April 10 | Gabrielle d'Estrées

1571 - April 10, 1599: Age 28?

Gabrielle d'Estrées was certainly one of the most beautiful women in the world when she became the lover of the King of France in 1591. In those days it was perfectly normal for a king to have an acknowledged mistress, even when married to someone else, as Henri was. Gabrielle followed the King everywhere, even in war, pregnant, living in his tent near the battlefield and making sure his creature comforts were in place. They adored each other.

The big issue of the century, of course, was the Reformation: most of the rich and powerful of Europe circled the issue like wolves looking for ways to use religious disputes to strengthen their fortunes. Henri was an exception: born Protestant, he converted to Catholicism when he became King of France, and worked for his whole life to bring about peace and religious tolerance for his kingdom. For a time, he succeeded.

His first marriage was unhappy and, mindful of the need for an heir, he tried to obtain an annulment, planning to marry Gabrielle, who had already produced three children for him. The plan came to nothing in 1599. Gabrielle, pregnant with their fourth child, suddenly developed eclampsia, a serious complication in which the mother suddenly begins convulsing. Today good prenatal care means the danger signs can be caught and the situation controlled long before it becomes life-threatening. Obstetrics in the 16th century were different. Gabrielle fell into convulsions, gave birth to a stillborn son, and died the next day, before the King (who was elsewhere) could reach her side. He was devastated, and wore mourning (unheard of for a mistress) and gave her a royal funeral.

No mention of this amazing woman would be complete without taking the opportunity to show Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses soeurs, which now hangs in the Louvre. That's her on the right, holding Henry's coronation ring, which he gave her. I guess this was the 16th century equivalent of a shoot for Playboy.



Source: Wikipedia

November 14 | Nell Gwyn

February 2, 1650 - November 13, 1687: Age 37

The restoration of the monarchy in England, after years of straight-laced Puritan parliamentary rule, included the restoration of the theatre. Charles II established two royal theatrical companies in London. This furnished a job for young Nell Gwyn, then the brothel-raised bastard daughter of a whore. She worked as an "orange girl", one of a handful of young girls who moved among the audience selling oranges and sweets. In fact these girls served as go-betweens for assignations between male audience members and the actresses backstage.

As a young teenager Gwyn caught the eye of the manager, who gave her a part in a play. Although illiterate her whole life, she was somehow able to learn her lines and impress the company enough to get more parts. She was a talented comedian, and caught many more eyes as the months went by. Soon she was working both as an actor and as a high-end mistress. In 1667 she caught the eye of the King.

King Charles II had many mistresses, but Gwyn was a favourite until the end of his life. She had enormous freedom: her own house on Pall Mall, an income, the ability to continue to work on stage, which she did until 1671, retiring at age 21. She bore the King two sons, one of whom died as a youngster. The story of how the other was made Earl of Burford, unverifiable, shows her character: When the King came to visit, she called to her son, "Come here, you little bastard, and say hello to your father." When the King objected to her referring to the boy that way, she sweetly replied "Your Majesty has given me no other name by which to call him." He made the boy the Earl of Burford.

Another story: her coachman was fighting with another man who had called her a whore. She broke up the fight, saying, "I am a whore. Find something else to fight about."

Charles died in 1685, and among his last words were the instruction, "Let not poor Nelly starve." She did not. James II paid off her debts and gave her a couple of houses and a generous pension. She drew it, however, for less than three years: in March 1687 a stroke left her paralysed on one side. A second stroke in May left her completely bedridden. She lasted until November 14. She is buried at the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields near Trafalgar Square, and the Archbishop of Canterbury preached at her funeral, "Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."

Source: Wikipedia

October 15 | Mata Hari

August 7, 1876 - October 15, 1917: Age 41


Mata Hari is remembered as the embodiment of espionage and wartime double-dealing — and in a way, she was. But she had no particular interest in spying either for the Germans or the French. She was interested in surviving.

Born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle in a middle-class family in Holland, Mata Hari slept with her headmaster at the age of 16 and got expelled. Two years later she married a soldier 22 years her senior, but her equal in sexual promiscuity. They had two children before separating (the boy died at a young age and the girl lived only to the age of 21). The split was not amicable, and her husband vindictively cut off all her funds and took out an ad proclaiming himself not responsible for her debts.

Cut off from legitimate means of support, Zelle turned to other means of support. She moved to Paris and set herself up as an exotic dancer and courtesan, and lived very well indeed. Her admirers were numbers; her patrons rich and powerful. At the outset of the First World War she was living and performing in Berlin. In the belligerent and reactionary atmosphere public opinion turned against her, and she moved back to Amsterdam.

There, broke and with an uncertain future, she was approached by the German consul with a proposal to spy for the Germans. He gave her 20,000 francs and some invisible ink. According to biographer Pat Shipman she didn't take him seriously, simply accepted the money as recompense for the money and furs that had been confiscated from her in Berlin, and threw away the invisible ink.

The French government were aware of her supposed role with German intelligence, and were determined to unmask and punish her. They offered her espionage work, but turned her efforts into evidence of her spying for the Germans, arresting her in February 1917. At the time the French were under a lot of public pressure to "do something" about spies, and Zelle was a perfect scapegoat. She was convicted and sentenced to face a firing squad.

Mata Hari's whole life was a performance. She pretended to like certain men, to know sacred exotic Eastern dances, to spy for the Germans. When she really did try to spy for the French, she was betrayed. She had one more performance left. On September 29 she dressed in her best clothes, fixed her hair and makeup, was driven to Vincennes and strode out into the damp woods with her executioners. She refused to be tied or blindfolded, and blew a kiss to her lawyer (an ex-lover) and priest while waiting for the order to fire. "The sun was coming up when the shots rang out. Zelle slumped to the ground. The officer in charge marched forward and fired a single bullet into her brain, the coup de grace. An extraordinary life was over." (Tony Rennell, The Daily Mail, August 10, 2007)

Sources: First World War.com, Daily Mail