Editing Valet

{{Short description|Personal attendant}}
{{About|the term for male servants|the village in Iran|Valet, Iran|valets in professional wrestling|Valet (wrestling)}}
{{redirect|Varlet||}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2014}}
[[File:Abraham Bosse Valet de chambre.jpg|thumb|232px|A 17th-century ''[[valet de chambre]]'']]
A '''valet''' or '''varlet''' is a male [[Domestic worker|servant]] who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Ancien Régime]], ''[[valet de chambre]]'' was a role for junior [[courtier]]s and specialists such as artists in a [[royal court]], but the term "valet" by itself most often refers to a normal servant responsible for the clothes and personal belongings of an employer, and making minor arrangements. In the United States, the term most often refers to a [[valet parking|parking valet]], and the role is often confused with a [[butler]].

== Word origins ==
In English, ''valet'' as "personal man-servant" is recorded since 1567, though use of the term in the French-speaking English medieval court is older, and the variant form ''varlet'' is cited from 1456 ([[OED]]). Both are French importations of ''valet'' or ''varlet'' (the "t" being silent in modern French), Old French variants of ''vaslet'' "man's servant", originally "squire, young man", assumed to be from Gallo-Romance [[Vulgar Latin]] *''vassellittus'' "young nobleman, squire, page", diminutive of [[Medieval Latin]] ''[[vassal]]lus'', from ''vassus'' "servant", possibly cognate to an [[Old Celtic]] root ''wasso-'' "young man, squire" (source of Welsh ''gwas'' "youth, servant", Breton {{Lang|br|goaz}} "servant, vassal, man", Irish {{Lang|ga|foss}} "servant"). See [[yeoman]], possibly derived from ''yonge man'', a related term.

The modern use is usually short for the ''{{Lang|fr|valet de chambre}}'' (French for "room valet", in modern terms the bedroom, though not originally so), described in the following section.

Since the 16th century, the word has traditionally been pronounced as rhyming with ''pallet'', though an alternative pronunciation, rhyming with ''array'' and ''allay'', as in French, is now common, particularly in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/64/C007/0185.html|title=Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more|publisher=Bartleby.com|access-date=28 October 2014}}</ref> The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' lists both pronunciations.

==Domestic valet==
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2011}}
A valet or "gentleman's gentleman" is a gentleman's male [[domestic worker|servant]]; the closest female equivalent is a [[lady's maid]]. The valet performs personal services such as maintaining his employer's clothes, running his bath and perhaps (especially in the past) shaving his employer.

In a [[great house]], the [[Master (form of address)|master]] of the house had his own valet, and in the very grandest great houses, other adult members of the employing family (e.g. master's sons) would also have their own valets.

At a court, even minor princes and high officials may be assigned one, but in a smaller household the [[butler]] &ndash; the [[majordomo]] in charge of the household staff &ndash; might have to double as his employer's valet. In a bachelor's household the valet might perform light [[housekeeper (domestic worker)|housekeeping]] duties as well.

Valets learned the skills for their role in various ways. Some began as [[footmen]], learning some relevant skills as part of that job, and picking up others when deputising for their master's valet, or by performing valeting tasks for his sons before they had a valet of their own, or for male guests who did not travel with a valet. Others started out as soldier-servants to army officers ([[Batman (military)|batmen]]) or [[Steward's Assistant|stewards]] to naval officers.

Traditionally, a valet did much more than merely lay out clothes and take care of personal items. He was also responsible for making travel arrangements, dealing with any bills and handling all money matters concerning his master or his master's household.

[[Alexandre Bontemps]], the most senior of the thirty-six valets to [[Louis XIV of France]], was a powerful figure, who ran the [[Château de Versailles]]. In [[noble court|courts]], [[valet de chambre]] was a position of some status, often given to artists, musicians, poets and others, who generally spent most of their time on their specialized work. The role was also, at least during the late [[Middle Ages]] and the [[Renaissance]], a common first step or training period in a nobleman's career at court.

Valets, like butlers and most specialized domestic staff, have become relatively rare. A more common, though still infrequent, arrangement is the general servant performing combined roles.

A notable 20th century domestic valet was [[Sydney Johnson (servant)|Sydney Johnson]] who served as personal valet to the [[Duke of Windsor]] and later to the businessman [[Mohamed Al-Fayed]].<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/sydney-johnson-valet-who-charmed-edward-mohamed-al-fayed/ |title=Who was Sydney Johnson? How Edward's valet really met Mohamed Al-Fayed |publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=12 November 2022}}</ref>

Another notable person is [[Walt Nauta]], a former military valet, who worked at the [[White House]] and later at [[Mar-a-Lago]] as [[Donald Trump]]'s personal valet. On July 6, 2023, he pleaded not guilty for allegedly moving boxes of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago.<ref name="HuffPost">{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-indictment-classified-documents-unsealed_n_6482be87e4b048eb910e436d|title=Here's The Unsealed Indictment Over Donald Trump's Handling Of Classified Documents |date=9 June 2023 |publisher=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=9 June 2023}}</ref><ref name="Associated Press">{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-maralago-justice-department-classified-f5a7b87bbb0234d5504d1c1f92bc857e|title=Trump valet Walt Nauta pleads not guilty in classified documents case |date=6 July 2023 |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=6 July 2023}}</ref>

===Famous fictional valets===
[[File:Bazin, valet to Aramis.JPG|thumb|Carving of "Bazin", the valet to [[Henri d'Aramitz|Aramis]], of ''[[The Three Musketeers]]'', was a studious person who later became a lay brother. ([[Thomas Nicholls (sculptor)|Thomas Nicholls]] carves him brushing his master's clothes whilst studying [[theology]].)]]
{{See also|List of fictional butlers}}

* Figaro, the Count of Almaviva's valet from [[Beaumarchais]]' play ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' (1786), as well as the [[Mozart]] and [[Rossini]] operas based on it
* Leporello, valet of [[Don Giovanni]] in the 1787 opera by Mozart
* [[Sam Weller (character)|Sam Weller]], valet to [[Samuel Pickwick]] in ''[[The Pickwick Papers]]'' (1836) by [[Charles Dickens]]
* {{Interlanguage link multi|Planchet (fictional character)|fr|3=Planchet|lt=Planchet}}, valet to [[Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan|D'Artagnan]] of ''[[The Three Musketeers]]'' (1844)
* Baptistin, in ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo]]'' (1844) by [[Alexandre Dumas]]
* [[Passepartout (character)|Passepartout]], in the 1873 novel ''[[Around the World in Eighty Days (novel)|Around the World in Eighty Days]]'' by [[Jules Verne]]
* [[Smerdyakov]], the valet to Fyodor Pavlovitch in ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' (1879) by [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]
* [[Jeeves]], created in 1915 by [[P. G. Wodehouse]], starred in a series of stories until Wodehouse's death in 1975
* [[Mervyn Bunter]], created in 1923 by [[Dorothy L. Sayers]] in the [[Lord Peter Wimsey]] series
* George (or Georges), created by [[Agatha Christie]] in 1926, in the [[Hercule Poirot]] novels
* Edward Henry Masterman, the victim's valet and a suspect in Agatha Christie's ''[[Murder on the Orient Express]]'' (1934)
* [[Kato (The Green Hornet)|Kato]], fictional sidekick/valet of [[The Green Hornet]], created in 1936
* Pork, Gerald O'Hara's valet in the 1936 novel ''[[Gone with the Wind (novel)|Gone With the Wind]]''
* Rochester van Jones ([[Eddie Anderson (comedian)|Eddie Anderson]]), the valet of [[Jack Benny]] on Benny's radio and television shows, introduced in 1937
* Sisk, created in [[Harry Segall]]'s 1938 play, ''Heaven Can Wait'', which was adapted into a 1941 film, ''[[Here Comes Mr. Jordan]]'', and other films
* [[Alfred Pennyworth]], valet to Bruce Wayne ([[Batman]]), created by [[Donald Clough Cameron|Don Cameron]] and [[Bob Kane]] in 1943
* The character "Valet" from ''[[No Exit]]'' (1944) by [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]
* Hugo Barrett, in the 1948 [[Robin Maugham]] novella, 1958 play and 1963 [[Joseph Losey]] film ''[[The Servant (1963 film)|The Servant]]''
* Kato, [[Inspector Clouseau]]'s valet and [[martial arts]] partner in the ''[[The Pink Panther (film series)|Pink Panther]]'' movies, introduced in ''[[A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)|A Shot in the Dark]]'' (1964)
* Giles French ([[Sebastian Cabot (actor)|Sebastian Cabot]]) in the [[sitcom]] ''[[Family Affair]]'' (1966–1971)
* Hobson (Sir [[John Gielgud]]), from the 1981 comedy film ''[[Arthur (1981 film)|Arthur]]''
* "Spicer" Lovejoy ([[David Warner (actor)|David Warner]]), millionaire Caledon Hockley's ([[Billy Zane]]) English valet in the 1997 film ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]''
* Probert ([[Derek Jacobi]]), in the 2001 film ''[[Gosford Park]]'', directed by [[Robert Altman]]
* John Bates ([[Brendan Coyle]]), in the Julian Fellowes period drama ''[[Downton Abbey]]'' (2010–2015)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-10-18 |title=Masterpiece {{!}} Downton Abbey {{!}} PBS |website=[[PBS]] |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/characters.html |access-date=2024-06-08 |archive-date=2011-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018210638/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/characters.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Other valets==
'''Valet''' is also used for people performing specific services:
* [[hotel]] valet: an employee who performs personal services for guests.
* [[valet parking|parking valet]]: a service employee who parks cars for guests, only from 1960.
* car valet: an employee who is paid to clean people's cars professionally.
* [[Valet (wrestling)|valet]]: a [[professional wrestling]] term for a person who accompanies a wrestler to the ring.
* [[jockey]]'s valet: an employee who maintains a jockey's wardrobe and ensures the proper uniform is worn for each horse the jockey races.

Other forms of valet-like personnel include:

* [[Batman (military)|Batman]]
* [[Bedder]]
* Dresser

===Clothes valet===
{{Main|Clothes valet}}

Clothes valets are a piece of furniture also referred to as a men's valet. A majority are free standing and made out of wood.

==Varlet==
While in French this word remained restricted to the feudal use for a (knight's) [[squire]], in modern English it came to be used for the various other male servants originally called va(r)let other than the gentleman's gentleman, when in [[livery]] usually called [[Lackey (manservant)|lackey]], such as the ''valet de pied'' ('foot varlet', compare [[footman]]). In [[Archaism|archaic]] English, ''varlet'' also could mean an unprincipled man; a [[wikt:rogue|rogue]].

==See also==
* [[Chauffeur]]
* [[Footman]]
* [[Housekeeper (domestic worker)|Housekeeper]]
* [[Jack (playing card)|Jack]]
* [[Maid]]
* [[Majordomo]]
* [[Personal assistant]]
* [[Valet boy]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Sources'''
* [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=valet&searchmode=none EtymologyOnLine]
* ''Nouveau Petit Larousse Illustré'' (in French, 1952)

==External links==
{{Commons category|Valets}}
*{{Wiktionary-inline|valet}}

{{Modern cleaning roles}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Domestic work]]
[[Category:Personal care and service occupations]]