The Governess of the Children of France (sometimes the Governess of the Royal Children) was an office at the royal French court during pre-Revolutionary France and the Bourbon Restoration. As the head of the royal nursery, she was charged with the education of the children and grandchildren of the monarch. The holder of the office was taken from the highest-ranking nobility of France and was passed between female family members for much of its history by right of succession (survivance). The governess was supported by various deputies or under-governesses (sous gouvernantes) and oversaw a household consisting of dozens of servants and caregivers.
The Livre qui contient tout ce qui peut interesser Madame la Gouvernante des Enfans de France et surintandante de Leurs Maisons[1] (1704-44) is the primary written source on the office of the royal governess during the Bourbon dynasty. It is housed and digitized by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The official court document serves as a manual for the governess and her deputies. It includes the etiquette, ceremonial procedures and daily responsibilities of the role in great detail. It also consists of household inventories of the royal nursery.
^"Livre qui contient tout ce qui peut interesser Madame la Gouvernante des Enfans de France et surintandante de Leurs Maisons". archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr.
and 18 Related for: Governess of the Children of France information
governess is a term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the...
early childhood by Madame de Marsan, theGovernessoftheChildrenofFrance.[citation needed] At the death of his father in 1765, Charles's oldest surviving...
named GovernessoftheChildrenofFrance. Affectionate and intelligent, thegoverness assembled a considerable collection of books intended to give the infant...
Dauphin. Louis Stanislas found comfort in his governess, Madame de Marsan, GovernessoftheChildrenofFrance, as he was her favourite among his siblings...
and Louise de Prie, Marquise of Toucy, Duchess of La Motte Houdancourt, maréchale, governess to thechildrenofFrance. Charlotte's sisters were: Françoise...
violet-eyed, the lovely, the gentle Polignac." Another critic is Elisabeth de Feydeau. In 1782, theGovernessoftheChildrenofFrance, Victoire de Rohan,...
of Guéméné (28 December 1743 – 20 September 1807) was a French noblewoman and court official. She was thegovernessofthechildrenof Louis XVI of France...
was a French court official and letter writer. She was the daughter of Robert de Harlay de Sancy, Baron de Montglat, and theFrench royal governess Françoise...
d'Havré, the last governessof Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's children. Following her mother's appointment as governess to thechildrenofFrance, Pauline...
under the care ofthegovernessofthe imperial children, Countess von Brandeis. Maria Antonia was raised together with her sister, Maria Carolina of Austria...
Madame de Brissac (born 1482) was a French noblewoman and courtier who served as theGovernessoftheChildrenofFrance. Gouffier de Boisy was born in 1482...
was thegovernessof Louis XVI ofFrance and his siblings. She was an influential figure oftheFrench court and a driving force ofthe Dévots and the conservative...
II (French: François II; 19 January 1544 – 5 December 1560) was King ofFrance from 1559 to 1560. He was also King of Scotland as the husband of Mary...
as María Teresa de Austria and in France as Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche. Maria Theresa was raised by the royal governess Luisa Magdalena de Jesus. Her religious...