In ancient times, a footman was a member of the servants.
Lacayo is an adjective that refers to someone servile or lowly . As a noun , the term was used to name the servant who accompanied his master, whether on foot, on horseback or in a car . By extension, the servant, servant or slave used to be mentioned as a lackey.
For example: “Tell the lackeys to prepare the horses: we will leave in an hour,” “The lackeys rebelled against their masters and nothing was the same in the old town,” “The boss has to understand that we are his employees and not his lackeys.”
Lackey in ancient times
In ancient times, a lackey was a espolique (the young man who walked in front of his master's cavalry) or a foot soldier who, armed with a crossbow, accompanied the knights during war . The notion, therefore, was always associated with the idea of serving.
The lackeys that lords had in the Middle Ages had endless tasks to ensure that they enjoyed the most comfortable life possible. The tasks entrusted to them reached such a point that they even had to be in charge of scaring away all the insects that might be around their “masters.”
A creepy individual may be referred to as a lackey.
The term today
With the modern conception of work , the idea of lackey acquired a negative meaning . Serfdom and slavery are fought, despite the labor exploitation that a person can suffer. A lackey, in that sense, is someone who is not protected by rights.
Currently the term is associated with a low and unworthy individual, capable of lowering himself to be close to someone powerful . A governor's secretary, for example, will be considered a lackey if he is willing to lie to society to please his boss. The lackey, in this sense, puts aside the common good to serve the powerful, hoping to gain their sympathy and favor.
However, we cannot ignore the fact that lackey has another equally important meaning. Specifically, it is a term that is also used to refer to the bow made up of several ribbons that women used to use to decorate the cuffs of the shirts they wore.
The idea of a lackey in literature
In addition to everything stated above, we would have to emphasize that within the field of Literature there are various books that address the figure of the lackey. This would be the case, for example, of the work “The Last Lacayo” by Martha Grimes or “The False Lacayo” , by Lope de Vega .
That last work is a funny comedy created by the Spanish author who is a famous figure of the Golden Age . It tells how a woman, endowed with great intelligence and cunning, disguises herself as a man and manages to deceive everyone. The objective of this action is none other than to devise a strategically prepared plan in order to obtain the gentleman she is in love with.
The situation presented will give rise to an endless list of the most fun, surreal and entangled situations in which not only the protagonist but also the King of France himself will play fundamental roles.