1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Lola Montes is getting a quick name drop 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: in an upcoming episode, so we're bringing our episode on 3 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: her out for the folks who might say, wait, who 4 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 1: is that? Though this episode originally came out June fourteenth, 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, so enjoy. Welcome to Stuff You Missed 6 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome 7 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm a 8 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: Holly Frye listener. Rebecca sent us a note on Instagram 9 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: recently suggesting an episode on Lola Montes and I thought, Hey, 10 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:48,239 Speaker 1: I remember her, because way back in twenty ten, previous 11 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: hosts Katie and Sarah did a podcast on Ludwig the 12 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: Second of Bavaria. We ran that as a Saturday classic 13 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, and in that episode, Katie and Sarah 14 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: talk about Lude the Second's grandfather, Ludvig the First and 15 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: his scandalous relationship with this Lola Montes. I even remembered 16 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: that Katie described her as a trip and said they 17 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: were going to need to cover her on the show 18 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: at at some point. Now it's been more than a 19 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: decade since prior hosts of the show, who do not 20 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: even work here anymore. They were probably going to do 21 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: an episode on this subject. We've had other requests for 22 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: Lola Montes in addition to Rebecca's. I found some contradictory 23 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: advice about whether people said Montes with the accent on 24 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: the first syllable or the second. I don't know which 25 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: is right. So we're just gonna say Lola Montes. There 26 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: you go. And Lola Montes is one of those figures 27 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: whose life is quite hard to pin down, not because 28 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: of a lack of documentation, but because that documentation repeats 29 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: the completely fictional backstory they made up for themselves. In 30 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: the words of historian Ralph Friedman, quote, much of this 31 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: confusion can be traced to Lola herself. She changed her 32 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: background to suit the occasion, and there were many occasions 33 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: to suit. In her adult life, Lola Montes presented herself 34 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:16,080 Speaker 1: as a Spanish dancer that was very exotic and enticing 35 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: in the eyes of the audiences and a lot of 36 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: the places she performed. In her autobiography, she said she 37 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,639 Speaker 1: was descended from Count de Montalvo of Spain and had 38 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: Moorish ancestry, but had been born in Limerick. As Marie 39 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:36,399 Speaker 1: Delores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert. She said her family had always 40 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: called her Dolores or Lola for short, and she told 41 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: King Ludwig the First of Bavaria that she had been 42 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: born on February fourteenth, eighteen twenty. None of that's true. 43 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: According to her baptismal certificate, she was born in Grange, 44 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: about one hundred and fifty five miles or two hundred 45 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: fifty kilometers north of Limerick. That was on February seventeenth, 46 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty one. One. That to me is like the 47 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:04,360 Speaker 1: big thing of like what a weird shift of a 48 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: few days one year, a few days off of the 49 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,239 Speaker 1: date and a year where it just is a strange thing. 50 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: She was named Elizabeth Rosanna Gilbert after her mother, who 51 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: went by Eliza. That nickname, not Lola, is all over 52 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: family and school records. So although both these Elizabeths went 53 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: by Eliza in this first part of the episode, we're 54 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: going to call her mother Elizabeth in the future Lola 55 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: Montes Eliza for the sake of clarity. Elizabeth was the 56 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: daughter of Charles Silver Oliver, who was a member of parliament. 57 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: Charles had four children with Elizabeth's mother before marrying an heiress, 58 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: and although he did not legally acknowledge these four children 59 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: or marry their mother, he did provide them with some 60 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: financial support set them up with jobs as they got older. 61 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: Elizabeth trained as the assistant to a milliner, and then 62 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: she married British Army officer Edward Gilbert. About ten months later, 63 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: they had Eliza. In eighteen twenty three, when Eliza was 64 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: about two, Gilbert took the family to British India with 65 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: the hope of earning more money and climbing the military ranks, 66 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: but not long after they arrived, he contracted cholera and died. 67 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: Elizabeth was still in her late teens and at this 68 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: point had a young daughter to support, so she got 69 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:27,559 Speaker 1: remarried pretty quickly to Lieutenant Patrick Craigie. Eliza didn't really 70 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: have a lot of structure or supervision in India, and 71 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty six, when she was about five, Elizabeth 72 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: and Patrick sent her to live with his parents in 73 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 1: Scotland with the hope that they could raise her into 74 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: a proper young woman. Eventually, Eliza was enrolled at Aldridge 75 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: Academy in Bath, where she stayed for about five years. 76 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: She developed a reputation for being spirited and stubborn, and 77 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,359 Speaker 1: kind of different from her peers who were raised in Britain. 78 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: She would later claim that the character of Becky Sharp 79 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: and William Thackeray's Vanited was based on her and her 80 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 1: time in Bath. She's made lots of claims. In eighteen 81 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: thirty seven, when Eliza was sixteen, Elizabeth returned from India. 82 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: Army officer Thomas James, who was on convalescent leave, had 83 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 1: accompanied her during the sea voyage an Elizabeth's reunion with 84 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 1: Eliza did not go particularly well. They hadn't seen each 85 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: other in more than a decade at that point, and 86 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,280 Speaker 1: one of Elizabeth's objectives was to prepare Eliza to get married. 87 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 1: Eliza claimed that her mother was planning to marry her 88 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: off to a widowed army officer who was in his sixties. 89 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 1: There's not really any documentation on who this might have been, 90 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: but the most likely candidate would be Patrick Craigie's commanding officer, 91 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: although he also had unmarried sons who were way closer 92 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: to Eliza's age, so it's possible that she either misunderstood 93 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: her mother's intent or deliberately misconstrued all this to make 94 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: the story more shocking. There's several possible options there, all 95 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: of which have a level of possibility and also a 96 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: level of problems. Yeah, Eliza turned to her mother's escort, 97 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: Thomas James, for help. He was in his early thirties, 98 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: and in her account, she saw him as something of 99 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,799 Speaker 1: a father figure. On July twenty third, eighteen thirty seven, 100 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: the two of them eloped, with James's brother, who was 101 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 1: a vicar officiating the wedding. This was really not a 102 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: happy marriage. Thomas was about twice Eliza's age, and she 103 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: seemed to have believed that he had married her solely 104 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: to protect her from being married off to somebody who 105 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: was twice as old as that. But it quickly became 106 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 1: clear that he was expecting her to fulfill all the 107 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: duties of a wife, and he also may have been 108 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: abusive to her. When Thomas returned to India, he took 109 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 1: Eliza with him. He was stationed at a remote garrison, 110 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,160 Speaker 1: where she didn't have much opportunity for his social life, 111 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: and where she probably also contracted malaye. She had recurring 112 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,840 Speaker 1: illness for the rest of her life. Her happiest moments 113 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: in India were probably when she and her mother visited 114 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: a resort town at the foot of the Himalayas. Eventually 115 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: Eliza left Thomas. At first she tried to take refuge 116 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: with her mother, but Elizabeth really gave her a choice 117 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: of either going back to her husband or going back 118 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: to Britain. Eliza chose the latter, with the understanding that 119 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: she would once again live with the Craigies. Eliza was 120 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: about twenty when she left India, and on the ship 121 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: back to the UK, she struck up a relationship with 122 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Charles Lennox, nephew of the Duke of Richmond. It 123 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: would have been hard to keep a romance secret on 124 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: board a ship, but they didn't really try. They were 125 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: not discreet about this at all, and once they got 126 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: back to Britain, Eliza decided to stay in London rather 127 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: than go live with the Craigies, and word about her 128 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: infidelity quickly made its way back to India. Thomas sued 129 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: Eliza for divorce on the grounds of adultery, and he 130 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: also sued Charles Lenni ex for damages, and there was 131 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: really no question about what had happened. Like the is, 132 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: there are letters written by other passengers who describe like 133 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: walking past her stateroom with the door open and clearly 134 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: for everyone to see what was happening between the two 135 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: of them. Divorces at this point were handled in ecclesiastical court, 136 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: and while Thomas's divorce was ultimately granted, the judgment also 137 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 1: specified that neither he nor Eliza could ever remarry while 138 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: the other one was still alive. And at this point, 139 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,439 Speaker 1: the only way a divorce person in Britain could get 140 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: the right to remarry while their former spouse was still 141 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: living was through an Act of Parliament. So obviously that 142 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: required a lot of political connections and a lot of money. 143 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: So this was a huge scandal for Eliza and a 144 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: gigantic blot on her reputation. Marriage was the expected life 145 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: for a woman like her, but she was legally barred 146 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,680 Speaker 1: from remarrying that divorcement. She wasn't considered appropriate for any 147 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: respectable work that might have been open to her. While 148 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: the people around her probably would have preferred she find 149 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: a sympathetic friend or a family member to stay with 150 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,079 Speaker 1: and live out her days in quiet shame, she refused 151 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 1: to play by those rules. Eliza was pretty and vivacious 152 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: and clever, and she used that to support herself through 153 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: the generosity of interested men. It's likely that one of 154 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: these men funded a trip to Spain for her. Some 155 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: sources credit the Earl of Malmsbury, but in his account 156 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: he says he did not meet her until afterward, so 157 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: regardless of who paid for this trip, while she was 158 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: in Spain, she learned some Spanish and some Spanish style dance, 159 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: and a little bit about Spanish culture and customs. And 160 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: when she returned to England it was not as Eliza. 161 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: It was as Maria Dolores de Poris in Montez, better 162 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: known as Lola, and we're going to talk more about 163 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: that after we paused for a break. Lola Montes made 164 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: her stage debut in London on June third, eighteen forty three. 165 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:19,559 Speaker 1: She performed a dance that was billed as El Olano 166 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: during the act break of a sold out performance of 167 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: The Barber of Seville, and reviewers described her as quote 168 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: the perfection of Spanish beauty. She was in a brightly 169 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: colored dress with a black bodice and doing a novel 170 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: dance with castanettes that seemed like a panamime of quote 171 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: some saucy fancy, including quote stamping pettishly with her foot. However, 172 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: someone recognized Lola Montes as Eliza Gilbert. Words started to spread, 173 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:54,440 Speaker 1: and Montes claimed her mother heard about it and printed 174 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: up death notices for her. On June twelfth, the London 175 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: Morning Post printed an excerpt of a letter from Montes 176 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: saying she had been born in Seville and had learned 177 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: English from an Irish nurse. She said she had never 178 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: been in England except for a few months spent living 179 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: with a Catholic woman in Bath, and had never seen 180 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: London before she arrived for her performance. Not long after that, though, 181 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: Lola Montes left England for the continent, where she was 182 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: less likely to be recognized. In Berlin, a critic described 183 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: her performance this way, quote, her beauty of rare voluptuous 184 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: fullness is beyond any criticism. Her dancing, however, was no 185 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: dancing at all, but a physical invitation. If it is 186 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: said of Taglioni that she writes world history with her feet, 187 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,200 Speaker 1: so it can be said of Donna Montes that she 188 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:49,680 Speaker 1: writes Casanova's memoirs with her whole body. In Berlin, Montes 189 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: performed for King Frederick William of Prussia and his guest 190 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: Zar Nicholas the first. She also had one of her 191 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: first and most famous run ins with authority. While the 192 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: monarch were reviewing the troops, Montes tried to ride her 193 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,479 Speaker 1: horse into an area that was reserved for military personnel. 194 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,080 Speaker 1: When an officer tried to stop her, she struck him 195 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:12,920 Speaker 1: with her horsewhip. A lot of the retellings of this 196 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 1: whole incident really make Montes sound like a wacky little 197 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: firebrand in this moment. But she was charged with assault, 198 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: and then when she tore up her summons for that charge, 199 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: she was charged with contempt. It does not seem like 200 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: either of these charges ever went to trial. Though, please 201 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: don't hit people with a horsewhip. There's gonna be a 202 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: lot more of that in this episode, Please don't, Please don't. 203 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: From there, Montes went to Dresden, where she met past 204 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,840 Speaker 1: podcast subject From's List. Her autobiography, which is written in 205 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 1: the third person, describes it this way quote through the 206 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: management of influential friends, an opening was made for her 207 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: at the Royal Theater at Dresden in Saxony, where she 208 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,959 Speaker 1: first met the celebrated pianist frownz List, who was then 209 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: creating such a furre in Dresden that when he dropped 210 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: his pocket handkerchief. It was seized by the ladies and 211 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: torn into rags, which they divided among themselves, each being 212 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: but too happy to get so much as a rag 213 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: which had belonged to the great artist. The furor created 214 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: by Lola Montes's appearance at the theater in Dresden was 215 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: quite as great among the gentlemen as was Lists among 216 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: the ladies. As Montes traveled with Lists, she met other 217 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: prominent people, including Rickard Wagner, who did not like her 218 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 1: much at all. The tracks, Yeah, Wagner generally disliked all 219 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: the sort of groupies who were always surrounding Fran's List. 220 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: We talked about that whole phenomenon in the Liz Domania episode. 221 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: He called Montes a quote heartless, demonic being, and Liszt 222 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 1: is rumored to have gotten tired of her as well, 223 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: locking her in a hotel room and paying the hotel 224 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: staff to keep her there just so he could escape. 225 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: There isn't any subtantiation for that story, though, and it 226 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: seems a little far fetched considering that they met up 227 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,959 Speaker 1: later in Paris. He also gave her letters of introduction 228 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,840 Speaker 1: and arranged her debut at the Paris Opera in eighteen 229 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: forty four, which was incredible considering that her entire stage 230 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: career had involved twenty or so performances total at that 231 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: point over the course of roughly a year. Yeah, the 232 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: Paris Opera was like one of the most exclusive stages 233 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:30,280 Speaker 1: in Europe, and here comes Lola Montes who's been performing 234 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: in act breaks of other shows for the course of 235 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 1: like twenty performances. Audiences in Paris were skeptical of her. 236 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: Reviewers noted that Lola Montes could not dance, did not 237 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: speak Spanish very well, didn't look Spanish, and had a 238 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: terrible reputation for violence. One French critic gave this backhanded 239 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: praise to her quote, there is something lasciviously attractive, voluptuously 240 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 1: enticing in the poses she takes, and then she a pretty, 241 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: very pretty, extremely pretty person, and she throws you kisses 242 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: so complete that you applaud at once, only to ask 243 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: yourself afterwards if it was right or wrong to applaud. 244 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: Is that not the most French criticism you can imagine 245 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: it is. Yeah, she's very lovely in the moment, but 246 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: then you second guess yourself. In Paris, Montes met another 247 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: past podcast subject that was Alexandre Dumpire, but then she 248 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 1: fell in love with Alexandra Andre Dujarier, who was part 249 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: owner of the newspaper La Presse. They planned to marry, 250 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: but Dujarier was killed in a duel in March of 251 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: eighteen forty five. This duel, we should point out, had 252 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: nothing to do with Lola. It was over a gambling 253 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: debt that he owed to journalist Jean Baptiste Rosemond de Beauvallon, 254 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: compounded by his perceived rudeness on the night that he 255 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: racked up that debt. Montes had offered to teach Dujarier 256 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: to shoot a pistol when she learned that there might 257 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,080 Speaker 1: be a duel, but he had turned her down. She 258 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: was terrified over this whole prospect. She was like, you 259 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: don't know how to use a gun and this man 260 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: is going to duel you. Please let me help, and 261 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: he was like, no, I got it. He didn't have it. 262 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: Though Montes left Paris after Dejarier's death, she had to 263 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: return to testify at Bouvillon's murder trial. Other witnesses at 264 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: that trial included both Alexandre Duma p Pere and Feists 265 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: French courts didn't typically convict people of murder if the 266 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 1: killing had happened during a duel, as long as the 267 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: rules of dueling had been followed, and Bouvillon was acquitted. 268 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty six, Montes moved to Munich, where she 269 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: met Ludwig, King of Bavaria. She was twenty five at 270 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: this point and he was sixty and deeply enamored with 271 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: all things Spain, and in what's probably an apocryphal story, 272 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: Ludwig's first words to her were to point at her 273 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: chest and say nature or art, grabbed some scissors from 274 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 1: his desk, cut open the bodice of her dress, and 275 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: showed him. Although this story probably is not true, Lola 276 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: Montes had an incredibly dramatic and often extremely scandalous relationship 277 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,879 Speaker 1: with the King of Bavaria for about eighteen months. He 278 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: commissioned her portrait for his Gallery of Beauties, which, as 279 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: its name suggests, was a gallery of portraits of the 280 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,679 Speaker 1: most beautiful women he had ever met. He called her 281 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: Lolita and set her up in a luxurious home, buying 282 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: the property in her name so that she could be 283 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: eligible for Bavarian citizenship. He granted her an allowance of 284 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: ten thousand florins a year at a time when his 285 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: cabinet ministers are making more like six thousand florins. The 286 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: king kept a lot of this secret, but there was 287 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: really no way to disguise his total infatuation with her 288 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,479 Speaker 1: or her influence over him. She publicly boasted about how 289 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,120 Speaker 1: much sway she had, including bragging about convincing the king 290 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: to raise teachers pay a week before he was going 291 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,399 Speaker 1: to announce it publicly. He was enamored with her feet, 292 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: and she gave him an alabaster model of one of them. 293 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: When he wrote to thank her for it, he said 294 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:14,200 Speaker 1: he had quote covered it with fervent kisses. He later 295 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: gave her an alabaster model of his hand writing a 296 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:21,360 Speaker 1: poem that was carved by the same sculptor. Meanwhile, Montes 297 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: was launching one scandal after another. Her behavior was just 298 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,440 Speaker 1: not appropriate for somebody considered to be the king's favorite. 299 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: She entertained male visitors at all hours. Once, when a 300 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 1: man stood her up, she went to his apartment building 301 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: in the middle of the night to find him. She 302 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: didn't know which unit that he lived in, so she 303 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 1: rang the bell for everyone, waking up the entire building. 304 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: And basically advertising that she was there for a late 305 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 1: night rendezvous with a man. I want to say who 306 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,400 Speaker 1: among us, but most of us have not. I would 307 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: hope uh. The Alamanan were a sort of fraternity at 308 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,880 Speaker 1: Ludwig maximil University of Munich, and they became her bodyguard. 309 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,199 Speaker 1: One night during a drunken party at her home, the 310 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: Alimanin were parading around dressed only in their shirts, carrying 311 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: Lola on their shoulders. When one of them ran her 312 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: into a low hanging chandelier, she got a concussion. She 313 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,679 Speaker 1: also repeatedly got into physical confrontations with people, and this 314 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: was something that carried additional risks for her since she 315 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: wasn't a Bavarian citizen, like just go pick a bunch 316 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: of fies of people, maybe get deported. To deflect criticism, 317 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: she maintained that her enemies, especially Jesuits, were spreading lies 318 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 1: about her, even though her Spanish persona included pretending to 319 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:45,880 Speaker 1: be Catholic. She frequently maintained that she was a victim 320 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:50,679 Speaker 1: of just a massive Jesuit conspiracy against her. The King's 321 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:54,440 Speaker 1: advisors tried to persuade him to distance himself from her. 322 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 1: When that didn't work, and Lola's behavior seemed to just 323 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: get even more over the top advisor and cabinet members 324 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: started resigning in protest. Montes took particular delight when the 325 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: people resigning were conservative Catholics. When Ludwig named Lola Countess 326 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:14,440 Speaker 1: of Landsfield, which came with citizenship and a permanent income, 327 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:20,320 Speaker 1: his entire cabinet resigned. Although Lola was extremely good at 328 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: convincing Ludwig that these indiscretions were just rumors and that 329 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: she loved only him, while also reminding him of how 330 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: much he loved her, all of this made the king 331 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: incredibly anxious. He was under so much stress that he 332 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: broke out in what sounds like hives. And all of 333 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 1: this happened alongside social and political unrest in Bavaria, including 334 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:47,480 Speaker 1: intense disputes between conservative Catholic and more liberal Republican factions 335 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: at the university. This was compounded by Lola's scandalous association 336 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,360 Speaker 1: with the Alamanin. In the hope of getting things under control, 337 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: Ludwig tried to shut the university down. This had worked 338 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,399 Speaker 1: to quell descent in the past, but in this case 339 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: it just made everything worse. Public opinion about Lola Montes 340 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,920 Speaker 1: waxed and waned in Bavaria, but by early eighteen forty 341 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: eight people were outraged that this notorious woman, who was 342 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 1: not even from there and who got into fights and 343 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 1: had indiscreet affairs with multiple men, had such a huge 344 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: influence on the king. In February of eighteen forty eight, 345 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,680 Speaker 1: thousands of people took to the streets and Lola Montes 346 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 1: was driven out of Munich by a mob. Ludwig considered 347 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: sending in the army to restore order, but his minister 348 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 1: of war said that if he was ordered to do so, 349 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,199 Speaker 1: he would excuse himself, go into the next room and 350 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: take his own life. On March twentieth, eighteen forty eight, 351 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: so not long after she was run out of town, 352 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: Ludwig the First abdicated and was succeeded by his son 353 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:56,640 Speaker 1: Maximilian the Second, and sometimes Lola Montes as described as 354 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: being the one who convinced him to step down, while 355 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: she definitely encouraged him to abdicate. After her departure, Ludwig 356 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 1: really started to question his own judgment and what his 357 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:12,159 Speaker 1: entanglement with her said about his abilities as king. He 358 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 1: was also just under a huge amount of pressure from 359 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 1: conservative Catholic elements of the nobility, the conservative faction at 360 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:23,399 Speaker 1: the university. There was a lot going on besides just 361 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: her telling him that she thought he should step down. 362 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: Lola surrendered her Bavarian naturalization certificate, saying that she never 363 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: wanted to return. Then she went to London and tried 364 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 1: to plan a trip to Spain. This was complicated by 365 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 1: the fact that she was passing herself off as Spanish, 366 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,680 Speaker 1: but she had no Spanish passport. She refused to reveal 367 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: who she really was in order to get a British one, 368 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: and although Ludwig was sending her money, he refused to 369 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,440 Speaker 1: pull strings to get her a Bavarian passport. Then something 370 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,119 Speaker 1: happened that resolved all of this. She married twenty one 371 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: year old Coronet George Trafford Healed, which made her eligible 372 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:07,880 Speaker 1: for a British passport without disclosing her real identity. Since 373 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: she was pretending to be Catholic. They had both Catholic 374 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 1: and Church of England ceremonies. Ludwig had granted Lola a 375 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: pension under the condition that she never marry. She wrote 376 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: to tell him that she was considering marriage, but that 377 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: her husband to be had such a modest income that 378 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 1: she should be allowed to keep her pension. This was not, 379 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: in fact true. Healed was pretty comfortable, and when Ludwig 380 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: realized Lola had already gotten married before he could even 381 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: answer her letter, he was outraged. Another person who was 382 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,680 Speaker 1: outraged was George's aunt, who did not trust Lola at 383 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: all and looked into her background, and it did not 384 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: take long to figure out that she was really divorcee 385 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:51,160 Speaker 1: Eliza Gilbert, who could not marry while her ex husband 386 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: was still living. So Lola was charged with bigamy and 387 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,119 Speaker 1: released on bail, and she and George went ahead with 388 00:23:57,160 --> 00:23:59,919 Speaker 1: their trip to Spain. They came back to London just 389 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 1: the head of her trial. Authorities had confirmed that James 390 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: was still living as of June thirteenth, but that wedding 391 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: had happened on July nineteenth, so Montez hoped to argue 392 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,439 Speaker 1: that it was possible that he had died within that 393 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: few weeks, but while she was in Spain it had 394 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,920 Speaker 1: been confirmed that Thomas James was alive on her wedding day. 395 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,919 Speaker 1: A conviction for bigamy seemed inevitable, so she forfeited her 396 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: bail and she and George fled to France. This whole 397 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: scandal just added to Lola's infamy. This also wasn't really 398 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 1: what George had signed up for, even by marrying someone 399 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,679 Speaker 1: as notorious as Lola Montes. He left Lola at a 400 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: couple of different points, and then in eighteen fifty when 401 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:44,679 Speaker 1: he left her for good, he took a lot of 402 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: her possessions along with his own, and this included her 403 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:52,280 Speaker 1: alabaster model of Ludwig's hand and her Bavarian certificate of 404 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: nobility and Ludwig's letters to her. Lola's correspondence with Ludwig 405 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: ended about a year later, which was also the life 406 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: last year that he sent her money. At one point, 407 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:07,160 Speaker 1: either Lola or George, or maybe both, tried to extort 408 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: money from him by threatening to publish his very explicit 409 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: letters to her. In the end, those letters were returned 410 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:18,199 Speaker 1: to the former monarch. Lola needed money, though, and in 411 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty one she published an autobiography. She also met 412 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 1: a promoter who suggested she'd take a US tour. She 413 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: signed a contract with a manager for a series of 414 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: appearances in Europe, the Americas, and Africa, although she dumped 415 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 1: that manager and those plans before even finishing the European 416 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: leg of what they had arranged, But she did plan 417 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: to go to the US, and she set sale at 418 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: the US in November of eighteen fifty one. And we'll 419 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:55,880 Speaker 1: talk about that after we have a sponsor break. By 420 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: the time Lola Montes was preparing for her US tour, 421 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: she was intern new nationally infamous. While reporting on rumors 422 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 1: that P. T. Barnum had hired her, the Brooklyn Daily 423 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,520 Speaker 1: Eagle described her as quote quite a celebrity among the 424 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: profligates of Europe. On September twenty sixth, eighteen fifty one, 425 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,639 Speaker 1: The New York Times had this to say, quote, we 426 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,280 Speaker 1: shall be sadly disappointed if this creature has any degree 427 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 1: of success in the United States. She has no special 428 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: reputation as a dancer. She is known to the world 429 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,199 Speaker 1: only as a shameless and abandoned woman. If such a 430 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 1: reputation shall prove attractive in this country, we have greatly 431 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: mistaken its character. Oh whoever wrote that, I hope they 432 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: never time travel Now I had the same thought. Oh, 433 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: oh friend. Most of Lola's performances in Europe had been 434 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 1: dances during the act breaks of other works, but her 435 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 1: US tour was built on much longer appearances. She commissioned 436 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:58,679 Speaker 1: a play called Lola Montes in Bavaria, in which she, 437 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:02,400 Speaker 1: of course played herself. The text of this play has 438 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: been lost, but it presented Montes as introducing all kinds 439 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,880 Speaker 1: of liberal advances to Bavaria before fleeing in the wake 440 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 1: of a counter revolution. Yeah, a lot of the accounts 441 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:18,880 Speaker 1: of how much how much liberalizing influence she had over 442 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: the king seems to have come from people interpreting descriptions 443 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: of this play as being definitely grounded in reality, maybe somewhat, 444 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 1: but yeah, it's she. This was both a touring piece 445 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:40,680 Speaker 1: for her and self promotion. Montees had reworked her Spanish 446 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: inspired dance at several points over the years, and she 447 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: had picked up new styles. A suggestive pantomime involving stomping 448 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,959 Speaker 1: on a spider seems to have been there from the 449 00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:54,679 Speaker 1: very beginning. I mean that first review doesn't give a 450 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: play by play of what she was doing, but there's 451 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: this whole like sauciness and stamping pettishly in the description. 452 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: It was really in the United States, though, that her 453 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:09,439 Speaker 1: most famous dance became known as the Spider Dance and 454 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: also gained a reputation for being absolutely scandalous, so this 455 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,880 Speaker 1: pantomime hinged on the idea that a spider was crawling 456 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:22,439 Speaker 1: into Lola's dress. Audiences would see flashes of her skin 457 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: as she tried to get rid of the spider, although 458 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: exactly how much skin and how much she was wearing 459 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 1: under her skirts kind of depends on which account you read. 460 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:35,400 Speaker 1: Newspapers in the US started describing this as indecent, which 461 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,920 Speaker 1: prompted Montez to write angry letters to their editors, while 462 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: also making the dance even more risky. Lola, Montes and 463 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: Bavaria ran on Broadway, and then she toured around the 464 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 1: eastern part of North America. Her last stop was in 465 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: New Orleans, and while she was there, she got into 466 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: a dispute with her lady's maid. Her lady's maid had 467 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: decided she wanted to stay in New Orleans and leave 468 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: Lola's service. Lola struck her, and when the police arrived 469 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: to arrest Lola for battery, she drew her dagger and 470 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 1: tried to fight them before drinking the contents of a 471 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: vial that was labeled as poison, so something that she 472 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: said she always carried on her person in case she 473 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 1: needed to escape a truly impossible situation, but she miraculously recovered. 474 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: There are many ways to interpret this, and the one 475 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: I'm sticking with is that she had a fake poison 476 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 1: vile to be dramatic. Uh huh, it's probably full of 477 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:36,040 Speaker 1: sugar water. In eighteen fifty three, Montes left New Orleans 478 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: bound for San Francisco by sea, with a land crossing 479 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:42,959 Speaker 1: in Panama. Along the way, she met newspaper editor Patrick 480 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: Purdy Hull, and they married about six weeks after arriving 481 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: in California. This marriage was stormy and brief. At one point, 482 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: Lola threw all of his possessions out a hotel window, 483 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,360 Speaker 1: and not long after that she threw him out of 484 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 1: the home she had bought in Grass Valley. There are 485 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: also that a German doctor who was named in the 486 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: divorce suit was mysteriously shot. All of that is a 487 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: little bit murky, since its unclear whether divorce papers were 488 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 1: ever actually filed. Montes had become tired of quote splendor 489 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: and fast living, and she's spent about the next two 490 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: years living in Grass Valley. Before this, she'd always had 491 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: a lapdog, but now she indulged her love of animals, 492 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: with a personal menagerie that included a parrot, two dogs, 493 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: and a grizzly bear cub. Really, grizzly bear cubs do 494 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,880 Speaker 1: not make good pets, and after this one mauled her, 495 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 1: she put it up for sale. I'm sure that bear 496 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:43,840 Speaker 1: is long gone, but I worry for it just the 497 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: same me too. I could not figure out the ultimate 498 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:51,080 Speaker 1: fate of the bear. Oh, I know how that stuff goes. 499 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: In Grass Valley, Montes doted on her neighbor's children, including 500 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 1: a lot of crabtree, who Lola encouraged in her acting 501 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 1: and dancing. She also started studying spiritualism and reading the Bible. 502 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 1: This time was not all harmonious, though. When the Grass 503 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: Valley Telegraph criticized a dancer who she knew, Lola whipped 504 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: its editor, Henry Shipley, in the street. In eighteen fifty five, 505 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 1: Montes decided to tour Australia. She hired Noel Fallen, who 506 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,880 Speaker 1: used the stage name Noel fall End with a d 507 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,640 Speaker 1: as a manager. He was estranged from his wife and 508 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,120 Speaker 1: children in New York, but he was financially supporting them. 509 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: Montes performed to full houses in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, 510 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:40,200 Speaker 1: and she appeared on stage around Australia's gold fields, where 511 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 1: she encouraged her audiences to tip her by tossing gold 512 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:47,280 Speaker 1: nuggets at her. This tour was just as full of 513 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: drama and strife as all of her earlier tours had been. 514 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,560 Speaker 1: Various parties tried to shut down her shows for their indecency. 515 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 1: In Melbourne, she had a running feud with the Reverend 516 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: John Lawrence Milton after the baler at times ran an 517 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: unflattering letter about her. She got into a fight with 518 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 1: editor Henry Seacamp, with the two of them whipping each 519 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: other until onlookers physically separated them. Did everyone carry a whip? Well, 520 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 1: she did like to ride and was reportedly a very 521 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: good rider, and apparently Henry Seacamp also equipped with a whip. Yeah. 522 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 1: I think a lot of people who rode horses had 523 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:29,840 Speaker 1: horsewhips with them. Montes experienced recurring illnesses throughout her life. 524 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: Like we said earlier, she probably got malaria while she 525 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: was in India, and she was sick a lot. While 526 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 1: in Australia. She started describing her spider dance as involving 527 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:43,280 Speaker 1: being bitten by the spider to explain away any swooning 528 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 1: or fatigue that she showed on stage. Eventually, she cut 529 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: the tour short and she disbanded the company that had 530 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:54,080 Speaker 1: traveled with her from California. Their contracts had included passage 531 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: back to the United States, so the actors tried to 532 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:01,160 Speaker 1: take her to court. When the authorities try to arrest her, 533 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 1: she argued that their warrant was not in her real name, 534 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: and because she was married, legal action also had to 535 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:11,280 Speaker 1: go through her husband. This was an argument that she 536 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,400 Speaker 1: made more than once. When somebody, would, you know, offer 537 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: give her a summons that said Lola Montes, She'd be like, Ah, 538 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,160 Speaker 1: that's not my name though, so that's not valid. Then 539 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 1: she left town, basically leaving her performers with no recourse. 540 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,320 Speaker 1: Montes and Fallen left for the US in May of 541 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:35,040 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five. Their ship back to San Francisco stopped 542 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:39,040 Speaker 1: in Hawaii, and shortly after setting sail again, Noel Fallen 543 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: fell overboard and drowned. It's not clear exactly what happened, 544 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:48,400 Speaker 1: but Montes blamed herself for his death. She personally notified 545 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:52,000 Speaker 1: his family and tried to support them financially, including selling 546 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: her jewelry and property. She owned in San Francisco to 547 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,040 Speaker 1: send them the proceeds with the note that she wanted 548 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 1: his children to be educated in Spa spiritualism. Around the 549 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 1: same time, Montes also learned that George Healed had died. 550 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,960 Speaker 1: She became more focused on spiritualism and she joined the 551 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: Episcopal Church. After making one last visit to Grass Valley, 552 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: she sold her property there and then did another brief 553 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: tour of the East Coast, performing Lola Montes in Bavaria 554 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:25,840 Speaker 1: again and also visiting Nolfallen's stepmother. In eighteen fifty seven, 555 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,719 Speaker 1: at the age of thirty six, Lola Montes changed directions 556 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,719 Speaker 1: and became a lecturer. While she still went by the 557 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 1: name Lola Montes, she mostly dropped the pretense that she 558 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:40,879 Speaker 1: was Spanish and Catholic. Her lecture, titled Gallantry, was about 559 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:45,040 Speaker 1: the gallantry of men, including King Ludwig. The First Wits 560 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,720 Speaker 1: and Women of Paris, was a tour of notable people 561 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 1: she had met in Paris, including Alexandra Dumatpier and George 562 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:56,440 Speaker 1: sand Romanism was a vehement condemnation of the Catholic Church. 563 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:01,400 Speaker 1: Sometimes people described Montes as an early feminist, but her 564 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,920 Speaker 1: lecture heroines and strong minded women of history makes it 565 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:08,799 Speaker 1: clear that she did not have a high opinion of feminism. 566 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,000 Speaker 1: It's at least feminism in terms of how she saw 567 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:17,400 Speaker 1: it in the nineteenth century world. She described suffragists and 568 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:22,840 Speaker 1: activists for women's rights as scolds and convention women, before 569 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 1: walking through historical examples of women, warriors and monarchs, who 570 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: she saw as real examples of women's strengths, not those 571 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:36,520 Speaker 1: complainers who were having conventions to say how victimized they were. 572 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:40,760 Speaker 1: Montesa's first book was a collection of these lectures, along 573 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,400 Speaker 1: with an autobiography. And this autobiography is kind of weird. 574 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,440 Speaker 1: We mentioned before. It's written in the third person, it's 575 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:51,600 Speaker 1: sometimes credited to Charles Chauncey Burr, and often it's actually 576 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: not flattering of her at all. At times she has 577 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,799 Speaker 1: depicted almost as a child, throwing tantrums to get her 578 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:01,480 Speaker 1: way among wealthy and powerful men. And when I read it, 579 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:03,839 Speaker 1: I was like, who who wrote this? And why did 580 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:07,160 Speaker 1: they hate you? I mean, I can see many reasons 581 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:11,000 Speaker 1: why somebody would have a negative impression of Lola Montes, 582 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:13,920 Speaker 1: but I was like, this is your autobiography in your book, 583 00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:17,719 Speaker 1: and it is making you sound like a petulant like 584 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:24,880 Speaker 1: Immature Terror. Montes published two other books after that lecture collection. 585 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: They were The Arts of Beauty or Secrets of a 586 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:31,080 Speaker 1: Lady's Toilet with Hints to Gentlemen on the art of 587 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:35,799 Speaker 1: Fascinating and Anecdotes of Love, being a true account of 588 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,960 Speaker 1: the most remarkable events connected with the history of love 589 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:43,240 Speaker 1: in all ages and among all nations. Like other beauty 590 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:45,360 Speaker 1: books that we have talked about on the show before, 591 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,759 Speaker 1: Montese notes that beauty is totally subjective and that standards 592 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,880 Speaker 1: of beauty have varied around the world and throughout history. 593 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 1: And then she moves into twenty eight chapters on how 594 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,800 Speaker 1: to be beautiful, including how to obtain a handsome form, 595 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:05,320 Speaker 1: habits which destroy the complexion, a beautiful bosom, and beauty 596 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:08,799 Speaker 1: of dress. This book drops a lot of names of 597 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,800 Speaker 1: notable people that she's met in places that she's traveled. 598 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:15,640 Speaker 1: It also includes a lot of recipes, with Montez advising 599 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:19,520 Speaker 1: readers to make their own cosmetics, since commercially available products 600 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:24,440 Speaker 1: are often full of poisons, they often were full of bosons, 601 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:29,560 Speaker 1: so that part, that part mostly makes sense. The Arts 602 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:32,680 Speaker 1: of Beauty ends, as we said, with fifty rules for 603 00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:35,520 Speaker 1: the art of fascinating and This is a tongue in 604 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:40,120 Speaker 1: cheeks satire written as tips for men, but for the 605 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:43,400 Speaker 1: amusement of the women reading the book. So, for example, 606 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,600 Speaker 1: rule the tenth is quote. If you are invited to dine, 607 00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:48,960 Speaker 1: go at least an hour or an hour and a 608 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:52,480 Speaker 1: half before the time for then the lady will be 609 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 1: sure never to forget you, as the attentive and polite 610 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:59,920 Speaker 1: gentleman who allowed her neither time to dress nor to 611 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:04,680 Speaker 1: superintend her dinner, Like its name suggests, Anecdotes of Love 612 00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:08,760 Speaker 1: is a collection of famous historical love stories, including past 613 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:12,799 Speaker 1: podcast subjects of Spasia and Pericles and Abalard and Eloise. 614 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:17,920 Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty seven, Montes briefly considered marrying again, this 615 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:23,200 Speaker 1: time to Prince Ludwig Johann Sukalski of Austria. He was 616 00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:25,719 Speaker 1: one of the many royals she had met while she 617 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,600 Speaker 1: was in Europe. We did not name all of these royals. 618 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:32,400 Speaker 1: Before he had fled Austria in the wake of the 619 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:37,480 Speaker 1: revolutions of eighteen forty eight. Montes sailed to Paris, believing 620 00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:39,400 Speaker 1: that he was going to meet her there, but it 621 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:42,919 Speaker 1: turned out he was already married. And this whole thing 622 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:46,240 Speaker 1: was a giant hoax. I'm debating over whether I feel 623 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:48,080 Speaker 1: like this is a taste of her own medicine or not, 624 00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:51,480 Speaker 1: but I had the same I had the same response, honestly. 625 00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:55,799 Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty eight, Montes return to the UK. She 626 00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:58,319 Speaker 1: gave another lecture tour, and in London she gave a 627 00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:01,920 Speaker 1: speech on the institution of slave in the US. Her 628 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:05,200 Speaker 1: argument here was kind of a tangle. She described slavery 629 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:08,480 Speaker 1: as an enormous national sin and lynch law as a 630 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:11,800 Speaker 1: terror we can all agree with, but she also claimed 631 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:16,480 Speaker 1: that enslaved people on southern plantations were content and that 632 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:20,920 Speaker 1: the institution would somehow just disappear on its own. British 633 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:25,120 Speaker 1: abolitionists criticized this lecture heavily, and Montes countered that this 634 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:28,880 Speaker 1: reaction was hypocritical, considering the British Empire's treatment of the 635 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:32,800 Speaker 1: native peoples of the places it was colonizing, including India. 636 00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:36,280 Speaker 1: Montes returned to New York in the fall of eighteen 637 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:40,319 Speaker 1: fifty nine and continued to lecture around the US. On 638 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:44,439 Speaker 1: June thirtieth, eighteen sixty, she had a stroke. Her mother 639 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:47,240 Speaker 1: came to the United States to see her. In some cases, 640 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:49,400 Speaker 1: this was to take care of her and in others 641 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:51,359 Speaker 1: it was more to try to get money from her. 642 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,960 Speaker 1: Either way, their reunion doesn't seem to have gone very well, 643 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:58,279 Speaker 1: and her mother didn't stay long. Lola Montes seemed to 644 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:02,359 Speaker 1: be recovering well, but then she contracted pneumonia. She died 645 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 1: on January seventeenth, eighteen sixty one, at the age of 646 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:11,040 Speaker 1: thirty nine. Yeah, there's been various speculation about what could 647 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:13,440 Speaker 1: have caused her to have a stroke at such a 648 00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:20,359 Speaker 1: relatively young age, with explanations anywhere from the malaria that 649 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:24,759 Speaker 1: she pretty clearly had for her whole life to syphilis. 650 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:28,839 Speaker 1: But again that's like very speculative based on the fact 651 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:31,360 Speaker 1: that somebody had a stroke at a pretty young age, 652 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,120 Speaker 1: then one would typically think of someone having a stroke. 653 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:39,040 Speaker 1: When Lola Montes died, Ludwig the First of Bavaria was 654 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:42,200 Speaker 1: seventy four. He had not seen her in thirteen years, 655 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:46,279 Speaker 1: and he learned of her death through news reports. Later on, 656 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,080 Speaker 1: he got a letter from her friend Maria E. Buchanan, 657 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:53,640 Speaker 1: which was sent to Lola's request, and this letter expressed 658 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:56,560 Speaker 1: Lola's sincere regard for him and said that she had 659 00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:02,160 Speaker 1: died as a true penitent. Ludwig to appreciate this, he 660 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:04,200 Speaker 1: wrote back, and it was a nice little note. And 661 00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:07,520 Speaker 1: then Maria later wrote to him again, suggesting that he 662 00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:10,680 Speaker 1: might pay to have a fence put around her grave 663 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:15,279 Speaker 1: at Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery. Invig did not answer that one. 664 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:20,080 Speaker 1: Lola's first husband, Thomas James, also outlived her. He died 665 00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy one, so he could have gotten remarried. 666 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:27,759 Speaker 1: He sure could. I One of the biographies that I 667 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:30,759 Speaker 1: read of her was called Lola Montes, a Life by 668 00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:33,680 Speaker 1: Bruce Seymour, and I think he traced what happens to 669 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:36,600 Speaker 1: Thomas James afterward, and I don't remember off the top 670 00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:40,959 Speaker 1: of my head. Lola Montes's notoriety continued for decades after 671 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,720 Speaker 1: her death, with fictional characters based on her, and plays 672 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:49,239 Speaker 1: and movies fictionalizing her exploits. More recently, she inspired the 673 00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:52,080 Speaker 1: song whatever Lola Wants Lola Gets from the nineteen fifty 674 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:57,520 Speaker 1: five Broadway musical Damn Yankees. I could sing that by heart. 675 00:41:57,680 --> 00:41:59,839 Speaker 1: And there is a running bit about her in season 676 00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:03,680 Speaker 1: of Dickinson on Apple Plus that as a show I 677 00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:07,840 Speaker 1: was watching before I started working on this episode, and 678 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:11,719 Speaker 1: when I learned there was a Lola Montees running bit. 679 00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:14,760 Speaker 1: I was like, oh, gotta stop what else I'm watching 680 00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:18,760 Speaker 1: and catch up and see this? Yeah, In Damn Yankees? 681 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:21,320 Speaker 1: Do you know the story? In Damn Yankees, she's basically 682 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:26,480 Speaker 1: now packed with the devil and becomes involved with the 683 00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:30,680 Speaker 1: lead character when he makes a similar pact, and it's 684 00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:35,800 Speaker 1: sort of their story. She's not so violent in that 685 00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:40,920 Speaker 1: and is much more of a winsome character. She is 686 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:46,600 Speaker 1: not physically present on screen anywhere on Dickinson, but it's 687 00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:51,720 Speaker 1: a running joke that spans over multiple episodes. Today. Mount 688 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,359 Speaker 1: Lola in the Sierra Nevada is named for her, as 689 00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:58,160 Speaker 1: are two Lakes and Tahoe National Forest. Her home in 690 00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:02,719 Speaker 1: Grass Valley, California is a State Historic Landmark. That is 691 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:07,799 Speaker 1: Lola Montez. I don't know, having referenced all this, if 692 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:11,360 Speaker 1: I would actually call her a trip. However, most of 693 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:13,719 Speaker 1: the things that would make me maybe not call her 694 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:16,680 Speaker 1: that are things that aren't usually covered in quick writeups 695 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:20,480 Speaker 1: of her, like like striking her lady's maid when her 696 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:23,440 Speaker 1: lady's maid try to leave her service, and leaving her 697 00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:27,800 Speaker 1: touring company stranded in Australia. Like, I can't get behind 698 00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:31,719 Speaker 1: any of that I can. You know, I often take 699 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:36,359 Speaker 1: some glee in people who push against societal norms, and 700 00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:38,400 Speaker 1: then that way, she's kind of a trip, But in 701 00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:40,319 Speaker 1: other ways, I'm like, you're more of a mess to me. 702 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:43,520 Speaker 1: See now, I'm like, what does a trip mean to you? 703 00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:45,239 Speaker 1: Because to me, those all factor in. 704 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:49,080 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, okay, but I think that's just one of 705 00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:53,520 Speaker 2: those like colloquial vernacular things that probably has no clear 706 00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:57,640 Speaker 2: definition anyway, right, sure, yeah, yeah, I think in my 707 00:43:57,719 --> 00:43:59,759 Speaker 2: head I would describe somebody who was a trip as 708 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:03,800 Speaker 2: a little less harmless than Lola. 709 00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:08,920 Speaker 1: See. To me, part of it is a juxtaposition of oh, 710 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:11,279 Speaker 1: she was a super like fun, love and party gal 711 00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:14,680 Speaker 1: but also very violent. What a trip? But oh, I see, 712 00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:20,520 Speaker 1: like the journey from one to the other. This is 713 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:29,200 Speaker 1: so interesting to me. Thanks so much for joining us 714 00:44:29,239 --> 00:44:32,320 Speaker 1: on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 715 00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:34,640 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address or a Facebook RL 716 00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:37,040 Speaker 1: or something similar over the course of the show, that 717 00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:41,240 Speaker 1: could be obsolete. Now. Our current email address is History 718 00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:45,880 Speaker 1: Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 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