Retinue
A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a suite (French "what follows") of retainers.[1]
Etymology
The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French retenue, itself from retenir, from the Latin retenere: to hold back or retain.
Employment
Such retainers were not necessarily in the
Some were a source of trouble and abuse in the 15th and early 16th century.[1]
Often their real importance was very different from their rank: on the one hand, sinecures and supernumerary appointments allowed enjoying benefits without performing full service. On the other hand, 'having the ear' of the master can allow one to act as a confidant in an informal capacity; or in some cases, even as a spy, under the guise of an innocent musician.
The term is sometimes used in the context of the supporters or followers of a medieval knight or great lord, such as Richard, Earl of Salisbury in 15th-century England, which he called upon during the Wars of the Roses.[2]
Historical examples
- Cohors amicorum
- Comitatus
- Dienstmann in Austria
- Druzhina in Kievan Rus'
- Manrent, a Scottish clan bond
- Svita in the Russian Empire
See also
References
- ^ a b public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Retinue". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 203. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ISBN 978-1-317-89896-2.