Royal Favourites

Royal Favourites, Noble Lovers A-H

2010-03-06T08:33:00.000-08:00

Adelaide d'Angers (c1113-?)
Mistress of Geoffroi V of Anjou.

Adelaide Fileul, Marquise de Souza-Botelho
(1761-1836)
Mistress of Louis XV of France.

Adrienne Lecouvreur
Mistress of Moritz, Count of Saxony

Agatuzza de Pesci
Mistress of Marti I the Young of Sicily with whom she had Violant.
"...Marti the Young did have two surviving illegitimate children, Fadrique and Violant, the result of liaisons with the Sicilian ladies, Tarsia Rizzani and Agatuzza de Pesci. In 1403, Marti I conveyed these two children to the Crown, where they were put in Maria's care and she took the role of educator and grandmother--legitimate or not, they represented the future of her line." (Earenfight, p. 88)

Agnes Berthelot de Pleneuf, Marquise Prie
(1698-1727)
Mistress of duc de Bourbon.

Agnes de Croy

Mistress of John the Fearless and had an illegitimate child with him, who would become the future Prince-Bishop of Cambrai, 1440-1479, and Archbishop of Trier. (de Remi Beaumanoir, et. al., p. 56)

Agnes of Dunbar

Mistress of David II of Scotland.

Agnès Sorel
(1422-1450)
Mistress of Charles VII of France.

Agnese del Maino
Mistress of Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan.

"Visconti, Bianca Maria – (1425 – 1468), Italian heiress and duchess of Milan. Bianca Maria Visconti was born (March 31, 1425) the illegitimate daughter of Filippo Maria Visconti (1392 – 1447), Duke of Milan and his mistress Agnese del Maino, the daughter of Ambrosio de Maino. Her aunt Valentina Visconti was the wife of Louis, Duke d’Orleans and was the grandmother of Louis XII, King of France (1498 – 1515). She was her father’s heiress and Duke Filippo promised Bianca Maria to a variety of powerful lords and princes in marriage. She was finally betrothed when she was eight years old (1433) to the widower Francesco Sforza (1401 – 1466), then an important general in her father’s service. They were married in 1441.

Alison du Mai

(1400-1431)

Mistress of Charles I or Charles II, duke of Lorraine.

Amable Gabrielle de Noailles

Mistress of Philippe II of Orleans

"Villars, Amable Angelique de – (1723 – 1771), French royal, courtier and nun. Amable de Villars was born (March 18, 1723) the illegitimate daughter of Philippe II d’Orleans, Regent of France (1715 – 1723) and his mistresss, Amable Gabrielle de Noailles, the wife of Honore Armand, second Duc de Villars, and daughter of Adrien Maurice, Duc de Noailles. Though she was raised by her stepfather as his own child, and was given his name, the truth of her birth was wideley known. Amable was married (1744) to Guy Felix Pignatelli, Comte d’Egmond and Prince de Gavre. His early death (1753) left her a childless widow, and she took the veil as a nun with the order of the Sisters of Calvary in Paris. Despite her religious appointment, Amable " (Women of History - V)

Amalric II of Jerusalem

Almaric de Lusignan

Lover of Agnes of Courtenay, Empress of Constantinople.

Alaine

Daughter of the Earl of Hampton

Mistress of Canute of Denmark, King of England, who was the mother of his two "sons, Harold and Sweyn...." (Duncan, p. 90)

Aldonza Ruiz de Iborre y Alemany of Cervera

Mistress of Fernando II of Aragon

with whom she had, a son, Alfonso de Aragon (born in 1469), who later became Archbishop of Saragossa, and a daughter Juana (born in 1471), who married Bernardino de Valsco, the 1st Duke of Frias.

Aleksius Nikiforovitch Shubin

Lover of Russian Empress Elizabeth

"...While still in her teens, she made a lover of Aleksius Nikiforovitch Shubin, a sergrant in the Semenovsky Guards, and when he was removed from her and sent to Kamschatka, minus his tongue, by order o Empress Anne, Elizabeth, after a few months of passionate grief, consoled herself in the arms of another Aleksius, a handome young Cossack, who chanced to be a chorister in the Court Chapel, and first won her heart by the exquisite melody of his voice. Shortly after becoming Empress, she married her Cossack lad secretly, and altogether, this second connexion was more honourable to both parties that might have been expected from circumstances...." (Bain, p. 70)

Allegra de' Mori

Mistress of Pandolfo III Malatesta of Rimini.

Aleksandr Borisovich Buturlin

"...A handsome man of gigantic height, he was chamberlain at Elizabeth's court and her lover. The Supreme Privy Council members, who ruled the country for the boy-emperor...found a pretext for inducting Buturlin into the army and dispatching him far away from Moscow, to the Ukraine. But this did not disturbe the tsarevna too much. Distracted by her own fast life, she took the separation from Buturlin quite easily---he was quickly replaced by another." (Anisimov, p. 183)

Alexander Lanskoy

Lover of Catherine II of Russia.

Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov

Lover of Catherine II of Russia.

Alexander Shuvalov

Lover of Empress Elizabeth of Russia.

Alexander Vassilchikov

Aleksandr Vasilchikov

(1744-1813)

Lover of Catherine II of Russia.

"...The caresses of the current favorite, Aleksandr Vasilchikov, she moaned, only made her cry....." (Smith)

Alexander Yermolov

Lover of Catherine II of Russia

Alexei Razumovsky

Lover of Empress Elizabeth of Russia

(Pulcher, p. 194)

"However, Elizabeth Petrovna's penchant for the French refinements of fashion and culture did nt keep her from reveling in Russian rusticity when it came to her nightly pleasures. Even before she held an official position at her niece's court, she took as her lover a Ukraininan peasant who have been named cantor in the choir of the palace chapel: Alexis Razumovsky. His deep voice, athletic physique and crude ways were all the more appreciated in the bedroom, coming as they did after hours spent amid the affections and the mincing ways of the salons...." (Toyat and Secara, p. 106)

Alexios Komnenos

Reputedly the lover of Maria of Antioch, Byzantine Empress

"...When Manuel died, he left as his heir his eleven-year-old son, Alexios II. A regency was therefore formed under the boy's mother, Maria of Antioch, with real power in the hands of the Protosebastos Alexios Comnenus, nephew of the late emperor. The regency of Maria and Alexios soon proved unpopular in Constantinople. The Protosebastos was widely known to be Maria's lover...." (Harris, p. 116)

Afrosinya

"Afrosinya – (c1695 – 1748), Finnish royal mistress. Afronsinya was born of peasant birth. She became involved in a romantic liasion with the Tsarevitch Alexei Romanov (1690 – 1718), the son and heir of Tsar Peter I the Great by his first marriage with Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina. This affair began shortly after the prince’s wife, Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, gave birth to their daughter, the Grand Duchess Natalia Alexievna (1714). Virtually nothing is known of Afronsinya’s life prior to the commencement of her liaison with Alexei. When the affair ensued Alexei installed Afronsinya openly at court as his mistress, and paid attentions to her openly. With the death of the Tsarevna (1715) Tsar Peter ordered his son to do his duty for the dynasty and join the army. He angered his father by announcing his agreement to renounce his succession to the throne, or become a monk. He was given six months to consider his decision, after which he fled Russia with Afronsinya and went to Vienna in Austria. Thereafter Afronsinya was dressed in male disguise, and they resided under Imperial protection at Ehrenburg Castle in the Tyrol region. After being traced there by the Russian envoy they fled to Naples in Italy. Count Tolstoy prevailed upon Afronsinya to persuade Alexei to return to Russia, and may have promised to arrange an impressive marriage for her with his own son, Peter Tolstoy.

"The Tsarevich insisted that he be permitted to marry Afronsinya, then several months pregnant, before he returned to St Petersburg. Alexei arrived there in Jan, 1718, and Afronsinya three months later. When taken to task by his father for his failures, Alexei could offer little defence, and even incriminated his own mother, amongst many others. Throughout however, he declared Afronsinya’s innocence from any of these crimes. This plea was to no avail, and Afronsinya was interrogated, though she was not tortured. Her evidence led to Alexei’s imprisonment, torture, and then death. Afronsinya survived the death of her royal lover by three decades and died in obscurity." (Women of History - V)

Alice of France

Mistress of Henry II of England.

Alice Perrers

Mistress of Edward III of England

"In her (Philippa of Hainaut, Edward III's wife) final years Edward had found himself drawn to Alice Perrers, one of his wife's chamber ladies, who became his mistress. Although she satisfied the old king's physical desires - in fact she bore him at least three children - she was also scheming and grasping and made his final years a misery. She was banished from the court in 1376. It was likely that she was the cause of the king contracting gonorrhoea." (The Molloys)

Amelia Sophia von Walmoden

"One the the King's (George II of the United Kingdom) more high-profile affairs began in 1735 when, as a middle-aged man, he took up with a courtesan named Amelia Sophia von Walmoden. She was a niece of one of his father's regular mistresses, Countess von Platen. The King shared his new sleeping partner with at least two other men, a husband he knew about, and a young army officer he had yet to discover...." (Shaw, p. 195)

Amy Brown

Mistress of Charles-Ferdinand d'Artois, duc de Berry and younger son of the future Charles X, with whom she had two daughters, namely, Charlotte-Marie-Augustine (1808-86), who was made comtesse d'Issoudun and married to the prince de Faucigny-Lucinge and the younger, Louise-Marie-Charlotte (1809-91), who was made comtesse de Vierzon and married to the Athanase-Charles, baron de Charette.

Anna Constantia of Brockdorff

Mistress of August "the Strong" of Saxony, King of Poland.

Anna Krazl

Mistress of Ernst I, Duke of Bavaria. (FMG)

Anna Mons

Mistress of Peter the Great of Russia

"He was unhappy in his family life. In 1689 his mother, hoping he would settle down, married him to Evdokia Lopukhina, a young girl from an impoverished gentry clan. Peter did not meet with understanding from her nor find in her a life companion, and because of his youth and preoccupation with his own affairs, he paid no attention to reeducating her... Instead he washed his hands of his wife and his son Alexei, born in 1690, spending his free time in the German Quarter with his mistress Anna Mons. (There is some evidence that she was Lefort's mistress first, and tha Lefort gave way to his young friend, Peter's friends are known to have shared their lovers with him subsequently. Peter's affair with Anna Mons, which began in 1692, continued until early 1703. In examining the papers of the Saxon envoy, Konigsch, who had drowned near Schlusselberg, Peter discovered his connection with Anna and immediately broke with her." (Raleigh and Iskenderov, p. 12)

Anna de Roberti

Mistress of Niccolo III d'Este of Ferrara

with whom she had

Rinaldo d'Este, Lord of Ostellato (c.1435-1535)

Branca Maria d'Este (1440-1506). Married Galeotto I Pico, Lord della Mirandola.

Anne de Joyeuse
(1561-1587)
Duke of Joyeuse
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Anne Couffier de Romans

Dame de Meilly-Coulonges

Baronne de Meilly-Coulonge

(1737-1808)

Mistress of Louis XV of France

with whom she begot Louis Aimé de Bourbon (1762-1787), also called l'abbe de Bourbon.

Anne de Balzav de Montaigu

Mistress of Henri IV of France, c 1578. (Alfred, p. 291)

Anne de Pisselieu

(1508- 1580)

Duchesse d'Étampes

Mistress of Francois I of France. (Platts, p. 36)

[Bio1:144-147]

"...The real fortunes of the family, however, were made by his daughter, a member of Louise of Savoy's household, who at the age of eighteen captivated the king on his return from Spain in 1526. Anne de Pisseleu was a young woman of remarkable intelligencen and beauty -- 'la plus belle des savantes et la plus savante des belles' -- but had a penchant for wordly goods which led her not only to enrich herself but also her family. The king also forced Jean de Brosse-Bretaigne, comte de Penthievre, to marry her in order to regain his confiscated property and created the county (1534) and then duchy (1536) of Etampes in their favour. From 1540 and Montmorency's decline in favour, Mme d'Etampes became all-powerful in court." (Potter, p.135)

"Renowned for her brilliance and beauty, Anne de Pisseleu was mistress of Francis I, king of France. She was introduced to the court in 1526, and was called by her admirers 'the most beautiful among the learned and the most learned among the beautiful,' in homage to her interest in art and literature. A supporter of the Protestant Reformation in France, she played an important political role in the relations between Francis I and Emperor Charles V. She was first known by her family name d'Heilly, but after her marriage in 1536 to Jean de Brosse, who thereupon received the title Duke d'Étampes, she took on the title of duchess. She can be identified by the inscriptions on several early copies after this portrait, and by the ornament in the shape of an A (for Anne) dangling from the thin chain around her neck." (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Anne de Rohan-Chabot

Princesse de Soubise
(1641-1709)
Mistress of Louis XIV of France.

Anne Vane

"Vane, Anne – (1705 – 1736), British Hanoverian courtier. Anne Vane was the eldest daughter of Gilbert Vane, second Baron Barnard and his wife Mary Randyll, the daughter of Alderman Morgan Randyll. She was appointed as maid-of-honour to Queen Caroline, wife of George II (1727 – 1760). Anne became the mistress of their son Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales (1707 – 1751), to whom she supposedly bore an illegitimate son, christened as Cornwell Fitz-Frederick Vane (1732 – Feb 26, 1736) at St James’s Palace, who died in infancy, who was the half-brother of George III (1760 – 1820), though it is possible that either Lord Hervey or Lord Harrington may have been the infant’s real father. Distracted by the death of her son, Anne Vane died herself a few weeks afterwards at Bath (March 27, 1736), aged thirty-one. She served as the model for Hogarth’s picture of Queen Anne Boleyn (1729) and the model for Lord Hervey’s work The Secret History of Vanella (1732)." (Women of History - V)

Ansfride

Mistress of Henry I of England

Antoinette Chalver

Mistress of Amedee VI of Savoy. She was also mistress of the latter's son, the future Amedee VII of Savoy.

Antoinete de Maignelais

(1430-1461)

Mistress of Charles VII of France

"...[She] kept herself in the royal favour, not only by the exercise of her own charms, but also by procuring teenage girls for the king from among the French nobility...." (Vaughan, p. 132)

Antoinette de Maignelais
(1434–1474)
Baronnes of Villequier
Mistress of Charles VII of France, 1450-1461
Mistress of Francois II of Brittany

French courtier, was the daughter of Jean II, seigneur de Maignelay, and his wife Marie de Jouy. She was related to Agnes Sorel, the mistress of Louis XI of France (1461–1483). She was married (1450) to Andre, Baron de Villequier and seigneur de Montresor (died 1470), whom she survived. During the lifetime of her husband Antoinette became the mistress of Charles VII during his old age, and is said to have procured young girls to enter his bed. She was on terms of friendship with the Dauphin (Louis XI), then living in exile in Burgundy, and she corresponded with him, keeping him informed of important developments at the court. Prior to the king’s death (1461), Antoinette became the mistress of Francois II, Duke of Brittany (died 1488), who had her created Dame de Chalet and de Maignelais. Antoinette de Maignelais bore the duke five children, three of whom died young or in infancy, Francois I de Bretagne (1462–after 1494), Comte de Vertus, who left descendants, and Francoise de Bretagne (1473–1498), who died young and unmarried and was known as ‘la petite Dame.’" (Women of History)

Antoinette de Polignac
Lady of Combronde

Mistress of Charles of Valois (1459-1496), Count of Angouleme, with whom she had Jeanne de Angouleme (c1490-1538) and Madeleine d'Angouleme (d.1543), Abbess of Fontevrault.

Antoinette de Pons
Marquise de Guercheville

Comtesse de Liancourt

"In attendance on Marie de' Medici. Rejected (1589-90) the King's advances and retained his respect and friendship." (Alfred, p. 291)

Antonia da Barignani
Mistress of Pandolfo III Malatesta of Rimini.

Antonio Tassino of Ferrara

"...And since they had taken Tortona, and Milan and all that state were under their arms, the Duchess Bona was advised to bring the Sforzas back into the country and, in order to get rid of these civil conflicts, to receive them into the government. The chief person of this opinion was Antonio Tassino of Feerrara. Sprung from a humble family, he came to Milan and got into the service of Duke Galeazzo, who gave him to the Duchess his wife as chamberlain. Either because he was handsome or because of some secret ability, after the death of the Duke he rose to such influence with the Duchess that he almost ruled the state...." (Machiavelli and Gilbert, p. 1408).

"...[T]he allied forces of Milan were preparing to crush his little army, when an unexpected turn of fortune altered the whole condition of affaits. Duchess Bona, a very beautiful woman, but, as Commines remarks, 'une dame de petit sens,' had become infatuated with a certain Antonio Tassino, a Ferrarese youth of low extraction, whom Galeazzo had appointed carver to the royal table, and who, after the duke's death, had made himself indispensable to his mistress. The liaison had created a coolness between the duchess and her prime minister, of which Beatrice d'Ese and some of the Sforza party cleverly availed themselves to widen the breach...." (Ady and Cartwright, pp. 22-23)

Arletta or Herleva
Mistress of Robert I, Duke of Normandy
Mother of William the Conqueror of England.

"... She was the daughter of a local tanner and, legend says, Robert spied upon her while she washed clothes at the river...." (The Molloys)

Arnaudine d'Agen
Mistress of Henri IV of France, c1578. (Alfred, p. 291)

Arnold Joost van Keppel
Alleged lover of William III of England, whom he made Earl of Albermale.

Axel von Fersen
the Younger
(1755-1810)
A favourite of Gustav III of Sweden
Alleged lover of Marie Antoinette of France
Lover Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, future queen of Karl XIII of Sweden

Barbara Blomberg
"...a young lady of quality in Ratisbon, mistress of the emperor Charles V. (Platts, p. 13)

Barbara Villiers

"Mrs Palmer, afterwards Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland, mistress en titre till she was superseded by the Duchess of Portsmouth, mistress of Charles II of England, with whom she had: Charles Fitzroy, Duke of Southampton and Cleveland, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton, George Fitzroy, Duke of Northumberland, Anne, countess of Sussex, Charlotte, countess of Lichfield, and Barbara, a nun.

Beltran de la Cueva
Duke of Albuquerque
Lover of Juana of Portugal, queen of Castile

"...When Beltran began to escort Queen Juana to various functions in addition to his political and ministerial duties, rumors flew that he was the queen's illicit lover. To make matters worse for royal reputations, many people believed that the king was impotent, despite having several mistresses, and was thus unable to sire an heir. When the queen gave birth to the princess Juana in 1462, Beltran, instead of the king, was rumored to be the true father. Consequently, Juana (1462-1530), was branded illegitimate and was burdened with the scurrilous nickname 'la Beltraneja,' meaning 'of Beltran.' Twelve years later the aspersions cast on Juana's legitimacy forced her to renounce her rightful claim to the Castilian throne in favor of her aunt, Isabel I of Castile." (Drees, p. 40)

Bianca Capello

[Bio1:148-157]

Mistress and eventually second wife of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. (Platts, pp. 112-115). (See also Hale, pp. 239-240)

Bianca Lancia

Mistress of Manfred, King of Sacily.

Biette de Casinel
(1340-1380)
Mistress of Charles V of France.

Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix
Mistress of Leopold II of Belgium, reportedly a Parisian prostitute. (Moreorless)

Brianda de Vaca

"Vaca, Brianda de – (fl. c1455 – 1461), Spanish concubine.

Brianda de Vaca became the mistress of the Infante Carlos of Aragon, Prince of Viana (1421 – 1461), the eldest son of Juan II, King of Aragon (1458 – 1479). Brianda bore him a son Felip de Navarra (1456 – 1488), who was recognized by his father and later created Archbishop of Palermo in Sicily. He was later killed in battle against the Moors of Granada." (Women of History - V)

Canetta Schweller
Mistress of Ludwig VII "the Bearded" of Bavria-Ingolstadt. (FMG)

Carlos Marfori
A former actor, and reputed lover of Isabella II of Spain. (Cavendish)

Caroline von Schlotheim
(1766–1847)
German courtier

"Caroline von Schlotheim was born in 1766 who became the longtime mistress of Wilhelm I (1743–1821), elector of Hesse-Kassel. Despite their long association Caroline posed no threat to the legal position of the Electress Wilhelmine, who was the daughter of Fredrik V, King of Denmark. Caroline bore Wilhelm ten children who were later legitimated (1800) and granted the titles of counts and countesses von Hessenheim. She was created Countess von Schlotheim (1811) and survived her royal lover for almost three decades (1821–1847). Madame von Schlotheim died (Jan 7, 1847) aged eighty." (Women of History)

Caterina Alopo
Mistress of Muzio Attendolo Sforza, with whom she had 3? children.

Caterina Medici
Mistress of Niccolo III d'Este (1383-1441), Margrave of Ferrara
with whom she had
Meliaduse d'Este (1406-1452), Abbot of Pomposa & Ferrara

Catharina Bonafini
Mistress of Duke Karl Eugen of Wurttemberg.

Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont
Princesse of Monaco
(1639-1678)
Mistress of Louis XIV of France.

Catherine Sedley
Countess of Dorchester
(d. 1717)

The daughter of Sir Charles Sedley, and mistress of James II., by whom, in 1686, she was made Countess of Dorchester. She was more celebrated for her wit and vivacity than for her beauty; and notwithstanding her ridicule of the Romish priests who thronged his court, seems to have maintained her ascendency over James. After his exile she was married to the Earl of Portmore. It was with reference to her disgrace, and to the part he himself took in the Revolution of 1688, that Sir Charles Sedley said of James II.: 'He has made my daughter a countess, I will make his daughter a queen.'" (Pulling, p. 380)

Catherine Éléonore Bénard
(1740 - 1769)
Mistress of Louis XV of France.

Catherine-Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues
Marquise de Verneuil
(1579-1633)
also known as Henriette d'Entangues

Mistress of Henri IV of France, who was the daughter of Marie Touchet, Charles IX's mistress, with whom she had Gaston Henri (1601-1682) and Gabrielle Angélique (1603-1627). "A French lady, who so captivated Henry IV. that he promised to marry her. His subsequent marriage with Maria de Mediéis, so offended his haughty mistress, that she conspired with the Spanish court to dethrone him, and place the crown of France on the head of the sou she had borne to Henry. Their intrigues were discovered, and her accomplices punished. She died in exile, 1683, aged fifty-four." (Hale, p. 544)

"Verneuil, Henriette de Balzac d’Entragues, Marquise de – (1579 – 1633). French royal mistress. Born Catherine Henriette Balzac d’Entragues at Orleans, she was the daughter of Francois de Balzac, Seigneur d’Entragues, and his wife Marie Touchet, the former mistress of Charles IX. Tall, brunette, and ravishingly beautiful, Henriette became the mistress of Henry IV after the death of Gabrielle d’Estrees (1599). She had yielded her virginity for a large fee (100, 000 ecus) and even managed to obtain from Henry a written promise of marriage. Despite this the king was forced to yield to his ministers and make a state marriage with Marie de Medici, but he refused to give up Henriette. In mid-1600 Henriette gave birth to Henry’s son, but the infant lived only a few hours. Henry saw the death of this child as reason to free himself from his former promise of marriage. A jealous and intriguing woman, Henriette became involved in several conspiracies to assasinated her royal lover, notably when she allied herself with Henry’s former friend the Duc de Biron, and Duke Carlo Emanuel of Savoy. This plot ended with Biron’ execution, whilst Henriette, who had been created marquise de Verneuil, was exiled from the court, and survived Henry for over two decades. She left two children by the king, Henri de Bourbon, Duc de Verneuil (1601 – 1682) and Gabrielle Angelique de Bourbon (1603 – 1627) who married the Duc d’Epernon. Madame de Verneuil died in Paris (Feb 6, 1633)." (Women of History - V)

Catherine Legoix
Mistress of Philippe III the Good of Burgundy

"Duke Philippe fell in love with Catherine Legoix - ordered "Garin de Brazey to marry the young girl - Catherine became officially his mistress after her husband's death. She left him after their son died - to go in search of the one man she had never forgotten Arnaud de Montsalvy." (Catherine de Montsalvy Lexicon)

Catherine Leonor Bernard
(1740-1769)
Mistress of Louis XV of France
with whom she had Louise Françoise Adélaïde de Saint-Germain (1769-1850).

Catherine de Luc d'Agen
Mistress of Henri IV of France, c1578. (Alfred, p. 291)

Catherine de Verdun
Nun of Longchamp in the Bois de Boulogne, later abbess of Vernon
Mistress of Henri IV of France, c1590. (Alfred, p.291)

Catherine Peg
Mistress of Charles II of England
with whom she had Charles FitzCharles, Earl of Plymouth.

Cecilia Gallerani
Mistress of Lodovico il Moro, Duke of Milan.

Charles Auguste Joseph
Comte de Flahaut

the son of Emilie Adélaide Filleul and Louis XV of France, appears to have had an affair with Hortense Eugénie Cécile de Beauharnais, the daughter of the Empress Josephine, and supposedly a child was born Charles Auguste Louis Demorny (1811-1865). (Alexander Palace Forum).

Charlotte de Beaune-Semblancay
Dame de Sauves
Marquise de Noirmoutier
Madame de Sauve
Mistress of Henri IV of France, in 1573-1576. (Alfred, p. 291)

Charlotte des Essarts

(1580-1651)

Countess of Romorantin

Mistress of Henri IV of France.

"...Charlotte had two children by Henri - Jean-Baptiste 1608 - 1670 and Marie-Henriette 1609 - 1629. In 1611 after the assassination of Henri, Charlotte married Louis of Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise (1585-1621). They had one son, Achille of Lorraine, Count of Romorantin." (HenriIV.com)

"...Cardinal Louis III, who became the fourth Guise Archbishop of Reims in 1605 [was] [a]lready Abbot of Saint-Urbain, Montier-en-Der, Corbie, Ourscamp, Saint-Denis...added six others, including Cluny, Fecampo and Mont Saint-Michel during the minority of Louis XIII. Unfortunately, Louis III was wholly unsuited for a career in the Church. He was a rake and his appalling handling of the benefices strained relations with his more pious brother... He devoted most of his time to an ex-mistress of Henry IV [i.e., Charlotte des Essarts], and he seems to have contracted some form of marraige to her. She bore him five children...." (Carroll, p. 294)

Charlotte de Sauve

"Sauve, Charlotte de (1551–1617), French Valois beauty and courtier Charlotte de Beaune-Semblencay, Baronne de Sauve was the daughter of Jacques II de Beaune-Semblencay, Vicomte de Tours and his wife Gabrielle de Sade. Her paternal great-grandfather Jacques I de Beaune had been executed at the behest of Louise d’Angouleme, the mother of King Francois I (1515 – 1547) whilst her mother was of the family of Petrarch’s beauty Laure de Sade and of the notorious lecher Alphonse Donatien, Marquis de Sade. Charlotte inherited the fief of Semblencay in the vicomte of Touraine (Indre et Loire) and was sent to court to be educated in the household of the Queen Mother Catherine de Medici, the mother of King Charles IX (1560 – 1574).

Beautiful, intelligent and immoral, Charlotte became a member of the special squadron of beauties kept by the queen mother to entrap various nobles into line with her plans. She proved extremely successful as a sexual adventuress. She was married firstly to Simon de Pizes, and secondly to Francois de La Tremoille, Marquis de Noirmoutiers and became the Marquise de Noirmoutiers, being the mother of his son Louis I de La Tremoille (1586 – 1613) who succeeded his father as Marquis de Noirmoutiers (1608 – 1613) and left issue Louis II de La Tremoille (died 1660) who was created Duc de Noirmoutier.

Charlotte became the mistress of Catherine’s son Francois, Duc d’Alencon and then of her son-in-law Henry of Navarre. Charlotte was also the mistress of Henri de Lorraine, Duc de Guise and was with him the night before his assassination at Blois (Dec 23, 1588). During the reign of Henry IV (1588 – 1617) Madame de Noirmoutiers attended the Bourbon court but though she was received there by the royal family, she never lived down her previous sacandalous reputation. With the death of her husband (Feb, 1608), she became the Dowager Marquise de Noirmoutiers. Madame de Noirmoutiers died (Sept 30, 1617) aged sixty-six. Charlotte appears as a character in the historical novel entitled Evergreen Gallant (1965) by British novelist Jean Plaidy." (Women of History)

Charlotte Marie des Essarts

(1580-1651)

Mistress of Henri IV of France

with whom she had Jeanne Baptiste (1608-1670) and Marie Henriette (1609-1629)

Claude de Beauvilliers
Mistress of Henri IV of France

"....In 1590, Henri de Navarre (later Henri IV, the Vert Galant) kept Paris under siege from his garrison on Montmartre hill, and handsome Henri seduced the head abbess, Claude de Beauvulliers. His example was swiftly followed by his lieutenants and other nuns. Word spread to the besieged Parisians, who began referring the the abbey as 'the army's whorehouse on the hill.' After the siege was lifted, the enamored Claude de Beauvilliers followed Henri to Senlus, where she introduced him to her German cousin, Gabrielle d'Estrees. Henri allegedly seduced the cousin and eventually gave Claude another abbey to run in recompense." (Mroue)

Claude de Vin des Oeillets
(1640-1687)
Mistress of Louis XIV of France
with whom he had a child, Louise de Maisonblanche (1675-1718).

Claudia Acte

"Acte, Claudia – (fl. 55 – after 69 AD), Roman Imperial concubine.

Acte was a former slave in the household of the emperor Claudius. She had been freed by the time that the youthful Nero, adopted son and successor of Claudius, became enamoured of her, to the extreme annoyance of his mother Agrippina, who viewed the liasion as an attack on her own power (55 AD). The affair was encouraged by the praetorian prefect Burrus, and by Nero’s tutor, Seneca, who used Acte to warn the emperor of his mother’s ambitions. Acte remained the emperor’s mistress until she was replaced by Poppaea (58 AD), whom Nero eventually married. Popular tradition has it that Acte returned to help Nero commit suicide when he was at his lowest ebb, but in fact he was killed by his faithful freedman, Epaphroditus. Suetonius does record that Acte accompanied the emperor’s remains, together with his two elderly nurses, Ecloge and Alexandria, to the family tomb of the Domitii family on the Pincian Hill, where he was interred within a coffin of white porphyry, which was seen by Suetonius himself. An extant incription from one of Acte’s freedmen, whom it appears was a Christian, has been taken to imply that Acte became a convert in later life. In the film Quo Vadis (1951) with Deborah Kerr and Robert Taylor, and Peter Ustinov as Nero Acte was sympathetically portrayed by Rosalie Crutchley." (Women of History - V)

Columbina d'Acquapendente
Mistress of Francesco I Sforza of Milan.

Comtesse de Saint-Megrin
Mistress of Henri IV of France. (Alfred, p. 291)

Dame Martine
Mistress of Henri IV of France. (Alfred, p. 291)

Dianne d'Andouins
a.k.a. Diane Corisande d'Andoins(1554-1620)
Countess of Gramont and Guiche
La Belle Corisande
Mistress of Henri IV of France, c1582-1591

(Alfred, p. 291)

Diane de Poitiers
Mistress of Henri II of France

Diane-Adélaïde de Mailly
(1713 - 1760)
Duchesse de Lauraguais

Mistress of Louis XV of France.

Dayelle the Cyprian
Mistress of Henri IV of France, 1578
(Alfred, p. 291)

Edith
Another of Henry I of England's mistress.

Donnina del Porri
Mistress of Bernabo Visconti, Lord of Milan.

Edith Swan's Neck
Mistress of King Harold

She it was who is said to have identified his body after the battle of Hastings. Nothing more than this is known about her." (Pulling, p. 405)

Edith of Greystoke

Mistress of Henry I of England

Ehrengarda Melusina von der Schulenberg
(1667-1743)
German-Anglo courtier and royal mistress

"Countess Ehrengarda Melusina von der Schulenburg was born (Dec 25, 1667) at Emden, Saxony, the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, Count von der Schulenburg, an official in the household of the elector of Brandenburg. Countess Ehrengarda attended the Hanoverian court and was appointed as maid-of-honour to the electress Sophia of Hanover (1690), and quickly became the mistress of her son, the future George I of England (1660 – 1727), bearing him several illegitimate daughters that he never acknowledged, though he treated them with great affection. They were the Countess Delitz, the Countess of Walsingham, and the Countess von Lippe. Prince George’s mother mentioned Ehrengarda in her letters to her niece, the Duchesse d’Orleans as ‘the Schulembemburgin.’ Ehrengarda accompanied the king to England in 1714, and she obtained considerable political influence, due to her friendship with Sir Robert Walpole and Lord Stanhope, and politicians found her a useful intermediary with the king. She was involved in speculation over the South Sea Bubble (1720) and sold the monopoly to make copper coins in Ireland, but her reputation for rapacity seems undeserved. Because of this untrue perception the countess was unpopular with the British people, who sneeringly referred to her as ‘the Maypole,’ because of her thin figure. She was created duchess of Kendal in the Irish peerage and the Emperor Charles VI granted her the title of Princess of Eberstein. The persistant tradition that George I married her in morganatic style after the death of his wife Sophia Dorothea (1726) remains unproven though not unlikely. Before her death she caused some comment because of her habit of daily feeding a black raven, which she believed was the spirit of the king visiting her after death. Ehrengarda Melusina von der Schulenberg died (May 10, 1743) aged seventy-five, at Kendal House, Isleworth, Sussex, the home of her daughter, the Countess of Walsingham." (Women of History)

Eleanor Cobham
Mistress of Humphrey of England, Duke of Gloucester

"...Gloucester married (c.1422) Jacqueline of Hainaut but abandoned (1425) her after their disastrous military expedition to Hainaut. A papal decree of 1428 invalidated that marriage and permitted him to marry his mistress, Eleanor Cobham, but he was severely criticized...." (The Molloys)

Elvira Galter
Mistress of Afonso I of Portugal. (Rougemont)

Elisabetta Aldobrandini da Ravenna
Mistress of Roberto Malatesta of Rimini. (Jones, p. 251)

Elizabeth Blount
Lover of Henry VIII of England. (See Tudor Place)

Elizabeth Kinder
Possible lover of Henry VIII of England.

Elizabeth "Jane" Shore
(c1445–c1527)
Mistress of Edward IV of England.

Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex
(c1479–1532)
Lover of Henry VIII of England.

Elizabeth Villiers, Countess of Orkney
(1657–1733)
Mistress of William III of England

"...was one of the ladies-in-waiting to Princess (afterwards Queen) Mary at the time of her marriage with William of Orange. She became the prince's mistress, for although 'destitute of personal attractions and disfigured by a hideous squint,' she was a woman of considerable talents, and 'to the end of her life great politicians sought her advice.' In 1693 William employed her in vain to try and induce the Duke of Shrewsbury to accept office. She married George Hamilton, afterwards Earl of Orkney. William bestowed on her a grant of part of the old crown property in Ireland (estimated at £24,000, though really only about £4,000 a year), and this grant became very unpopular when grossly exaggerated in value by the commission sent to inquire into the Irish forfeitures (1699). It was against Lady Orkney, Woodstock, and Keppel that the Resumption Bill of 1700 was chiefly directed." (Pulling, p. 1038)

"Villiers, Elizabeth – (1657 – 1733), British courtier. Elizabeth Villiers was the daughter of Colonel Sir Edward Villiers, of Richmond in Surrey, and his wife Lady Frances Howard, the daughter of Theophilus Howard, second Earl of Suffolk. Elizabeth was cousin to Babara Villiers the mistress of Charles II, whilst her mother was governess to Mary and Anne, the daughters of James II. Elizabeth and her sister Anne accompanied Mary Stuart to the Dutch court at The Hague, after her marriage with William II (1677). Nimble-minded and witty, but considered no beauty she became the mistress of King William III (1688 – 1702) though their relationship produced no children. She accompanied the queen to England (1689) where her liasion with William continued. This was the cause of much distress to Queen Mary, and because of a cast in her eye, Elizabeth was popularly referred to as ‘Squint-eyed Betty.’

"William granted considerable estates in Ireland to Elizabeth which had formerly belonged to James II, though these grants were later revoked by the parliament (1699). With the queen’s death (1694) William arranged for Elizabeth to be married (1695) to George Hamilton (1666 – 1737), who was created earl of Orkney (1696) in recognition of Elizabeth’s services to the crown. Jonathon Swift was impressed by her mental capacities, though not by her looks, and she was consulted by Sir Robert Harley during the later government crisis (1709 – 1710) during the reign of Queen Anne. She attended the coronation of George II (1728) where Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu left a cuttingly unkind description of her appearance at this event. Elizabeth Villiers died (April 19, 1733) aged seventy-five, in London. Her three surviving daughters by Hamilton were: Lady Anne Hamilton (1701 – 1756). She succeeded her father as second Countess of Orkney (1737 – 1756) and was married to William O’Brien (c1693 – 1777), fourth Earl of Inchiquin and left issue; Lady Frances Hamilton (1702 – 1772). She became the wife of Thomas Lumley (died 1752), third Earl of Scarborough, and left issue; and Lady Henrietta Hamilton (1704 – 1732). She became the first wife of John Boyle (1707 – 1762), fifth Earl of Cork and Orrery, and left issue." (Women of History - V)

Elizaveta Vorontsova
(1739-1792)
Mistress of Peter III of Russia.

"Vorontzova, Elizaveta Romanovna – (1739 – 1792), Russian Imperial mistress. Countess Elizaveta Vorontzova was the second daughter of Count Roman Ilarionvich Vorontzov, and his wife Martha Surmina, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Her younger sister was the famous memoirist Princess Dashkova. Ugly and sallow skinned, her face marked badly from an attack of smallpox, Elizaveta became the mistress of Tsar Peter III, the husband of Catharine the Great. Peter remained devoted to her, despite her drunken and obscene public behaviour, and he is said to have considered divorcing his wife in order to make Elizaveta his legal wife and empress. With the success of the empress, and the death of Peter, Elizaveta was treated generously by Catherine, who provided her with a house in Moscow, and stood godmother to her children after she was married to Colonel Ivan Polyanski, a chamberlain at the Imperial court. Her daughter, Anna Ivanovna Polyanska, served at the court as lady-in-waiting to the Empress, and was later married to Baron d’Hoggier, the Dutch ambassador to the Russian court." (Women of History - V)

Elzbieta Lubomirska
(1669-1729)
the Uncrowned Queen of Poland
She was the only child of Stanislaw Herakliusz Lubomirski and Zofia Opalinska. She married in 1687 Adam Mikolaj Sieniawski, Grand Hetman of the Crown.

"...Relations between Elzbieta and her husband, from the beginning of 1687, abounded in conflicts and tensions of a financial nature. Elzbieta protected her property and income from her husband's interference; she wanted to be financially independent... She entered scandalous liaisons, first with Jan Stanislaw Jablonowski, the Great Hetman's son, and later with Prince Aleksander Sobieski, the king's son...." (Bogucka, p. 25)

Ernst-Johann Biron

"Having now abolished all restraints, Anna ruled Russia autocratically for ten years, despite the fact that she was more interested in court gossip than in affairs of state. She is generally considered to have been among the worst of the Romanov rulers, in large part because she is wrongly believed to have allowed certain German favorites to dominate her government and ruin the country. The most hated of these was her lover, Ernst-Johann Biron, whose sole official responsibility was to arrange court affairs and celebrations. Although he was undeniably arrogant and corrupt, he had little influence in matters of public policy...." (Julicher, p. 134)

Esme Stuart, 1st Duke of Lennox
(1542–1583)

"Apart from being the most important influence in his personal life, James's extra-marital relations affected his reign as King of Great Britain in three significant ways. His first affair, with Esme Stuart, Duke of Lennox, made him an even more canny person, determined to be master of Scotland. (Carlton, p. 43). "James's first great favorite and arguably his first love was Esme Stuart, whom he created duke of Lennox. Stuart came to the Scottish court in 1579, was thrown out of Scotland by outraged nobles, and died in France i 1583...." (Houghton Miflin Co., p. 97)

Esther
Esterka the Jewess
Mistress of Kazimierz III of Poland

"In 1356 Casimir became infatuated with a beautiful Jewess, named Esther (Esterka), a tailor's daughter of Opoczno. She bore him two sons (Niemerz and Pelka) and one daughter (not two, as stated by Grätz). The sons were brought up in the Christian religion; the daughter, in the Jewish. Many Polish noble families, as the Lubienski, Niemir, Niemiryez, Niemirowski, claim to be their descendants. Polish historians ascribe the special favors and privileges bestowed on the Jews by Casimir to his love for Esther; but they are not correct in this ascription, since the privileges in question were confirmed by Casimir in 1334, twenty-two years, before his relations with Esther. Czacki sees the origin of these favors in the king's sense of righteousness and justice. Czacki writes: '"It is not known that the king granted to the Jews other privileges and rights owing, as Jan Dlugosz thinks, to his affection for Esterka. Envy and hatred surnamed this benefactor of the people 'Ahasuerus.'" (Jewish Encyclopedia)

Esther Imbert of La Rochelle
Mistress of Henri IV of France, 1587 (Alfred, p. 292(

Filippa Duci
Mistress of Henri II of France
with whom she had Diane de France (1538-1619)

Filippa della Tavola
Mistress of Niccolo III d'Este (1383-1441), Marquess of Ferrara
with whom she had
Alberto d'Este (1415-1502)
Isotta d'Este (1425-1456)

Married (1) Oddantonio da Montefeltro , Duke of Urbino and

(2) Stephen Frangipani, Count of Segni.

Fleurette
Daughter of the gardener of Nerac, and sometimes called La Jardiniere d'Anet
Traditional lore mistress of Henri IV of France. (Alfred, p. 291)

Francisco Serrano, Duque de La Torre
(1810-1885)
Lover of Isabella II of Spain. (Cavendish)

Francois d'Épinay de Saint-Luc

(1554-1597)
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Francois d'O
(d. 1594)
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

"François d'O was a tricky financier; he was appointed Surintendant des Finances by King Henri III, who counted him as one of his minions. François was very corrupted and ever created new nobility titles and charges in order to retrieve more money. He used that money to build a new castle, completed in 1582 and burned during the French Revolution. During the fight between King Henri IV and the Holy League, François played a double game: he publicly supported the king but secretely helped the Duke de Mayenne, the leader of the League. The League kept a lot of arms in the lower yard of the castle of Fresne; when François d'O felt that the king was about to win, he "allowed" a commando from Meulan, then besieged by Mayenne, to kill some 30 soldiers of the League and to bring back the arms to Meulan, which was eventually seized by Henri IV on 27 February 1590. In order to get rid of François d'O, Henri IV appointed him Governor of Paris, where François carried on his dirty business until his death. However, he had a lot of debts and died in August 1594 a relative poverty. Everybody but his heirs was happy with his death and the Baronny of O was sold." (FOTW)

Francois Maugeron
(d. 1578)
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Francoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon
(1635-1719)
Mistress of Louis XIV of France.

Francoise de Foix
Mistress of Francois I of France.

Francoise Athenais de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise de Montespan
(1640-1707)
Mistress of Louix XIV of France

with whom she had the following illegitimate children: Louis Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine (1670-1736); Louis César de Bourbon, comte de Vexin; Louise Françoise de Bourbon, mademoiselle de Nantes (1673-1743); Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon, mademoiselle de Tours (1674-1681); Françoise Marie de Bourbon, mademoiselle de Blois (1677-1749); Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse (1678-1737).

Francoise Arnaud

(d.1378/79)

Mistress of Amedee VII of Savoy.

Francoise de Châlus, duchesse de Narbonne-Lara
(1734- 821)
Mistress of Louis XV of France
with whom she had Louis Marie Jacques Amalric de Narbonne-Lara (1755-1813).

Francoise de Foix, comtesse de Châteaubriand

(1495-1537)

Mistress of Francois I of France.

Francoise de Montmorency-Fosseux

Mistress of Henri IV of France, c1579. (Alfred, p. 291)

Franziska von Hohenheim

(1748-1811)

"After the Duke Karl Eugen of Wurttemberg had acquired the former manor of the Hohenheim noble family in 1768, he gave it to his mistress Franziska Leutrum von Ertingen, including the title of Reichsgräfin von Hohenheim. (Hohenheim) (See also) (See Thomas, p. 16)

Gabrielle d'Estrees, Duchess of Beaufort

(1571-1599)

Mistress of Henri IV of France

With whom she had César (1594-1665), Catherine Henriette (1596-1663), Alexandre (1598-1629) and a stillborn son (1599).[Estrées was a family of mistresses. The grand mother of these was a reputed roman beauty who had the record of powerful lovers : A king, an emperor and a pope. The mother, beautiful too, was not virtuous. Aunts, nieces, grandaughters of this family continued a tradition. Even it was said their virginity was sold very soon. Their education had a finality. It was an old institution. Their posterity succeded finally: The Savoia-Nemours sisters, descendants of this illegitimate union, became queens of Portugal and Sardinia. they had both Estrees blood. The one took to Portugal the disaster and the crime, the other, the inconscience and the frivolity to Savoy. The beauty. (Alexander Palace Forum). (See also Hale, p. 308)

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

"...James I's third menage, with George Villiers, permitted an ambitious favourite to monopolize royal power with disastrous consequences." (Carlton, p. 43)

Giovanni Caracciolo

(c1372–1432))

Lover of Giovanna II of Naples.

Giovannina di Montebretto

Mistress of Bernabo Visconti, Lord of MIlan. (Jones, p. 84)

Giulia Albizzi

Mistress of Vincenzo I Gonzaga of Mantua

"Albizzi, Giulia – (1563 – before 1600), Italian royal mistress. Giulia was born in Florence an illegitimate connection of the patrician Albizzi family, and had been brought up in relative poverty. Modest and lively, but innocent, she was chosen to be the first mistress of Vincenzo I Gonzaga, duke of Mantua by Belisario Vinta, the chief minister of Francesco I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tusany to test the prince’s virility before he was permitted to marry Leonora de Medici. This was considered necessary because Vincenzo’s first wife Margherita Farnese had been divorced and forced into a convent, despite the fact that popular rumour accused the duke of impotency. The Medici family wanted no such embarrassment. The encounter of Giulia and Vincenzo was consummated in Venice (1584) and resulted in his ensuing dynastic marriage with the Medic princess Leonora. Her child by Vincenzo was taken and sent to the court of Mantua, but appears to have died young. Giulia was rewarded with a handsome dowry of three thousand gold crowns, and was married off to the Roman musician Giulio Caccini (c1546 – 1618). Through her marriage she she became the mother of singer and composer Francesca Caccini and her sister Settimia." (Women of HIstory - A)

Giulia Farnese

(1474-1524)

Giulia Bella

Mistress of Pope Alexander VI

Grigoriy Orlov

a.k.a. Gregory Orloff

Lover of Catherine II of Russia

with whom he had a child

Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky (1762-1813)

"In 1796 Catherine II commissioned Antonio Rinaldi to build a palace there. It was for her lover of the time, Grigoriy Orlov. She owed her throne to him for, with his brother Aleksey, he had conceived and executed the plot to overthrow Peter III and replace him with his wife. This accounts, perhaps for the palace's huge size, though not for the fact that it appears to have taken seventeen years to build. By the time it was finished in 1785, Orlov was no longer Catherine's lover (a relationship that ended, at Orlov's initiative, after twelve years, probably in 1772)." (FitzLyon, et. al., pp. 299-300).

"...It was from the windows of that palace (Winter Palace) that Catherine, not yet the Second nor the Great but just the unhappy and neglected wife of the Empress Elizabeth's nephew and heir, first saw a very young, very tall and very handsome Guards officer in the street below and fell in love -- with incalculable onsequences for herself and for Russia. Grigoriy Orlov became her lover for twelve years, a record of constancy that Catherine never achieved again...." (FitzLyon, et. al., p. 169)

"...Gregory Orloff was a man of ability, but his fortune was undoubtedly due to his personal beauty. He was tall and handsome with a well-earned reputation for audacious courage, always alluring to the mind of a woman. His first appearance in the world of fashion reflects little credit upon him and still less upon the Russian society in which he lived. He was on the point of being sent to Siberia to think over his misdeeds at his leisure, when a hand was extended to him which afterward raised him almost to the summit of human greatness. The Grand Duchess Catharine interested herself on his behalf and rescued him from Siberia. Orloff rapidly advanced in her favor, and it may have been he who first inspired her with the boundless ambition which he afterwards aided her in gratifying." (JJKent Inc)

Grigoriy Potemkin

Lover of Catherine II of Russia.

"...Laveaux, a secret agent of Louis XV of France...to the Court of St. Petersburg, believed that Potemkin truly held the reins of power, and that he tricked Catherine and others into believing that she really made the decisions. He said that Potemkin convinced Catherine that all of her old lovers kept contact with her in order to steal her power. He never fell from power; he was treated like a member of the imperial family and had absolute access to the Treasury as well as the ability to make independent decisions...." (Ann Lauren)

Grigory Razumovsky

Lover of Russian Empress Elizabeth

"...Peter the Great's daughter, Empress Elizabeth, had built the Anichkov for her secret husband Grigory Razumovsky, a former church choir singer from Ukraine...." (Perry and Pleshakov, p. 27)

Guntroda Perez

Mistress of Alfonso VII of Castile

Gustav Mauritz Armfelt

(1757-1814)

Alleged favourite of Gustav III of Sweden

Hannah Lightfoot

Mistress of George III of England. (Ryan)

Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland

Alleged lover of William III of England

Harriet Howard

Mistress of Napoleon III of France.

Henri de Saint-Sulpice

(d. 1576)

"Colette"

One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester

(1289-1347)

Lover of Edward II of England.

"According to popular tradition Bianca Maria fell romantically in love with her formidable husband, and to commemorate the success of their marriage Francesco Sforza built a church to St Agostino in Cremona. With the death of Filippo Maria (1447) an uneasy republic endured in Milan until 1450 when the Milanese invitd Francesco Sforza to rule as their duke, he being supported financially by Cosimo de Medici. Sforza and Bianca Maria were then formally enthroned and she became duchess consort of Milan (1450 – 1466). The ducal couple had a large family and the duchess supervised their education and trainibg for court life at the Visconti Castle. The duchess also established a salon of some considerable note at Milan where poets and painters were welcomed. She survived her husband as the Dowager Duchess of Milan (1466 – 1468) and ruled as regent for her son Galeazzo Maria Sforza. Duchess Bianca Maria died (Oct 23, 1468) aged forty-three. She left eight children...." (Women of History - V)

Royal Favourites, Noble Lovers I-P

2010-03-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

Ida de Toeni
Mistress of Henry II of England.

Irene du Buisson de Longpre
( ? - 1767)
Mistress of Louis XV of France.

Isabel de la Vigne
Mistress of Philippe III the Good of Burgundy. (Vaughan, p. 134)

Isabel of Meulan
Mistress of Henry I of England

Isabella Boschetti
Mistress of Federigo II Gonzaga, Duke of Milan.

Isabella de Douvre
"...of Bayeux, in France, was mistress to Robert the Bastard, son of Henry I. of England, by whom she had Richard, bishop of Bayeaux. She died at Bayeaux, at an advanced age, in 1166." (Hale, p. 96).

Isotta degli Atti
Mistress of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta of Rimini
who bore him four children: Giovanni (who died in infancy), Margherita -later wife of Carlo di Fortebraccio-, Sallustio and Antonia (also called Anna) -later the first wife of Rodolfo Gonzaga, Lord of Castiglione delle Stiviere, who beheaded her in 1483 when she was discovered in adultery.

Ivan Betskoy
Lover of Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein, the mother of Catherine II of Russia
"...She planned this project with her Minister of Education, Ivan Betskoy, who had been her mother's lover when they had been in Sweden together and was said by some to be Catherine's own father; at all events he was the only man for whom she habitually rose when he entered the room...." (FitzLyon, et. al., p. 220)

Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov (1754-1831)
Lover of Catherine II of Russia

Jacqueline de Bueil
(1580-1621)

Countess of Moret
Mistress of Henri IV of France, with whom she had Antoine (1607-1632).

Jacques de Levis (1554-1578)
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Janet Stuart, Lady Fleming
(1510-1562)
Mistress of Henri II of France
with whom she had a son, Henri (1551-1586).

Jean Alexandre de Normandie
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Jean Louis Nogaret de Lavalette, Duc d'Epernon
(1554-1642)
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
Comtesse de Verrue
(1670–1736)

A mistress of Victor Amadeus II, King of Sardinia, "one of the most accomplished and beautiful women of Parisian society. She belonged to the proud and ancient family of Luynes, and was early married to the count de Verrue, who took her to Turin. Her great beauty attracted the attention of Amadée Victor, duke of Savoy and king of Sicily. She long resisted his addresses, with a constancy and virtue rare for the age in which she lived. The persecution of her husband's relatives, whose protection she implored in vain, and the temptation of ruling over a court where her virtue only excited ridicule, at length proved stronger than her scruples : she became the mistress of the prince. His love was very ardent and sincere ; it only increased with years ; and it ended by heartily wearying Madame de Verrue. Her children by her lover, the power she exercised at his court, the wealth she enjoyed, could not fix her affections. She eloped with her brother. Л great quantity of valuable medals disappeared with her from the Duke's palace. She led an elegant and luxurious life in Paris. She was^rich and prodigal, and spent upwards of a hundred thousand livres a year on curiosities and rare bonks. Her library was, in plays and novels, the most complete a private person had then possessed. She loved company ; and Voltaire admired and flattered her. It is said that she never spoke of her former lover, or of her children, or expressed the least regret for the step she had taken. She was generally considered attractive and agreeable, and was, probably, as much so as a heartless woman without faith, love, or purity can ever be." (Hale, p. 544)

"Verua, Jeanne Genevieve Baptiste d’Albert, Comtesse de – (1670 – 1736). French adventuress, royal mistress and espionage agent.
Jeanne Genevieve d’Albert was born (Jan 18, 1670), the daughter of Louis Charles Honore d’Albert, second Duc de Luynes, and his second wife Anne, the daughter of Hercule de Rohan, Duc de Montbazon. Raised at the court of Versailles, Jeanne was married (1683) to the Italian patrician, Augusto Manfredi Scaglia, Comte de Verua (1667 – 1704), who was killed in battle at Haochstadt (Aug 13, 1704). The comtesse became the mistress of Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, the king of Sardinia (1718 – 1732), the husband of Louis’s niece, Anne Marie d’Orleans, to whom she bore several illegitimate children. Their son, Vittorio Francisco Philippo (1694 – 1762) was created Marchese di Susa by his father (1701). Their daughter, Vittoria Francesca of Savoy, Madamoiselle de Susa (1690 – 1766) was married to the Savoyard prince, Vittorio Amedeo I, Prince di Carignano, and left issue. Madame de Verua served King Louis as a double agent at the court of Turin in Piedmont. For which task, her incredible beauty and seductive talents made her a highly accomplished performer. After her retirement from this line of work, the comtesse receive a pension from the crown, in discreet recognition, and reward, for her much valued services." (Women of History - V)

Jeanne Becu, Comtesse du Barry
(1743-1793)
Mistress of Louis XV of France.

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson
Marquise de Pompadour
(1721 - 1764)
Mistress of Louis XV of France
(See Madame Pompadour website)

Jeanne Elisabeth le Lyon
French mistress of Vittorio Amadeo I of Savoy, the reigning prince of Carignano (1709–1741)
with whom she had a daughter, Amadea Anna di Savoia (1730–1813) and a son Vittorio Amadeo (born 1728). Amadea Anna was officially recognized by her royal father, and was styled Madamigella di Villafranca (Madamoiselle de Villafranque). She was later married to Conte Giuseppe Bigeard di Saint-Maurice. (Women of History)

Jeanne le Conte
a.k.a. Jeanne Comte

Mistress of Charles of Orleans (1459-1496), Count of Angouleme, with whom she had a daughter Souvereine d'Angouleme (d.1551).

Jeanne le Coq
Mistress of Francois I of France.

Jeanne Luisa Tiercelin
Mistress of Louis XV of France
with whom she had Benoît Louis Le Duc (1764-1837).

Jehannette de Presles
Mistress of Philippe III the Good of Burgundy. (Vaughan, p. 134)

Jeanne de Montceau de Tugnonville
Countess of Panges
Mistress of Henri IV of France, 1576. (Alfred, p. 291)

Jimena Munoz
Mistress of Alfonso VI of Castile.

Joan Dobsonca
Lover of Henry VIII of England.

Joanna Holly
a "common wench" who was possibly a lover of Henry VIII of England.

Joao Fernando Andeiro
Count of Ourem
Lover of Leonor Tellez de Meneses, queen of Portugal
(History of Portugal, p. 171)

Juan Rodriguez de la Camara
Lover of Juana of Portugal
queen of Enrique IV the Impotent of Castile.

Karin (Katarina) Hansdotter
Mistress of Johan III of Sweden.

Katherine Mortimer
Mistress of David II of Scotland

"...On his release in 1357, she accompanied him to Scotland, but soon after, being insulted by David's preference for his mistress, Katherine Mortimer, she returned to Edward III. 's court, and refused to return to her husband even when her rival was murdered in 1360...." (Pulling, p. 630)

Katherine Swynford
(1350-1403)
Duchess of Lancaster
[Bio1] [Bio2]

"Katherine Swynford had first entered the household of the Duchess Blanche as governess to her children. After he death Katherine became the mistress of John of Gaunt, who was a typical Plantagenet, like his father, in his love of women. She was indeed one of the outstanding women of her age, not only beautiful but deeply intelligent, a very capablemanager and possesing infinite tact in her relations with Costanza of Castile...." (Bevan, p. 4)

La Baveresse
Mistress of Henri IV of France. (Alfred, p. 291)

Lady Shannon
Mistress of Charles II of England, with whom she had Charlotte, Countess of Yarmouth.

Leonor de Guzman
(c1310-1351)

"...His [Alfonso XI's] union with Dona Maria, prompted by policy alone, had not been a happy one. Scarcely had the Infanta of Portugal presented him with an heir, than he forsook her and attached himself to Dona Leonor de Guzman, a young widow belonging to an illustrious family in Seville, by whom he had ten children, nine sons and one daughter, all of whom were the objects of his predilection, and richly appanaged... By her strength of intellect and decision of character, the king's favourite, Dona Leonor, showed herself not unworthy of her lofty position; and Alfonso perhaps owed to her wise counsels some portion of his success. She appeared with him in public; it was in her presence that the officers of justice and chief magistrates despatched their business; it was to her they were accountable during the king's absence...." (Stone, pp. 72-73)

Louis de Livarot
(d.1580)
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Louis Bérénger de Guast
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Louise de Keroualle
Duchess of Portsmouth
Mistress of Charles II of England
with who, she had Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond.

Louise de Polastron (d.1803), a mistress of Charles X of France.

Louise de La Beraudiere du Rouhet
Mistress of Henri III of France.

Louise de La Fayette
(1616-1665)
Mistress of Louis XIII of France.

Louise Anne de Bourbon
(1695-1758)
Mistress of Emmanuel François Joseph, Count of Bavaria (1695-1747), illegitimate son of the Emperor Karl VII

Louise Françoise de la Baume le Blanc
Demoiselle de La Vallière
Duchesse de Vaujours
Duchess of Vallière
(1644-1710)
also known as Louise de la Valliere
Mistress of Louis XIV of France

with whom he had the following illegitimate children: Charles de La Baume Le Blanc (1663-1665); Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc (1665-1666); Marie-Anne de Bourbon, mademoiselle de Blois (1666-1739); Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois (1667-1683).

Louise Jeanne Tiercelin de La Colleterie
Madame de Bonneval
(1746 - 1779)
Mistress of Louis XV of France.

Louise-Julie de Mailly-Nesle
Comtesse de Mailly
(1710-1751)

"French courtier and mistress to Louis XV. Louise de Mailly-Nesle was born in Paris, the daughter of Louis de Mailly, Marquis de Nesle, being the eldest of the three Mailly sisters who would ultimately succeed each other as mistress and favourite to the king. She married (1726) her cousin, Louis Alexandre, Comte de Mailly (1694 – 1743), which union remained childless. Although the king had paid the comtesse marked attentions from 1732, she did not become his official titular mistress till six years later (1738). Though not a recognized by the court of Versailles as a great beauty, the comtesse was famous for her kindly disposition. Though she refrained from using her position and influence to enrich herself or her family, the comtesse did have some influence in politics, being the patron of Charles Fouquet, Duc de Belle-Isle. Eventually she was supplanted her her sister, the duchesse de Chateauroux, and was forced to resided away from the court at Versailles. The comtesse retired to a house in Paris, where she lived quietly for the remaineder of her life. She was beloved by the poor of the city because of her charitable contributions, especially as she was known to be only modestly provided for. Two pastel portraits of the comtesse have survived, one by Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704 – 1788) and Jean Marc Nattier (1685 – 1766). Madame de Mailly was mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian Horace Walpole." (Women of History)

Lucia Marliani
Countess of Melzi
Mistress of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan.

Lucia Torsano or Lucia Terzani da Marsciano
Mistress of Muzio Attendolo Sforza
with whom she had 7 children.

Lucie-Madeleine d' Estaing
(1743-1826)
Mistress of Louis XV of France
with whom she begot Agnès Lucie Auguste (1761-1822) and Aphrodite Lucie d' Auguste (1763-1819)

Lucrezia Crivelli
Mistress of Lodovico il Moro, Duke of Milan.

Lucrezia Landriani
Mistress of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan.

Lucy Walter
(c1630-1658)

"[She]...was the daughter of a Welsh gentleman, and in 1648 became the mistress of Charles II., by whom ehe was tho mother of James, Duke of Monmouth. She lived with Charles in Holland. In 1656 she came over to England, where she was imprisoned in the Tower, but shortly afterwards released. After this little or nothing is known of her. When Monmouth put forward his claims to the throne it was contended by his adherents that his mother had been secretly married to Charles II., but of this assertion no proof was forthcoming, and Monmouth himself subsequently retracted it." (Pulling, p. 1051). Lucy Walter, mistress of Charles II of England, with whom she had James, Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch, and a daughter.

Luigi of Taranto
Lover of Giovanna I of Naples.

Luis Hurtado de Mendoza
Reputedly another lover of Juana of Portugal, queen of Enrique IV "the Impotent" of Castile. (George, p. 413)

Madame de Ludres
(1687-1722)
Mistress of Louis XIV of France.

Mademoiselle Dayelle
Mistress of Henri IV of France.

Mademoiselle Esther de Boyslambert
Mistress of Henri IV of France.

Mademoiselle Maroquin
Mistress of Henri IV of France. (Alfred, p. 291)

Mademoiselle Sponde
Mistress of Henr IV of France. (Alfred, p. 291)

Mademoiselele de Charolais
(1695-?)
Mistress of Louis XV of France.

Mademoiselle de Fosseuse
Mistress of Henri IV of France.

Mademoiselle de Petonville
Mistress of Henri IV of France. (Alfred, p. 291)

Mademoiselle de Rebours
Mistress of Henri IV of France, c1579. (Alfred, p. 291)

Mademoiselle de Tignonville
Mistress of Henri IV of France.

Madragana (Mor Afonso)
Mistress of Afonso III of Portugal

Daughter of the Mozarab (Iberian Christians living under Muslim domination) governor of Faro, Aloandro Ben Bekar who was of Jewish descent from the House of King David. Their daughter Margarita married Jean II, count of Neufchâtel (1414-1489), and their issue propagated throughout Europe. (Rougemont)

Magda Lupescu
Mistress of Carol II of Romania

"Elena Wolff (1895-1977, known as 'Magda Lupescu -- Lupescu is the Romanian equivalent of the German Wolff), a daughter of Nicolas Grünberg, a Jewish pharmacist, who adopted the name Nicolas Wolff, and his wife née Elizei Falk." (Biography Base)

Manuel de Godoy
(1767-1851)
Principe de la Paz
Supposed lover of Maria Luisa of Parma, queen of Carlos IV of Spain.

Margareta Pfattendorferin
Mistress of Sigmund, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (1439-1502). (FMG)

Margareta von Freyberg
Mistress of Sigmund, Duke of Bavria-Munich (1439-1501). (FMG)

Marguerite de Sassenage
(1449-1471)
Mistress of Louis XI of France.

Marguerite Catherine Haynault
Marquise de Montmélas
(1736-1823)
Mistress of Louis XV of France
with who she had Agnès Louise de Montreuil (1760-1837) and Anne Luisa de La Réale (1763-1831).

Maria Mancini
the favourite mistress of Louis XIV of France.

Maria Martini
"Carol (II of Romania) also had a son and a daughter by his next mistress Maria Martini, a high-school student." (Historical Boys Royal Costume)

Maria Schlegel
Mistress of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
with whom she had a son Adolf Gustafsson.

Marie de Beauvilliers
(1574-1656)
Mistress of Henri IV of France
[Bio1]

"[She] was the daughter of the comte de St. Aignan, was intended for the cloister; but she had not taken the veil when Henry IV, saw her in the abbey of Montmartre, and made her his mistress. Short, however, was her career of guilt; she was almost immediately forsaken for her cousin Gabrielle d'Estrees; and she returned, humbled, to her convent, of which she was nominated abbess in 1597...." (Rose, et. al., p. 459)

Marie de Cleves
Comtesse de Beaufort
(1553-1574)
Mistress of Henri III of France.

Marie de Hautefort
(1616-1691)
Mistress of Louis XIII of France.

Marie Angélique de Scoraille de Roussille
Duchesse de Fontanges
(1661-1681)
Mistress of Louis XIV of France
with whom he had an unnamed child.

Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle
Marquise de la Tournelle
duchesse de Châteauroux
(1717 - 1744)
Mistress of Louis XV of France.

Marie Charlotte Hippolyte de Campet de Saujon
Mistress of Louis Francois I of Bourbon, Prince de Conti.

Marie Claudia
a French maiden who was a lover of Henry VIII of England.

Marie Francoise Catherine
Marquise de Beauvau-Craon
(1711-1786)

"The Marquise de Boufflers played a significant role at the court set up in Luneville by the Polish king Stanislas, who assumed the Duchy of Lorraine following is exile from Poland in 1735. She married the captain of Stanislas' guards, the Marquis de Boufllers-Remiencourt, and had two sons. She became a lady-in-waiting at the ducal court. At one time she was simultaneously the mistress of Stanislas, of his Minister of Finances Devaux, and of his Minister of State, earning the title 'Dame de Volupte' (Lady of Pleasure). (Wilson, p. 101)

Marie Louise Madeleine Victoire le Bel de la Boissiere de Sery
(1680-1748)
Mistress of the duke of Orleans, Regent of France.

Marie Louise O' Murphy
(1734-814)
Mistress of Louis XV of France
with whom she had Agathe Louise de Saint-André (1754-1774).

Marie Thérèse-Françoise Boisselet
(1731-1800)
Mistress of Louis XV of France
with whom she had a child, Charles Louis Cadet de Gassicourt (1769-1821).

Marie Touchet
(1553-1638)
Mistress of Charles IX of France. (Platts, p. 73)

Mary Anne Clarke
(d.1852)
Mistress of Frederic, duke of York.

Mary Berkeley
Lover of Henry VIII of England.

Mary Boleyn
Mistress of Henry VIII of England
also rumoured to be a mistress of Henry VIII's rival Francois I of France.

Mary Davis
Mistress of Charles II of England
with whom she had Mary Tudor, Countess of Derwentwater.

Mary Fitton
(c1578-1647)

"She became the maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth I. She was the mistress of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke in 1600...." (Houghton Miflin Co., p. 534)

Marie Vetsera
Mistress of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria

"In 1887, Rudolf bought Mayerling and adapted it into a hunting lodge. In the autumn of 1888, the 30-year-old crown prince met the 17-year-old Baroness Marie Vetsera, known by the more fashionable Anglophile name Mary. From the start, Mary adored him, and was ready to do anything for him. It was almost certainly not the great romance of his life, but Rudolf did have feelings for her, and was touched by her limitless, almost fanatical, love for him." (Virtual Vienna Net)

"Vescera, Baroness Marie Alexandrine – (1871 – 1889), Austrian Imperial mistress, Marie Vescera was born in Vienna, the daughter of Baron Albin Vescera and his wife Helene Baltazzi, and attended a convent school. Marie became a great beauty, and had such an interest in horse-racing that earned the nickname of ‘Turf angel.’ She met the crown prince Rudolph at the Hofburg Palace (Nov, 1888) and the two became infatuated with each other. The attachment caused great scandal, and, at length was brought to the attention of the Emperor Franz Joseph, who ordered the couple to separate. At the royal lodge at Mayerling, they were founded togther, both shot dead (Jan 30, 1889). It seems that the couple, in order not to be forcibly seperated, had decided upon a suicide pact, though the real truth of the affair remains shrouded in mystery, and there remains the possibility that she may have been murdered." (Women of History - V)

Mathilde Kshesinskaya
(1872-1971)
also Mathilda Maria Felixovna Kschessiska
Mistress of Czar NIcholas II of Russia. (Mir)

"In 1920 she definitively left Russia and went to live in France where, in 1921, she morganatically married Grand Duke Alexej Vladimirovich of Russia, met in 1900; she had previously been czar Nicholas II's (then zarevich Nicolaj) mistress." (Mara Galeazzi)

Melusine von der Schulenburg
Mistress of George I of England.

Michael de la Pole
Favorite of Richard II of England. (Richard II in Brittania)

Nell Gwyn
Mistress of Charles II of England
with whom she had Charles Beauclerk, Duke of St Albans, and James Beauclerk.

Nest, Princess of South Wales
Mistress of Henry I of England

Nicole de Savigny
(1535-1601)
Mistress of Henri II of France
with whom she had a son, Henri de Valois-Saint Rémy (1557-1621).

Nicole la Chastelaine
Mistress of Philippe III the Good of Burgundy. (Vaughan, p. 134)

Nikita Afanasievich Beketov
Lover of Russian Empress Elizabeth

"Among the cadets who acted before the Empress at the Court Theatre, was a very handsome youth of eighteen or nineteen, Nikita Afanasievich Beketov by name, who generously played the part of first lover at these entertainments. It at once occurred to Bestuzhev that such an Adonis was made for such a susceptible Cytherea as Elizabeth, and he took care that the youth should frequently come in...." (Bain, p. 158)

Odette (Odinette) de Champdivers
(1384-1424)

Mistress of Charles VI of France (the Mad) and previously his brother, the Duke of Orléans. She was called la petite reine ("the little queen") by Charles and contemporaries.

Olga Kalinovskaya
(1818-1854)
Mistress of Alexander III of Russia
with whom she had Michael-Bogdan Oginski (1848-1909)

Pandolfello Piscopo
Lover of Giovanna II of Naples.

Papia

Daughter of Berengier, Count of Bayeaux, was taken as Rollo of Normandy's mistress and became the mother of William Longsword, second Duke of Normandy. (Duncan, p. 14)

"...On the death of Gisele, Rollo married his mistress, Papia, and declared the child he had by her, afterwards called William Longsword, his heir and successor. (Duncan, p. 22)

Paul de Saint-Megrin
(d.1578)
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Pauline of Courland, Duchess of Sagan

"...Lord Castlereagh's half-brother Sir Charles Stewart, who had been raised to the peerage as Lord Stewart the year before, had taken up his appointment as British Ambassador in Vienna and was indiscreet enough to have become the lover of Wilhelmine, daughter of the Duke of Courland, who had once been one of Metternich's many mistresses. Her sister, Dorothea, Countess of Perigord, publicly announced her devotion to the Duke; while two of Wilhelmine's other sisters, Pauline and Jeanne, were known to be having affaits with Congress officials, one of them the Secretary-General...." (Hibbert, p. 166)

Pauline Adelaide Alexandre Panam
the Fair Greek
lover of

Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

"At a ball in Paris the handsome and fiery Duke Ernst saw a charming young maiden of fourteen, Pauline Adelaide Alexandre Panam, who was descended from a Greek family settled in Montpellier, and was soon universally known by the name of 'the fair Greek.' The enamoured duke proceeded to vigorous courtship of the fair Greek, offering her his protection, his influence, and his fortune. Another day he proposed to her to become the lady-companion to his sister, the Grand-Duchess Constantine. In fine, the far Greek very soon succumbed to the seductive arts of the duke. In April 1808, the duke returned to Coburg. Mademoiselle Pauline followed her lover, who had promised that his mother would receive her in her court circle. By the duke's command she travelled in male attire." (Bauer, p. 30)

Pauline Félicité de Mailly
Mademoiselle de Nesle
Comtesse de Vintimille
(1712-1741)
Mistress of Louis XV of France
with whom she had Charles Emanuel de Vintmille, marquis de Luc (1741-1814).

"Vintimille, Pauline Felicite de Mailly-Nesle, Marquise de – (1712 – 1741), French courtier, mistress of Louis XV (1715 – 1774). Pauline de Mailly-Nesle was born (Aug, 1712), the second daughter of Louis de Mailly, Marquis de Nesle. With her mother’s death (1729) her stepgrandmother, the Duchesse de Mazarin placed Pauline in the Abbey of Port Royal to be raised and educated, being known as Madamoiselle de Nesle. Pauline was later brought to the court of Versailles (1739) by her elder sister, the Comtesse de Mailly, the first mistress of Louis XV, whose position she usurped. The king arranged for her marriage (1739) with Jean Baptiste Felix de Luc, Marquis de Vintimille (1720 – 1777) which was performed by the Archbishop of Paris. However during the ensuing wedding night celebrations, the marquis discreetly withdrew and the King replaced her in the bedchamber.

"Madame de Vintimille’s arrogance and unspokenness endeared her to the king, who admired her alert mind, but she made her prescence obnoxious to the queen, Marie Leszczynska by requesting favour from her. She was possessed of little beauty, one of her own sisters describing her as having, ‘… the figure of a grenadier, the neck of a crane and the smell of a monkey.’ Her portrait was painted by Jacques Andre Aved. The marquise became pregnant with the king’s child and prepared for her confinement at Choisy. When she became ill Louis sent a litter to convey her to the palace of Versailles. Madame de Vintimille died there (Sept 10, 1741) aged twenty-nine, from the effects of childbirth. She appears in the historical novel Louis the Wellbeloved (1959) by Jean Plaidy. Her son Louis de Bourbon (1741 – 1814) was recognized by the king and popularly known as ‘le demi-Louis’ because of his close resemblance to the king. He was later created Comte de Luc, was married (1764) to Marie Margeurite de Castellane-Esparre (died 1770), and left descendants. His daughter-in-law, Marie Gabrielle Artois de Levis, the wife of his son, Charles Felix de Bourbon (1765 – 1806), Comte de Vintimille de Luc, perished with great courage under the guillotine during the Terror of Robespierre (1794)." (Women of History - V)

Pedro de Castilla y Fonseca
Lover of Juana of Portugal, queen of Enrique IV "the Impotent" of Castile
with whom he had two illegitimate children, namely, Andres Apostol de Castilla y Portugal and Pedro Apostol de Castilla y Portugal.

Pedro Gonzales de Lara
Lover of Urraca, Queen of Leon, Castile and Galicia

Peter Bestuzhev-Riumin

"Maurice's (of Saxony) 'excursion' to Courland had sad consequences for Peter Bestuzhev-Riumin as well. An honorable dignitary, father of the outstanding future diplomats Mikhail and Aleksei Bestuzhev-Riumin, and an experienced courrtier, he was not only the Russian resident in Courland and chief steward of the duchess's court, he was also her long-standing lover. Being nineteen years older than Anna, he seduced the young widow and mader her his complete subordinate...." (Anisimov, p. 72)

Peter Zavadovskii
"...As early as 1776 Peter Zavadovskii, a high-ranking official, appears at Catherine's court and becomes her new favourite...." (Anisimov, p. 307)

Phelise Regnard
(c1424-1474)
Daughter of Aymar Reynard, Lord of Saint Didier and widow of a squire, Pico, in 1452. She gave Louis XI of France 2 dauaghters, namely, Guyette (?-1502) and Jeanne (1447-1519). She recovered the castellany of Beaumont, confiscated in 1456, due to the king's help and kept it until her death.(Favorites de Louis XI)

Philipp Christoph von Konigsmarck

(1665-1694)

Lover of

Sophie Dorothea of Brunswick-Luneburg

(1666-1726)

wife of George I of Great Britain

"On the evening of a summer-day, in the year of 1694, one of the most brilliant cavaliers in Germany at that period, Count Philip von Konigsmarck, entered the electoral palace of Hanover, and no one ever saw him again: he disappeared without leaving a trace. The disappearance created an immense sensation...throughout Europe, for the missing man, grandson of Count Hans Christopher Konigsmarck, the celebrated Swedish field-marshal in the thirty years' war, was related to several sovereign princely houses, and well known at every court. In Hanover, the report at once spread that the count had been murdered, because he had an intrigue with the Crown-Princess Sophia Dorothea, while others asserted he had merely been arrested on account of this intrigue, and was kept in secret imprisonment. One one fact, in short, was firmly established, that the count went into the palace and never came out of it again." (Wraxall, pp. 148-149)

Philippe II Auguste of France

Allegedly the lover of Richard I the Lionheart of England. (Reston) (Crusades History)

Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine

(1643-1702)

Philippe d'Orleans' mignon, the son of Henri de Lorraine, earl of Harcourt, Armagnac and Brionne and of Marguerite Philippe du Cambout-Coislin. He was Monsieur's favourite lover for many years even though he was the Abbot of Saint Pere, Chartres.

Picotin Pancoussaire

Sometimes called La Boulangere de St. Jean (Aubigne)

Mistress of Henri IV of France. (Alfred, p. 291)

Piers Gaveston

1st Earl of Cornwall

Alleged lover of Edward II of England.

Platon Zubov

Last lover of Catherine II of Russia.

"Zubov...was ambitious enough to continue pressing the imperial cellulite for the next seven years. The arrogant new lover strutted around the court giving out orders, shamelessly exploiting his new position. His private apartment was crowded with hangers-on who hoped to beg favors from the most important man in Russia. Under Catherine's very nose he tried to seduce a sixteen-year-old grand duchess, Elisabeth Alekseevna, wife of the future Czar Alexander I. It was the first time that one of the Empress's lovers had dared treat her so casually, but she was beyond caring." (Shaw, p. 175)

Royal Favourites, Nobles Lovers Q-Z

2010-03-06T08:29:00.000-08:00

Radu the Handsome (cel Frumos)

Prince of Wallachia

"While a hostage at the Ottoman court in the 1440s, Radu (whose epithet, "cel Frumos" means "the Handsome"), younger brother of Vlad III the Impaler, became the beloved of the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed II, after first refusing his favors and wounding him with his own sword. The sultan is said to have prevailed upon the boy by means of presents and kind usage. The relationship lasted many years and Radu was raised to the highest posts in the army." (Sources: Vlad Tepes Dracula)

Raoul II of Brienne
Count of Eu and Guines
(d.1350)

"...It was rumored that discovery of queenly adultery had been behind the death of Bonne,wife of the future John II (of France),in 1349, and the execution of her supposed lover, the Count of Eu, in 1350...." (Zane, pp. 1-2)

Reingold Gustav Lowenwolde

"A closeness, however, did arise between the empress and her smart handsome chaberlain Count Reingold Gustav Lowenwolde, who is some ways resembled the late Villim Mons. Times had changed and there was no reason to hide her affections; so Catherine kept the young lover by her side day and night. But at times he was also at a loss to cope with the feverish rhythm of life a court...." (Anisimov, p. 51)

Renee de Rieux de Châteauneuf
(1550-1587)
known as la Belle
Mistress of Henri III of France.

Richard I the Lionheart of England
Allegedly the lover of Philippe II Auguste of France. (Reston) (Crusades History)

Rimsky-Korsakov

"According to some contemporaries close to Catherine, Countess Bruce was prized by her as an 'eprouveuse', or 'tester of male capacity'.[2] Every potential lover was to spend a night with Bruce before he was admitted into Catherine's personal apartments. Their friendship was cut short when Bruce was found "in an assignment" with Catherine's youthful lover, Rimsky-Korsakov, ancestor of the composer; they both later withdrew from the imperial court to Moscow." (Wikipedia)

"...[Catherine the Great of Russia] was twenty-five years older than Rimsky Korsakov...." (Shaw, p. 175)

Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset

"...His (James I of Great Britain) second liaison, with Robert Carr, ended in a nasty scandal which helped widen the gulf between court and county. (Carlton, p. 43).

"...Robert Carr dominated from 1611-1615." (Houghton Miflin Co., p.97)

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Possibly a lover of Elizabeth I of England.

Robert de Vere
(1362-1392)
Duke of Ireland, 1386
Marquess of Dublin, 1385-1386
9th Earl of Oxford, 1371
Favorite of Richard II of England. (Richard II in Britannia)

"Richard, like most weak princes, now resigned himself wholly to the direction of a favourite, Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, a young nobleman of dissolute manners, whom he loaded with riches, with titles, and with dignities. He first created him marquis of Dublin, and afterwards duke of Ireland, with a preliminary grant of the sovereignty of that kingdom for life...." (Russell, p. 5)

Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March
Lover of Isabella of France, queen of Edward II of England.

Roger de Saint-Lary
(1549-1579)
Duke of Bellegarde
One of Henri III of France's mignons.

Rosa Catanei
(1442-1518)
also known as la Vanozza
Mistress of Pope Alexander VI

"About 1466 or 1467 Cardinal Rodrigo's magnetism attracted a woman of Rome, Vannozza Catanei. We know she was born in July 1442, but of her family we are wholly ignorant. Writers of that day also call her Rosa and Catarina, although she named herself, in well authenticated documents, Vannozza Catanei. Paolo Giovio states that Vanotti was her patronymic, and although there was a clan of that name in Rome, he is wrong. Vannozza was probably the nickname for Giovanna--thus we find in the early recordsof that age: Vannoza di Nardis, Vannozza di Zanobeis, di Pontianis, and others." (Gregorovius, p. 10)

"[She]...was the daughter of an illustrious family... She was born of Roman parents...and was married three times, first to Demenico of Arignano in 1474, second to Giorgie de Croce of Milan in 1480 and third to Carlo Canale of Mantua in 1486. Rosa, whom the Romans call 'la Vannozza'...[L]a Vannozza, after her third marriage in 1586, ceased to be the pope's lover. Previous to being Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia's concubine, Vannozza had been the lover of Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, who became Pope Julius II, and Caesar Borgia may have been their son. In the 1470s Vannozza became the mistress of Cardinal Rodrigo. Depending on Caesar's paternity, she had either three or four children by Borgia --- Caesar in 1475, Juan in 1476, Lucrezia in 1480 and Goffredo in 1481...." (Williams, p. 68)

Rosa Vercellana
Mistress of Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy

"Vercellana, Rosa – (1833 – 1885), Italian courtier, Rosa Vercellana was the mistress and then morganatic second wife (1869 – 1878) of Vittoro Emanuele II, King of Italy. She was born (June 3, 1833) at Moncalvo, the daughter of Giovanni Vercellana, and his wife Luisa Albera. When a very young girl Rosa became the mistress of Vittori Emmanuele, and bore him several children, during the time of his marriage with the Hapsburg archduchess Adelaide. The king granted her the title of Contessa di Miriafiori and Fontafredda (1859 – 1885), and eventually married her morganatically in Rome (1869), which made the stepmother to King Umberto I (1878 – 1900). Of her two surviving children Emmanuele Filiberto Guerreri (1851 – 1894) in herited her own title of Mirifiori and Fontafredda (1885 – 1894) and left descendants, whilst her daughter Vittoria Guerreri (1848 – 1905) was married firstly the marchese Giovanni Filippo Spinola, and secondly his elder brother, the marchese Luigi Domenic Spinola (1825 – 1899). She left children by both marriages. Contessa Rosa survived the king five years, and died (Dec 27, 1885) in Pisa, aged fifty-two." (Women of History - V)

Sabina Poppea
(d.65)
Mistress and later wife of Nero.

Sacha Lanskoy

"After Potemkin, the Empress's greatest love was probably the 'irreplaceable' Sacha Lanskoy, who died of diptheria in her arms aged twenty-six. She was so inconsolably grief-streicken that it was several weeks before she took another man to her bed. Then she explained that she needed to resume her sex life for health reasons. (Shaw, p. 175)

Salome Alt

"Another palace in Austria that you will find in Salzburg is Mirabell Palace, which is partly known for its immaculate gardens. Mirabell Palace was built in 1606 at the request of Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau. As the story goes, the residence, which was originally titled Altenau, was intended for the Prince Archbishop's mistress Salome Alt...." (Austrian Castles)

Semyon Zorich

Simon Gavrilovitj Zoritj

(1745-1799)

"...In 1777 he (Peter Zavadovskii) was replaced by Zorich who became the empress's lover only for a short time...." (Anisimov, p. 307)

"...[Catherine II of Russia]] was sixteen years older than Zorich...." (Shaw, p. 175)

Sergei Vasilievich Saltykov

(c1726-1765)

the Handsome Serge

(Fr. le Beau Serge)

First lover of Catherine II of Russia after she came back to Russia.

"Most of her flirtations came to nothing, but Serge Saltykov, then twenty-two and a scion of old Muscovite nobility, was different: he was 'handsome as the dawn' according to Catherine, but, reading between the lines, he was something of a cheap ladies' man. She fell for him. He was probably her first lover. Amazingly, steps were now taken at the highest level to make sure this was indeed the case -- the Empress required an heir no matter who was the father... Saltykiv, nicknamed 'le beau Serge,' was admired for his looks...." (Montefiore, p. 34)

"...[Russian Empress] Elizabeth permitted an affair between Catherine and a handsome Russian officer, Serge Saltykov. Catherine conceived and bore a son, Paul, who was accepted by Peter as his own. Immediately after his birth, little Paul was carried off to Elizabeth's quarters and the Empress raised him as her own...." (Alexander Palace Time Machine)

Sergianni Caracciolo

Lover of Giovanna II of Naples.

Sibyl Corbet

Mistress of Henry I of England

Sophia Dawes, Baronne de Feucheres

(1790-1840)

"...She was mistress to the Duc de Bourbon and married his aide-de-camp, the Baron de Feucheres, in 1818. She is thought to have murdered the Duc (1830)." (Houghton Miflin Co., p. 410)

Sophia de Walmoden
(d. 1765)
Countess of Yarmouth
Mistress of George II.

He had known her in Hanover, and shortly after the death of Queen Caroline she was brought to England, and created Countess of Yarmouth—'the last instance,' says Stanhope, 'in our annals of a British peerage bestowed on a royal mistress.' Her character was quiet and inoffensive, and though she did not at first possess, she gradually gained considerable influence over the king. She was summoned when George was found dead, and by a codicil to that king's will was bequeathed £10,000." (Pulling, p. 1092)

Sophie Charlotte Dorothea von Behse (1828-1886)
Mistress of Alexander III of Russia
with whom she had Charlotte Henriette Sophie Jansen (1844-1915)

Stanislas Poniatowski
Lover of Catherine II of Russia.

Stella de' Tolomei
Stella dell'Assassino
Mistress of Niccolo III d'Este (1383-1441), Margrave of Ferrara
with whom she had
Ugo d'Este (d. 1425, beheaded)
Leonello d'Este (1407-1450)
Borso d'Este (1413-1471)

"...Two years after the death of Gigliola, he married, in 1418, Laura Malatesta, called Parisina, even though by that time he had had a relationship for years with Stella dei Tolomei, known as Stella dell'Assassino or Stella dell'Asisino who gave him the children that would write the most tragic and most beautiful pages in the history of the Estense household: Ugo, Leonello and Borso...." (Il Castello di Ferrara)

Stepan Glebov

"Following the breakdown of their marriage, Peter decided to rid himself of Eudokia. He banished her to the Convent of the Intercession in Suzdal on 23 September, 1698. The following year, he sent Semyon Yazkov to the convent to inform Eudokia that she was to join the sisterhood as Sister Helen. In 1709, Peter's former wife began a nine-year love affair with Captain Stepan Glebov. This came to light in 1718, when the tsar was investigating the flight abroad of their son, Tsarevich Alexei. Both were harshly punished. Stepan Glebov was impaled, while Eudokia was tortured and moved to the Convent of the Dormition in Staraya (Old) Ladoga." (Royal Russia)

Stephanie Le Marquis de Villemonble

"Villemonble, Stephanie Le Marquis de (Etiennette) – (1737 – 1806),
French courtier. Stephanie de Villemomble was born at Dinan in Brittany. She was married and later became the mistress of Louis Philippe I de Bourbon (died 1785), Duc d’Orleans, cousin to Louis XV and father of Duc Philippe II Egalite of Revolutionary fame. Stephanie had born the Duc d’Orleans three children, whom he recognized and supported, and her sons were later legitimated by Louis XVIII (1815). She survived the horrors of the Revolution and died during the reign of Napoleon I. Her sons were Louis Etienne de Bourbon (1759 – 1825), created Comte de Saint-Phar, and Louis Philippe de Bourbon (1761 – 1829), created Comte de Saint-Albin. Her daughter, Marie Etiennette Perrine d’Auvilliers (1761 – before 1815), was styled Madame de Villemonble prior to her marriage (1778) with Comte Francois de Brossard (died 1810). Stephanie Villemomble died (Feb 9, 1806) aged sixty-eight, in Paris." (Women of History - V)

Suzanne de Moulins

Mistress of Henri IV of France.

Tamira di Cagli

Mistress of Muzio Attendolo Sforza of Milan.

Tarsia Rizzani

Mistress of Marti I the Young of Sicily with whom she had Fadrique de Luna.

"...Marti the Young did have two surviving illegitimate children, Fadrique and Violant, the result of liaisons with the Sicilian ladies, Tarsia Rizzani and Agatuzza de Pesci. In 1403, Marti I conveyed these two children to the Crown, where they were put in Maria's care and she took the role of educator and grandmother--legitimate or not, they represented the future of her line." (Earenfight, p. 88)

Teresa de Ayala

Mistress of Pedro I of Castile

with whom she had Maria de Ayala, a nun, served as godmother to Maria of Castile, queen of Aragon.. (Earenfight, p. 27)

Bust of Alexander the Great

Thais

"a celebrated courtesan Corinth, mistress of Alexander the Great, who persuaded him to set Persepolis on fire, in revenge for the injuries Xerxes had inflicted on her native city ; and who incited the conqueror, when intoxicated, to throw the first torch himself. She afterwards became the mistress and finally the wife of Ptolemy, king of Egypt. Menander celebrated her charms, on which account she is called Menandrea." (Hale, p. 61)

Theodora Komnene

Mistress of Manuel I Komnenos.

Troilo Orsini di Monterotondo

Lover for 12 years of Isabella d'Medici (1576), whose husband was Troilo's second cousin. (Langdon, p. 148)

Urbano Orilia

Lover of Giovanna II of Naples.

Urszula Mayerin

Mistress of Zygmunt III Vasa of Poland

Valerian Zubov

Lover of Catherine II of Russia.

Vannetta dei Toschi

Mistress of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta of Rimini

with whom she had Roberto, in 1441.

Varvara Nelidova

Mistress of Czar Nicholas I of Russia

"Czar Alexander's vigorous and handsome brother and eventual successor to the throne, Nicholas I, was considered to be a bit of an eccentric because he didn't take a mistress until had had been married for twenty-five years, and only then when hi wife's health failed. His choice of mistress, however---one of his wife's ladies-in-waiting, Varvara Nelidova---was not in the best possible taste...." (Shaw, p. 119)

Vasily Golitsyn

"Meanwhile, the new regent, ignoring Peter and his mother, pursued policies designed to promote stability and the status quo. She was assisted by a number of able advisors, including the sophisticated and cosmopolitan Prince Vasily Golitsyn, who may have become her lover...." (Julicher, p. 114)

Vigilia

"Vigilia – (c895 – 957), Spanish concubine. Vigilia was the daughter of Sunario II, Count of Ampurias and Rousillon, and his wife Ermengarde. Vigilia never married but became the mistress of her kinsman Miron el Joven (c885 – 927), Count of Cerdagne. Vigilia bore Miron a son and four daughters. With the count’s death, Vigilia left the court and retired to a convent, probably that of San Juan de Ripoll, where her brother Ramon was abbot." (Women of History - V)

Villim (William) Mons

"...[I]n the fall of 1724, Peter learns abruptly of his wife's betrayal, and of the name of the empress's lover. He is young and handsome and had been close to the tsar for many years. As fate would have it, in 1708 Peter included in his retinue the attractive youth Villim (William) Mons, Anchen's younger brother. We do not know the reason's for Peter's doing so, but I believe that he had not completely forgotten his first love; the tsar had to have near at hand a face that would remind him of Anchen's endearings traits. And, later, Anchen's sister, Modesta (married name Balk), entered the inner circle of Catherine herself. In 1716, Villim is named Catherine's gentleman of the bedchamber and, thanks to his charm and industriousness, launches a fast and successful career. He is appointed to manage the tsaritsa's estates and is promoted to court chamberlain. This young man, who in the words of the Danish envoy Hans Georg Westphalen, 'was among the most handsome and elegant people whom I have ever seen,' became Catherine's lover." (Anisimov, pp. 35-36)

Wallis Warfield, Duchess of Windsor

Mistress, and eventual wife, of Edward VIII of the United Kingdom.

Wilhelmina von Gravenitz

Mistress of Eberhard Ludwig, Duke of Wurttemberg

(See von Gleichen-Russwurm, pp. 198-211)

"...From time to time the castle was the residence of the widows of various dukes. Wilhelmine von Grävenitz, mistress of the Duke Eberhard Ludwig, resided there for 19 years as the Lady of Stetten...." (Kernen)

Wilhelmine Bayer

Mistress of Czar Alexander III of Russia

with whom she had Antoinette Bayer (1856-1948).

Wilhelmine Enke Rietz

(1754-1820)

Countess of Lichtenau

Mistress of Wilhelm II of Prussia.

Wilhelmine von Marwitz

Mistress of Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth.

Xaintes

a maid to Queen Marguerite

Mistress of Henri IV of France. (Alfred, p. 291)

Zaida of Seville

Mistress of Alfonso VI of Castile.

Zizi Lambrino

"During the WWI, while the government and the Roy al Family were in refuge at Iasi, he deserts from the army and run away with his mistress, Ioana (Zizi) Lambrino, daughter of an army major. They secretly married in Odessa. A huge scandal followed. Carol was sent to the Horaita-Neamt Monastery and later the Court of Ilfov declared the marriage null. Despite all these, Carol continued to see his lover and thus Mircea, the illegitimate son of Carol was born in 1920. Carol was sent away in a long trip to end the relationship with Ioana Lambrino." (Romanian Monarchy Website)

Zoé Talon, comtesse du Cayla

(1785 - 1852)

Mistress of Louis XVIII of France.