Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogebam Here. If you could transport yourself back to the days when kings ruled Europe, what job would you choose for yourself? Would you be a powerful night or a humble cleric, or would you choose a much more important role, perhaps as the man who helped the king relieve himself throughout the day. Your job title then would be groom of the stool, and, believe it or not, in many cases, this would make you
one of the most influential people in the monarchy. These days, the idea of signing up to tend to someone else's bodily functions when they're perfectly capable of handling it themselves may seem a bit weird, But back before the days of indoor plumbing, the process of elimination required manual labor. In the king's case, he'd use what was called a close stool, which was essentially a velvet wrapped stool containing a chamber pot that needed to be presented, emptied, and cleaned.
This piece of furniture, by the way, is where the term stool to refer to poop comes from. Circo the fifteen thirties, in the fancy, wealthy days of the tutors in the fifteen hundreds, just getting ready to use the stool took some work, as royals generally donned multiple layers of fine garments in their daily lives. The groom of the stool might help with loosening those clothes and then
whisking away the waist. The sources vary on whether the groom actually helped the king clean himself after the deed was done, or just handed him a cloth, but there's no doubt about his importance to the head hauncho's daily life. We spoke via email with Stephen Gunn, history professor at Oxford University. He said he doubled up as the king's leading personal servant and head of the king's private domestic
staff in the Privy Chamber. Though it's hard to reconstruct what actually went on there all day, This presumably involved waiting on the king is a kind of chief valet and organizing all the work necessary to make the king's day go smoothly from a domestic point of view. For example, Bull being in charge of the king's private expenses account, which at times in Henry the Eighth's reign spent thousands of pounds a year on clothes, jewels, gambling, sports equipment,
or small rewards for people the king met. And sure there were probably moments when the groom wasn't terribly excited about the biological aspects of his job, but during this period of history, people were extremely excited to be connected
to royalty in any way possible. Gunn said. What we also have to remember is that private service to someone of very high status was itself thought to be a high status job, such that young nobleman, for example, were more than happy to serve the king and his guests food at the table. And of course watch how political operators operated over here bits of interesting political discussion and generally learn how to be powerful at court. Not just anyone could become groom of the stool. To get this
prized gig, one needed serious connections. We also spoke via email with Ben Low, history professor at Florida Atlantic University. He said they were usually close friends or confidants of the king. They often came up from an up and coming family that was seeking further preferment. Gunn explained that these men would have been appointed by the king no doubt on the recommendation of other influential courtiers once they napped the enviable position they were in on the ground
floor of the kingdom's political environment. Low said it grew in importance during the time of the Tutors, especially after Henry the Seventh moved much of the administration of his government, including its finances, to the Pretty Chamber, where the groom resided. This led to a more administrative role for many grooms. Their constant access to the king also made this an enviable position to hold for the high level of influence
a groom might wield. The groom also spent a lot of time with the King when he was trying to relax and avoid political topics. Getting to know the King on a more personal level made for a closer relationship, one that often came loaded with benefits. Gunn said the groom was ideally placed to talk to the King about things, and that included asking the King for things for himself
or for others. This presumably explains why Henry the seventh groom of the Stool Hugh Denny's, was paid pensions and given gifts by those who wanted to be in the King's favor. And was able to spend such money buying land. Also, Henry the Eighth's first Groom of the Stool, William Compton, was given land grants, land leases and offices by the King that brought him in maybe two thousand pounds a year, equal to the income of a leading nobleman or one
of the richer bishops. Later, as King, Henry the Eighth's health slowly deteriorated. His last Groom of the Stool, Sir Anthony Denny, became more powerful. He even wielded the King's personal signature stamp, giving him the authority to approve or disprove requests from across the land. Denny also helped draw up Henry's will. Over time, the job title of Groom of the Stool faded out. The last person to officially hold the title may have been Sir Michael st Hope
for Edward the sixth in fifteen forty seven. That's in part because the kings gave way to two queens in succession, Mary the First and Elizabeth the First. Gun explained because their most intimate servants could not be men, they developed a bed chamber staffed by women, which took over the domestic role and some of the influence of the Privy Chamber. Furthermore, personal monarchy gave way to a more bureaucratic and institutionalized
royal court. At the same time, monarchy in Britain itself lost power, continuing largely as a ceremonial holdover of an earlier age. Low said the power once held by royal attendants like the groom now had moved to high level staff positions among leaders of Parliament or cabinet members, and even here they paled in comparison to their early modern forebearers. Attendance to royalty simply lost their political power or status as a font of patronage for those seeking favors of
the crown. After the death of Elizabeth the First in sixteen o three, the position re emerged, but with the upgraded title of Groom of the Stole, which implied the person helped the monarch with dressing duties as opposed to toileting. The last Groom of the Stole was James Hamilton's, a duke who served Edward seventh when he was Prince of Wales in the late eighteen hundreds, and the position was officially abolished in nineteen o one. Today's episode was written
by Davan Chandler and produced by Tyler Klang. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other topics that you may want to sit down for, visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com. And for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.