Une matriarche espagnole à la cour de France : Estefanía de Villaquirán, azafata (nourrice) d’Anne d’Autriche

Abstract

This article focuses on Estefanía de Villaquirán, nursemaid (azafata) of Anne of Austria and a member of the Spanish entourage that accompanied the Infanta at the court of Louis XIII. Head of an extended family of royal servants employed in several European courts, Estefanía de Villaquirán serves as a case study of the important role played by lower-level female servants in the households of Spanish queens who settled in foreign courts when the infantas married abroad. The first part of the article reconstructs the Villaquirán family’s establishment at the courts of Turin, Madrid and Paris, stressing the social capital the azafata accumulated and from which her relatives benefitted. The second part centres on the French court during the years 1615 to 1620, analysing the workings of the Queen’s Chamber, in which Estefanía performed her duties, the complex relationships among servants of different ranks, as well as the obstacles to integration faced by the Spanish entourage in an unfavourable atmosphere of political rivalry and tension. The conclusion discusses Estefanía de Villaquirán’s unique status as the sole Spanish woman besides the queen to remain at the French court, underlining her role as a matriarch and her importance – like that of other servants of her rank – within the Spanish court structure that the Habsburg princesses carried with them to other European courts.

Keywords

• Royal household
• nursemaids
• court
• France
• Spain
• Savoy