Companions of Matilda. Famous favorites. The most famous mistresses, whose names entered the history of the Favorite and mistress of kings
10.07.2017
They say the French are the best at love. Let's take a look at those with whom the kings of France cheated on their wives - the portraits of these beautiful ladies were created by the best artists of Europe.
The most beautiful chest
Jean Fouquet. "The Virgin and Child", "Melensky diptych". 1450 Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Agnes Sorel was a contemporary of Joan of Arc and the mistress of Charles VII - the very monarch for whom Maid of Orleans fought so bravely. The king was crazy about Agnes - he admired not only the perfect features of her face (even the Pope appreciated the beauty of this lady), but also the ability to present herself. For example, Agnes dared to wear a dress with a neckline that exposed one breast - extremely defiant for the Middle Ages. She gave birth to the king of three daughters, and during the fourth pregnancy, the 28-year-old beauty died - it was suspected that her enemies had killed her. For some time, Karl was inconsolable, and then took her cousin as his mistress. In 2005, scientists analyzed the remains of Agnes and confirmed that she was poisoned with mercury. It is believed that Sorel is depicted in the image of the Virgin in the Melun Diptych by the court painter Jean Fouquet. The naked chest of the lady in the picture is really perfect. But the hairstyle will seem strange to the modern viewer - however, in the 15th century, it was the highly shaved forehead and whiskey that were considered the ideal of beauty.
The most mysterious gesture
Unknown artist of the Fontainebleau school. "Portrait of Gabrielle d'Estre with her sister." OK. 1594 Louvre, Paris
Jolly King Henry IV of Navarre loved many women. But most of all - the beautiful and witty aristocrat Gabrielle d'Estre. She bore him three children, two boys, which was especially important for Henry, whose marriage to Queen Margot remained childless. The king divorced his wife and was going to marry Gabriel - but the bride was poisoned. As a result, Henry married Marie de Medici, who later gave birth to Louis XIII. The favorite was distinguished by her extraordinary beauty - her skin was so light that, in comparison with her, the white satin of the dress seemed gray. Contemporaries sang both the sparkle of her eyes and sensual lips. Several portraits of Gabrielle have survived - the most famous is of her sitting in a bathtub with another woman pinching her nipple. According to the most popular version, this is her sister Julie, and the gesture most likely hints at Gabrielle's pregnancy. By the way, the favorite is holding a ring in her hands - perhaps a sign of the promised wedding with Heinrich.
The most graceful verses
Tintoretto (?). "Portrait of Veronica Franco". OK. 1575
Worcester Museum of Art, Massachusetts
The last of the Valois dynasty - Henry III, as you know, preferred favorites, rather than beautiful ladies. But still, one female name from his list of love affairs is known for sure. Returning to his native France from Poland, where he happened to reign, Henry (then Duke Henri of Anjou) stopped by Venice. He was shown all the sights - including one of the most famous courtesans of Venice - Veronica Franco, who was famous not only for her beauty, but also for her poetic gift. The future king spent the night with the poetess and left, taking her miniature portrait as a tourist souvenir. She dedicated a couple of sonnets to him. The miniature donated to Heinrich has not survived. But the appearance of Veronica Franco retained a portrait attributed to the brush of Tintoretto. The woman is wearing an expensive dress and valuable jewelry. The pinkish nipple, slightly peeking out of the neckline of the dress, hints at the free temper of the model.
The most beautiful of the sisters
Jacob Ferdinand Foote. "Portrait of Hortense Mancini" (?). 1670s State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Cardinal Mazarin, who, together with Anna of Austria, raised the young King Louis XIV, had seven nieces - and all of them were distinguished by beauty and grace. They were called "mazarinettes". The Sun King fell in love with several of the sisters in turn. Hortense was considered the most beautiful - the favorite of her uncle, the cardinal, who inherited the ducal title from him. At one time she was the mistress of Louis. And then, hiding from her despot husband, she fled to England, where she was sheltered by King Charles II, who once unsuccessfully asked for her hand. Mazarin refused him because the English prince was an exile without a crown. Now the Duchess Hortense de Mazarin had to fight to become the official favorite of Charles. Subsequently, the English ruler left her, dissatisfied with Hortense's too tender relationship with her friends. Several images of her by Jacob Ferdinand Fut, a Fleming settled in Italy, one of the most fashionable portrait painters of that era, have survived. It can be seen from them that the main beauty of the girl was large lively eyes, lush hair and a gentle smile.
The most angelic children
Peter Lely. "Portrait of Louise de La Vallière with Children". 2nd floor 17th century Museum of Fine Arts, Ren
Louis XIV also had many different mistresses - both well-intentioned hypocrites and participants in satanic masses ... Among them was the lame Louise de La Vallière. She was distinguished by a meek, shy character, for a long time resisted the courtship of the king, and when he lost interest in her a few years later, she went to the monastery. Lavalier gave birth to five children, of whom two survived to adulthood. Their family portrait of singing and playing music was left by Peter Lely, a famous English artist of that time. This painting was supposedly commissioned for the convent of Val-de-Grâce by the grandmother of the bastards, Queen Anne of Austria. The allegorical portrait depicts children as winged angels, emphasizing how beautiful their appearance and voices are. However, it is not clear from whom the elder angel playing the organ was written - for the children of Lavalier, he (or she) is too adult.
The most winning angle
Francois Bush. "Resting Girl" 1752 Alte Pinakothek, Munich
The Sun King lived so long that his successor on the throne was not a son or grandson, but a great-grandson, who became famous as Louis XV Beloved. Like an ancestor, he had many favorites. The story of Louise O'Murphy, the daughter of an Irish soldier and a prostitute, is curious; in her youth she ended up in Paris and became a model. The 15-year-old girl was noticed by Francois Boucher, one of the creators of the Rococo style, and wrote his “Resting Girl” from her. The picture shocked contemporaries not only by the pose of a naked model, but also by the fact that it did not have any mythological allusions that justify a playful plot. The "voluptuous" canvas was bought by one of the courtiers and liked the king, who wanted to get acquainted with the model. So Louise turned out to be the mistress of Louis XV - though she was resigned soon enough. She died in 1814 in Paris at the age of 77, having been married several times and successfully survived the revolutionary terror. Well, the canvas with her image has become one of the symbols of the gallant era.
The most intellectual pursuits
Maurice Quentin de Latour. "Portrait of Madame Pompadour". 1748–1755 Louvre, Paris
The official favorite of Louis XV was the Marquise de Pompadour. For two decades, she dictated fashion to Paris, and France - state policy. Clever, educated and power-hungry, the Marquise had excellent taste and knew how to understand both people and art. The king spit, as she wanted, for many years retaining her influence, despite the fact that the doctors forbade her to share a bed with him. Many artists have painted the pompadour, including the playful François Boucher, who captured her rival Louise O'Murphy. But in all these portraits, as in this painting by de Latour, the marquise is written in a way that O'Murphy would never have written. Like ministers and statesmen, she is depicted in her office, at her desk, surrounded by books by Montesquieu and Voltaire, maps, and a globe. Musical instruments, notes and a folder with drawings emphasize her refined taste. It is characteristic that Madame Pompadour was never depicted bare-chested - she respected herself too much.
Text: Sofia Bagdasarova
The French say about such men: “He has a big heart” .. Or become famous for a long list of love affairs.
Text: Svetlana Valieva, Aigul Khafizova, Alfiya Tabermakova April 2, 2020
Most of these men, fortunately, are known for more than just women. An active personal life did not interfere, and sometimes even inspired them to countless feats, the creation of brilliant works of art, states and discoveries. But these stories also have another side: the ending of too unrestrained lovers often turned out to be sad. Unable to control their voluptuousness, men destroyed themselves, lost their health, were betrayed by their environment, deprived of wealth and life itself. The stories of these men once again clearly prove the statement that women are the sweetest and most dangerous weapons of mankind.
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The name of the Italian writer has become synonymous with hero-lovers. Giacomo lost his mother early and was raised by his aunt. Thanks to her, Casanova grew up into a gallant and educated young man, and these qualities disarmed the women he conquered. There are many legends about the sex life of an Italian. According to one of them, for the first time Giacomo knew a woman at the age of 11, and it was a servant, and already at the age of 15 he knew how to seduce and satisfy any woman. Other sources say that the first Italian woman appeared only at the age of 21, she was a professional priestess of love and taught Casanova all the secrets of sexual prowess. Rumor has it that at first the Italian slept with women who did not know men before him, or widows. The ladies were crazy about him, and Giacomo treated each of them in a special way, leaving no broken hearts behind. Mistresses, and according to various sources, there were about 1000 of them, remembered him with gratitude. Casanova died in poverty and loneliness, but in difficult moments of his life he had something to remember! Here is what he wrote about love:
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"What is love? This is a kind of madness over which reason has no power. This is a disease to which a person is subject at any age and which is incurable when it strikes an old man. O love, being and feeling indefinable! God of nature, your bitterness is sweet, your bitterness is cruel” (lines from his biography “The Stories of My Life”). By the way, the book is full of explicit scenes, for example, the most modest description: "I enjoyed with both for several hours, going five or six times from one to the other, before exhausting myself."
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The King of France and Navarre ascended the throne at the age of four and reigned for 72 years - longer than any other European king in history. The years of his reign became the era of the revival of France, its military power, political weight, intellectual prestige and the flowering of culture. The court of Louis XIV was famous for its feasts and balls, shameless luxury and wealth.
At 22, Louis married the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa of Austria. As is customary among royalty, marriage was nothing more than a necessity. The Sun King has developed a long list of official favorites over time. For a place near the king of France, fierce wars were fought and intrigues were woven. The favorites were ready to poison each other with poison, blackmail and compromise others. And by all means, they sought to give birth to Louis XIV of a child, thereby strengthening their position. The Duchess de La Vallière bore him four illegitimate children. Marquise de Montespan - seven more. Mademoiselle de Hoye gave birth to another daughter. And the Duchess de Fontanges could not bear his child.
The King of France, despite his weakness for women, was not an easy prey. So, one of the most influential favorites of the king, the mother of his seven children, miscalculated by hiring the dowager Madame Scarron as a nanny for her children. Louis drew attention to how touchingly a simple woman takes care of his children (unlike their own mother). He began to spend more and more time in conversations with an educated woman and gradually became closer to her. Madame Scarron became his outlet and even returned him to the bosom of the family - Louis XIV, under her influence, restored relations with his already forgotten wife. And after the death of the Spaniard, he married Scarron, entering into an unequal marriage.
At the end of his life, a series of family tragedies left the French throne without a direct heir: one by one, Louis lost all his descendants. After which he legitimized the two sons of Madame de Montespan and made them heirs to the throne. Louis remained active until the end of his life, firmly maintaining court etiquette and the decor of his “great age”, which was already beginning to fade, and died surrounded by courtiers at the age of 76.
Caligula (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus)
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One of the most cruel and vicious ancient rulers, Caligula, is known for not knowing the limits in sex. Even as a child, little Caligula loved to be present at various tortures and executions. Having matured a little, the future ruler began to taste all kinds of debauchery and even deprived his sister Drusilla of her virginity, and then made him his concubine.
When Caligula became emperor, he got bored: he tried everything. But he soon found himself a new entertainment: he chose the wife of some patrician at feasts, took her to his chambers, and then told in the presence of his spouse in detail what the lady is good for and where the lady has gaps in her love bed. And Caligula also liked to take one of his middle-aged concubines out into the street naked. Why the emperor needed this, history is silent.
The depraved Caligula ended badly - he was killed as a result of a conspiracy. About his dissolute adventures, the film "Caligula" by Tinto Brass was shot.
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The Soviet futurist poet of the past century was never married, but managed to seduce more than 200 women. The assertive poet pursued his passions. Women, of course, gave up - Mayakovsky had a painfully strong gift of persuasion. Perhaps there would have been many more ladies on the poet's track record if it were not for the endless returns to the wife of his friend Lila Brik. It is not clear why she hooked the stately handsome Mayakovsky so much, but he was so obsessed with her that he was ready to live together with Lilya and her husband. They met in 1915. Lilya Brik for him was not just a mistress, but also a muse, to whom he devoted many of his works. Such love brought the poet insane suffering. Mayakovsky's muse recalled how she was frightened by the boundless passion and assertiveness of the poet. It even happened that the futurist was locked in the kitchen when the Briks made love, and he tried to escape, scratched and cried.
From time to time, Mayakovsky was distracted from Lily and had affairs with Sofya Shamardina, Natalya Bryukhanenko, Veronika Polonskaya, Tatyana Yakovleva and Russian emigrant Ellie Jones, whom he met in the USA. Ellie gave birth to a daughter, Helen-Patricia, from Mayakovsky in 1926. Recently it became known that the poet had another child - the artist Lilya Lavinskaya, as a result of her relationship with Mayakovsky, in 1921 gave birth to a son, Nikita Lavinsky.
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The future favorite of Empress Catherine II and His Serene Highness Prince Orlov was one of the five sons of the Novgorod governor. At the age of 15 he entered the Semyonovsky regiment as a soldier. At 24, after a brave participation in the Seven Years' War, he returned to St. Petersburg, where he managed to combine service with fun revelry and risky love adventures. Tall, handsome and stately, Orlov was not afraid of either the devil or God and quickly became known as a ladies' man. As an adjutant to Count Shuvalov, he became interested in his beloved Princess Kurakina. The scandalous story only added to his popularity and drew the eyes of Tsesarevna Ekaterina Alekseevna (the future Empress) to him. 25-year-old Orlov fell in love with 31-year-old Ekaterina and was ready to follow her to the ends of the earth. After Catherine's husband Peter III ascended the throne, it was the Orlov brothers who became her reliable protection and support and helped organize the coup. In April 1762, Catherine gave birth to an illegitimate son from Orlov, who was named Alexei (Count Bobrinsky). The child was brought up in the family of the wardrobe master Shkurin, then he studied and lived abroad.
In June 1762, Catherine, as a result of a coup, took the throne, and the Orlov brothers (and Grigory himself in the first place) were showered with honors. Orlov was not a statesman in the full sense of the word, but, according to Catherine, no one assisted her in her work like Grigory Orlov. “Orlov’s abilities were great, but he lacked consistency in subjects that in his eyes were not worth caring, and he only honored a few of his work, and this made him seem more careless than he really was. Nature spoiled him, and he was lazy for everything that suddenly did not occur to him. Nevertheless, Orlov was sent to Moscow, where he successfully overcame the outbreak of the plague.
Upon her return, the relationship between the empress and the favorite became more distant, but forever remained warm and strong. Orlov was fond of every maid of honor of the Empress, to which she graciously turned a blind eye and brought other gentlemen closer to her. At 43, Orlov married his 18-year-old cousin Ekaterina Zinovieva and found deep feeling and comfort in this union. Unfortunately, the marriage was short-lived: four years later, the princess died of consumption.
Prince Orlov could not survive the loss - he fell seriously ill and weakened his mind. The empress herself visited him several times, expressed her sympathy and gathered the best doctors. The treatment did not help: the prince, who fell into childhood, died two years later.
Don Miguel de Manyara (prototype of Don Juan)
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1627 - 1679
Despite the fact that Don Juan is a literary character, a real prototype who perceived sex as a sport, he still had it. The name of the hero-lover was Miguel de Manyara. In the "track record" of Don Miguel 640 Italians, 100 French women, 231 Germans, 91 Turkish women and 1003 Spaniards!
Miguel de Manyara was so good-looking that the ladies were literally thrilled by him. The Spanish macho from Seville was rich, but he never bought love for money on principle. And his life credo was not to have an affair with the same woman twice. Never.
His love affairs ended quite abruptly. One night, Miguel was in a hurry for a date, when he suddenly slipped and heard a voice from heaven, which kept repeating about his imminent death. The impressionable de Manyara realized that this was a sign from above and it was time to stop using women in love sports. Then, in order to atone for his many sins, he decided to do charity work and founded the Hospital de la Caridad.
Currently, this hospital, located in Seville, Spain, is one of the best clinics in the world. There is also a monument to the great lover and a chapel, under the steps of which he is buried.
Louis XV
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Another king of France, Louis XV, was a pious young man in his teens and did not pay attention to the opposite sex until the age of 15.
At first sight, he fell in love with his wife Maria Leshchinskaya. With his wife, Louis spent a lot of time in the chambers. The proof of this is 10 children. But the love for his wife evaporated over time, and Louis got himself a mistress - the Marquise Maria de Mailly. Mary opened the world of sexual pleasures to the king, where he could fantasize and enjoy the fulfillment of his desires.
The royal mistress arranged orgies, and soon Louis, who got a taste, began to change women like gloves. He did not spare them neither titles nor money. Probably, it was during this period that the monarch contracted syphilis, but was able to recover from it.
By the way, his wife Maria had already died by that time. An unpleasant illness changed the preferences of the 30-year-old Louis, and from the age of 30 he ordered that only virgins be allowed into the royal bedchamber. For these purposes, the Deer Park boarding house was created in Versailles, where the little daughters of the nobles lived under the full royal care - their parents willingly gave them here.
In the "Deer Park" girls lived up to 15 years, the king taught them arithmetic and the basics of religion. At the age of 15, the “graduates” went to the bedroom of the King of France. If the "deer" did not become pregnant before the age of 17, then they were given in marriage with a good dowry.
In parallel, the monarch devoted time to his most famous mistress, Madame Poisson. The woman was depraved and not jealous, maybe that's why she became his main mistress for a long time. He even gave her the title of Marquise de Pompadour. Unbridled sexual depravity ruined Louis - it is not known from whom he picked up a deadly smallpox, and this led him to a sad end.
Elvis Presley
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The king of rock and roll was married only once, but he had many novels. Presley met his future wife Priscilla long before she came of age and ordered the girl to wait for him (she was only 14 at the time of the meeting, Priscilla Presley was born in 1945). Love for Priscilla was touching, the girl reminded Elvis of the deceased mother, whom he loved the most. Elvis moved the young lover to him and lived with her, guarding her virginity until the wedding. However, the presence of the bride did not prevent the king of rock and roll from having fun with fans. The future wife learned about the adventures of the groom from the newspapers and, of course, was terribly angry, but did not stop loving him. The couple married in 1967 and had a daughter, Lisa-Marie, in 1968. After the birth of their daughter, relations in the family went wrong, their marriage lasted until 1973. “Girls are not a hobby. It's more of an entertainment, ”the king of rock and roll expressed his opinion about the female field.
John Kennedy
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The 35th President of America was always neat, combed, dressed to the nines and knew how to speak beautifully. What else does a woman need to be seduced? According to biographers, more than 1,500 women passed through the president's bed. Among them were the most beautiful Hollywood actresses - Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Jayne Mansfield, Kim Novak, Janet Leigh, Shirley MacLaine and, of course, the sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, an affair with which almost cost him his career. The President said that he had never loved anyone, but was only passionately fond of. Even the beauty of Monroe, because of her obsession, quickly got tired of the president. Knowing about all the adventures of her husband, Jacqueline Kennedy only closed her eyes. Meanwhile, the young politician was having fun to the fullest, inviting several women to his bed at once. Even the love that arose for actress Judith Campbell-Exner did not put an end to Kennedy's love of love.
Grigory Rasputin
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Disputes about the personality of Grigory Rasputin have not subsided to this day. Was he a pious person, or did his surname fully justify his way of life? A Siberian peasant appeared at the imperial court under mysterious circumstances. A chance meeting with two princesses decided his fate. The women introduced the emperor to a healer and soothsayer with charisma and the gift of persuasion. Soon the fame of Rasputin spread throughout St. Petersburg. There were rumors that all the noble ladies of the cultural capital had been in bed with the seer. The life of a court healer is shrouded in secrets and gossip. Women looked for meetings with him, despite the fact that he humiliated them: he touched them in different places in front of their husbands, forced them to kiss his boots, bathed with them in the bath. The women were eager to give themselves to him. In fairness, it must be said that it was already difficult to find a healthy Siberian man in St. Petersburg in those days. Even one of Rasputin's killers, Felix Yusupov, suffered from sodomy. In a word, Rasputin, with his natural sexuality, came to the court of the emperor. They say that it used to be that the healer satisfied not only ladies of noble birth, but also arranged orgies with women of easy virtue.
Sergey Yesenin
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About his personal life, the poet eloquently wrote: "Many women loved me, Yes, and I myself loved more than one." At the same time, he admitted that he valued in his mistresses not the external beauty and pleasure that he received from them: “No matter how I swear to someone in crazy love, no matter how I assure myself of the same, all this, by in fact, a huge and fatal mistake. There is something that I love above all women, above any woman, and that I would not exchange for any caresses and for any love. This is art ... ”How many mistresses the heartthrob poet actually had is still unknown. Although once Yesenin boasted to a friend that he had three thousand women.
The loving character did not prevent the poet from tying the knot three times. Yesenin's first common-law wife was Anna Izryadnova, a proofreader. Then Yesenin officially married actress Zinaida Reich, but soon divorced and went down the aisle with dancer Isadora Duncan. For the third time, Yesenin proposed to the granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy, Sofya Tolstoy. But it is reliably known that, even being in the status of a married man, the poet found an opportunity and indulged in albeit fleeting, but passionate romances with other women.
Mao Zedong
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The Chinese statesman and politician was married four times - to Luo Yixu, Yang Kaihui, He Zizzheng and Jiang Qing. Like many powerful characters, Mao had a lot of mistresses. Nature endowed the Chinese Communist with a wild sexual ardor, and he believed that through active lovemaking he would gain immortality. He asked his assistants to supply him with the most beautiful girls and boys from all over the boundless China. And in China, as you know, the population is large. And so every day Mao lured beautiful young bodies into his bed. Before entering the bedroom of the Chinese helmsman, Mao's lovers and mistresses were carefully examined by doctors. But they overlooked, and one of the girls rewarded the sexual giant with trichomoniasis. The doctors tried to persuade the great communist for treatment, but he did not agree: he did not want to give up love pleasures during the treatment period. And until the end of his life, Mao Zedong infected many Chinese maidens with trichomoniasis, the number of which is not possible to establish for certain.
Lavrenty Beria
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The Russian revolutionary, Soviet statesman and politician, according to many, had sexual relations with many women. But the Georgian macho was quite voluptuous: he also had students, and even high school girls. During interrogations, Beria admitted that 760 women had been in his bed, most of them Moscow schoolgirls.
Beria preferred plump girls with small breasts and white teeth. If the assistants saw one on the street, they put her in a car and immediately drove her to Beria. All the girls left the people's commissar with gifts.
Beria's head of security, Rafael Sarkisov, kept a list of his women. In the first one, 39 surnames were mentioned, in the second - 75 and 115 in the third. According to Sarkisov, many girls who were close to Beria then had abortions, and a certain citizen M. gave birth to a child from him, who was subsequently sent to an orphanage. Sarkisov also claims that in 1943, the People's Commissar picked up syphilis from countless sexual relationships. Moreover, Beria was not interested in either the woman's age or her position in society. If she was beautiful, then she certainly had to be in his bed.
Despite his adventures, Beria was an exemplary family man. He met his wife Nino Grechkori in the late 1920s, when she turned to the people's commissar for help. For his help, the voluptuary demanded an unequivocal payment from Nino, he liked her, as a result he married her. In 1924, the couple had a son, Sergo.
Napoleon I Bonaparte
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The French emperor entered his name in history not only thanks to high-profile military campaigns and political affairs. Napoleon courted women from a young age and made every effort to seduce the lady he liked. It is known from historical chronicles that for the sake of flirting and love pleasures, the emperor could postpone even affairs of national importance. At the same time, Napoleon always looked after women beautifully. He presented his mistresses with luxurious gifts (jewellery of unprecedented beauty, country mansions and millions of dollars of money were used), and also wrote heartfelt romantic letters to them.
The emperor's ardor for the fair sex did not subside even after his marriage to the beautiful Josephine Beauharnais. Although, as historians write, Napoleon was faithful to his wife until he found out about her love affairs on the side. The emperor did not hide his feelings and openly flirted with women at social events. Once, in order to seduce a lady he liked, Napoleon “accidentally” knocked over a glass of wine on her. So that the girl could put herself in order, the emperor invited her to his apartments, in which the couple stayed until the morning ...
Even at the dawn of his political and military career (in early XIX century Napoleon abdicated and was exiled to the island of Saint Helena), the ex-emperor of France did not get bored alone. Rumor has it that during the exile there was not a day that Napoleon did not flirt with the ladies. Soon, the reputation of an unstoppable lover was firmly established on the island for the French conqueror.
Jimi Hendrix
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American virtuoso guitarist, singer and composer loved women, took drugs and died young - at 27 years old. In his short life, the great rock guitarist has slept with approximately 2,000 women. Perhaps such a high sexual activity in Jimmy was due to an unusual origin - his father was an African American, and his mother was Indian. Often, to satisfy himself, Jimi slept with three groupies at the same time. One of his girlfriends said that Hendrix's love instrument was "the size of his guitar." Hendrix, due to his explosive temperament and bad temper, never married. After all, his main passion was the guitar, which he affectionately called "my electric lady."
“When the power of love surpasses the love of power, there will be peace on Earth,” he said.
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“It takes me no more than two minutes to seduce any girl,” said the American actor ().
Brando has always liked girls with a Latin or Asian appearance, olive skin, lively eyes and natural grace. Knowing this, a young extra, Anna Kashfi, pretended to be an Indian and chatted her lover with stories about the years she lived on the banks of the Ganges, about the secrets of the Hindu religion. At the wedding, Marlon found out about Kashfi's insidious tricks, but it was too late: Anna was already pregnant with his child. After the wedding, in retaliation, he began to cheat on his wife. The second wife of Brando was the Indonesian actress Movita Castenada. Then the actor had an affair with Vietnamese France Nguyen, with Puerto Rican Rita Moreno. For the third and last time, Marlon decided to marry a Tahitian Tarita Teriipai. He lived with her in a barque for 20 years, they had two children. In total, Marlon Brando has eleven officially recognized children.
The actor had relationships not only with exotic girls, but also with the very famous Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy. Until the very last days, Brando was accompanied by devoted mistresses. In 2004, in a spacious house in Tahiti, the 80-year-old actor lived out his days with eight women from their 20s to their 60s.
Charlie Chaplin
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In Hollywood, the legendary film actor has developed a reputation as a conqueror of women's hearts. He knew how to strike on the spot any young actress, and therefore had affairs with many of them. With Mildred Harris, Charlie even got married. There was a short affair with the German actress Pola Negri. He married a young Lita Grey, but soon divorced and remarried Paulette Goddard. The great comedian was looking for the one that would be the one and only. And he found her when he was 55, and she was only 17. Una O'Neill, the daughter of the famous playwright Eugene O'Neill, became this love. At first, Charlie doubted: it seemed to him that he met with another hunter for money and fame. He did not immediately realize that the girl fell in love with him, and not with his material well-being. Nothing stopped Una: neither the age difference of 36 years, nor the protests of her father (Chaplin was a year older than him!). The couple got married, and eight children were born in their marriage. In total, Chaplin had 12 offspring.
Frank Sinatra
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The American singer, Oscar-winning actor and showman has been named the most desirable man of the 20th century. He was surrounded by a huge number of women, the most beautiful and unattainable for a mere mortal: Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner and many others. But he easily forgot all of them until he met the main love of his life. However, at first, 24-year-old Frank married his first love, Nancy Barbato. The couple had two daughters and a son. And then Sinatra met the brilliant Ava Gardner. Sinatra's friends unanimously called his condition not even passion or love, but insanity. “She poured something into my glass!” he justified.
Love broke out instantly, but carefully hidden from the public. Sinatra was an exemplary family man and father of many children, Gardner, after two marriages, experienced a dizzying affair with multimillionaire Howard Hughes. Sinatra idolized the actress and from the desire to possess her alone and completely went crazy: he went into drinking binges, blackmailed her with suicide, rolled up scandals and scenes of jealousy.
But all the secret becomes clear - a reporter tracked down a couple, a scandal broke out, from which Gardner hurried to hide in Spain. Nancy Sinatra filed for divorce. At the same time, the singer began to have problems in his career. Ava, who swore allegiance, first started one romance in Europe, then the second. Soon the singer was found with an overdose of sleeping pills, but they managed to save him. After that, Gardner gave in, and in 1951 Sinatra married his main love. With whom ... divorced six years later - the couple continued to torment each other with jealousy, quarrels and a showdown. They say that even after the divorce, the couple was constantly caught under the cover of night in different hotels.
Sinatra later married actress Mia Farrow. He was 51 and she was 21. They separated the following year. Ten years later, Sinatra married for the fourth time - to Barbara Marks, with whom he lived until the end of his life.
Sultan Suleyman
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Suleiman I the Magnificent, or Sultan Kanuni, as he is also called, became the greatest sultan of the Ottoman dynasty. Of course, like any eastern ruler of that time, Suleiman had a huge harem, in whose concubines hundreds of the most beautiful girls from all conquered and friendly territories were supplied. Each dreamed of becoming the legal wife of the ruler, giving birth to his heir, or at least spending more nights with him than any other.
In such conditions, it is difficult to imagine that at least one man will be burdened by an endless choice or will dream of something more. But even the heart of such a strong personality as the ruler Ottoman Empire, can be melted. Despite the fact that by that time the Sultan already had three official main concubines and even an heir was born, a captive named Anastasia (Alexandra) Lisovskaya, who was called Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan, penetrated into his soul, and in Europe they knew as Roksolana. She became the first and only legal wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, bore him six children, one of whom later became the Sultan. The popular series "The Magnificent Age" was filmed about the reign and life of the great Sultan.
Lev Landau
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The brilliant Soviet physicist and Nobel Prize winner in 1962 was married to Concordia (Kora) Drobantseva. Marriage did not prevent him from being a great lover at all. It is known that Landau had relationships with 400-500 women. The physicist deduced not only scientific formulas, but also classified women by beauty. At the same time, he divided interesting women into beautiful, pretty and interesting. It was a kind of first, second and third classes. The beautiful ones certainly had to have a straight nose, and for the pretty ones, a snub-nosed one was also allowed.
There was also a fourth class, which was called "reprimand to parents", and the fifth in general "for repetition - execution." Landau believed that he was allowed everything in love. And having married, he announced to his wife that she should not be jealous of him and reproach him for treason. Perhaps it was the numerous mistresses that allowed the physicist to open up creatively and get Nobel Prize? In the meantime, he managed to compose ditty poems. For example, these:
“In our garden, in the very back, all the grass is flattened. Do not think bad, all love is cursed! “Chatushki cannot be indecent. This is folklore, ”the physicist justified himself.
Silvio Berlusconi
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The life of an Italian politician is almost always accompanied by scandals associated with endless love affairs. Berlusconi has been married twice. The politician has not only a wide pocket, an irrepressible love for women, but also a big generous heart. At the very least, he gives gifts and vouchers to a political career to all the women who had closeness with him. For example, the fashion model Mara Carfagna became Minister for Equal Opportunities in his government, and the dentist Nicole Minetti became a member of the Lombard Parliament.
There were women in his life who paid him black ingratitude. So, Patricia D'Addario wrote the scandalous book "At Your Service, Mr. Prime Minister", and the model from Montenegro, Katarina Knezevic, blackmailed him with videos from parties at Villa Certosa.
In the list of Berlusconi's mistresses, lawyer and model Graziana Capone, TV presenter and former participant in the Miss Italy beauty contest Barbara Matera, model and actress Camilla Ferranti, participant in the TV project Grande Fratello (analogous to Doma-2) Angela Socio, fashion model and socialite Eleonora Gagiolli, twins Eleonora and Imma De Vivo, TV presenter Elena Russo and a certain Noemi Letizia, who attracted media attention after Berlusconi came to her 18th birthday party and gave her a gold necklace with diamonds for 6 thousand euros . Such is he, Silvio Berlusconi.
By the way, on September 29, the Italian macho will turn 79 years old. Even at such an advanced age, the tycoon continues to attract the attention of women. Either charisma, or power, or money ...
Clark Gable
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The American actor and sex symbol of the 1930s and 1940s was married five times. Josephine Dillon was 14 years older than him, Maria Langham was 17 years older, then there were Carole Lombard, Sylvia Ashley and Kay Williams. Despite the numerous connections of the actor, the third wife, Carole Lombard, was his only true love, which Clark carried through all subsequent marriages and relationships. They were happy until Carol's death in a plane crash. Carol was quick-tempered and carefully ensured that Clark, on whom Hollywood beauties were a real hunt, belonged only to her. And only to her did he tell about his illegitimate daughter from actress Loretta Young. Seven years after the death of Carol Gable decided to marry Lady Sylvia Ashley.
She was very similar to Carol, but their relationship ended as soon as Ashley began to rebuild the Gable farm and Lombard. The fifth and last wife of the King of Hollywood was actress Kay Williams. It is not difficult to guess that her appearance was somewhat reminiscent of Carol's features. But it was she who gave Clark the son he so dreamed of with Lombard. True, Clark did not manage to take him in his arms: the boy was born four months after the death of the actor. Kay buried her husband where he willed - in the tomb, which he erected for Carole Lombard at Forest Clearing Cemetery in Glendale, California, "where the heart is ...". Clark Gable has always been considered a heartthrob. But his phrase “the happiness of a man is to know that when you return home in the evening, some woman listens to your steps ...” makes you believe that heroes-lovers also have a heart ...
Grigory Potemkin
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Out of the ordinary noble family Potemkin made a dizzying career during the reign of Catherine II, not only due to military merit. Promoted to the rank of Field Marshal Potemkin was a close friend of the Empress. So close that he often visited the chambers of Catherine II. Historians are sure that the Empress and Potemkin were secretly married, but despite this, the feelings between them faded after some time. After that, the commander went into all serious trouble. He settled his nieces, the daughters of sister Helena Engelhardt, in his palace, and as they grew older, he entered into a close relationship with them. Despite such seemingly impartial relations, Potemkin successfully married off all his nieces. With one of them, Ekaterina Engelhardt, the prince did not stop his love affair even after her wedding.
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The famous French writer knew a lot about the fair sex. It was thanks to his countless love affairs that the expression "women of Balzac's age" appeared. And all because the writer met and indulged in love pleasures exclusively with middle-aged ladies. Balzac said: “A 20-year-old woman demands too much and gives nothing in return. 40-year-old women will do anything for you!”
The writer did not hide the fact that he had affairs mainly with married ladies. Here is what he wrote in his book The Physiology of Marriage: “Don't let your wife keep a closet in the bedroom. It can hide uninvited guests". Balzac was not at all embarrassed that he always had to be in a relationship in the background and remain in the background: “It is easier to be a lover than a husband, because it is more difficult to be witty every day than to joke from time to time.” Moreover, according to the information that has come down to us, the writer did not always initiate novels: married women themselves showered him with love notes.
Parents found a rich bride for their son - Rene de Montreuil. But the sophisticated marquis liked the youngest daughter of de Montreuil - Anna. De Sade fell in love for real and really wanted to marry the beautiful Anna. But de Montreuil had his own plans: they really wanted to marry their eldest daughter Rene. No matter how the marquis pleaded, no matter how he fell at the feet of Anna's mother, the woman stood her ground. “Why, when I truly loved so much, was I forced to give up this love?” de Sade wrote later. The marriage, of course, did not work out. Rene tried to win her husband with tenderness, but he only beat his wife. The woman did not complain about this - at least somehow the hand of her beloved man touched her body. And de Sade got a taste: subsequently he beat not only his wife, but also courtesans. And then he wrote about his experience in numerous novels, which immortalized his name. His main brainchild is “120 days of Sodom”. Many times for the torture of prostitutes, the marquis was in prison, having spent more than 20 years of his life in them. After laughing in a pamphlet at Napoleon and his Josephine, he was put in a madhouse, where he died.
The legendary Spanish singer has repeatedly admitted that he loves beautiful women very much. Once he even let slip that he had at least 500 novels. Most likely, Iglesias was not cunning, because what woman could resist the charm and charisma of the famous sweet-voiced Spaniard. At the same time, they say that the singer broke up with many of his women very peacefully and even maintains friendly relations with them. By the way, it was precisely because of Julio's infidelity that his first wife, Isabel Preisler, filed for divorce, giving him an heir, whom the whole world now knows as singer Enrique Iglesias. In an interview, Isabel said that she was tired of her husband's endless betrayals, which even a very patient woman cannot put up with.
Julio Iglesias is now married to Dutch ex-model Miranda Reinsburger. At 63, the singer once again became a father. To date, he has 8 children, but judging by how many women Iglesias had, there may be more.
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First, the Hollywood actor, who has been nominated for an Oscar 12 times and received it three times, said that he never pays for sex. Because any woman is ready to sleep with him. Secondly, the 78-year-old actor claims that in his life there were more than 2 thousand mistresses. Nicholson was married only once, to actress Sandra Knight, his longest relationship lasted 17 years with actress Anjelica Huston. They broke up after it became known that another woman was pregnant from him. Nicholson has five children with four different women.
What seduces Nicholson? They say that he is a very gallant boyfriend, a tireless lover, and simply the owner of an irresistible sensual look. More than once it turned out, however, that Nicholson has a complex explosive character - he can put another beauty out the door and forget about her forever. Or to tell in an interview that he did not love all the women with whom he slept. He does not hesitate to steal the women he likes from their boyfriends and husbands. Or not take away, but just start an affair. When one of the actor's biographers published a book with facts about Nicholson's affair with married Meryl Streep on the set of The Thistle, both had to deny the accusations for a long time.
Who are the favorites? Usually this is the name of the "official" mistresses of the ruling persons. Moreover, favorites are not just “flesh” to satisfy the desires of the ruler. These are completely independent individuals who, without hiding their relationship with the monarch, had a certain social status and could often influence not only court life, but also the policy of the state where their lover ruled. The very term "favorite" (or metressa - in French Maîtresse) appeared in France, where the mistresses of monarchs were practically officials. Some kings were limited to a couple of passions in their entire lives, others changed them like gloves.
However, there were few real favorites both in France and abroad. After all, getting into bed with the ruler is a simple matter. But to stay there, for a long time tying a royal lover to himself, is another task! In our selection, we will limit ourselves to only those beautiful ladies who firmly held the hearts and wallets of sovereigns in their hands - and sometimes even the fate of the state.
Favorites of European monarchs
Let's start with the Europeans, with most of the positions given to the French - these are their playful monarchs, forced to marry for state reasons, for the pleasure of the soul and body, they decided to introduce the actual position of "official favorite". This, of course, does not mean that other European monarchs did not have mistresses, just that their influence rarely spread outside the boudoir.
Diane de Poitiers
This woman twirled the king as she pleased
Patron: Henry II of Valois, King of France (1547–1559)
How much and when: 21 years old, from 1538 to 1559
What is famous for: distant relative of the royal family - her grandmother was the illegitimate daughter of Louis XI. Diana was very smart, beautiful and had a strong character. After the death of her husband, she became close to Prince Henry, who was twenty years her junior. The young prince, obsessed with knightly customs, considered Diana the standard of a beautiful lady from gallant novels. Having ascended the throne, he showered her with gifts and titles, making her the Duchess of Valentinois.
With age, Diana remained more of a close friend of the king, who took on younger mistresses. However, the huge influence of Diana on the monarch was unchanged until his death. Diana appointed ministers and marshals, the king only approved her decisions. And after each royal council or reception of foreign ambassadors, Henry went to the favorite to listen to her opinion. So, at the direction of Diana, the king ended the long-term Italian wars by signing the Cato-Cambresian peace.
How it ended: after the tragic death of Henry in a jousting tournament, Diana retired to her possessions, where she died at the age of 66. She had no children by Heinrich. By the way, earlier Diana was called the mistress and father of Henry, King Francis I, but modern historians consider this a fiction.
Barbara Villiers
Barbara Villiers as The Penitent Magdalene, portrait by Peter Lely
Patron: Charles II Stuart, King of England (1660–1685)
How much and when: 13 years old, from 1660 to 1673
What is famous for: the great-niece of the Duke of Buckingham (the same one from the “pendant business”), however, due to the events of the English Revolution, she lived in poverty. She was considered one of the most beautiful, witty and extravagant women of her time. She married the diplomat Roger Palmer, who soon joined the retinue of Charles II, who lived in exile in Holland. It was there that Barbara became the mistress of the king, who a year later triumphantly sat on the throne.
After the Restoration, Barbara had a great political influence and participated in many intrigues. So, thanks to her efforts, the powerful first minister of Clarendon was fired. She received from the king several palaces and landed estates, as well as the titles of Countess of Castlemaine, Countess of Southampton and Duchess of Cleveland. Despite this, she did not hesitate to take bribes from Spanish and French diplomats. Carl gave birth to five children, who received the name Fitzroy.
How it ended: Barbara just got tired of Karl, who had a lot of mistresses. After the “resignation”, she married again (unsuccessfully). Survived Charles II by 24 years.
Françoise Athenais de Montespan
Does she look like a poisoner? But who knows…
Patron:
How much and when: 16 years old, from 1667 to 1683
What is famous for: originally from a very noble Rochechouart family, she was the wife of the Marquis de Montespan and the royal maid of honor. Very beautiful and charming, with a lively mind, she was very popular in secular society. Having met the king, she recaptured him from her close friend Louise de la Vallière. For ten years she was actually the uncrowned ruler of France, royal ministers and military officials listened to her opinion. She patronized culture and the arts, Molière and Lafontaine used her favors. She gave birth to Louis of seven children, six of whom were legalized with the right to bear the royal family of Bourbon.
How it ended: the marquise was involved in the famous "case of poisons", when among the clients of the poisoner Monvoisin was a trusted maid Montespan. Finally, the king cooled off towards the Marquise when his new passion, the very young Duchess de Fontanges, died suddenly, possibly from poison. Of course, nothing was proven, but Montespan ceased to be a favorite, and after the elevation of Madame de Maintenon, she completely left the court. She lived at the monastery or in her possessions, did charity work and died peacefully at the age of 66.
Francoise de Maintenon
Not at all a beauty, but she married the king to herself! (Portrait of Pierre Mignard)
Patron: Louis XIV of Bourbon, King of France (1643–1715)
How much and when: 32 years old, from 1683 to 1715
What is famous for: came from a Huguenot d'Aubigné family, her grandfather was a close friend of Henry IV. She was born in a prison where her father was imprisoned for debts. She spent her childhood on the tropical island of Martinique. After the death of her parents, she lived with her aunt "out of mercy"; later she was married to the famous poet Paul Scarron, not only a commoner, but also a paraplegic. However, Francoise - a girl not too beautiful, but very smart - called the years of marriage with Scarron "the best time of her life." After all, he was considered one of the most charming people of his time.
Having been widowed, Francoise received a "bread" place as a teacher of the children of the Marquise de Montespan from the king. So she met Louis, who liked to talk with Françoise. At first, there was nothing between them except a purely intellectual relationship. However, when the king lost interest in Montespan, it was Francoise who attracted his attention - despite the fact that this ugly woman was already under fifty. However, the king was only three years younger than her. The attachment to Francoise was so strong that the widowed Louis entered into a morganatic marriage with her in 1683 (official, but not giving the wife the right to occupy the throne and be considered queen).
In the late period of the reign of Louis, his policy largely depended on his wife, who received the title of Marquise de Maintenon. And, despite her brilliant mind, this woman brought France a lot of trouble. It was Maintenon, who became a zealous Catholic, who was one of the main initiators of the abolition of the Edict of Nantes on religious tolerance. This led to civil unrest and the emigration of many Huguenots, which greatly weakened the state.
How it ended: after the death of the king, Françoise managed the academy for noble maidens of Saint-Cyr, which she herself founded. She died there three years later.
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour
Uncrowned sovereign of France (portrait of Francois Boucher)
Patron: Louis XV of Bourbon, King of France (1715–1774)
How much and when: 19 years old, from 1745 to 1764
What is famous for: was born into a bourgeois family, received an excellent education, was very beautiful and smart. She got married at the age of 19, but Jeanne's goal was determined from childhood - she longed to become the king's mistress. And Jeanne achieved this goal by literally pursuing Louis, who could not resist the charms of a beautiful girl. He made her the Marquise de Pompadour, showered her with money and gifts. But most importantly, he actually entrusted power to her in the country - even for France, the case is unique.
For almost 20 years, the king was engaged only in entertainment and a little more foreign policy(So, Louis XV oversaw French intelligence). Everything else was in the tenacious hands of the Marquise de Pompadour: appointments to important government posts, tax policy, issues of war and peace. She also very generously endowed figures of culture and art - it is not without reason that the time of her reign can be called the last "golden age" of the French monarchy.
How it ended: Pompadour was the king's mistress for about eight years; then Louis switched to other women, but the dexterous marquise remained in power until her death at 42.
Fantastic favorites
Strong-willed Lady Jessica (Francesca Annis in Dune 1984)
In fantasy literature, favorites, of course, occur, but, as a rule, they are somewhere on the periphery of the plot. For example, the very colorful Komitta Rangave, both haughty and vulgar mistress of Turizin Gavras, Emperor Videsse from Harry Turtledove's Lost Legion series of novels. Or the ambitious and ruthless Heather Towne, Prince Victor's favorite in Simon Green's Blood and Honor. Or gentle, kind, but somewhat stupid Dariolo Cairna, beloved of Prince Alexander Tagere from Vera Kamshi's "Chronicles of Artia".
The exception is numerous loveburgers, usually fantasy ones. Here there is a lot of this goodness - every second beautiful lady becomes the love interest of some emperor, king or, at worst, a prince. If we talk about more traditional fiction, then the choice of true favorite heroines is extremely small.
So the most remarkable favorite in fiction is Lady Jessica, the concubine of Duke Leto I Atreides, from whom she gave birth to the protagonist of Frank Herbert's novels about the planet Dune. Jessica was specially trained in the powerful female order of the Bene Gesserit, who fought for power in the universe. With her help, the order tried to control Duke Leto in order to avoid the rise of his family. However, Jessica fell in love with the duke for real, and the centuries-old calculations of all political forces in the world of "Dune" went to pieces. So a simple favorite changed the history of the universe.
Favorites of Russian sovereigns
Our next top is the favorites of Russian sovereigns. Russian tsars and emperors rarely gave real power over themselves to their mistresses, and therefore most of them never reached the rank of favorite, remaining only toys for monarchs.
Anna Mons
Not a single portrait of Anna Mons has survived. This is how she looks performed by Ulrike Kunze (1980 Soviet film "Peter's Youth")
Patron:
How much and when: 13 years old, from 1691 to 1704
What is famous for: daughter of a wealthy German merchant who lived in Moscow, a rare beauty. When Anna was about 20 years old, Franz Lefort, the closest friend of Peter I, introduced her to the young tsar. The girl completely fascinated Peter, who even sent his wife to a monastery and was going to marry Anna. The king gave her generous gifts, but Anna did not hesitate to take bribes "for patronage" and, not feeling love for her high-ranking patron, cheated on him.
How it ended: Anna was arrested when her affair with the Saxon ambassador was accidentally revealed. However, even while under house arrest, this lady charmed another diplomat, a Prussian, who married her. True, Anna's husband soon died, and she did not survive him for long, in 1714 she died of consumption.
Marta Skavronskaya
Ceremonial portrait of the wife of the sovereign (work by Jean-Marc Nattier, 1717)
Patron: Peter I Alekseevich, Tsar and Emperor (1682–1721)
What is famous for: a native of the Baltics from a peasant family . Orphaned early, she was a servant in the house of a pastor from the city of Marienburg (now the Latvian city of Aluksne). At the age of 17, she married the Swedish dragoon Johann Kruse. After the capture of Marienburg by the Russian army, its commander, Count Sheremetev, noticed a pretty woman and made her his mistress. Soon Martha passed into the hands of Prince Menshikov, the closest friend of Tsar Peter, and he, noticing the beauty, took her to himself. So from 1703, Marta (soon baptized into Orthodoxy as Ekaterina Mikhailova) became the constant mistress of Peter the Great.
Catherine did not have a powerful mind, but she was very calm, sweet, cheerful and best of all knew how to calm the king, who had a very difficult character. She gave birth to six children to Peter, most of whom died early, as well as a daughter, Elizabeth, the future "jolly" empress. Peter became very attached to Catherine and in 1712 officially married her.
How it ended: shortly before his death, Peter suspected his wife of infidelity and alienated him from himself, however, having fallen ill, he again brought her closer and died in her arms. After the death of Peter, Prince Menshikov, whom Catherine always considered a good friend, seated the former maid on the throne. Russian Empire under the name of Catherine I. Naturally, she was a purely nominal ruler. She spent time in endless amusements and died two years later - from a fever or pneumonia.
Anna Lopukhina
And how did this charming creature cope with the exuberant Pavel? (Portrait of Jean-Louis Voile)
Patron: Pavel I Petrovich, emperor (1796–1801)
How much and when: 4 years, from 1798 to 1801
What is famous for: aristocrat, daughter of a senator. I met the Emperor at a ball. The sovereign fell in love with a 19-year-old beauty and offered her father a deal: if Anna becomes a favorite, daddy receives a princely title and a lot of money, otherwise - arrest and exile. Naturally, the senator chose the first option. Charming Anna did not shine with a special mind, but she was very kind and often softened Pavel's violent temper - for example, she successfully stood up for those who fell into disgrace more than once. Some also used her complaisant character to receive awards and distinctions from the king - Paul, usually very stubborn, adored Anna and catered to her desires. Obsessed with military affairs, he even ordered the ancient synonym of her name (Grace) to be embroidered on the banners of the imperial guard.
How it ended: Anna was in love with a childhood friend, Prince Gagarin, and once confessed this to Pavel. And this "last monarch-knight" contributed to their marriage. The legalized love triangle continued until the assassination of Paul by the conspirators. In 1805 Anna died of consumption.
Ekaterina Dolgorukova
Happy family: Alexander, Ekaterina, their eldest children George and Olga. Perhaps this boy in a Circassian coat could become a Russian sovereign. And then there would be no "Matilda" ...
Patron: Alexander II Nikolaevich, emperor (1855–1881)
How much and when: 15 years old, from 1866 to 1881
What is famous for: nee Princess Dolgorukova, studied at the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, where she was met by the tsar during an official visit. The fifty-year-old monarch fell in love with a 17-year-old sweet girl and courted her for about a year until she gave in. Moreover, apparently, Catherine really fell in love with the tsar, despite the huge difference in age - there is a lot of evidence for this. Perhaps she was attracted by the bright personality of the sovereign.
Alexander settled the favorite in the Winter Palace, although this was sharply opposed by the heir to the throne, the future emperor Alexander III. Dolgorukova gave birth to the king of four children, she was the joy of his life. She never asked for anything, but gratefully accepted gifts. There is evidence that the king even asked her for advice on political matters.
How it ended: in 1880, immediately after the death of his wife, Alexander entered into a morganatic marriage with Catherine, granting her the title of the Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya. There were also rumors that it was their eldest son George that the king intended to declare his heir. No wonder that after the assassination of Alexander II by the Narodnaya Volya, the new emperor advised Dolgorukova to disappear from the horizon. Together with her children, she went to France, where she lived comfortably until her death in 1922.
Matilda Kshesinskaya
Nikolai and Matilda: normal people, normal relationships - why the fuss?
Patron: Nicholas II Alexandrovich, emperor (1894–1917)
How much and when: about 5 years, from 1890 to 1894
What is famous for: the ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Matilda Kshesinskaya was not a favorite in the strict sense of the word - after all, Nikolai during the years of their relationship was the heir to the throne, and not the emperor. Another thing is that Matilda still played a role in discrediting royal family. After all, she was a kind of drifting prize - she passed from Nikolai to his close relatives, the Grand Dukes: first to Sergei Mikhailovich, and then to Andrei Vladimirovich.
Moreover, Matilda did not hesitate to use the highest patronage for personal purposes - both to advance her ballet career (she became a prima ballerina in 1896 through pull) and to enrich herself. The following episode can testify to the degree of her power: during the First World War, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, who commanded the troops, argued that there were not enough shells in the army because Matilda Kshesinskaya influenced the distribution of orders between various firms. And her protégés simply cannot provide timely and high-quality supplies - but, despite this, it is they who receive profitable state orders. Naturally, such an influence of the former mistress of the king did not remain without negative public attention.
How it ended: in 1919, Matilda went abroad with her son Vladimir (from Grand Duke Sergei). Two years later, she married Grand Duke Andrei, a few years later she received the title of Princess Krasinskaya from the then head of the Romanov dynasty, Vladimir Kirillovich. She opened her own ballet school in France and wrote interesting memoirs. She died in 1971.
"Women are made to be loved, not to be understood," said Oscar Wilde, who understood the essence of women better than many men. The most famous women forever inscribed their names in history. And although some of them do not seem to us fatal beauties, and they really did not possess unearthly beauty, they were remembered for centuries ...
Roman Valeria Messalina went down in history as the most dissolute mistress, while being the wife of the emperor, she became a symbol of lust and fornication. Messalina lived in the 1st century AD and died at the hands of her husband at the age of 23. She wanted to enthrone her young lover Gaius Silius.
Historians also argue that at that time she was already seriously stricken with syphilis, so that death at the hands of her husband was a beautiful - and quite successful - end to her dissolute life.
According to her contemporaries, she was much more dissolute than Emperor Nero, who was famous for wild orgies, children's harems and the imperial palace turned into a brothel...
Egyptian Queen Cleopatra- one of the wisest mistresses, far from being a beauty in appearance. Cleopatra is perhaps the most controversial character in the ancient world. The night of love with the queen cost the man his life, however, those who wanted to experience all the passion of the fatal beauty did not become less from this.
Each man was determined to conquer Cleopatra with his strength and skill, and in the morning not only stay alive, but also become her lawful husband and king of Egypt. But Cleopatra was uncompromising: she did not leave life to any of her lovers.
Egyptologists call Cleopatra not only an adherent of free love, but also an experienced fellatrix ( fellatio from lat. fello - to suck), or, more simply, Cleopatra did an amazing blowjob. Perhaps it was for this reason that the ancient Greeks gave her the name Meriohane - translated from Greek. - “open-mouthed”, “one that opens its mouth wide”; "wide short"; "the woman with ten thousand mouths." Cleopatra was also called Khaylon - "Thick-lipped".
Despite the good inclinations of a real ruler, Cleopatra most of all loved to indulge her desires. And the desires of their heroic lovers. Cleopatra always knew exactly what a man wants from her, what he wants to see her. For Caesar, she was smart and modest, and for Mark Antony, she was a frantic hunter for carnal pleasures.
Was truly beautiful Greek hetaera Phryne. Phryne's name means "toad" in Greek. But this name was not awarded at all for some faults. According to historians, in ancient Hellas, women with olive skin were called so - lighter, compared to the usual for dark-skinned Greeks - skin tone. The daughter of a wealthy physician Epikles, the girl received a good education.
Henryk Semiradsky "Phryne at the Feast of Poseidon in Eleusis" 1889 Russian Museum
Early realizing her worth, the smart and ambitious beauty realized that thanks to her appearance she could achieve a lot. She was not at all attracted by the fate of an ordinary provincial housewife, which was the fate of many Greek women.
Of course, the life of such a woman could not do without dramatic events. The orator Evfiy fell in love with a hetaera. For her love, he was ready to lay out all his fortune. To rejuvenate and please his beloved, he even shaved off his beard and solicited favor with all his might. But the ungrateful courtesan ridiculed him.
Jose Frappa, "Phryna"
And then Euthius filed a complaint against the hetaera with the Athenian court accusing him of godlessness, which was a serious accusation at that time and entailed exile or death. The reason for everything was the statue of Aphrodite of Cnidus - the one that the sculptor Praxiteles once sculpted in the likeness of a little-known stranger hetaera, who was then just beginning.
For this, the orator Euthius, who was rejected by her, accused the geter of godlessness and blasphemy. Allegedly, allowing herself to be worshiped as a goddess, the courtesan thereby offended the greatness of the gods, and also constantly corrupted the most prominent citizens of the republic, "turning them away from service for the good of the fatherland."
At the trial, Phryne was defended by the orator Hyperides, who had long sought her favor. For this, she promised him to become his mistress. But, despite all the eloquence of the lawyer and the testimony of witnesses, the judges were extremely harsh, and the case took a worse turn.
Jean Leon Gerome Phryne before the court of the Areopagus. 1861
Then Hyperides spoke his famous words:
- Noble judges, look all of you, admirers of Aphrodite, and then, sentence to death the one that the goddess herself would recognize as her sister! - and with a sharp movement he pulled off the covers from the shoulders of Phryne, who was standing in front of the court, exposing the defendant.
“The judges were seized with a holy awe, and they did not dare to execute the priestess of Aphrodite,” wrote the historian Athenaeus, because, according to the ideas of the Greeks of that time, an imperfect body could not hide in such a perfect body. Hetera was acquitted, and the court punished Evfiya with a large fine.
Thais of Athens- a daring hetera who seduced Alexander the Great. She went down in history as an impregnable beauty, although she was a prostitute.
Unlike Phryne's hetaera, Thais did not inspire a single sculptor or artist, no one captured the beauty of her body and face. This is all the more strange that Thais of Athens was not an ordinary hetero, but the best friend and lover of Alexander the Great himself, and later became the second wife of the king of Egypt, Ptolemy the First, from whom she gave birth to two children - a daughter, Eirene, and a son, Leontisk.
There is almost no mention of it in the annals. As if providence itself made sure that there was no memory left of this hetaera. And yet they know about her, they remember her, and that's all thanks to her extremely eccentric and, at the same time, patriotic act ... So who is she - Thais of Athens and what did she do?
“... Ptolemy could not take his eyes off the stranger, like a goddess who arose from the foam and noise of the sea. copper face, grey eyes and blue-black hair - a completely unusual appearance for an Athenian struck Ptolemy.
Later, he realized that the copper-colored tan of the girl allowed her not to be afraid of the sun, which so frightened the Athenian fashionistas. The Athenians tanned too deeply, becoming like lilac-bronze Ethiopians, and therefore avoided being naked in the air. And this one is copper-bodied, like Circe or one of the legendary daughters of Minos with solar blood, and stands before him with the dignity of a priestess. No, not a goddess, of course, and not a priestess, this short, very young girl.
In Attica, as in all of Hellas, priestesses are selected from among the tallest fair-haired beauties. But where does her calm confidence and polished movements come from, as if she were in a temple, and not on an empty shore, naked in front of him, as if she, too, had left all her clothes on the distant cape of Foonta? Charites, who endowed women with magical attractiveness, were embodied in girls of small stature, but they made up an eternally inseparable trio, and here there was one!”
So begins the book of Ivan Efremov " Thais of Athens", Thanks to which more than one generation has already learned about this great woman who really lived in Athens. But Efremov sang not so much the beauty of the hetaera, but rather her wisdom and courage.
Tais favorably differed from her contemporaries in appearance, and her proud character, lively mind allowed her to stand on a level with the most worthy men, which the king of Macedonia himself, Alexander, could not help but notice.
Having become the beloved of the king and commander, Thais accompanied him even on military campaigns. It was during one of them, which ended with the complete defeat of the Persians and the capture of the royal palace in Persepolis, that Thais did what many historians wrote with rapture.
Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch describe it especially colorfully. According to their records, Tais drove into Persepolis, which fell under the onslaught of the Macedonian army, on a chariot.
Having bared her beautiful body, covered only with precious ornaments, not in the least embarrassed by the many soldiers who greeted her with cries, she proudly rode around the courtyard, was sweet and cheerful at the royal feast, and, waiting for everyone present to drink pretty much, she suddenly grabbed a torch and began to call the king and his soldiers burn down the palace.
Alexander the Great with getters in the captured persepolis . Thais calls on the king to set the palace on fire. Drawing by G. Simoni.
Tipsy and heated men without further ado fulfilled her desire. Pearl Persian culture, an amazing architectural complex - was burned to the ground and destroyed ....
This act of hers could be condemned without knowing the background, but Thais really had reasons to take revenge on the Persian "barbarians": quite recently, her family was forced to flee from the Persian troops, and returning back to Athens, she was horrified by the charred ruins that turned into a magnificent marble city. This resentment sunk deep into the heart of the Athenian, and she could not deny herself the pleasure of taking revenge on Xerxes.
Thais sets fire to Persepolis. Painting Joshua Reynolds , 1781
"- And let people say that the women accompanying Alexander managed to avenge the Persians for Greece better than the famous leaders of the army and fleet! - shaking the burning torch, the militant hetera finished her speech. ... And her words were drowned in a loud rumble of approval and applause. "(from)
This event, which became the brightest chapter in the history of Thais, hetaeras from Athens, once again proves how great the power of a woman in this world. A wise woman can achieve the fulfillment of any of her desires, a bright woman can inspire actions and creative impulses, and a passionate and courageous woman can lead her to any feats and accomplishments. What if we put it all together?
Chinese empress Wu Hu of the Tang Dynasty introduced into court etiquette the custom of "licking the stamens of a lotus", which symbolized the advent of an era of female superiority.
Wu Hu demanded that all government officials and visiting dignitaries show their special respect for Her Imperial Majesty through cunnilingus. So, ancient paintings depict the Empress supporting her dress, and the dignitary, kneeling in front of her, kisses her genitals.
In Chinese stories of the 18th-19th centuries, one can read about a romantic and comfortable armchair. Large landowners quite widely used this device.
It was a folding chair with automatic grippers for arms and legs, when a woman was put into this chair, the grips worked and fixed her arms and legs, and the chair itself unfolded, turning into a miniature bed. Such chairs were banned during the reign of the Manchus.
Scheherazade famous for her intelligence. After each act of love, she told her master a fairy tale, which she interrupted at the most interesting place. The Sultan initially wanted to exile her to the lower harem as a wife who no longer satisfies him, but he never did, because she was a tireless storyteller, and no one could tell him such stories.
Scheherazade and her book of fairy tales "A Thousand and One Nights" is a folk legend about the same brilliant dreamer who was the most desired wife of the Sultan for exactly 1000 nights. What happened to her afterwards is unknown. According to some sources, she died from some infectious disease.
Blood Countess Alzhbeta Bathory became the muse of the painter Caravaggio, his model and goddess. According to legend, she had unearthly beauty and had the face of a young girl until her death, and all because she tortured and killed young girls, and then bathed in their blood.
She killed about six hundred women, among whom were not only servants and peasant women, but also women of noble birth. Bathory is credited with making monstrous mechanisms. Among them is a metal coffin with spikes inside, the spikes do not penetrate deep into the body, they only cause bleeding. In this case, the victim slowly dies from blood loss.
The Blood Countess had several thousand painful tortures and devices in her arsenal. In 1611, at the age of 50, Alzhbet Bathory was tried, and then an angry mob staged lynching - the countess was immured in the wall of her castle in the Lesser Carpathians.
According to another version, the widow of Bathory was slandered because she was richer than the king, and he wanted to take away her land and gold. Where her five children disappeared after her death is also unknown, but the immortal wealth of the widow Bathory went to the royal family.
She went down in history as the most beautiful woman in Europe with unfading youth, and in Hungary she is still called a vampire to lure tourists, not inferior in the number of atrocities and cruelty to Vlad Tepes, the prototype of Count Dracula.
Voluptuous Marquise de Pompadour, the favorite of the French king Louis XV, is still considered one of the most tireless and skillful mistresses. The secret of her passion is in celery.
Her daily menu included two of the strongest aphrodisiacs - chocolate and celery root. The lady drank a cup of hot chocolate with celery root powder in the morning, and during the day she ate a salad of celery, apples and walnuts.
It is not known for certain whether she knew or she about the exciting effect of these products, but she had sex five to ten times a day and with different partners. By the way, in many countries, peasants hung a bunch of celery at the head of the bed on their wedding night.
The Marquise de Pompaure (Jeanne Antoinette Poisson) was predicted at the age of nine that she would have a relationship with the king himself. Its origin is not exactly known. According to one version, she was not from a wealthy family at all, but she was very lucky to find herself a patron in the face of a nobleman.
Her meeting with King Louis XV took place at a masquerade. The king was intrigued by the behavior of the girl who hid her face under the mask, and when she took it off, it finally struck the monarch. Progress towards the goal further was not easy, but Jeanne nevertheless achieved her goal, becoming the official favorite of the king.
She continued her vigorous activity - she took up the development of art, becoming the greatest patron for many writers and artists of that time. The Marquise de Pompadour until her death remained for Louis not just a mistress, always brilliant and original, but also a friend, which is very rare.
They say the French are the best at love. Let's take a look at those with whom the kings of France cheated on their wives - the portraits of these beautiful ladies were created by the best artists of Europe.The most beautiful chest, the most mysterious gesture, the most graceful poetry, the most winning angle, the most intellectual pursuits - who are the winners in these categories?
The most beautiful chest
Jean Fouquet. "The Virgin and Child", "Melensky diptych". 1450 Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Agnes Sorel was a contemporary of Joan of Arc and mistress of Charles VII - the very monarch for whom the Orleans maiden fought so bravely. The king was crazy about Agnes - he admired not only the perfect features of her face (even the Pope appreciated the beauty of this lady), but also the ability to present herself. For example, Agnes dared to wear a dress with a neckline that exposed one breast - extremely defiant for the Middle Ages. She gave birth to three daughters to the king, and during the fourth pregnancy, the 28-year-old beauty died - it was suspected that her enemies had killed her. For some time, Karl was inconsolable, and then took her cousin as his mistress.
It is believed that Sorel is depicted in the image of the Virgin in the Melun Diptych by the court painter Jean Fouquet. The naked chest of the lady in the picture is really perfect. But the hairstyle will seem strange to the modern viewer - however, in the 15th century, it was the highly shaved forehead and whiskey that were considered the ideal of beauty.
The most mysterious gesture
Unknown artist of the Fontainebleau school. "Portrait of Gabrielle d'Estre with her sister." OK. 1594 Louvre, Paris
Jolly King Henry IV of Navarre loved many women. But most of all - the beautiful and witty aristocrat Gabrielle d'Estre. She bore him three children, two boys, which was especially important for Henry, whose marriage to Queen Margot remained childless. The king divorced his wife and was going to marry Gabriel - but the bride was poisoned. As a result, Henry married Marie de Medici, who later gave birth to Louis XIII. The favorite was distinguished by her extraordinary beauty - her skin was so light that, in comparison with her, the white satin of the dress seemed gray. Contemporaries sang both the sparkle of her eyes and sensual lips.
Several portraits of Gabrielle have survived - the most famous is of her sitting in a bathtub with another woman pinching her nipple. According to the most popular version, this is her sister Julie, and the gesture most likely hints at Gabrielle's pregnancy. By the way, the favorite is holding a ring in her hands - perhaps a sign of the promised wedding with Heinrich.
The most graceful verses
Tintoretto (?). "Portrait of Veronica Franco". OK. 1575
Worcester Museum of Art, Massachusetts
The last of the Valois dynasty - Henry III, as you know, preferred favorites, rather than beautiful ladies. But still, one female name from his list of love affairs is known for sure. Returning to his native France from Poland, where he happened to reign, Henry (then Duke Henri of Anjou) stopped by Venice. He was shown all the sights - including one of the most famous courtesans of Venice - Veronica Franco, who was famous not only for her beauty, but also for her poetic gift. The future king spent the night with the poetess and left, taking her miniature portrait as a tourist souvenir. She dedicated a couple of sonnets to him.
The miniature donated to Heinrich has not survived. But the appearance of Veronica Franco retained a portrait attributed to the brush of Tintoretto. The woman is wearing an expensive dress and valuable jewelry. The pinkish nipple, slightly peeking out of the neckline of the dress, hints at the free temper of the model.
The most beautiful of the sisters
Jacob Ferdinand Foote. "Portrait of Hortense Mancini" (?). 1670s State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Cardinal Mazarin, who, together with Anna of Austria, raised the young King Louis XIV, had seven nieces - and all of them were distinguished by beauty and grace. They were called "mazarinettes". The Sun King fell in love with several of the sisters in turn. Hortense was considered the most beautiful - the favorite of her uncle, the cardinal, who inherited the ducal title from him. At one time she was the mistress of Louis. And then, hiding from her despot husband, she fled to England, where she was sheltered by King Charles II, who once unsuccessfully asked for her hand. Mazarin refused him because the English prince was an exile without a crown. Now the Duchess Hortense de Mazarin had to fight to become the official favorite of Charles. Subsequently, the English ruler left her, dissatisfied with Hortense's too "tender" relationship with her friends.
Several images of her by Jacob Ferdinand Foot, a Fleming settled in Italy, one of the most fashionable portrait painters of that era, have survived. It can be seen from them that the main beauty of the girl was large lively eyes, lush hair and a gentle smile.
The most angelic children
Peter Lely. "Portrait of Louise de La Vallière with Children". 2nd floor 17th century Museum of Fine Arts, Ren
Louis XIV also had many different mistresses - both well-intentioned hypocrites and participants in satanic masses ... Among them was the lame Louise de La Vallière. She was distinguished by a meek, shy character, for a long time resisted the courtship of the king, and when he lost interest in her a few years later, she went to the monastery. Lavalier gave birth to five children, of whom two survived to adulthood.
Their family portrait of singing and playing music was left by Peter Lely, a famous English artist of that time. This painting was supposedly commissioned for the convent of Val-de-Grâce by the grandmother of the bastards, Queen Anne of Austria. The allegorical portrait depicts children as winged angels, emphasizing how beautiful their appearance and voices are. However, it is not clear from whom the elder angel playing the organ was written - he (or she) is too adult for Lavalier's children.
The most winning angle
Francois Bush. "Resting Girl" 1752 Alte Pinakothek, Munich
The Sun King lived so long that his successor on the throne was not a son or grandson, but a great-grandson, who became famous as Louis XV Beloved. Like an ancestor, he had many favorites. The story of Louise O'Murphy is curious - the daughter of an Irish soldier and a prostitute, in her youth she ended up in Paris and became a model. The 15-year-old girl was noticed by Francois Boucher, one of the creators of the Rococo style, and wrote his “Resting Girl” from her.
The picture shocked contemporaries not only by the pose of a naked model, but also by the fact that it did not have any mythological allusions that justify a playful plot. The "voluptuous" canvas was bought by one of the courtiers and liked the king, who wanted to get acquainted with the model. So Louise turned out to be the mistress of Louis XV - though she was resigned soon enough. She died in 1814 in Paris at the age of 77, having been married several times and successfully survived the revolutionary terror. Well, the canvas with her image has become one of the symbols of the gallant era.
The most intellectual pursuits
Maurice Quentin de Latour. "Portrait of Madame Pompadour". 1748-1755 Louvre, Paris
The official favorite of Louis XV was the Marquise de Pompadour. For two decades, she dictated fashion to Paris, and France - state policy. Clever, educated and power-hungry, the Marquise had excellent taste and knew how to understand both people and art. The king spit, as she wanted, for many years retaining her influence, despite the fact that the doctors forbade her to share a bed with him. Many artists have painted the pompadour, including the playful François Boucher, who captured her rival Louise O'Murphy.
But in all these portraits, as in this painting by de Latour, the marquise is written in a way that O'Murphy would never have written. Like ministers and statesmen, she is depicted in her office, at her desk, surrounded by books by Montesquieu and Voltaire, maps, and a globe. Musical instruments, notes and a folder with drawings emphasize her refined taste. It is characteristic that Madame Pompadour has never been depicted bare-chested - she respected herself too much.
