WEBVTT - Why Wasn't 'Groom of the Stool' a Crappy Job?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogebam Here. If you could transport

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<v Speaker 1>yourself back to the days when kings ruled Europe, what

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<v Speaker 1>job would you choose for yourself? Would you be a

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<v Speaker 1>powerful night or a humble cleric, or would you choose

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<v Speaker 1>a much more important role, perhaps as the man who

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<v Speaker 1>helped the king relieve himself throughout the day. Your job

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<v Speaker 1>title then would be groom of the stool, and, believe

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<v Speaker 1>it or not, in many cases, this would make you

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most influential people in the monarchy. These days,

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<v Speaker 1>the idea of signing up to tend to someone else's

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<v Speaker 1>bodily functions when they're perfectly capable of handling it themselves

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<v Speaker 1>may seem a bit weird, But back before the days

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<v Speaker 1>of indoor plumbing, the process of elimination required manual labor.

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<v Speaker 1>In the king's case, he'd use what was called a

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<v Speaker 1>close stool, which was essentially a velvet wrapped stool containing

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<v Speaker 1>a chamber pot that needed to be presented, emptied, and cleaned.

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<v Speaker 1>This piece of furniture, by the way, is where the

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<v Speaker 1>term stool to refer to poop comes from. Circo the

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen thirties, in the fancy, wealthy days of the tutors

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<v Speaker 1>in the fifteen hundreds, just getting ready to use the

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<v Speaker 1>stool took some work, as royals generally donned multiple layers

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<v Speaker 1>of fine garments in their daily lives. The groom of

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<v Speaker 1>the stool might help with loosening those clothes and then

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<v Speaker 1>whisking away the waist. The sources vary on whether the

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<v Speaker 1>groom actually helped the king clean himself after the deed

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<v Speaker 1>was done, or just handed him a cloth, but there's

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<v Speaker 1>no doubt about his importance to the head hauncho's daily life.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke via email with Stephen Gunn, history professor at

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<v Speaker 1>Oxford University. He said he doubled up as the king's

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<v Speaker 1>leading personal servant and head of the king's private domestic

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<v Speaker 1>staff in the Privy Chamber. Though it's hard to reconstruct

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<v Speaker 1>what actually went on there all day, This presumably involved

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<v Speaker 1>waiting on the king is a kind of chief valet

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<v Speaker 1>and organizing all the work necessary to make the king's

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<v Speaker 1>day go smoothly from a domestic point of view. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>Bull being in charge of the king's private expenses account,

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<v Speaker 1>which at times in Henry the Eighth's reign spent thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of pounds a year on clothes, jewels, gambling, sports equipment,

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<v Speaker 1>or small rewards for people the king met. And sure

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<v Speaker 1>there were probably moments when the groom wasn't terribly excited

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<v Speaker 1>about the biological aspects of his job, but during this

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<v Speaker 1>period of history, people were extremely excited to be connected

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<v Speaker 1>to royalty in any way possible. Gunn said. What we

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<v Speaker 1>also have to remember is that private service to someone

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<v Speaker 1>of very high status was itself thought to be a

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<v Speaker 1>high status job, such that young nobleman, for example, were

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<v Speaker 1>more than happy to serve the king and his guests

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<v Speaker 1>food at the table. And of course watch how political

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<v Speaker 1>operators operated over here bits of interesting political discussion and

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<v Speaker 1>generally learn how to be powerful at court. Not just

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<v Speaker 1>anyone could become groom of the stool. To get this

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<v Speaker 1>prized gig, one needed serious connections. We also spoke via

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<v Speaker 1>email with Ben Low, history professor at Florida Atlantic University.

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<v Speaker 1>He said they were usually close friends or confidants of

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<v Speaker 1>the king. They often came up from an up and

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<v Speaker 1>coming family that was seeking further preferment. Gunn explained that

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<v Speaker 1>these men would have been appointed by the king no

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<v Speaker 1>doubt on the recommendation of other influential courtiers once they

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<v Speaker 1>napped the enviable position they were in on the ground

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<v Speaker 1>floor of the kingdom's political environment. Low said it grew

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<v Speaker 1>in importance during the time of the Tutors, especially after

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<v Speaker 1>Henry the Seventh moved much of the administration of his government,

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<v Speaker 1>including its finances, to the Pretty Chamber, where the groom resided.

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<v Speaker 1>This led to a more administrative role for many grooms.

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<v Speaker 1>Their constant access to the king also made this an

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<v Speaker 1>enviable position to hold for the high level of influence

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<v Speaker 1>a groom might wield. The groom also spent a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of time with the King when he was trying to

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<v Speaker 1>relax and avoid political topics. Getting to know the King

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<v Speaker 1>on a more personal level made for a closer relationship,

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<v Speaker 1>one that often came loaded with benefits. Gunn said the

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<v Speaker 1>groom was ideally placed to talk to the King about things,

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<v Speaker 1>and that included asking the King for things for himself

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<v Speaker 1>or for others. This presumably explains why Henry the seventh

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<v Speaker 1>groom of the Stool Hugh Denny's, was paid pensions and

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<v Speaker 1>given gifts by those who wanted to be in the

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<v Speaker 1>King's favor. And was able to spend such money buying land. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>Henry the Eighth's first Groom of the Stool, William Compton,

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<v Speaker 1>was given land grants, land leases and offices by the

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<v Speaker 1>King that brought him in maybe two thousand pounds a year,

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<v Speaker 1>equal to the income of a leading nobleman or one

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<v Speaker 1>of the richer bishops. Later, as King, Henry the Eighth's

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<v Speaker 1>health slowly deteriorated. His last Groom of the Stool, Sir

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<v Speaker 1>Anthony Denny, became more powerful. He even wielded the King's

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<v Speaker 1>personal signature stamp, giving him the authority to approve or

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<v Speaker 1>disprove requests from across the land. Denny also helped draw

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<v Speaker 1>up Henry's will. Over time, the job title of Groom

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<v Speaker 1>of the Stool faded out. The last person to officially

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<v Speaker 1>hold the title may have been Sir Michael st Hope

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<v Speaker 1>for Edward the sixth in fifteen forty seven. That's in

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<v Speaker 1>part because the kings gave way to two queens in succession,

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<v Speaker 1>Mary the First and Elizabeth the First. Gun explained because

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<v Speaker 1>their most intimate servants could not be men, they developed

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<v Speaker 1>a bed chamber staffed by women, which took over the

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<v Speaker 1>domestic role and some of the influence of the Privy Chamber. Furthermore,

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<v Speaker 1>personal monarchy gave way to a more bureaucratic and institutionalized

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<v Speaker 1>royal court. At the same time, monarchy in Britain itself

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<v Speaker 1>lost power, continuing largely as a ceremonial holdover of an

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<v Speaker 1>earlier age. Low said the power once held by royal

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<v Speaker 1>attendants like the groom now had moved to high level

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<v Speaker 1>staff positions among leaders of Parliament or cabinet members, and

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<v Speaker 1>even here they paled in comparison to their early modern forebearers.

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<v Speaker 1>Attendance to royalty simply lost their political power or status

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<v Speaker 1>as a font of patronage for those seeking favors of

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<v Speaker 1>the crown. After the death of Elizabeth the First in

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen o three, the position re emerged, but with the

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<v Speaker 1>upgraded title of Groom of the Stole, which implied the

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<v Speaker 1>person helped the monarch with dressing duties as opposed to toileting.

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<v Speaker 1>The last Groom of the Stole was James Hamilton's, a

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<v Speaker 1>duke who served Edward seventh when he was Prince of

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<v Speaker 1>Wales in the late eighteen hundreds, and the position was

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<v Speaker 1>officially abolished in nineteen o one. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Davan Chandler and produced by Tyler Klang. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For

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<v Speaker 1>more in this and lots of other topics that you

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