Editing Lady-in-waiting (section)

===Austria===
In the late Middle Ages, when the court of the emperor no longer moved around constantly, the household of the empress, as well as the equivalent household of the German princely consorts, started to develop a less fluid and more strict organisation with set court offices.

The court model of the Duchy of Burgundy, as well as the Spanish court model, came to influence the organisation of the Austrian imperial court during the 16th century, when the [[Burgundian Netherlands]], Spain and Austria were united through the [[House of Habsburg]].<ref name="Duindam date? page?">{{harvnb|Duindam|p=}}</ref>{{page needed |date=April 2017}} In the early and mid-16th century, the female courtiers kept by female Habsburgs in the Netherlands and Austria was composed of one {{lang|de|Hofmesterees}} (Court Mistress) or {{lang|fr|Dame d'honneur}} who served as the principal lady-in-waiting; one {{lang|de|Hofdame}} or {{lang|fr|Mere de Filles}}, who was second in rank and deputy of the {{lang|de|Hofmesterees}}, as well as being in charge of the {{lang|nl|Eredames}} (Maids of Honour), also known as {{lang|fr|Demoiselle d'honneur}}, {{lang|fr|Fille d'honneur}} or {{lang|de|Junckfrauen}} depending on language ([[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[French language|French]] and [[Austrian German]] respectively), and finally the ''Kamenisters'' (Chamber Maids).<ref name="Kerkhoff date? page?">{{harvnb|Kerkhoff|p=}}</ref>{{page needed |date=April 2017}} However, during the tenure of [[Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress]] in the mid-16th century, the court of the empress was organised in accordance with the Spanish court model, and after she left Austria, there was no further household of an empress until the 1610s.<ref name="Akkerman Houben date?, page?">{{harvnb|Akkerman|Houben|2013|p=}}</ref>{{page needed |date=April 2017}} This resulted in a mix of Burgundian and Spanish customs when the Austrian court model was created.

In 1619, a set organisation was finally established for the Austrian imperial court, which came to be the characteristic organisation of the Austrian-Habsburg court roughly kept from this point onward.<ref name="Akkerman Houben date?, page?"/> The first rank of the female courtiers was the {{lang|de|[[Obersthofmeisterin]]}} ([[Mistress of the Robes]]), who was second in rank after the empress herself, and responsible for all the female courtiers.<ref name="Akkerman Houben date?, page?"/> Second rank belonged to the ''Ayas''<!--What language is this?-->, essentially governesses of the imperial children and heads of the children's court.<ref name="Akkerman Houben date?, page?"/> Third in rank was the {{lang|de|Fräuleinhofmeisterin}}, who was the replacement of the {{lang|de|Obersthofmeisterin}} when necessary, but otherwise had the responsibility of the unmarried female courtiers, their conduct and service.<ref name="Akkerman Houben date?, page?"/> The rest of the female noble courtiers consisted of the {{lang|de|Hoffräulein}} ([[Maid of honour|Maid of Honour]]), unmarried women from the nobility who normally served temporarily until marriage.<ref name="Akkerman Houben date?, page?"/> The {{lang|de|Hoffräulein}} could sometimes be promoted to {{lang|de|[[Kammerfräulein]]}} (Maid of Honour of the Chamber).<ref name="Akkerman Houben date?, page?"/> The Austrian court model was the role model for the princely courts in Germany.<ref name="Akkerman Houben date?, page?"/> The German court model in turn became the role model of the early modern Scandinavian courts of Denmark and Sweden.<ref name="Persson 1999">{{harvnb|Persson|1999|p=}}</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2017}}