Ladies-in-Waiting at the Court of Charles IV (1788–1808): Serving the Royal Family While in Search of Long-Term Financial Stability

The succession of Charles IV gave Spain a queen for the first time since the death of his mother in 1760. Queen María Luisa, of course, required a number of ladies-in-waiting (camaristas or, if married, damas de la reina); similarly the royal children needed such servitors. Sources in the Archive of the Royal Palace (Madrid) reveal that between the accession of Charles IV and Luisa in December 1788 and the king's initial abdication in March 1808, 133 unmarried young women were named camaristas. Employing a prosopographical approach, the proposed paper will examine the family backgrounds, tenure, and marriages of these women whose appointment placed them at the center of the court and also provided a substantial annuity upon marriage. This focus will both identify the camaristas as a group and reveal an unstudied level of patronage and networks at court during the years of preeminence of royal favorite Manuel Godoy. The 133 camaristas were primarily descended from families of the middle ranks of the nobility. Only 13 of their fathers held titles of nobility; twenty-four fathers of 32 camaristas were in a civil (13) or military order; another 24 camaristas had one or more other blood relatives, most commonly brothers, in an order. Over seventy percent of the 82 identified fathers were military officers or bureaucrats. Through birth, parents, or spouses, at least 26 camaristas had a connection to Spain's colonies. Nearly all (120) of the camaristas married. Their husbands, like their fathers, were primarily in the royal bureaucracy or the military, although a sprinkling were part of the royal household. Fifty-six camaristas married men who held knighthoods in an order or would secure this honorific. Most husbands' careers advanced following their marriages.