly after the death of Peter I in 1725, his favorite was sent into exile in Berezov "with his entire surname." Varvara, even after the tragedy, as Kazimir Valishevsky notes, remained an influential lady at court. Therefore, the initiators of sending the Menshikovs to Siberia forcibly tonsured her as a nun.
Lover "part time"
The romances of emperors and future rulers with ladies-in-waiting were quite common. At court, a new love story was vividly discussed, although none of them had practically no chance of ending in a wedding. These "cute affairs" almost led to major scandals. By the way, Igor Zimin mentions that such girls even had a special title - "lady for special services."
There is a legend that the wife of Peter I, Catherine, specially kept pretty girls at court so that all the sprees of a loving spouse were under control. Moreover, the attempts of the followers of the empress to act differently and recruit "only ugly ones" did not change the result much. It can be said that the fashion was such - to sleep with the maid of honor. Better not just once.
So, Nicholas I was in a "certain relationship" with Varvara Nelidova, and his father, Paul I, with her aunt named Catherine. Both were ladies-in-waiting to the empresses.
Emperor Alexander II went further than all Russian rulers in relations with his mistresses. So, at least three of his novels with ladies-in-waiting ended loud scandals. The first of them was around 1833, when at that moment the heir to the throne was still 15 years old. The maid of honor of his mother, Alexandra Feodorovna, Natalya Borozdina, became the chosen one of the Tsarevich. There is practically no evidence of the novel. The lady-in-waiting Alexandra Smirnova-Rosset wrote in her memoirs that the girl was given in marriage by the “order of the empresses” to an official of the Ministry of Finance, Gavriil Kamensky.
The next fiery love with the maid of honor happened to Alexander at the age of 20, in 1838. And if the past favorite was the daughter of a Russian general, then everything was much worse with Kalinovskaya's pedigree. First, she was a Catholic. Secondly, Olga belonged to a relatively noble noble family in Poland. Meanwhile, Alexander began to stutter about his intention to marry, which caused shock in the family of rulers: well, the maid of honor Kalinovskaya was a completely inappropriate party. Outcome: Alexander, together with the tutor, is sent under the pretext of studying in Europe to look for a bride. On this love story does not end: when Alexander returns to St. Petersburg in the 30s of the 19th century, the romance flares up with new force. Then Alexander's father, Emperor Nicholas I, gets down to business.
After several (hardly pleasant) conversations, Kalinovskaya is excommunicated from the court and sent to Poland. There, relatives not only accept the disgraced maid of honor, but also marry (attention!) ex-spouse her late sister, the richest Polish magnate Ierenei Kleofast Oginsky. In marriage, they even have a son. In turn, Alexander in 1841 marries Mary of Hesse-Darmstadt, whose proposal was made during trips around Europe.
It would seem that the story should end there, but ... In 1857, Alexander II, during military exercises on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, met the daughter of Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov, Ekaterina. The girl herself was ten years old at that time. The acquaintance went unnoticed by the king, but in the life of the child it left an indelible impression. Many years later, in a book of memoirs, Catherine wrote that she could not forget Alexander from the first minute. Two years later, her father died, "squandering" his estate before that. The emperor found out about this and ordered the entire orphaned family to be taken under his guardianship. So, the two Dolgorukov sisters, upon reaching adolescence ended up at the Smolny Institute. In 1865, the 17-year-old student was already introduced to the emperor.
Oddly enough, he remembered her. A stormy romance began, which 14 years later (after the death of the empress wife) grew into ... marriage. The lovers were of different social status, and the five children born to Catherine were not considered the legitimate heirs to the Russian throne. After the death of the tsar in 1881, Catherine migrated to Nice, as the hostility of the nobility to her in Russia, according to her, was too great.
For the queen - even to death
The selflessness of the ladies-in-waiting was sometimes simply amazing. So, for the love of the ruler, they fearlessly could go to jail or to certain death. In this regard, the story of, for example, Sophia Buksgevden, who went to Tobolsk for the royal family and survived only by a miracle, is very indicative.
Sophia became a "session" maid of honor under the Empress at the age of 19, in 1904: that is, the girls were invited to certain time when, for example, one of the main ladies-in-waiting fell ill or needed additional forces. So, Buxhowden's first "term" was six weeks. Then - a break of seven years.
In 1911, the girl accompanied the family during their summer holidays on the yacht "Standard". She became a "regular unit" in 1912, when she received a diamond cipher with a monogram from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (this happened in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty on the throne). The empress even gave her a nickname - Isa.
So I went to Tsarskoye Selo. My mother provided me with an endless list of written instructions. On another sheet there was a “Do Not Do” list underlined in red pencil, Sophia wrote in her memoirs.
When in 1917 royal family sent into exile in Tobolsk, Sophia decided to follow them. She settled down to live in a private rented apartment in the town. The fact is that the maid of honor was not allowed into the house that the emperor rented.
Historians recall that Sophia tried not to step aside from the Empress, only occasionally leaving to spend the night home. In 1918 she went to Yekaterinburg. Sophia was not allowed into the Ipatiev house, where the royal family was shot in July 1918.
Later in her memoirs, Sophia wrote that she fled Russia through Siberia, Japan and North America. She lived in Copenhagen and then in London.
The Empress was not mistaken in her maid of honor. Iza Buksgevden followed the royal family to Siberia and only miraculously survived. Having borrowed money from Sydney Gibbs, she managed to cross Siberia and through China to get to England, writes Igor Zimin (" Child's world imperial residences. Life of monarchs and their environment", 2010).
It is curious that not a single photograph remains after the migration of Buxhoeveden. The former maid of honor herself recalled that her life was cut short in 1918.
Influence
The ladies-in-waiting themselves write in their memoirs that their work was quite difficult. It was necessary to constantly be able to "get involved in business."
You had to be fully aware of the affairs of the yard. You had to know the birthdays of important people, name days, titles, ranks, etc., and you had to be able to answer a thousand questions that the empress could ask ... The working day was long, and even in weeks free from duty, the maid of honor must was to perform duties that the duty officer did not have time to fulfill, ”Anna Vyrubova, an entourage of Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas II), wrote in her memoirs.
Of course, the ladies-in-waiting were "dangerous spies" because they knew everything about the Empress - including her mood.
The predominant passion in her was the desire to know the news and secrets of the court before anyone else, - writes the maid of honor Anna Tyutcheva about her "colleague" Nina Pilar, who was at the court of the wife of Alexander II, Maria Alexandrovna. ("At the court of two emperors (memoirs and fragments of the diaries of the maid of honor of the court of Nicholas I and Alexander II)", 1990).
As historians write, almost the entire imperial court consulted with the ladies-in-waiting. Special meaning they had in the late XVIII - XIX centuries. After all, who, if not close empresses, know what mood the ruler is in, whether it is worth approaching him. Yes, and about all the possible changes at the court, "personal ladies-in-waiting" were among the first to learn. Only it was hard to make friends with them: the girls did not risk a warm place for the sake of an excuse to gossip.
Proximity to the empress and other advantages of the profession imposed, on the other hand, a huge responsibility and many temptations. So, those who had access to the chambers of the empress had a lot of jewelry before their eyes, the cost of which directly rested on space. Once the maid of honor of the wife of Peter I Catherine was caught stealing royal jewels. During a search, diamond jewelry and dresses of the empress were found in her room.
Added to this was the fact that, as it turned out, Hamilton did not follow too much own language and discussed with her lover - the royal batman Ivan Orlov (personal servant) - the details from the bedroom of the sovereigns. In addition, rumors circulated around the court that she had killed at least one of her newborns. Coincidentally, he could not be the child of Orlov, but personally of Peter. There was no way to check it out.
Mary Hamilton was executed in 1719. Historians testify that Peter raised the severed head, kissed it on the lips, and then drove away.
Russian old ceremonial portraits can also speak. Not all bows and ruffles are on female figures, depicted on canvases, testify to the desire of their owners to simply show off. The ceremonial portrait is ceremonial because it reflects the official position in society of a particular character of that time, and therefore some details in the portraits correspond to the then existing position on official ladies' attire. In fact, the first serious order imperial court titled "Description of ladies' outfits for coming to solemn days to the Highest Court" came out only in 1834, but nevertheless, even before that time, everything was subject to strict etiquette. The table of ranks that existed for the men of Imperial Russia to some extent extended to women, to the so-called ladies-in-waiting.
Franz Xavier Winterhalter Portrait of Princess Tatyana Alexandrovna Yusupova, nee Ribopierre 1858
Translated from the German maid of honor (Fraulein) - this is just single woman, girl or young lady, and also this is a junior court title for girls. But not everything is so simple in reality. There was a whole gradation of court titles for women who also depended on marital status ladies, and from the position of her husband in society, and from the personal preferences of empresses or grand duchesses. On the ceremonial portraits of all these ladies, we can recognize by the presence on their chest or on the shoulder of special portraits or cipher-monograms of those high-ranking persons in whose court staff they have the honor to be.
To understand all the variety of titles of Russian ladies will help us a small excerpt from the book by L.E. Shepelev "Titles, uniforms and orders of the Russian Empire."
Antropov A.P. Portrait of a lady of state Anastasia Mikhailovna Izmailova 1759
(State Tretyakov Gallery)
Izmailova's dress is decorated with a portrait of Elizabeth Petrovna in diamonds - a sign of the empress's personal disposition towards her court lady.
"There were ... several court honorary titles for ladies and maidens. Actually, in the Table of Ranks, it was not about titles, but about ranks. All of them are indicated not in the main part of the Table, but in one of the “paragraphs” explanatory to it. The rank of Ober-Hofmeisterina (“has a rank above all the ladies”) was considered the eldest. Then came the real ladies of state. Their rank was "behind the wives of active privy councillors" (II class). Actual chambermaids had a rank equal to the rank of the wives of the presidents of the colleges (IV class). Finally, they were called Hof-ladies (they were equated in rank with the wives of brigadiers - V class), Hof-girls (they were equated in rank with the wives of colonels - VI class) and chamber maids. However, in practice already in the second quarter XVIII in. a somewhat supplemented and modified nomenclature of ladies' court ranks was used: chief hofmeisterin, hofmeisterin, state lady, chamber maid of honor and maid of honor. The first four ranks during the XVIII century. had a total of 82 faces.
The titles of ladies and gentlemen (maids of honor) have not received significant distribution. But from 1730, the titles of chamber-maids of honor (that is, chamber girls) began to be assigned, from 1744 - maid of honor, and from 1748 - hof-meisterins. The court staff in 1796 included the following ladies' ranks (again called ranks here): chief chamberlain, chamberlain, 12 ladies of state and 12 maid of honor. Chambers-maids of honor (as well as chamber junkers) were not provided for by the staff in 1796. In the legal regulations for the court department, they are then mentioned only in 1834. The title of maid of honor complained especially often. In 1881, out of 203 ladies who had court titles, 189 were ladies-in-waiting; in 1914, respectively, 280 and 261. Only unmarried women could be chambermaids and ladies-in-waiting. About a third of them belonged to titled families, and about half were the daughters of persons who had court ranks and titles. Even in mid-nineteenth in. there are known cases of awarding the title of maid of honor to young girls.
In 1826, Nicholas I installed a set of ladies-in-waiting - 36 people. Some of the "complete" maids of honor were appointed to "consist" with the empresses, grand duchesses and grand duchesses ... Many of them were constantly at court (often they lived there). The ladies-in-waiting of the empresses were considered older than the ladies-in-waiting who were with the Grand Duchesses, and they, in turn, were older than the ladies-in-waiting of the Grand Duchesses. The ladies-in-waiting of the "highest Court" did not have permanent duties. Many of them were on vacation for a long time (sometimes living outside the capital) and appeared at court only occasionally.
Several ladies-in-waiting (2-5) had a higher rank - cameras-maids of honor. In the court hierarchy, they were quite equated with ladies of state. The latter constituted the second largest group of court ladies. In 1914 there were 14 of them. As a rule, these are the spouses of major civil or military officials. Most of them belonged to noble families and were "cavalry ladies", that is, they had the ladies' order of St. Catherine and some other awards. Many of them were on vacation and appeared at court only on solemn occasions.
Neither the ladies-in-waiting nor the ladies of state had any specific duties at court; they were not even obliged to take part in court ceremonies. The titles of chamberlain and chief chamberlain usually belonged to ladies who held court positions of the same name and were in charge of the court ladies' staff and the offices of empresses and grand duchesses. One of their duties was to present to the empresses the ladies who appeared for an audience. Since the 1880s no one had these titles, and the corresponding positions were filled by persons from among the state ladies, and at the courts of the grand duchesses - even by ladies who did not have court titles at all. Chamberlains, ladies of state and chamber maids had a common title - Your Excellency."
Diamond ciphers-monograms of Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Paul I (21); Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, wife of Emperor Alexander I, in combination with the cypher of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (22); Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of the emperor Alexander III (24)
Double cipher-monogram of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Nicholas II and Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Alexander III
And yet, just about what will help us in the future to easily "read" the Prussian ceremonial portraits of cavalry ladies: " In addition to the ceremonial dress, the ladies of the court had special insignia: chamberlains, ladies of state, chamber maids of honor - miniature portraits of empresses surrounded by diamonds, worn on right side breasts, and the ladies-in-waiting are gold ciphers strewn with diamonds (the monograms of the Empress or Grand Duchesses, under which the ladies-in-waiting were), topped with a crown, worn on the St. Andrew's blue ribbon on the left side of the corsage. The owners of portraits were called in everyday life "portrait ladies".
Having dealt with all this, it is now easy to examine the portraits and determine which court this or that person depicted in the portrait belonged to. Well, those who wish can try to do everything themselves, using the small gallery below.
Ladies-in-waiting of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
(State Russian Museum)
Ladies-in-waiting of Empress Catherine II
Kraft Senior Portrait of Natalia Alexandrovna Repnina, nee Princess Kurakina 1768
Whatever the king was not amused, if only he did not rule.
I will share the sacred knowledge of the secrets of the imperial courts, including the Russian sovereign's court.
From literary works the people of Russia know about our great writers about all sorts of ladies-in-waiting of the sovereign's court. There were many of them, these same ladies-in-waiting. They changed like butterflies. Some, toothy butterflies, managed to linger for a long time in the palaces. Moreover, these same toothy and toothless ladies-in-waiting had their apartments in palaces. Although, it would seem, why?
All ladies-in-waiting were girls from noble families of the country. All were provided. All had dwellings not frail, but very worthy of all kinds of boasting. And yet, for some reason, it was prestigious and honorable to receive the title of a lady-in-waiting and start "sleeping" in the palace.
Help from Wikipedia:
The title was given to unmarried women. When appointed to the maid of honor, the girl received a “cipher”, that is, adorned with diamonds of the crowned royal person, in whose retinue she entered. Upon marriage, this title was removed from them, but they retained the right to be presented to the Empress and receive invitations to court ceremonies and balls in the Great Hall Winter Palace together with their husbands, regardless of their rank.
About a third of the ladies-in-waiting belonged to titled families; about half of them were the daughters of persons who had court ranks and titles. Perhaps the main advantage of the ladies-in-waiting was the possibility of getting married, since at court it was possible to find the most profitable, noble and rich groom. The maids of honor at the same time received a dowry from the court. Even in the middle of the XIX century. there are known cases of awarding the title of maid of honor to young girls.
“In 1826, Nicholas I installed a set of ladies-in-waiting - 36 people. Part of the "complete" ladies-in-waiting were appointed to "consist" with the empresses, grand duchesses and grand duchesses (these ladies-in-waiting were called retinues). Many of them were constantly at the court (and often lived there). The ladies-in-waiting of the empresses were considered older than the ladies-in-waiting who were with the Grand Duchesses, and they, in turn, were older than the ladies-in-waiting of the Grand Duchesses. The ladies-in-waiting of the “highest Court” did not have permanent duties. Many of them were on vacation for a long time (sometimes living outside the capital) and appeared at court only occasionally.
“Noble daughters of fourteen or twenty years of age were usually accepted for this service. They lived in the Winter (autumn - spring) or Summer (spring - autumn) palaces under the supervision of Madame Ekaterina Petrovna Schmidt. The ladies-in-waiting were on duty at the empress in shifts, staying near her around the clock and performing various high orders. Each was given a salary of 600 rubles a year; two cameras-maids of honor - 1000 rubles a year. The girls enrolled in the maid of honor's list as minors (mainly due to orphanhood) from May 30, 1752 had a salary of 200 rubles a year. The ladies-in-waiting left the court service automatically after getting married. At the same time, the Empress rewarded the bride with a good dowry - cash, precious things, a dress, bed and bedding, haberdashery items in the amount of 25 to 40 thousand rubles and a beautifully made image of the holy newlywed.
The maid of honor's badges were worn on a bow in the color of St. Andrew's blue ribbon and attached to the court dress on the left side of the bodice. Every year, the list of ladies-in-waiting was published in the address-calendar Russian Empire. The list was built according to the length of service in the rank of maid of honor.
maid of honor 1
maid of honor 2
If the gentlemen are good, translate all these beautiful words to our usual rough modern language, then it looks something like this:
Every year, at balls arranged by the sovereign or empress, every noble family had to deliver or put on display in front of the emperor and his wife their children, starting from the age of 14. I must say, the age is still almost a minor. The girls were just starting to mature. But this did not bother anyone in strange palaces, where no less strange laws reigned.
In fact, the sovereign recruited 14-year-old girls as ladies-in-waiting to satisfy his own carnal desires. The ladies-in-waiting were recruited into the harem. And they were obliged to live in the palace until they annoyed their masters. A brothel behind golden curtains.
You know, I’m writing ... and it’s most disgusting that money and power over people gave the right to some invaders impostors, practically gangsters with high road, mock children and noble families of the country. The ladies-in-waiting served for the intimate pleasures of both the sovereign and the empress.
Now let me explain the secrets behind in simple terms from Wikipedia. For example: "They lived in the Winter (autumn - spring) or in the Summer (spring - autumn) palaces under the supervision of Madame Ekaterina Petrovna Schmidt." As you can see, the girls were not allowed to go home. After choosing a crowned special next victim, they had to settle immediately in the palaces of their masters. And it is not difficult for a modern enlightened person to imagine what the debauched with a crown on their heads did with young charmers. The overseer of the young fools was the feisty Ekaterina Schmidt. She was also the main teacher in comprehending the science of love pleasures, and in particular the Kama Sutra. Yes, do not be surprised, this science was in demand especially in those days. Can I tell you with what cynicism Katya Schmidt taught innocent bodies and souls? I think you can imagine it. Horror stories and a whip, punishment cell and hunger in the neighborhood with rats.
“The ladies-in-waiting left the court service automatically after getting married. At the same time, the Empress rewarded the bride with a good dowry - cash, precious things, a dress, bed and bedding, haberdashery items in the amount of 25 to 40 thousand rubles and a beautifully made image of the holy newlywed. The ladies-in-waiting left the palace mainly due to pregnancy. Only this way and nothing else. Or severely crippled and no longer needed in the Harem of sovereigns. Having received a child in her womb as a gift from the sovereign, and a dowry for this sovereign's bastard, the maid of honor married the one recommended to her by the sovereign's court. At the court there was a special department that was engaged in "matchmaking", the selection of personnel, fathers for future crowned bastards. From that, the dowry was "good". And, as a rule, the horned groom of the pregnant bride received good post in the public service.
“Even in the middle of the XIX century. there are known cases of awarding the title of maid of honor to young girls. The sovereigns took into their chambers not only girls from the age of 14, but also minors. That is, at royal courts pedophilia flourished. Completely legal. legal grounds were the wishes of the sovereign and the empress. It was the law.
In those days, they knew well that if a child was taken to the palace, then they were taken to the Harem. How many rich families today would like it if their children, instead of Oxford and Swiss best schools would they send to harems for the joy of the one and only and unique, unique in multitude and constantly multiplying?
The children of the oligarchs of past centuries were held hostage to keep their wealthy, recalcitrant parents in line. Children at court as ladies-in-waiting are the chains on the hands of their parents. After that, one could only pray that the child would soon become pregnant, receive a dowry and a groom, and would soon return to a normal human family life.
But it was not there! Very often, if the sovereign liked the maid of honor, then she gave birth to him child after child with enviable constancy. That is, the sovereign did not stop at one child. Thus, having given the pregnant maid of honor in marriage, the sovereign did not allow her husband to the chambers of his legal wife, but he himself often visited these chambers, or the maid of honor was brought from time to time to the palace at night. The horned husband had to endure all this and rejoice at the "favors" of the despot.
An example is the family of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. But more on that next time.
And one more thing: “Fre;ilena (from obsolete German Fr;ulein - an unmarried woman, girl, maiden)” is a title that sounds on German, and not some other, indicates that debauchery came to the palaces of Russia from Germany, from those who came to Russia as invaders of the throne.
This is what maids of honor are at the courts of sovereigns and kings of the recent world, only 100 years ago. Sovereigns had no time to govern the country. They were mainly busy conceiving bastards. It got ridiculous. Often the sovereigns did not have enough time to conceive the first-born heir. All forces went to the bastards.
Maid of honor- junior court female rank in post-Petrine Russia. It was given to representatives of noble noble families. The ladies-in-waiting made up the retinue of empresses and grand duchesses.
Although, it is worth making a small correction: a girl from poor family, orphan. This became possible if she was the best graduate of the Institute of Noble Maidens, most often Smolny. One of the main requirements was an ideal knowledge of etiquette, as well as the ability to sing, draw and needlework - a kind of "European geisha". Most often, the empresses selected the ladies-in-waiting on their own, but there were also cases when they were “pushed through”, as they would say now, through dating. Resign from office ladies-in-waiting could either own will(which happened extremely rarely), or by getting married.
Ranks
They also took place. most the youngest was the maid of honor . She could be a girl of 14-20 years old, always unmarried. In 1826, Emperor Nicholas I established a complete set of maids of honor - 36 girls. At the same time, one part of them was called "retinue" and had to be with the empresses and princesses constantly, living in the palace, educators of the princesses were appointed from among the "retinue". The other part appeared at the palace only when it was necessary: celebrations, receptions, balls, etc.
More high rank-fraile cameras, honored with only 2-5 young ladies, they were closer to the empress more closely. These are the women who "stayed too long" in the ladies-in-waiting for a long time. They were equated with state ladies.
*chamber-maid of honor A.A. Okulova
State ladies - these are the wives of large ranks, many of them had any awards, thereby being "cavalry ladies". They did not have any duties at court, they were present only at ceremonies (and even then not by force), the rest of the time they were on “vacations”.
Appearance
On the left side of the chest, the ladies-in-waiting were required to wear cipher - the gold monogram of the Empress, covered with diamonds. It was a distinction, a rank, a pride for every girl. It was handed over exclusively from the hands of the Empress in an informal setting. Only Empress Alexandra Feodorovna broke the tradition of presenting pins in the early 1900s, which caused even greater hatred of the Russian aristocracy.
Depending on who the ladies-in-waiting served, their The outfits were different.
state ladies and maids of honor wore a velvet top green dress, with gold embroidery on the bottom and side, the mentors had a dress of blue color, y ladies-in-waiting to Her Majesty - crimson, maid of honor of the Grand Duchess of the same color, but already with silver embroidery, it was the same for maid of honor Velikizh Knyazhon in conjunction with blue dress, y g offmeistrinam with maids of honor the top dress was crimson.
To those ladies who came to the yard , gave a little more freedom of choice: the dress could have absolutely any color and sewing (just not copying what the ladies of the court had), but only the one that was installed in style. The head should have been without fail decorate a povoinik, headband or kokoshnik with a veil.
Naturally, the outfit changed with each new empress: style, sewing, colors, dresses differed depending on the event for which they were dressed. But all historians agree on one thing: the outfits of the ladies-in-waiting of the Russian Empire were unsurpassed! In no other country did they look so chic and rich!
dwelling
The no more noble was the origin of the maid of honor, the more luxurious was her room. Those girls who did not have a big name, lived very modestly: small rooms painted in grey colour, a wooden partition that divided the space into two parts, old furniture that was kept to a minimum. The maid of honor's corridor was located in the southern half on the third floor of the Winter Palace, and consisted of several such rooms. The noble young ladies lived near the imperial chambers and had in them the interior is much more expensive and rich. There were also those lucky ones whom Her Majesty favored whole apartment : she was in the palace and had a living room, bedroom, bathroom and even a maid's room. In addition to a personal servant, such ladies-in-waiting relied on a footman, a coachman, a pair of horses and a carriage. They were also provided with food from the royal table, these were the best dishes which one could only imagine: in the morning the girl was brought a menu so that she could make a choice.
But one should not think that the ladies-in-waiting from poor families had a bad life. : compared with the conditions that awaited them at home, the conditions at the palace seemed like a fairy tale: everything was modest, but in abundance. In addition, there was an unspoken career ladder”: as soon as the Empress liked the living conditions, and the salary became many times better.
Responsibilities
The maids of honor were the retinue of Her Majesty, and, therefore, were obliged to accompany the Empress always and everywhere. There was a certain “work schedule”: the girls were on duty in threes during the week, while the time was distributed so that one of them was ALWAYS next to Her Majesty during the day. The list of duties of the ladies-in-waiting included the following:
- accompaniment on walks and ceremonial exits, on trips, etc.;
- reading books aloud for the empress, playing chess, cards, badminton, etc. - that is, finding interesting activities, games;
-respond to letters dictated by the Empress, write telegrams, greeting cards;
- entertain guests, "please the eye" at receptions;
-play the piano, sing, dance, etc.
In addition, the ladies-in-waiting had to be aware of all palace events, affairs, to know by heart all those close to the imperial family, dates and birthdays, news about eminent families - the girls had to give an accurate and correct answer to any question of the empress, if this did not happen, serious problems could arise.
No concessions were made even to beginners: they asked exactly the same amount from them as from the “experienced”. That is, as soon as the girl gained the status of "maid of honor", at the same moment the empress could ask, "What is the name of my cousin's son, who was born about two hours ago?" The answer “I don’t know” for the maid of honor was simply unacceptable.
Despite the fact that the “work schedule” had a place to be, it was still conditional, since at any moment, the empress could call any lady-in-waiting and give her an order. It was against the rules, but it happened nonetheless. Therefore, the girls are practically did not have own life, they could not do what they wanted, but did only what the Empress wished. They could not argue, make plans, because during their service at the court, they became some kind of “golden slaves”: they went where the ruler ordered, communicated with those whom she chose, did what they were ordered to. There were also cases when a maid of honor who was guilty of something was sent into exile: sometimes to a place more or less crowded, and sometimes to the very wilderness, for a while or for the rest of her life.
Advantages
Despite the almost complete lack of freedom, almost every girl dreamed of becoming a maid of honor. So why? Firstly, the maid of honor fell under the patronage of the empress and it was costly. She was next to the most powerful woman in the country, and, therefore, she could hope for her safety and security. The ladies-in-waiting were paid a salary depending on the rank: from 1000 to 4000 rubles a year. At the same time, they were fully supported by the state: they lived in the palace, ate and dressed, traveled and attended the loudest celebrations without paying a penny for it.
Secondly, to become a maid of honor meant to get married successfully: rotating in the highest circles of the country, the girls could count on the most "winning game". Often the husband for the maid of honor was selected by the empress, and this was a guarantee of the well-being of the groom and his high rank. For the wedding, the maid of honor received a very generous gift “from the palace” of 10-14 thousand rubles, clothes, jewelry, household items, etc.
Some have remained old ladies and lived in order until the end of their days. As a rule, the monarchs got used to them very much and considered them, if not members of the family, then definitely close to them. Many of these ladies-in-waiting became educators of imperial children.
The "hidden" side of a beautiful life
Oh so called "unofficial" duties of ladies-in-waiting everyone knew, but it was not customary to talk about it. As a rule, the ladies-in-waiting were chosen by both the empress and the emperor himself (this was not his business, but there are quite a few cases when His Highness patronized a lady). It is clear that the choice of the latter was made in order to provide yourself with a vending "fun", their wives were well aware of this, but silently accepted given fact. It used to be that the ladies-in-waiting served "gift for the night" for noble guests of the imperial house, or, became the mistresses of the rulers themselves, whether they wanted it or not. For those girls who came from a famous family, such a "fate" was offensive but they could not refuse courtship. They were often received from the growing sons of the monarchic family, who, due to their sexual development, could not bypass the beautiful and stately young girls at court.
History knows a large number of ladies-in-waiting, not delayed in this rank. They were called "ladies for special services" : girls who liked the men from the imperial family. “Having played enough”, they were removed from their posts so as not to spread unnecessary rumors, which, in principle, was unsuccessful.
The public is constantly judging "imperial orgies" , in which the maids of honor participated, and there was also famous case with Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and her maid of honor Anna Vyrubova, who were attributed to lesbianism: these women were too close, and witnesses more than once saw how they retired to the bedroom at night. Despite vows spiritual father at court that "all these are lies," suspicions haunted the empress until the end of her days.
Among the maids of honor there were quite a few of those surnames that are currently known to everyone: Tyutchev, Ushakov, Shuvalov, Tolstaya, Golitsyn, Naryshkin, etc. . Each parent dreamed of attaching their daughter to the court, they themselves dreamed about it. But in fact it turned out that this life is sickeningly boring and monotonous: imperial everyday life, carried by the ladies-in-waiting in the literal sense "on their feet", was replaced by solemn receptions and balls, and so on in a circle. This is not life, but a fairy tale! many might think. Yes, but only at the end of this fable, the maid of honor dreamed of seeing a beautiful marriage and exit from the ranks serving the empress, but in fact, a fairy tale could turn into a story long for a whole life: whole life lack of complete freedom, alternating loud balls and silence of palace rooms, a whole life in a golden cage, in the rank of "maid of honor".
Anna Taneeva was the great-great-great-granddaughter of the great Russian commander Kutuzov. Her father, Alexander Sergeevich, for 20 years held the important state post of Secretary of State and Chief Executive of His Own Imperial Majesty's Chancellery - a position that was practically inherited in the Taneyev family. In January 1904, young Anna Taneeva was “granted by code”, that is, she received a court appointment to the post of maid of honor to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. The maid of honor cipher with a monogram was a brooch in the form of a monogram of the empress or two intertwined initials of the empress and the dowager. The picturesque composition was crowned with a stylized imperial crown. Receiving a maid of honor cipher for many young aristocrats was the embodiment of their dream of court service. Note that the tradition of presenting the maid of honor cipher by the ruling and dowager empresses with their own hands was strictly observed until the beginning of the 20th century - Alexandra Feodorovna renounced this right, which deeply offended the Russian aristocracy and completely undermined her reputation at court. By the way, until the beginning of 1917, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna conscientiously fulfilled this duty, which her daughter-in-law so frivolously refused.
On April 30, 1907, the 22-year-old maid of honor of Empress Taneyev is getting married. As a spouse, the choice fell on the naval officer Alexander Vyrubov. A week before the wedding, the empress asks her friend, the Montenegrin princess Milica, the wife of Grand Duke Peter Nikolayevich (grandson of Nicholas I), to introduce her maid of honor to the healer and seer Grigory Rasputin, who was then gaining popularity. Together with her sister Anastasia, with whom the Montenegrin friend was inseparable, Milica wanted to use the "old man" as an instrument of influence on Nicholas II to fulfill personal desires and help her native country. The first acquaintance with Rasputin makes a very strong impression on the girl, which later develops into real worship: “Thin, with a pale, haggard face; His eyes, unusually penetrating, immediately struck me.
The Empress called Vyrubova "big baby"
The wedding of the maid of honor Taneeva is played in Tsarskoye Selo, and the whole royal family comes to the wedding. Family life The young couple is not immediately asked: perhaps because, according to rumors, on their wedding night, the groom got very drunk, and the bride was so frightened that she tried to avoid intimacy by any means. According to Vyrubova's memoirs, her husband's experiences after the disaster in Tsushima left their mark on the unsuccessful marriage. Soon (probably not without the help of Alexandra Fedorovna), her husband leaves for Switzerland for treatment, and a year later Vyrubova asks him for a divorce. So, the 23-year-old maid of honor becomes the closest friend of the 36-year-old empress, her faithful adviser. Now it is she who will become the source of Alexandra Feodorovna's acquaintance with all the city's rumors and gossip: the empress was afraid to go out and preferred to lead a solitary life in Tsarskoye Selo, where the lonely Vyrubova would also settle.
With the outbreak of World War I, Vyrubova, together with imperial family begins to work as a sister of mercy in the infirmary arranged in Tsarskoe Selo. The wounded in this hospital are operated by Vera Gedroits, the most famous female doctor in Russia. Being in voluntary isolation, Alexandra Fedorovna receives almost all the news from the capital from her faithful friend, who often gives her not the best advice. Officers - hospital patients are accustomed to the constant visits of the empress, and therefore allegedly no longer show proper attitude towards her - Vyrubova advises to visit the infirmary less often in order to teach disrespectful subjects a lesson.
At the age of 18, Vyrubova contracted typhus, but escaped.
On January 2, 1915, Vyrubova went by train from Tsarskoe Selo to Petrograd, however, before reaching the capital only 6 miles, the train got into an accident. The adviser to the Empress is found under the rubble with little or no chance of survival. In her memoirs, Vyrubova carefully describes all the details of what happened to her. terrible disaster: 4 hours she lies alone without help. The arriving doctor says: "She is dying, you should not touch her." Then Vera Gedroits arrives and confirms the fatal diagnosis. However, after the identity and status of the victim becomes public knowledge, she is urgently taken to Tsarskoye Selo, where the Empress and her daughters are already waiting on the platform. Despite all the assurances of the doctors that nothing would help the unfortunate woman, Rasputin, who urgently arrived at the request of the Empress, prophetically announces that Vyrubova "will live, but will remain a cripple."
After the abdication, the imperial family lives under arrest in Tsarskoye Selo, Vyrubova remains with them. However, on March 21, they are visited by the Minister of Justice of the Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky, who arrests the empress's friend on suspicion of an anti-government conspiracy, despite all persuasions and complaints. The soldiers of the guard are quite surprised that the famous Vyrubova is not at all a depraved secular diva, but a disabled person on crutches, looking much older than her 32 years.
The investigation denied rumors about her connection with Rasputin
After spending several days in a pre-trial detention cell, Vyrubova finds herself in the most terrible prison for political criminals - in the Trubetskoy Bastion. Peter and Paul Fortress, where, in addition to the empress's friend, other enemies also fall new government, whose names were associated with all the most terrible crimes former regime: Alexander Dubrovin, leader of the right-wing Union of the Russian People party; Vladimir Sukhomlinov, former Minister of War; Boris Shtyurmer and Ivan Goremykin, Prime Ministers; Alexander Protopopov, Interior Minister. Tsarist officials are kept in appalling conditions. When Vyrubova is brought into the cell, the soldiers take the straw bag and pillow from the bed, tear off the golden chain on which the cross hangs, take away the icons and decorations: “The cross and several icons fell on my knees. I cried out in pain; then one of the soldiers hit me with his fist, and, spitting in my face, they left, slamming the iron door behind them. From Vyrubova's memoirs, it becomes clear how inhuman the attitude towards the prisoners was: from dampness and constant cold, she gets pleurisy, her temperature rises, she finds herself practically exhausted. There is a huge puddle on the floor in the middle of her cell, sometimes she falls into it from her bunk in delirium and wakes up soaked through. The prison doctor, according to Vyrubova's memoirs, mocks the prisoners: “I was literally starving. Twice a day they brought half a bowl of some kind of bourda, like soup, into which the soldiers often spat, they put glass. It often stank of rotten fish, so I plugged my nose, swallowing some to keep from starving; poured out the rest." However, a few months later, a thorough investigative check was finally carried out, and on July 24 Vyrubova was released due to the lack of corpus delicti.
For a month Vyrubova lives quietly in Petrograd, until on August 25 she is declared an extremely dangerous counter-revolutionary and sent to the Finnish fortress of Sveaborg. The convoy leaves for its destination on the Polar Star yacht, which used to be the property of royal family, - Vyrubova often visited her: “It was impossible to recognize in the spat, filthy and smoky cabin the wonderful dining room of Their Majesties. At the same tables sat about a hundred "rulers" - dirty, brutalized sailors. By the way, their hatred for each other was mutual - the majority associated the figure of Vyrubova with the most sinister crimes. royal power. Leon Trotsky unexpectedly comes to her aid, who orders the immediate release of the "prisoner of Kerensky" (not without the protection of Vyrubova's mother, Nadezhda Taneeva). On October 3, Vyrubova is brought to a reception at Smolny, where she is met by Lev Kamenev and his wife Olga, sister Trotsky. Here they even feed her dinner, after which they let her go.
Fearing re-arrest, Vyrubova hid with her friends for another year, finding refuge in "the cellars and closets of the poor, who she once rescued from poverty." At the end of 1920, a devoted friend of the former empress managed to illegally enter Finland, where she would live for another 40 years, taking tonsure under the name Maria Taneeva in the Smolensk Skete of the Valaam Monastery.
