Etiquette is a collective term for the established ceremonies and usages of society, from the forms which are to be observed in particular places such as courts, levees, and public occasions, to the general forms of polite society. Amongst courts the Byzantine and Spanish courts, and the French court under Louis XIV and Louis XV, have been noted for the strictness of their etiquette.
Victorian social etiquette consisted in so many minute observances that a tolerable familiarity with it could be acquired only by a considerable intercourse with 'polite society'. It was often said during the Victorian era that all that is necessary to constitute good social manners is common sense and good feeling; but not to mention those formal rules of society which, though intrinsically worthless, demanded a certain amount of respect, there were also many difficulties and emergencies in social intercourse which required peculiar tact and delicacy of judgment. Hence quickness of sympathy and a certain fineness of observation were more needed for proficiency in this sphere than pure power of intellect.
During the Victorian and Edwardian eras in Britain the rules and rituals of etiquette became so complex and sophisticated that a general revolt against them took place. Today the rules are less laws than guidelines, the most reliable being contained in 'Debrett's' which offers advice on the correct terms of address for royalty and other members of the aristocracy. Research Etiquette
Tact is the intuitive perception of what is correct or fitting especially in the context of knowing the right thing to say or how to behave in a situation. Research Tact
Benjamin Robert Haydon was an English painter. He was born in 1786 at Plymouth and died in 1846. He was admitted as a student to the Royal Academy in 1805 and exhibited his first picture in 1807 - Joseph and Mary Reposing (in Egypt), and his Dentatus in 1809. His Judgment of Solomon appeared in 1814. In 1815 he established a school in opposition to the Academy, an undertaking
which ended in pecuniary failure in 1823. His life was plagued with debts and he was several times in prison for debt, always complaining of injustice and neglect, finally he supposedly became deranged when he failed to be employed in decorating the new houses of parliament and he eventually committed suicide.
He was the chief English historical painter of his time, and a man of great intellectual ability generally. But he was self-willed, perverse, and devoid of tact. Of his pictures the principal are - Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, the Raising of Lazarus, the Mock Election, Chairing the Member, Pharaoh Dismissing Moses, the Burning of Rome, the Banishment of Aristides, and Quintus Curtiua Leaping into the Gulf. He left an interesting autobiography. Research Benjamin Haydon
Gustavus II (Gustavus Adolphus) was a king of Sweden. He was born in 1594 at Stockholm and died in 1632. He was a son of Charles IX. He ascended the throne in 1611 and his tact and wisdom gradually gained over the wealthy nobles whom his stern father had attempted to crush, and persuaded them to take the chief burdens on their own shoulders. Yet he protected the lower classes from the tyranny of the landowners, reorganised the government and placed it in the hands of a well organised bureaucracy. He built new towns and encouraged commerce, and in 1624 granted a charter to the Swedish West India Company founded by William Usselinx, and pledged himself to subscribe 400,000 daler of the royal treasury to the company's stock. Research Gustavus II
Hyperides was an Athenian orator, the pupil of Plato and Isocrates, he was born about 400 BC and died in 322 BC. Along with Demosthenes and Lycurgus he was one of the leaders of the patriotic and anti-Macedonian party. As an orator he was specially distinguished for his grace and subtlety of expression, as well as for his tact in handling the question under consideration. He was murdered at AEgina by the emissaries of Antipater in 322 BC. Of his orations one has reached us nearly entire; the others only in fragments. Research Hyperides
Pierre Jean Beckx was a Belgian general of the order of Jesuits. He was born in 1795 near Louvain, Belgium and died in 1887. The success of the Jesuits, especially in non-Catholic countries, was greatly due to his tact and energy. Research Pierre Beckx
Prince Albert, real name Albert-Francis-Augustus-Charles-Emmanuel, was Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Prince Consort of England. He was born in 1819 at the Rosenau, a castle near Coburg and died in 1861. He was the second son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg. In 1837 he entered the University of Bonn, where he devoted himself to the studies of political and natural science, history, philosophy, etc, as well as to those of music and painting. On leaving the university he made a tour through the chief cities of Italy with Baron Stockmar. On the 10th of February, 1840, he married his cousin, Queen Victoria of England. An allowance of 30,000 pounds a year was settled upon the prince, who was naturalized by act of Parliament, received the title of Royal Highness by patent, was made a field-marshal, a Knight of the Garter, of the Bath, etc. Other honours were subsequently bestowed upon him, the chief of which was the title of Prince Consort in 1857. His foreign birth at first caused him to be regarded with some suspicion, but his unfailing tact and genuine ability were not long in gaining their due recognition. He always carefully abstained from party politics, but his knowledge of the politics of his adopted country, both domestic and foreign, was profound and accurate, and must often have been of service to the queen and her advisers.
Albert always took a deep and active interest in the welfare of the people in general. His services to the cause of science and art were very important; he presided over the commission appointed in 1841 to consider the best means of rebuilding the houses of parliament, and the great exhibition of 1851 owed much of its success to his activity, knowledge, and judgment. The amendment of the Articles of War in 1844 which ultimately put an end to duelling was due to his suggestion. Cambridge University conferred upon him the degree of L.L.D, and in 1847 he was elected chancellor. He presided and delivered the inaugural address at the meeting of the British Association at Aberdeen in 1859. Albert died of typhoid fever on December 14, 1861, after a short illness. A collection of his speeches and addresses was published in 1862. A biography of the prince by Sir Theodore Martin was published in five volumes at London between 1875 and 1880. Research Prince Albert
St Austin was the Apostle of the English. He lived at the end of the 6th century and died in 604. He was sent with forty monks by PopeGregory I to introduce Christianity into SaxonEngland, and was kindly received by Ethelbert, king of Kent, whom he converted, baptizing 10,000 of his subjects in one day. In acknowledgment of his tact and success St Austin received the archiepiscopal pall from the pope, with instructions to establish twelve sees in his province, but he could not persuade the British bishops in Wales to unite with the new English Church. Research St Austin
St Bernard of Clairvaux was one of the most influential ecclesiastics of the middle ages. He was born in 1091 at Fontaines, Burgundy and died in 1153. In 1113 he became a monk at Citeaux; in 1115 first abbot of Clairvaux, the great Cistercian monastery near Langres. His austerities, tact, courage, and eloquence speedily gave him a wide reputation; and when, on the death of Honorius III in 1130, two popes, Innocent and Anaclete, were elected, the judgment of St Bernard in favour of the former was accepted by nearly all Europe.
In 1140 he secured the condemnation of Abelard for heresy; and after the election of his pupil, Eugenius III, to the papal chair, he may be said to have exercised supreme power in the church. After the capture of Edessa by the Turks he was induced to preach a new crusade, which he did in 1146 with disastrous effectiveness, the large host raised by him being destroyed.
Seventy-two monasteries owed their foundation or enlargement to him and he left no fewer than 440 epistles, 340 sermons, and 12 theological and moral treatises. He was canonized in 1174. Research St Bernard
William Bedell was an Irish bishop. He was born in 1570 at Essex and died in 1642. In 1604 he went to Venice as chaplain to Sir Henry Wotton, and remained there for eight years. After holding the living of Horingsheath from 1615 until 1627 he became provost of Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1629 Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh, though he resigned the latter of the united sees in 1630. He set himself to reform abuses and promote the spread of Protestantism, procured the translation of the Old Testament into Irish, and by his tact and wisdom conciliated the adherents of both creeds. He underwent a brief imprisonment on the breaking out of the rebellion in 1641, and died in the year following. Research William Bedell
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Etiquette
