The Ladies-In-Waiting Staff and the “National Scenario of Power” of Nicolas I

Abstract. The Imperial Court was one of the social institutions through which, according to historian R. Wortman’s conception, the monarch Nicholas I represented his “national scenario of power”. The idea of a national costume for noblewomen at the court was most fully embodied. Thus, the article focuses on the ladies-in-waiting, the most numerous group of female court staff, during the reign of Nicholas I (1825–1855). The research aim is to establish the ladies-in-waiting’s origin at the court by analyzing how this aspect correlated with the monarch national idea. This paper is based on a variety of materials, including armorial, address calendars and general staff of the Russian Empire, as well as Ministry of the Imperial Court documents. The article focuses especially on the ladies-in-waiting from the Kingdom of Poland as the most consolidated group among the rest. The paper raises the question of researching such an institution as the “Polish Court”. The author concludes that Nicholas I simultaneously regulated the “national scenario of power” through ceremonial and visual images, the numerical advantage of the Russian nobility in court positions and determined commitment to the heterogeneous composition of the court staff.

Keywords: Russian Empire, Nicholas I, Imperial Court, ladies-in-waiting, “national scenario of power”, ladies-in-waiting’s origin, “Polish Court”.