Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Valet de chambre, or varlet de chambre, was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal Households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on the patron, or looked after his clothes and other personal needs, itself potentially a powerful and lucrative position, others had more specialized functions. At the most prestigious level it could be akin to a monarch or ruler''s personal secretary, as was the case of Anne de Montmorency at the court of Francis I of France.