(Redirected from Courtiers)
A 'courtier' is a person who attends upon, and thus receives a privileged position from a powerful person, usually a
head of state. In the United States, the term has taken on negative connotations as a synonym for
favorite or hanger-on.
It is usually also used in a historical context, especially to describe the attendants of a luxurious
autocrat such as
Louis XIV of France. This context is used by many to make the word quaintly old-fashioned and irrelevant in contemporary circumstances, although "placemen" and rewarded campaign-donors in the
American political system are contemporary examples of ''de facto'' courtiers.
Examples of famous courtiers
★
Anne Boleyn
★ The
princesse de Lamballe
★ The
duc de Luynes
★ The
marquis de Cinq-Mars
★ The
duc de Saint-Simon
★
Einhard - Courtier of
Charlemagne and
Louis the Pious
★ Forsyths were courtiers of the Scottish Kings at Falkland Palace.
★
Sir Francis Bacon
★
Madame de Pompadour
See also
★ ''
The Book of the Courtier'' by
Baldassare Castiglione