Posted by Johan on 14/6/2009, 17:35:44, in reply to "Re: Queen mothers"
213.46.149.166
Especially because there were beside la Reine (Louise de Lorraine-Vaudemont) three dowager queens of France, Catherine de Medicis, Mary Stuart and Elisabeth of Austria. With Louise as La Reine, Mary as La Reine d'Escosse and Elisabeth as La reine douariere the idea of adressing Catherine as La Reine-mère seems very logical as it makes the distinction between the different ladies easier.
--Previous Message--
: --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'.
:
:
:
:
:
Message Thread:
« Back to thread