Posted by Damian on 14/6/2009, 2:09:13, in reply to "Re: Queen mothers"
195.93.21.5
--Previous Message--
:
: In that reconstruction, the 1577 queen
: mother would have been the renowned
: Catherine of Medici
That would seem a possibility and would reinforce my belief that the English term was a translation from the French.
: --Previous Message--
: According to Wikipedia,"the term has
: been
: used in England since at least
: 1577".This seems to me doubtful as
: there was certainly nobody about in England
: at that time who could have adopted this
: title.
:
: I have a feeling that there was an
: equivalent title in France for dowager
: queens who were the mother of reigning
: sovereigns,ie.'La Reine Mère' and that Anne
: of Austria,the mother of Louis XIV was
: addressed in this way for instance.
:
: It wouldn't surprise me if the title is of
: French origin as many such terms were
: adopted and translated by English courts
: down the ages,eg.the origin of the term
: 'Princess Royal' can be traced to 'Madame
: Royale' the title of the French king's
: eldest daughter.It was introduced on the
: insistence of Queen Henrietta Maria,the
: French wife of Charles I.I would hazard a
: guess that 'Queen Mother' probably has a
: similar origin in 'La Reine Mère'.
:
:
:
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