Chamberlain

In the Catholic church, the chamberlain is a member of the pontifical Famille, in charge of the personal service of the Pape.

With the Middle Ages

With the Middle Ages, the term indicates what nowadays one names a Camerlingue. Thereafter, it indicates what with the Middle Ages one named of the “chambriers” ( cubiculari ), i.e. persons in charge of the room to lay down ( cubiculum ) Pape. This one constitutes a true office within the Lateran, on the Byzantine model . Initially simple servants of the pope, the chamberlains acquire more and more importance with the wire of the centuries.

A characteristic remains: the chamberlains are attached to the person of a pope. They take their function after the election of a new pope and leave them with dead this one. There it could have exceptions: thus Gasbert de Valle, named chamberlain the September 18th 1319 by the Pope Jean XXII, will preserve this function until its death on January 1st 1347, under pontificates of Benoît XII and Clément VI.

At the time modern

At the time modern, the chamberlains are divided into several categories. One distinguishes initially the secret chamberlains from the chamberlains of honor: the secret chamberlains have the load of the anteroom known as secret of the pope, where the people received in private audience wait. The chamberlains of honor have as for them the load of the anteroom of driving honor in the throne room where the pope receives in public sitting.

Participating secret chamberlains

Enjoying precedence of all the other chamberlains, the participating secret chamberlains, all clerks, owe a service of wine waiter to the pope, being used to him to drink at the time of the dinners as pageantry. They are also used as nuncios (sent diplomatic) special, charged with carrying to the sovereigns and their families of the bénits objects by the pope, like the branches of the Palm Sunday or the agnus Dei (medals containing of the wax bénite). They also put on again their hat to the cardinal lately created in public consistory.

They are eight pennies Sixte Quint then pass to twenty pennies Clément X before falling down to eleven pennies Pie VII and stabilizing themselves to five.

Supernumerary secret chamberlains

Ecclésiatiques them also, one calls them chamberlains di mantellone (“with the small coat”), of the name of the douillette characteristic of the lower prelates. Their title is not related to any effective function. Nevertheless, it is about a very run honor, often constituting the first stage towards the cardinalat.

They pass from nine pennies Alexandre III to sixty pennies Gregoire XV.

Chamberlains of honor

The title of chamberlain of honor is more recent. One distinguishes the Monsignori out of purple dress ( paonazzi ), charged with the anteroom of honor, the chamberlains extra Urbem , taking up the duty of chamberlain during displacements of the pontifical court.

They are 32 pennies Benoît XIV and 92 and 1757.

Laic chamberlains

The secret chamberlains can be “of cape and sword”, phrase which indicates the laic ones. Five, they occupy of the precise functions:

• main of the Saint-Old people's home;

• major furrier of Crowned the Palates;
• Master of the Horse;
• carrying the Rose of gold, decoration reserved to the sovereigns;
• general superintendent of the pontifical Post offices.

They are assisted by chamberlains known as of number and by supernumerary laic chamberlains.

Contemporary time

Paul VI reorganizes in 1968 ( Motu landlord Pontificalis Domus ) the services attached to the person of the pope, wishing to privilege the actual service at the expense of “what is only nominal, decorative and external”. It removes the chamberlains of honor out of purple dress, the chamberlains of honor extra Urbem as well as the secret chamberlains of cape and sword participants. On the other hand, it creates the “gentlemen of Its Holiness”, body accommodating the laic ones. The supernumerary chamberlains take the name of “prelates of honor”.

See too