HBICs of history » I s a b e l l a   d’ A n g o u l e m e

Isabella was queen of England; she is known for her rather fiery marriage to John Lackland (son of Eleanor of Aquitaine) who she married when she was 12 years old. They had 5 children including John’s heir, later Henry III.

At the time of her marriage to John, the 12-year-old Isabella was already renowned for her beauty and has sometimes been called the Helen of the Middle Ages by historians. Isabella was much younger than her husband and possessed a volatile temper to match his own. King John, however, was deeply infatuated with his young, beautiful wife; he neglected his state affairs to spend time with Isabella, often remaining in bed with her until noon, although it was the custom for kings to rise at five o’clock in the morning to commence their duties. The common people began to term her a “siren” or “Messalina”, although they were pleased with her beauty. Her mother-in-law, Eleanor of Aquitaine readily accepted her as John’s wife.

Source: ashlynlily

HBICs of history » G e o r g i a n a, duchess of Devonshire

Georgiana was a celebrated beauty and socialite who gathered around her a large circle of literary and political figures. She was also an active political campaigner in an age when women’s suffrage was still over a century away. During the 1784 general election, the Duchess was rumoured to have traded kisses for votes in favour of Fox, and was satirised by Thomas Rowlandson in his print THE DEVONSHIRE, or Most Approved Method of Securing Votes.

Famously, when she was stepping out of her carriage one day, an Irish dustman exclaimed: “Love and bless you, my lady, let me light my pipe in your eyes!”, a compliment which she often recalled whenever others complimented her by retorting, “After the dustman’s compliment, all others are insipid.”

Georgiana married the Duke of Devonshire on her seventeenth birthday: 7 June 1774. She had a number of miscarriages before giving birth to four children: three with her husband, and an illegitimate daughter fathered by the second Earl Grey. She also raised the Duke’s illegitimate daughter, Charlotte, who was conceived with a maid. The Duchess introduced the Duke to her best friend, the Lady Elizabeth Foster (who later married the Duke), and lived in a ménage à trois with them for the next 25 years. Lady Elizabeth had two illegitimate children by the Duke, a son and a daughter.

Georgiana is famous not only for her marital arrangements, her catastrophic affairs, her beauty and sense of style and best clothes, and her political campaigning, but also for her love of gambling. Even though her own family, the Spencers, and her husband’s family, the Cavendishes, were immensely wealthy, she was reported to have died deeply in debt because they did not give her any money. She died in March,1806 (aged 48), from what was thought to be an abscess of the liver; At her death, she owed today’s equivalent of £3,720,000. She was so petrified of her husband discovering the extent of her debts that she kept them secret; the Duke only discovered the sum she owed after her death and remarked, “Is that all?

Source: ashlynlily

HBICs of history » S i m o n e t t a   V e s p u c c i

Simonetta (1453-1476) was an Italian renaissance noblewoman from Genoa and the wife of Marco Vespucci of Florence. She was renowned for being the greatest beauty of her age – certainly of the city of Florence – hence her nickname la bella Simonetta.

At the age of fifteen or sixteen she married Marco Vespucci who was a distant cousin of the Florentine explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. Marco was accepted by Simonetta’s father, and he was very much in love with her, so the marriage was logical. Her parents also knew the marriage would be advantageous because Marco’s family was well connected in Florence, especially to the Medici family.

Simonetta was instantly popular at the Florentine court. The Medici brothers, Lorenzo and Giuliano took an instant liking towards her. Lorenzo permitted the Vespucci wedding to be held at the palazzo in Via Larga, and held the wedding reception at their lavish Villa di Careggi. Through the Vespucci family Simonetta was discovered by Sandro Botticelli and other prominent painters upon arriving in Florence. Before long every nobleman in the city was besotted with her, even the brothers Lorenzo and Giuliano of the ruling Medici family. Lorenzo was occupied with affairs of state, but his younger brother was free to pursue her.

At La Giostra (a jousting tournament) in 1475, held at the Piazza Santa Croce, Giuliano entered the lists bearing a banner on which was a picture of Simonetta as a helmeted Pallas Athene painted by Botticelli himself, beneath which was the French inscription La Sans Pareille, meaning “The unparalleled one”. It is unknown, however, if they actually became lovers. 

Simonetta died just one year later, on the night of 26–27 April 1476, probably from tuberculosis. She was only 22 at the time of her death. The entire city was reported to mourn her death and thousands followed her coffin to its burial. It is suggested that Botticelli was in love with her since he requested to be buried at her feet – his wish was in fact carried out when he died some 34 years later, in 1510.

Source: ashlynlily

HBICs of history » M e s s a l i n a

Messalina  (c. 17/20 – 48 AD) was a Roman empress and the wife of emperor Claudius; she was also a cousin of Caligula and Nero. Messalina was very wealthy, an influential figure and a regular at Caligula’s court.  When Caligula was plotted against and murdered, Claudius became emperor and Messalina empress of the Roman Empire. The ancient Roman sources, particularly Tacitus and Suetonius, portray Messalina as extremely lustful, but also insulting, disgraceful, cruel, and avaricious; they claimed her negative qualities were a result of her inbreeding. The oft-repeated tale of Messalina’s all-night competition with a prostitute comes from Book X of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. Pliny does not name the prostitute; however, the competition lasted for 24 hours and Messalina won with a score of 25 partners.

Roman sources claim that Messalina used sex to enforce her power and control politicians, that she had a brothel under an assumed name and that she sold her influence to Roman nobles or foreign notables. 

In 47 AD, Messalina fell in love with a handsome senator Gaius Silius – they became lovers and Messalina forced him to divorce his wife. They plotted the murder of Claudius after which Silius would be the new emperor. Their plans were discovered and Claudius ordered their execution in 48 AD. In Messalina’s final hours, she was in the Gardens of Lucullus with her mother Lepida. Lepida’s last words to her daughter were: ‘Your life is finished. All that remains is to make a decent end’.

Source: ashlynlily