#like nobility noble

[mahvaladara]

Local Goddess Throws Sissy fit over desirable local bachelor's rejection. Local Bachelor said he didn't understand her behaviour, while baring his chest like an inflated prize winning peacock at an exotic bird's local fair.

[youngyoo-apologist]

Why is Basen’s life low key like Sofia the first

[pettyprocrastination]

as much as I love 141 medieval au's here the reader is a noble lady saved from her marriage or some lone townswomans rescued by the group of knights (looking @ my own nun!reader in this) I do love the notion of a lady knight.

A badass woman with no name or backstory that's taken up the life of a sellsword- who scoffs at the notion of "honor" when spilling blood on your blade- death is death. Honor means nothing for God or king.

Her hair is cut close to her scalp, because it's all too easy for somebody to grab a handful of those soft locks and be at the perfect position to slit her throat in a fight. Covered in scars and carried by aching bones that broke years ago but never quite healed properly.

Maybe Price is a king who sees this helmeted figure fighting at a tourney for his name day and asks for their name- their noble house only to learn you have none. Simply a desire for the money awarded to the winner.

Maybe Gaz is beloved prince who often sneaks out from his guards nose to mingle with the common folk- who enjoys sitting in a tavern with others and singing songs while drinking ale with a pretty little thing on his lap until he's walking back to the palace and finds a blade at his neck in a dark alley as you warn him that noblebloods should never walk unaccompanied- it makes the job far too easy.

Maybe a beautiful noble lady is sent to stay under the eye of a royal family in discussion for marriage- when the house offers to gift her one for their personal guards of the 141, she insists she more than happy with her own- you. The silent armor-clad figure standing close to her side. (yes I miss domentzia. she's my wife and always will be).

[lfornow]

If I had a nickel for every time that Merlin helped and housed a beautiful man who flirted with Gwen and then got banished from Camelot for breaking the knights code, only to eventually become a knight of the round table, I would have TWO NICKELS.

It might not be a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, etc.

[vultures-and-scavengers]

there's so many ~rules~ around fancy dinners, the courses, the silver you use, names for foods you might never have heard, and i imagine its far worse in orlais, where everything is over the top and meant to be seen and judged.

and josephine and leliana can navigate that fine, and depending on the inquisitor (especially trevelyans), i imagine they can handle themselves.

which leaves the last member of the leadership quartet, who spent the first 13 years of his life eating rural ferelden fare and then spent the next 16-17 years likely eating in mess halls between duties.

and how do you then represent the inquisition in a world where you are the outsider and everything about the world you are stepping foot in is meant to keep you and other commoners out? when this world is the one that plays with the lives of commoners like toys?

[dreadark]

ebenholz is such a…character. if you make him your assistant he just tells you he won’t do shit. he forgot his tragic backstory because he got hit in the head really hard. he got his name from looking at a piano for 2 seconds and it was so obvious he immediately got called out. he tells you his headache doesn’t matter then right after uses it as an excuse. he has the voice of a 150+ year old tyrant king in his head and he talks to it like he’s acting the two bagels vine

and then he says shit like this. Who are you

[mamawasatesttube]

just thinking out loud here but i feel like a lot of popular perception of kon esp in online fandom spaces is colored by his joie de vivre and all the times he's silly and goofy. which i do of course adore!! i love when he's silly and goofy. but comparing that perception to, that of like, clark or kara, i feel like kon gets shunted into the box of "dumb comic relief character" a lot more easily. lots of factors probably contribute to that (sb94 having a bad rep, while no other kon comic really goes into a lot of his tragedy; conflation with the side of the fandom that doesn't read comics; the fact that comparatively postcrisis kara doesn't have a team the way kon has yj and clark is seen as a more capable adult, so other characters in the jl get the "dumb comic relief" short end of the stick more often; etc) ...

... but what really gets me about him is that he does embody a lot of the same traits as the rest of the kryptonian superfam. he's so extremely kind. he's got that same noble heart as the rest of them; he cares about everyone and he wants to protect everyone. and he's so, so lonely. he struggles between cultures and worlds where he feels like he doesn't belong to either. he is so strong and capable and holds so much power that it scares him.

cradles him gently in my hands. he contains multitudes... come closer don't you want to love him 🥺

[swordmaid]

think cannibalism should be a thing in menzoberranzan actually, or maybe it is and I haven’t known about it, but it should be a thing amongst the nobles where they eat rival lolth priestesses since they’re lolth’s fave sacrifices anyway. like if we’re all constantly vying for lolth’s approval, and you have these people who actually has her blessing (which is rare) why not….eat them….😳. like eating the priestess of a rival house would be a ritual after you’ve succeeded in bringing their house down as a way to consume lolth’s blessing, and its def an intimidation tactic and def one of the plenty weird shit nobles have done for the sake of playing their power games. maybe they eat males who are in power too if they’ve overstepped their position to remind them of their place in the hierarchy, or maybe matriarchs/nobles eat their favourite bed mate/partner so no one else can have them, kind of like actual spiders. anyway. if menzoberranzan is this immoral lethal and ruthless place cannibalism should def be a thing lol

[renjirukia]

i've brought this up before i'm sure, but byakuya being sooo self-involved during the ss arc and so myopically obsessed with rukia's execution and how it relates to him and makes him feel etc... that he just doesn't clock the massive government conspiracy going down opens such a juicy can of worms for characterization.

[art-leon]

hm . thinking abt thaumhorizons reincarnation

[sandpaperoctopi]

Leo 🦋

[doubleedgemode]

*thinks abt the classic gg quotes where a.b.a calls herself an innocent little girl and has a weird little nobility complex* what does that mean

(Expanded on in this post's tags)

[archduchessofnowhere]

How many ladies-in-waiting did Empress Elisabeth have during her tenure as empress/queen?

Hi! I’m really glad I got this ask because lately I’ve been really interested in the people “behind the scenes” of Elisabeth’s life. But before answering this, we need to add some context and terminology, because “lady-in-waiting” is actually a very vague term.

First of all, who could access court?

The Habsburg court was extremely conservative on who could access it. While the courts of France or Prussia allowed the access of the rich bourgeoisie, to enter the Viennese court you needed to have an impecable noble background:

This small group of old nobility made up “court society”. They were the elite who passed all the tests of “ancestral lineage examination” with flying colours, who were permitted unlimited entry to court based on the pristine purity of their ancestral background. This exclusive group did not need to shine through achievement, it already possessed the requisite glamour from their heritage as princes, counts or barons. Whoever could prove eight maternal and paternal ancestors stemming from a noble line of flawless credentials and whose own ancestors had not broken this longstanding chain through marriages with partners beneath their standing could legitimately lay claim to the seal of approval generally dubbed ‘admissable at court’ (hoffähig). (Winkelhofer, 2012)

The women that were allowed to “wait” on the empress belonged to this exclusive group of nobles made up of about 400 families in the empire. “Rebel/low class woman infiltrates in court and becomes Elisabeth’s lady-in-waiting” is a trope that appeared in both RTL Sisi and Netflix Die Kaiserin, but that would’ve been simply impossible. There was a department in charge of checking everyone’s backgrounds, investigating every paper register and historical family tree. You either had the proper ancestry, or you weren’t allowed entrance.

So what was exactly the role of a “lady-in-waiting” at the Habsburg court?

There were two types of what we usually call “lady-in-waiting”: hofdamen (court ladies) and palastdamen (palaces ladies). Palastdamen were the aforementioned women who had access to court due to their noble status. Having access to court didn’t meant, however, that you just popped up at balls whenever you wanted. Even if you had an illustrious family tree you still needed to obtain official court recognition in order to be able to obtain a place at official occasions (for women, according to Winkelhofer, this was receiving the Order of the Starry Cross). Also Franz Josef was very strict on the nobility, and he demanded that nobles attended regularly at court to fulfill their duties; if someone didn’t appear in a long time they had to answer an inquiry as to why they had been absent, and the emperor could go as far as revoking their right to appear.

The compulsory duties of the nobility were, first, to pay their respects to the Emperor on 1st January at the New Year’s Day Reception, and later to attend to the two official balls that took place weeks later: the “Court Ball” and the “ball at court”. The next mandatory appearances were the holy day festivities; the most important event at court was the Corpus Christi procession:

The traditional procession the court at Corpus Christi - fondly dubbed “God’s Court Ball” by the Viennese - was the most significant festive day on the calendar to the imperial family, since this holiday celebrated and demonstrated the longstanding close ties of the dynasty to the Catholic Church. Everyone had to appear at the procession, including those who were not assigned to march in the parade itself, since the emperor viewed this as his foremost representational duty. (Winkelhofer, 2012)

Meanwhile, being a hofdame was a paid job. Unlike palastdamen, who entered court by their status alone, hofdamen had to be personally appointed to the position. Their main job was to keep company of their mistress all the time, which Elisabeth found annoying (“She says herself that it is not unpleasant to her to see us occasionally, but it is odious to her to have us in waiting” [Corti, 1936]). Being a hofdame, however, wasn’t cheap, since they always had to have new gowns for every official occasion, which their salaries usually couldn’t cover, and needed the support of their families (x). Also, a hofdame always had to be single, so when she married she lost the job.

As Empress, Elisabeth had her own household. The Oberhofmeisterin (a title that is usually translated as “Mistress of the Robes”) was in charge of controlling the household, hiring and firing staff, enforced discipline and etiquette, and replaced the empress at official events in case she couldn’t attend. She was the highest-ranking noble women at court, and unlike the aforementioned hofdamen, she could be married. During her 44 years tenure as empress Elisabeth had four Oberhofmeisterin:

Countess Sophie Esterházy (née Princess of Liechtenstein)

Countess Paula Königsegg (née Countess Bellegarde)

Countess Marie Goëss (née Countess Welsersheimb)

Countess Maria Theresia Harrach (née Princess of Thurn und Taxis)

In Elisabeth’s household there was also an special position, created exclusively for one woman: Ida Ferenczy. She is often called a “lady-in-waiting” (even myself on this blog called her that), but this isn’t correct. When Elisabeth was learning Hungarian in 1864, she asked for a lady who could help her practice the language. A list of ladies was created, which included Ida, and she was chosen. However, there was a problem: Ida wasn’t from nobility, but from the gentry, and therefore she couldn’t be made a hofdame. How did she even got on that list without having the right ancestry is a mystery to this day. But Elisabeth liked her and wanted to keep her in her household, so a position for her was created: “vorleserin”, the reader. She became one the empress’ closest confidents and remained in her service until her death.

Now, to finally answer the question: how many ladies-in-waiting Elisabeth had during her 44 years of tenure as empress?

Sadly I can’t give you an exact number. However, we can have an idea of how many and who they were. The Hof- und Staatshandbuch des österreichischen Kaiserthumes (renamed Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie after 1873) was the official guide of the Austrian empire, published from 1806 until the fall of the monarchy in 1918. These guides contained, among other things, lists of the complete staff of the imperial family’s households, as well as list of who had access to court. The Austrian National Library has available for free most, although sadly not all, of these guides. And yes, who were Elisabeth’s hofdamen each year is mentioned.

The years missing sadly correspond to Elisabeth’s first years as empress, as well as almost all of 1860s. Since I’m mainly following the official guide, there may be some mistakes; some ladies weren’t in the guide but I found the info about them in biographies (this was the case of Mathilde Windisch-Graetz). Anyway, these were some of Elisabeth’s hofdamen!

Countess Pauline “Paula” Bellegarde (served from 1854 until her marriage in 1857, Oberhofmeisterin from 1862 until 1868)

Countess Caroline Lamberg (served from 1854 until her marriage in 1860)

Countess Josepha Wallis (served since at least 1856 until 1858)

Countess Sophie Coudenhove (served since at least 1856 until ?)

Baroness Ludovica Sturmfeder (served since at least 1856 until 1866/7)

Princess Helene of Thurn und Taxis (served from 1858 until her marriage in 1871)

Countess Louise Bombelles (served from 1860 until ?)

Countess Caroline “Lily” Hunyady (served from 1861 until her marriage in 1871)

Princess Mathilde Windisch-Graetz (served from 1861 until ?)

Countess Mária “Marie” Festetics (served from 1872 until Elisabeth’s death)

Countess Ludovica Hedwig Schaaffgotsche (served since at least 1872 until 1877)

Miss Mary Throckmorton (Valerie’s governess, served from early 1870s until 1874)

Landgravine Therese of Fürstenberg (served from 1877 until 1889)

Countess Sarolta Máilath (served from 1883 until her marriage in 1890)

Countess Janka Mikes (served from 1892 until her marriage in 1896)

Countess Irma Sztáray (served from 1894 until Elisabeth’s death)

Some things about these ladies:

Lily was the niece of Countess Esterházy, the empress’ first Oberhofmeisterin.

Mathilde was a widow; as far as I could find, she was the only widow to ever serve Elisabeth as a hofdame.

Helene was the daughter of Elisabeth’s Oberhofmeister from 1854 until 1857, Prince Friedrich Hannibal of Thurn und Taxis.

Paula and her husband Count Alfred Königsegg were appointed at the same time as Elisabeth’s Oberhofmeisterin and Oberhofmeister respectively. Paula resented the growing Hungarian faction around the empress and openly complained about them, which made her fell from favor. She and her husband were finally dismissed in 1868.

Marie Festetics was first a hofdame of Archduchess Clotilde.

I had literally never heard of Ludovica Hedwig until I went through the guide, and I could find nothing about her outside of it.

Mary Throckmorton was recommended to Elisabeth by her sister Queen Marie of the Two Sicilies; I’m not really sure if she was actually a hofdame since her job was being Valerie’s governess, but she appears as a hofdame in the guide. Go figure.

Therese was first a hofdame of Archduchess Sophie. After she left service (seemly for health issues), all of Elisabeth’s hofdamen were Hungarian.

Sarolta was chosen as a hofdame because she was in a good physical shape that allowed her keep up with Elisabeth’s walking speed.

Irma entered service in 1894 but only appears as a hofdame since 1896. Go figure again.

Sources:

Corti, Egon Conte (1936). Elizabeth, empress of Austria

Das spanische Hofzeremoniell - Hofetikete, on Mythos Kaiserin Elisabeth

Hof- und Staatshandbuch des österreichischen Kaiserthumes (1856-1860, 1866, 1868)

Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie (1874, 1876-1898)

Winkelhofer, Martina (2012). The Everyday Life of the Emperor: Francis Joseph and His Imperial Court

[possamble]

Depending on how old Marcille's elf grandparents were/are Marcille could have an uncle/aunt that could be older than her in numbers but biologically in the same developmental maturity range

Hey. Hey. Can you. Can you fucking imagine if Pattadol was-- [gunshot]

[mamuzzy]

Tallisibeth Enwandung Esterhazy.

Damn those jedi and their habit of stealing hungarian noble babies from their parents.

[aragaki]

Link simultaneously being a feral swamp creature who eats bugs and also the ONLY Hylian aristocrat is hysterical to me.