Seneschal
The word seneschal ( which, in the medieval period particularly, meant the seneschal might oversee hundreds of laborers, servants and their associated responsibilities, and have a great deal of power in the community, at a time when much of the local economy was often based on the wealth and responsibilities of such a household.
A second meaning is more specific, and concerns the
In the United Kingdom the modern meaning of seneschal is primarily as an ecclesiastical term, referring to a cathedral official.[4]
Origin
The Medieval Latin discifer (dish-bearer) was an officer in the household of later Anglo-Saxon kings, and it is sometimes translated by historians as seneschal, although the term was not used in England before the Norman Conquest.[5][6]
The term, first attested in 1350–1400,[7] was borrowed from Anglo-Norman seneschal "steward", from Old Dutch *siniscalc "senior retainer" (attested in Latin siniscalcus (692 AD), Old High German senescalh), a compound of *sini- (cf. Gothic sineigs "old", sinista "oldest") and scalc "servant", ultimately a calque of Late Latin senior scholaris "senior guard".
The
In France
In
The equivalent post throughout most of northern France was the
- William de Gometz was Seneschal of France c. AD 1000.[11]
- dukes of Normandy.
Under rulers of England
- Constable of the Tower of London, is referred to as "our Seneschal" in Letters of King Henry III of December 1239.[12]
- Sir
- Sir John Chandos, an English knight, was appointed seneschal of Poitou in 1369.[15]
In Anglo-Saxon England
In
In Sark
The Seneschal of Sark presides over the Court of the Seneschal, which hears civil and some criminal cases.[17]
Papacy
Formerly, officers known as Seneschal Dapifers were involved in the ceremony of the papal conclave during the election of a new Pope, to see to mealtimes for the cardinal electors while ensuring secrecy. Cardinals regularly had meals sent in from their homes with much pageantry accompanying the conveyance of food:
Towards noon each day, the Cardinal's gentlemen proceeded to his house and conveyed his dinner to the Vatican in a state coach. They were accompanied by an officer, known as the Seneschal Dapifer, who was charged with the very important duty of seeing that the Cardinal's food was not poisoned! ... The dishes were enclosed in hampers or tin boxes, covered with green or violet drapery, and ... were carried in state through the entrance halls, preceded by the mace of the Cardinal. The Seneschal Dapifer, bearing a serviette on his shoulder, preceded the dishes.... Before the Cardinal received his dinner, each dish underwent a careful inspection by the prelates on guard, in order that no letter should be concealed in it.[18]
These ceremonies have not been observed since the nineteenth century.
See also
- Grand maître de France – the Great Officer of the Crown of France in charge of the Royal Household (the "Maison du Roi")
- Marshal
- Majordomo
- Sheriff, another Germanic-rooted title of command over a jurisdiction, derived from "shire" and "reeve".
- Sir Kay, a legendary seneschal in the court of King Arthur.
- Ednyfed Fychan, 13th-century Seneschal of the Kingdom of Gwynedd.
- Barons Dunboyne, Seneschal of Tipperary, Ireland.
- Kingdom of Alba Seneschals, Scottish Steward
References
Citations
- ^ Oxford University Press: Seneschal
- Encyclopaedia Perthensis; or Universal Dictionary of the ArtsVolume 20 (1816), p. 437
- ^ The Free Dictionary: Seneschal.
- ^ "seneschal" Via the Free Dictionary. Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 HarperCollins Publishers
- ^ ISSN 0263-6751.
- ^ Gautier, Alban (2017). "Butlers and dish-bearers in Anglo-Saxon courts: household officers at the royal table" (PDF). Historical Research: 7.
- ^ "Seneschal definition & meaning". merriam-webster.com.
- ^ Leo Wiener, Commentary to the Germanic Laws and Mediaeval Documents (Harvard UP, 1915; reprint Union, NJ: Lawbook Exchange, 1999), 33-4.
- ^ D. H. Green, Language and history in the early Germanic world (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998), 110-2.
- ^ Wiener, 34.
- ^ 1[failed verification].
- ^ T. Stapleton (ed.), De Antiquis Legibus Liber. Cronica Maiorum et Vicecomitum Londiniarum, Camden Society, Series I no. 34 (London 1846), Appendix, pp. 237-38.
- ^ Fotheringham, James Gainsborough (1889). Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 18. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 311. . In
- ^ Fotheringham, James Gainsborough (1889). Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 18. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 309–310. . In
- ^ Lee, Sidney (1887). Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 10. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 43. . In
- ISBN 978-0-470-65632-7.
- ^ "About the Seneschal's Court". Official Site for The Court of the Seneschal of Sark. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ Wintle, W. J. (June 1903). "How the Pope is Elected: A Popular Account of the Conclave at Rome". London Magazine. 10: 569, 572–4.
Bibliography
- EtymologyOnline
- This entry is in part from Webster's Dictionary (1913)
External links
The dictionary definition of seneschal at Wiktionary