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Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today.
The original Master of the Horse (Latin:Magister Equitum) in theRoman Republic was an office appointed and dismissed by theRoman Dictator, and expired with the Dictator's own office, typically a term of six months in the early and mid-republic. TheMagister Equitum served as the Dictator's mainlieutenant. The Dictator nominated theMagister Equitum, unless asenatus consultum specified, as was sometimes the case, the appointee. The Dictator could not rule without aMagister Equitum to assist him, and, consequently, if the firstMagister Equitum either died or was dismissed during the Dictator's term, another had to be nominated in his stead.
TheMagister Equitum was granted a form ofimperium, but at the same level as apraetor, and thus was subject to theimperium of the Dictator and his powers were not superior to those of aConsul. In the Dictator's absence, theMagister Equitum became his representative, and exercised the same powers as the Dictator. It was usually, but not always, necessary for theMagister Equitum to have already held the office ofPraetor. Accordingly, theMagister Equitum had the insignia of apraetor: thetoga praetexta and an escort of sixlictors. The most famous Master of the Horse isMark Antony, who served duringJulius Caesar's first dictatorship, with disastrous results. As a result of this, Caesar appointedMarcus Aemilius Lepidus, who had a history of successful administration over the city of Rome andHispania Citerior, to replace Antony and govern in Rome when Caesar went to suppress therenewedCivil War in North Africa.
After theconstitutional reforms ofAugustus, the office of Dictator fell into disuse, along with that of theMagister Equitum. The titlemagister equitum was revived in the late Empire, whenConstantine I established it as one of the supreme military ranks, alongside theMagister Peditum ("Master of the Foot"). Eventually, the two offices would be amalgamated into that of theMagister Militum ("Master of the Soldiers").
The titleConstable, from the Latincomes stabuli or count of the stables, has a similar history.
The Master of the Horse in theUnited Kingdom was once an important official of thesovereign's household, though the role is largely ceremonial today. The master of the horse is the thirddignitary of the court, and was always a member of theministry (before 1782 the office was ofcabinet rank), apeer and aprivy counsellor. All matters connected with thehorses and formerly also thehounds of the sovereign, as well as thestables andcoachhouses, thestud,mews and previously thekennels, are within his jurisdiction.
The practical management of theRoyal Stables and stud devolves on the chief orCrown Equerry, formerly called theGentleman of the Horse, whose appointment was always permanent. TheClerk Marshal had the supervision of the accounts of the department before they are submitted to theBoard of Green Cloth, and was in waiting on theSovereign on state occasions only.
Exclusive of theCrown Equerry there were seven regularequerries, besides extra and honorary equerries, one of whom was always in attendance on the Sovereign and rode at the side of the royal carriage. They were always officers of thearmy, and each of them was on duty for about the same time as the lords andgrooms in waiting. There are still severalpages of honour who are nominally in the master of the horse's department, who must not be confounded with thepages of various kinds who are in the department of theLord Chamberlain. They are youths aged from twelve to sixteen, selected by the sovereign in person, to attend on him or her at state ceremonies. AtKing Charles III's coronation they assisted theGroom of the Robes in carrying the royal train.
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The current Master of the Horse isHenry Ashton, 4th Baron Ashton of Hyde.
Today the Master of the Horse has a primarily ceremonial office, and rarely appears except on state occasions, and especially when the Sovereign is mounted. TheCrown Equerry has daily oversight of theRoyal Mews, which provides vehicular transport for the Sovereign, both cars and horse-drawn carriages. Train travel is arranged by the Royal Travel Office, which also co-ordinates air transport.
The Pages of Honour, who appear only on ceremonial occasions, and theEquerries, were nominally under the authority of the Master of the Horse. The former are now controlled by theKeeper of the Privy Purse. The latter are effectively independent, and are functionally closer to the Private Secretary's Office. There are now three equerries to the Sovereign, and a larger number of extra equerries: usually retired officers with some connection to theRoyal Household. The extra equerries are rarely if ever required for duty, but the Equerries are in attendance on the Sovereign on a daily basis. For some years the seniorEquerry has also held the position ofDeputy Master of the Household. The permanent equerry is an officer ofmajor rank or equivalent, recruited from the three armed services in turn. Many previous equerries have gone on to reach high rank. The temporary equerry is aCaptain of theColdstream Guards, who provides part-time attendance. When not required for duty he has additional regimental or staff duties. Senior members of theroyal family also have one or two equerries.
InFrance, the master of the horse, known as theGrand Squire of France (Grand Écuyer, or more usuallyMonsieur le grand) was one of the sevenGreat Officers of the Crown of France from 1595. As well as the superintendence of the royal stables, he had that of the retinue of thesovereign, also the charge of the funds set aside for the religious functions of the court,coronations, etc. On the death of a sovereign he had the right to all the horses and their equipment in the royal stables. He oversaw personally the "Great Stable" (grande écurie). Distinct from this officer and independent of him, was the first equerry (Premier Ecuyer), who had charge of the horses which the sovereign used personally (La petite écurie), and who attended on him when he rode out. The office of master of the horse existed down to the reign ofLouis XVI. UnderLouis XVIII andCharles X the duties were discharged by the first equerry, but underNapoleon I andNapoleon III the office was revived with much of its old importance.
In theHabsburg monarchy, the Oberststallmeister, together with theObersthofmeister, Oberstkämmerer and Oberstmarschall, was one of the four principal functions on the Court, reserved to the high nobility. The Oberststallmeister was in charge of the court stables, the riding school and the fleet of court carriages and other forms of transport. The thoroughbred horses and magnificent equipages were a cornerstone of aristocratic display, that gave this function its prestige.[1]
InGermany the master of the horse (Oberststallmeister) was a high court dignitary in several German Courts.In theHoly Roman Empire, his office was merely titular, the superintendence of the Emperor's stables having been carried out by theOberstallmeister, an official corresponding to the crown equerry in England.
TheCaballerizo mayor was the Officer of theRoyal Household and Heritage of the Crown of Spain in charge of the trips, themews and the hunt of the King ofSpain.
The Office of "Caballerizo mayor" was one of the main Offices of the Royal Household in charge of the Royal Stables and everything related to the transportation of the Monarch. When the King sorted out from the Royal Palace, the Caballerizo had the main position behind him and the major rang over the other Court Officials. He managed as well the stables, the carriages and the horses. He was assisted by the "Primeros Caballerizos" (First Equerries) who were nominated by him.
He was in charge of the Royal hunt as "Montero mayor" (Great Hunter) holding, in many cases, the "Alcaldías" (Majorships) of theSpanish royal sites.
The Master of the Horse, Cavallerizzo Maggiore, or Hereditary Superintendent of the Stables of the Palaces, was a hereditary position held by the Marquess Serlupi Crescenzi. The office was a Participating PrivyChamberlain of the Sword and Cape, in thepapal household. It was abolished in the reforms of thePapal Curia of 1968.
The holder of the title Master of the Horse of the Realm (Riksstallmästare) in Sweden was not one of theGreat Officers of the Realm, but rather one of theLesser Officers of the Realm. He was the superintendent of theRoyal Stables and of the realm'sstud farms. As such he was important in military matters, and often he had a tight connection with the army, and then especially with the army'scavalry units. His duties were partly taken over by theMaster of the Horse (Överhovstallmästare).
Konyushy (Russian:Конюший) is literally translated as Master of the Horse or Equerry.
Konyushy was aboyar in charge of thestables ofRussian rulers. It was a high title at thecourt of Russian rulers until the 17th century. By the end of the 15th century a special Equerry Office (конюшенный приказ, "konyushennyprikaz") was introduced, headed by the Konyushy. It was in charge of theTsar's stables, parade equipage, ceremonies of court ride-offs, and military horse breeding. At one pointBoris Godunov was konyushy. The Equerry Office handled a significant amount of Tsar's treasures, related toharness and horse/horsemanarmor, which were transferred to theKremlin Armoury in 1736.
"Koniuszy" (corresponding to theEnglish-language "Equerry" or "Master of the Horse") was a position ofnobility known in theKingdom of Poland from the 11th century, and in theGrand Duchy of Lithuania from the 15th. Akoniuszy had charge of the stables and herds of aGrand Duke orKing; in reality, it was apodkoniuszy (sub-equerry), subordinate to thekoniuszy, who had the more direct responsibility.
From the 14th to 16th centuries, a "koniuszy" was a dignitary (dygnitarz) in thePolish Kingdom and in thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In theKingdom of Georgia, the similar post was known under the name ofamilakhvari (amir-akhori, lit.: Prince-Master of the Horse), derived fromArabic. It was a deputy to the commander-in-chief (amir-spasalari) and a member of the royal council. From the 1460s to the Russian annexation of Georgia (1801), the office was hereditary in theZevdginidze-Amilakhvari family.
In theKingdom of Hungary the master of the horse (Hungarian:főlovászmester) was one of the high officials of the royal household.
Similar posts were common in the imperial courts of China and Japan, the royal courts of Korea, and elsewhere in East Asia. The position, known as "Sima" in Chinese (司马), literally means "Master of the Horse". It was first created in theWestern Zhou dynasty, with responsibility for military administration and conscription. The position was below theThree Grand Offices and equivalent in status to the six ministers. It was often grouped with four other positions also named with the "Si-" (control, administer) prefix as the "five officials" (五官). The title was used in different ways in subsequent dynasties. The Han Dynasty awarded "Grand Sima" as an additional title to high generals, in which context it is often translated into English as "Marshal".
"Sima" also becamea Chinese surname, adopted by descendants of one occupant of the office. The Sima family became emperors in theJin dynasty, as a result of which "Sima" ceased to exist as an official position in the central bureaucracy. However, in later dynasties it was used as the name of various relatively minor positions in the military and local administration, and was also used informally to refer to theMinister of War.
The Siamesekingdom of Ayutthaya had a Master of the Royal Elephants. The holder of this office was titledKrom Phra Gajapala (Thai:กรมพระคชบาล). Beneath him in rank was a Master of the Royal Horse who was titledKrom Phra Asvaraja (Thai:กรมพระอัศวราช). This demonstrated that the ancient Siamese attached more importance to the maintenance of war Elephant than a cavalry force.[2]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Master of the Horse".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 872–873.