Catherine de Medicis

[bell_the_cat]

I like the Claude picture, I had never seen it before.

She wasn't very good looking though to be quite honest!

[Tsarina_Liz]

Just a quick housekeeping question: how did Catherine de Medici's "Flying Squadron" get their name?  I can find no reference to the origin of the title, only general blurbs on the group itself.  Thanks,
 - Liz  

[Yseult]

You put an interesting question, Liz! I tried to find the origin of the tittle but my research was in vain. Just speculating: I suppose that Catherine named the group "le escadron volant" due to the fact that she conceived it as a gallant troops that were always moving from a place to another. All the beauties of this time, around two hundred women, were made ladies-in-waiting of queen Catherine, and the italian queen used them for her purposes in every corner of her kingdom. The ladies did not rest at the same place, they usually accompanied the queen and often moved with their lovers to make sure the men were under their control. Just speculating...

 

[Tsarina_Liz]

You put an interesting question, Liz! I tried to find the origin of the tittle but my research was in vain. Just speculating: I suppose that Catherine named the group "le escadron volant" due to the fact that she conceived it as a gallant troops that were always moving from a place to another. All the beauties of this time, around two hundred women, were made ladies-in-waiting of queen Catherine, and the italian queen used them for her purposes in every corner of her kingdom. The ladies did not rest at the same place, they usually accompanied the queen and often moved with their lovers to make sure the men were under their control. Just speculating...

 

That's a very interesting speculation, Yseult.  I hadn't thought of it like that!  

[umigon]

Well, the name was originated within the Court, it was nickname given to it by French nobles over the years. So, I don't really think I've helped you much there!

The name in itself means that it was a squadron with very relaxed moral attitudes! It played with the sense of the verb to fly, meaning that the women that integrated the group were 'of easy virtue'. I don't think I can explain this better as I think there's no equivalent with a similar meaning in English.

But for those who speak French the thing would be: to fly; birds fly; birds are supposedly of small weighth (léger). The word 'léger' can also mean that someone is frivolous and of easy virtue. So there is the meaning.

[Tsarina_Liz]

Well, the name was originated within the Court, it was nickname given to it by French nobles over the years. So, I don't really think I've helped you much there!

The name in itself means that it was a squadron with very relaxed moral attitudes! It played with the sense of the verb to fly, meaning that the women that integrated the group were 'of easy virtue'. I don't think I can explain this better as I think there's no equivalent with a similar meaning in English.

But for those who speak French the thing would be: to fly; birds fly; birds are supposedly of small weighth (léger). The word 'léger' can also mean that someone is frivolous and of easy virtue. So there is the meaning.

So were they "l'escadron volant" [flying squadron] or "l'escadron leger" [light squadron]?  Or did it depend on who was speaking?    

[umigon]

It was 'volant' but using the word in a metaphorical and ironic sense, like what 'leger' means.

[Tsarina_Liz]

It was 'volant' but using the word in a metaphorical and ironic sense, like what 'leger' means.

Gotcha  

[bell_the_cat]

It was 'volant' but using the word in a metaphorical and ironic sense, like what 'leger' means.

I think Umigon is right.

In Scotland there was a political party called the "squadrone volante" in the early eighteenth century. It was at the time that the Scottish parliament was being encouraged to vote for the Union with England and many members were receiving large bribes from the English government. The squadrone was a group of members who had no particular allegiance, and would change sides overnight depending on the amount of bribes offered!

[Tsarina_Liz]

Any remaining records of who these women were and what happened to them after they left the Squadron?  I'm guessing there was a steady stream of them who all eventually made proper marriages thanks to Catherine's influence.