Everything about The Master Of The Horse totally explained
The
Master of the Horse was (and in some cases, is) a historical position of varying importance in several European nations.
The Roman Master of the Horse (Magister Equitum)
The original Master of the Horse (
Magister Equitum) in the
Roman Republic was an office appointed and dismissed by the
Roman Dictator, which ceased to exist once the Dictator left office. The Magister Equitum served as the Dictator's main
lieutenant. The nomination of the Magister Equitum was left to the choice of the Dictator, unless a senatus consultum specified, as was sometimes the case, the name of the person who was to be appointed. The Dictator couldn't be without a Magister Equitum to assist him, and, consequently, if the first Magister Equitum either died or was dismissed during the six months of the dictatorship, another had to be nominated in his stead. The Magister Equitum was granted Praetorian imperium, thus was subject to the imperium of the Dictator, but in the Dictator’s absence, he became his representative, and exercised the same powers as the Dictator. The imperium of the Magister Equitum wasn't regarded as superior to that of a Consul, but rather a par with a
Praetor. It was usually considered necessary that the person who was to be nominated Magister Equitum should previously have been Praetor, but this wasn't regularly followed. Accordingly, the Magister Equitum had the insignia of a praetor: the
toga praetexta and an escort of six
lictors. The most famous Master of the Horse was probably
Mark Antony, who served during
Julius Caesar's first dictatorship.
The title
Constable, from the Latin
comes stabularis or count of the stables, has a similar history.
Master of the Cavalry
The Magister Equitum was originally, as his name implies, the commander of the cavalry, while the Dictator was at the head of the legions: the infantry. The name came from the original duties from the earliest days of the Republic (caring for the Dictator's stables), as well as the fact that the Dictator's official title was
Magister Populi² (Master of the People). Note that when
Magister Equitum is rendered by its traditional translation
Master of the Horse, the word "horse" is being used in an old-fashioned way to mean "cavalry." (
Equitum is the
genitive plural of
eques, "horseman".) The parallel term
magister peditum may likewise be translated by the archaic "master of foot" or the more modern "master of infantry."
The United Kingdom Master of the Horse
The Master of the Horse in the
United Kingdom is an important official of the
sovereign's household. The master of the horse is the third
dignitary of the court, and was always a member of the
ministry (before
1782 the office was of
cabinet rank), a
peer and a
privy councillor. All matters connected with the
horses and formerly also the
hounds of the sovereign, as well as the
stables and
coachhouses, the
stud,
mews and previously the
kennels, are within his jurisdiction. The practical management of the
royal stables and stud devolves on the chief or
Crown Equerry, formerly called the
Gentleman of the Horse, whose appointment was always permanent. The
Clerk Marshal had the supervision of the accounts of the department before they're submitted to the
Board of Green Cloth, and was in waiting on the
Sovereign on state occasions only. Exclusive of the
Crown Equerry there were seven regular
equerries, besides extra and honorary equerries, one of whom was always in attendance on the Sovereign and rode at the side of the royal carriage. They were always officers of the
army, and each of them was on duty for about the same time as the lords and
grooms in waiting. There are still several
pages of honour who are nominally in the master of the horse's department, who must not be confounded with the
pages of various kinds who are in the department of the
Lord Chamberlain. They are youths aged from twelve to sixteen, selected by the sovereign in person, to attend on him at state ceremonies. At the Coronation they assisted the groom of the stole in carrying the royal train.
The current Master of the Horse is
Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey. See also:
List of Masters of the Horse
Today the Master of the Horse has a primarily ceremonial office, and rarely appears except on state occasions, and especially when the Sovereign is mounted. The
Crown Equerry has daily oversight of the
Royal Mews, which provides vehicular transport for the Sovereign, both cars and horse-drawn carriages. Train travel is arranged by the Royal Travel Office, which also co-ordinates air transport.
The Pages of Honour, who appear only on ceremonial occasions, and the
Equerries, were nominally under the authority of the Master of the Horse. The former are now controlled by the
Keeper of the Privy Purse. The latter are effectively independent, and are functionally closer to the Private Secretary's Office. There are now three equerries to the Sovereign, and a larger number of extra equerries - usually retired officers with some connection to the
Royal Household. The extra equerries are rarely if ever required for duty, but the Equerries are in attendance on the Sovereign on a daily basis. For some years the senior
Equerry has also held the position of
Deputy Master of the Household. The permanent equerry is an officer of
major rank or equivalent, recruited from the three armed services in turn. Many previous equerries have gone on to reach high rank. The temporary equerry is a
Captain of the
Coldstream Guards, who provides part-time attendance. When not required for duty he's additional regimental or staff duties. Senior members of the
Royal Family also have one or two equerries.
The French Master of the Horse
In
France the master of the horse, known as the
Grand Squire of France (
Grand Écuyer, or more usually
Monsieur le grand) was one of the seven
Great Officers of the Crown of France from
1595. As well as the superintendence of the royal stables, he'd that of the retinue of the
sovereign, also the charge of the funds set aside for the religious functions of the court,
coronations, etc. On the death of a sovereign he'd the right to all the horses and their equipment in the royal stables. He oversaw personally the "Great Stable" ("grande écurie"). Distinct from this officer and independent of him, was the first equerry (
Premier Ecuyer), who had charge of the horses which the sovereign used personally (
La petite curie), and who attended on him when he rode out. The office of master of the horse existed down to the reign of
Louis XVI. Under
Louis XVIII and
Charles X the duties were discharged by the first equerry, but under
Napoleon I and
Napoleon III the office was revived with much of its old importance.
The German Master of the Horse
In
Germany the master of the horse (
Oberststallmeister) was a high court dignitary; but his office was merely titular, the superintendence of the Emperor's stables having been carried out by the
Oberstallmeister, an official corresponding to the crown equerry in England.
Papal Master of the Horse
The Master of the Horse, Cavallerizzo Maggiore, or Hereditary Superintendent of the Stables of the Palaces, was a hereditary position held by the
Marquess Serlupi Crescenzi. The office was a Participating Privy
Chamberlain of the Sword and Cape, in the
Pontifical Household. It was abolished in the reforms of the
Papal Curia of 1968.
Sweden
Riksstallmästare was one of the lesser grand offices of the state, not belonging to the top five offices who were leaders of the High Council, but being one of those which were more connected to the royal court.
Russian Equerry
Konyushy (
Russian:
Конюший) is literally translated as Master of the Horse or Equerry.
Konyushy was a
boyar in charge of the
stables of
Russian rulers. It was a high title at the
court of Russian rulers until the 17th century. By the end of the 15th century a special Equerry Office (конюшенный приказ, "konyushenny
prikaz") was introduced, headed by the Konyushy. It was in charge of the
Tsar's stables, parade equipage, ceremonies of court ride-offs, and military horse breeding. At one point
Boris Godunov was konyushy. The Equerry Office handled a significant amount of Tsar's treasures, related to
harness and horse/horseman
armor, which were transferred to the
Kremlin Armoury in
1736.
Equerry in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
"
Koniuszy" (corresponding to the
English-language "Equerry" or "Master of the Horse") was a position of
nobility known in the
Kingdom of Poland from the
11th century, and in the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the
15th. A
koniuszy had charge of the stables and herds of a
Grand Duke or
King; in reality, it was a
podkoniuszy (sub-equerry), subordinate to the
koniuszy, who had the more direct responsibility.
From the
14th-
16th centuries, a "koniuszy" was a dignitary (
dygnitarz) in the
Polish Kingdom and in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In the
Kingdom of Georgia, the similar post was known under the name of
amilakhvari (
amir-akhori), derived from
Arabic. It was a deputy to the commander-in-chief (
amir-spasalari) and a member of the royal council. From the 1460s to the Russian annexation of Georgia (1801), the office was hereditary in the
Zevdginidze-Amilakhvari family.
Asia
Similar posts were common in the imperial courts of China (See
Sima as a Chinese surname) and Japan, the royal courts of Korea, and elsewhere in East Asia. The Siamese
kingdom of Ayutthaya had a Master of the Royal Elephants.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Master Of The Horse'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://master_of_the_horse.totallyexplained.com">Master of the Horse Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
