1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Listener. Rebecca 4 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,600 Speaker 1: sent us a note on Instagram recently suggesting an episode 5 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: on Lola Montez, and I thought, Hey, I remember her, 6 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: because way back in previous hosts Katie and Sarah did 7 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:36,160 Speaker 1: a podcast on Ludwig the Second of Bavaria. We ran 8 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: that as a Saturday Classic in and in that episode, 9 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: Katie and Sarah talk about Ludwig the Second's grandfather, Ludwig 10 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: the First and his scandalous relationship with this Lola Montez. 11 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: I even remembered that Katie described her as a trip 12 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: and said they were going to need to cover her 13 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: on the show at some point. Um. Now it's been 14 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: more than a decade since prior posts of the show. 15 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: Who do not even work here anymore, and they were 16 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: probably going to do an episode on this subject. We've 17 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: had other requests for Lola Montez. In addition to Rebecca's 18 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: I found some contradictory advice about whether people said Montez 19 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,559 Speaker 1: with the accent on the first syllable or the second, 20 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: I don't know which is right, So we're just gonna say, 21 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: Lola Montez. There you go. And Lola Montez is one 22 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: of those figures whose life is quite hard to pin down, 23 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: not because of a lack of documentation, but because that 24 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:37,680 Speaker 1: documentation repeats the completely fictional backstory they made up for themselves. 25 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: In the words of historian Ralph Friedman, quote, much of 26 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: this confusion can be traced to Lola herself. She changed 27 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: her background to suit the occasion, and there were many 28 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: occasions to suit. In her adult life, Lola Montez presented 29 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: herself as a Spanish dancer that was very exotic and 30 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: enticing in the eyes of the audiences and a lot 31 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: of the places she performed. And her autobiography, she said 32 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: she was descended from Count de Montalvo of Spain and 33 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:12,399 Speaker 1: had Moorish ancestry, but had been born in Limerick as 34 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert. She said her family had 35 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: always called her Dolores or Lola for short, and she 36 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: told King lid Big the first of Bavaria, that she 37 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: had been born on February. None of that's true. According 38 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: to her baptismal certificate. She was born in Grange, about 39 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: one five miles or two hundred fifty kilometers north of Limerick. 40 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: That was on February one. That to me is like 41 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: the big thing of like what a weird shift of 42 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,720 Speaker 1: a few days one, a few days off of the 43 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: date and a year a way. It just is a 44 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: strange thing. She was named Elizabeth Rosanna Gilbert after her mother, 45 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: who went by Eliza. That nickname, not Lola, is all 46 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: over family and school records. So although both these Elizabeths 47 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 1: went by Eliza, and this first part of the episode, 48 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: we're going to call her mother Elizabeth and the future 49 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: Lola Montez Eliza for the sake of clarity. Elizabeth was 50 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: the daughter of Charles Silver Oliver, who was a member 51 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: of parliament. Charles had four children with Elizabeth's mother before 52 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: marrying an heiress, and although he did not legally acknowledge 53 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: these four children or marry their mother, he did provide 54 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: them with some financial support set them up with jobs 55 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: as they got older. Elizabeth trained as the assistant to 56 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: a milliner and then she married British Army officer Edward 57 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: Gilbert about ten months later. They had Eliza in three 58 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: when Eliza was about to Gilbert took the family to 59 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: British India with the hope of earning more money and 60 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: climbing the military ranks, but not long after they arrived, 61 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: he contracted cholera and died. Elizabeth was still in her 62 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: late teens and at this point had a young daughter 63 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: to support, so she got remarried pretty quickly to Lieutenant 64 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: Patrick Craigy. Eliza didn't really have a lot of structure 65 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: or supervision in India, and in eighteen twenty six, when 66 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: she was about five, Elizabeth and Patrick sent her to 67 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: live with his parents in Scotland with the hope that 68 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: they could raise her into a proper young woman. Eventually, 69 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: Eliza was enrolled at Aldridge Academy in Bath, where she 70 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: stayed for about five years. She developed a reputation for 71 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: being spirited and stubborn, and kind of different from her 72 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: peers who were raised in Britain. She would later claim 73 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: that the character of Becky Sharp and William Thackeray's Vanity 74 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 1: Fair was based on her and her time in Bath. 75 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: She made lots of claims uh In eighteen thirty seven, 76 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: when Eliza was sixteen, Elizabeth returned from India army officer 77 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: Thomas James, who was on convalescent leave, had accompanied her 78 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: during the sea voyage, and Elizabeth's reunion with Eliza did 79 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: not go particularly well. They hadn't seen each other in 80 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: more than a decade at that point, and one of 81 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: Elizabeth's objectives was to Preparealyza to get married. Eliza claimed 82 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: that her mother was planning to marry her off to 83 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 1: a widowed army officer who was in his sixties. There's 84 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: not really any documentation on who this might have been, 85 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: but the most likely candidate would be Patrick Craigie's commanding officer, 86 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: although he also had unmarried sons who were way closer 87 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 1: to Eliza's age, so it's possible that she either misunderstood 88 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: her mother's intent or deliberately misconstrued all this to make 89 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: the story more shocking. There's several possible options there, all 90 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,919 Speaker 1: of which have a level of possibility and also a 91 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: level of problems. Eliza turned to her mother's escort, Thomas James, 92 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: for help. He was in his early thirties, and in 93 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: her account, she saw him as something of a father figure. 94 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: On July seven, the two of them eloped with James's brother, 95 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: who was a vicar officiating the wedding. This was really 96 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: not a happy marriage. Thomas was about twice Eliza's age, 97 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: and she seemed to have believed that he had married 98 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: her solely to protect her from being married off to 99 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: somebody who was twice as old as that. But it 100 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: quickly became clear that he was expecting her to fulfill 101 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: all the duties of a life, and he also may 102 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: have been abusive to her. When Thomas returned to India, 103 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 1: he took Eliza with him. He was stationed at a 104 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 1: remote garrison where she didn't have much opportunity for a 105 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: social life, and where she probably also contracted malaria. She 106 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: had recurring illness for the rest of her life. Her 107 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: happiest moments in India were probably when she and her 108 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: mother visited a resort town at the foot of the Himalayas. Eventually, 109 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: Eliza left Thomas. At first, she tried to take refuge 110 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: with her mother, but Elizabeth really gave her a choy 111 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: some either going back to her husband or going back 112 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: to Britain. Eliza chose the latter, with the understanding that 113 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: she would once again live with the Craigies. Eliza was 114 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: about twenty When she left India and on the ship 115 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: back to the UK, she struck up a relationship with 116 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Charles Lennox, nephew of the Duke of Richmond. It 117 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: would have been hard to keep a romance secret on 118 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: board a ship, but they didn't really try. They were 119 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: not discreet about this at all, and once they got 120 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: back to Britain, Eliza decided to stay in London rather 121 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: than go live with the Craigies, and word about her 122 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: infidelity quickly made its way back to India. Thomas sued 123 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: Eliza for divorce on the grounds of adultery, and he 124 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: also sued Charles Lennox for damages. Okay, there was really 125 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: no question about what had happened. Like there is, there 126 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: are letters written by other passengers who described like walking 127 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: past her stateroom with the door open and clearly for 128 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: everyone to see what was happening between the two of them. 129 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: Divorces at this point were handled in ecclesiastical court, and 130 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: while Thomas's divorce was ultimately granted, the judgment also specified 131 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: that neither he nor Eliza could ever remarry while the 132 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: other one was still alive, and at this point, the 133 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: only way a divorce person in Britain could get the 134 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: right to remarry while their former spouse was still living 135 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: was through an act of Parliament, so obviously that required 136 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: a lot of political connections and a lot of money. 137 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: So this was a huge scandal for Eliza and a 138 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,720 Speaker 1: gigantic blot on her reputation. Marriage was the expected life 139 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: for a woman like her, but she was legally barred 140 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: from remarrying. That divorce meant she wasn't considered appropriate for 141 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: any respectable work that might have been open to her. 142 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: While the people around her probably would have preferred she 143 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 1: find a sympathetic friend or a family member to stay 144 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: with and live out her days in quiet shame, she 145 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: refused to play by those rules a lot. Lisa was 146 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: pretty and vivacious and clever, and she used that to 147 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: support herself through the generosity of interested men. It's likely 148 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: that one of these men funded a trip to Spain 149 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: for her. Some sources credit the Earl of Malmsbury, but 150 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: in his account he says he did not meet her 151 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: until afterward, so regardless of who paid for this trip. 152 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: While she was in Spain, she learned some Spanish and 153 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: some Spanish style dance, and a little bit about Spanish 154 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: culture and customs, and when she returned to England it 155 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: was not as Eliza. It was as Maria Dolores Deploris Amantez, 156 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: better known as Vela, and we're going to talk more 157 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: about that after we paused for a break. Lola Montez 158 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: made her stage debut in London on June three, eighty three. 159 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: She performed a dance that was billed as l Olano 160 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 1: during the act break of a sold out performance of 161 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: The Barber of Seville, and reviewers described her as quote, 162 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: the perfection of Spanish beauty. She was in a brightly 163 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: colored dress with a black bodice and doing a novel 164 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: dance with castanets that seemed like a panomime of quote 165 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: some saucy fancy, including quote stamping pettishly with her foot. However, 166 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: someone recognized Lola Montez as Eliza Gilbert. Words started to spread, 167 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: and Montes claimed her mother heard about it and printed 168 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: up death notices for her. On June twelve, the London 169 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: Morning Post printed an excerpt of a letter from Montes 170 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: saying she had been born in Seville and had learned 171 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,160 Speaker 1: English from an Irish nurse. She said she had never 172 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: been in England except for a few months spent living 173 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: with a Catholic woman in Bath, and had never seen 174 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: London before she arrived for her performance. Not long after that, though, 175 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: Lola Montez left England for the continent, where she was 176 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 1: likely to be recognized. In Berlin, a critic described her 177 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: performance this way, quote, her beauty of rare voluptuous fullness 178 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: is beyond any criticism. Her dancing, however, was no dancing 179 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 1: at all, but a physical invitation. If it is said 180 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: of Taglione that she writes world history with her feet, 181 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: so it can be said of Donna Montez that she 182 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 1: writes Casanova's memoirs with her whole body. In Berlin, Montes 183 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,839 Speaker 1: performed for King Frederick William of Prussia and his guest, 184 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:35,959 Speaker 1: Czar Nicholas the First. She also had one of her 185 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: first and most famous run ins with authority. While the 186 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 1: monarchs were reviewing the troops, Montes tried to ride her 187 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:46,239 Speaker 1: horse into an area that was reserved for military personnel. 188 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: When an officer tried to stop her, she struck him 189 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: with her horsewhip. A lot of the retellings of this 190 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: whole incident really make Montes sound like a wacky little 191 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: firebrand in this moment. But she was charged with assault, 192 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: and then when she tore up her summons for that charge, 193 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: she was charged with contempt. It does not seem like 194 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: either of these charges ever went to trial, though, Please 195 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: don't hit people with a horsewhip. Um, there's gonna be 196 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: a lot more of that in this episode. Please don't, 197 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: Please don't. From there, Montes went to Dresden, where she 198 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: met past podcast subject Franz List. Her autobiography, which is 199 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: written in the third person, describes it this way. Quote 200 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: through the management of influential friends and opening was made 201 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: for her at the Royal Theater at Dresden in Saxony, 202 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: where she first met the celebrated pianist Franz List, who 203 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: was then creating such a furor in Dresden that when 204 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 1: he dropped his pocket handkerchief, it was seized by the 205 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: ladies and torn into rags, which they divided among themselves, 206 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,559 Speaker 1: each being but too happy to get so much as 207 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: a rag which had belonged to the great artist. The 208 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: furreer created by Lola Montes's appearance at the theater in 209 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,320 Speaker 1: Dresden was quite as great among the gentlemen as was 210 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:03,719 Speaker 1: Lists among the ladies. As Montesz traveled with Lists, she 211 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: met other prominent people, including Richard Wagner, who did not 212 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:15,679 Speaker 1: like her much at all. Tracks. Yeah, Wagner generally disliked 213 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: all the sort of groupies who were always surrounding Fran's List. 214 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 1: We talked about that whole phenomenon in the List Domania episode. 215 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: He called montes a quote heartless demonic being, and List 216 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: is rumored to have gotten tired of her as well, 217 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:35,240 Speaker 1: locking her in a hotel room and paying the hotel 218 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 1: staff to keep her there just so he could escape. 219 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: There isn't any substantiation for that story, though, and it 220 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 1: seems a little far fetched considering that they met up 221 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: later in Paris. He also gave her letters of introduction 222 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: and arranged her debut at the Paris Opera in eighteen 223 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 1: forty four, which was incredible considering that her entire stage 224 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: career had involved twenty or so performances total at that 225 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 1: point over the course of roughly a year. Yeah, the 226 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:05,559 Speaker 1: Paras Opera was like one of the most exclusive stages 227 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: in Europe. Uh and here comes Lola Montez who's been 228 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: performing in act breaks of others shows for the course 229 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: of like twenty performances. Audiences in Paris were skeptical of her. 230 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: Reviewers noted that Lola Montez could not dance, did not 231 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: speak Spanish very well, didn't look Spanish, and had a 232 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: terrible reputation for violence. One French critic gave this backhanded 233 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: praise to her quote, there is something lasciviously attractive, voluptuously 234 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: enticing in the poses she takes. And then she's a pretty, 235 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: very pretty, extremely pretty person and she throws you kisses 236 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 1: so complete that you applaud at once, only to ask 237 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: yourself afterwards if it was right or wrong to applaud. 238 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: Is that not the most French criticism? You can imagine, 239 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: She's very lovely in the moment, but then you second 240 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: guess yourself. Uh. In Paris, Montes met another past podcast 241 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: subject that was Alexandra du mat Pere. But then she 242 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: fell in love with Alexandra Entredjarier, who was part owner 243 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: of the newspaper La Presse. They planned to marry, but 244 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: Dujarier was killed in a duel in March of eighteen 245 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 1: forty five. This duel, we should point out, and had 246 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: nothing to do with Lola. It was over a gambling 247 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: debt that he owed to journalist Jean Baptiste Rosemond de Beauvallon, 248 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 1: compounded by his perceived rudeness on the night that he 249 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: racked up that debt. Montes had offered to teach Dujarier 250 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 1: to shoot a pistol when she learned that there might 251 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: be a duel, but he had turned her down. She 252 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: was terrified over this whole prospect. She was like, you 253 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: don't know how to use a gun, and this man 254 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: is going to duel you. Please let me help, and 255 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 1: he was like, no, I got it. He didn't have it. 256 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: Though Montes left Paris after Dujarier's death, she had to 257 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: return to testify at Bouillon's murder trial. Other witnesses at 258 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: that trial included both Alexandre duma Hair and Feasts. French 259 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: courts didn't typically convict people of murder if the killing 260 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: had happened during a duel, as long as the rules 261 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: of dueling had been followed, and Boon was acquitted. In 262 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: eighteen forty six, Montz moved to Munich, where she met Ludwig, 263 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: King of Bavaria. She was twenty five at this point 264 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: and he was sixty and deeply enamored with all things Spain, 265 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: and in what's probably an apocryphal story, Ludwig's first words 266 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: to her were to point at her chest and say 267 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 1: nature or art. She grabbed some scissors from his desk, 268 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: cut open the bodice of her dress and showed him. 269 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: Although this story probably is not true, Lolamantez had an 270 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: incredibly dramatic and often extremely scandalous relationship with the King 271 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: of Bavaria for about eighteen months. He commissioned her portrait 272 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: for his Gallery of You These, which, as its name suggests, 273 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 1: was a gallery of portraits of the most beautiful women 274 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,639 Speaker 1: he had ever met. He called her Lolita and set 275 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: her up in a luxurious home, buying the property in 276 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: her name so that she could be eligible for Bavarian citizenship. 277 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: He granted her an allowance of ten thousand florins a year, 278 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,360 Speaker 1: at a time when his cabinet ministers are making more 279 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: like six thousand florins. The King kept a lot of 280 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: this secret, but there was really no way to disguise 281 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:32,400 Speaker 1: his total infatuation with her or her influence over him. 282 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:36,200 Speaker 1: She publicly boasted about how much sway she had, including 283 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: bragging about convincing the king to raise teachers pay a 284 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: week before he was going to announce it publicly. He 285 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: was enamored with her feet, and she gave him an 286 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: alabaster model of one of them. When he wrote to 287 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: thank her for it, he said he had quote covered 288 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 1: it with fervent kisses. He later gave her an alabaster 289 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: model of his handwriting a poem that was carved by 290 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: the same sculptor. Meanwhile, Montez was launching one scandal after another. 291 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:08,520 Speaker 1: Her behavior was just not appropriate for somebody considered to 292 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:14,200 Speaker 1: be the King's favorite. She entertained male visitors at all hours. Once, 293 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: when a man stood her up, she went to his 294 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: apartment building in the middle of the night to find him. 295 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: Shouldn't know which unit that he lived in, so she 296 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:26,679 Speaker 1: rang the bell for everyone, waking up the entire building 297 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,360 Speaker 1: and basically advertising that she was there for a late 298 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: night rendezvous with a man. I want to say who 299 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: among us, but most most of us have not. I 300 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,639 Speaker 1: would hope uh. The Alamanan were a sort of fraternity 301 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and they became her 302 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: bodyguard one night during a drunken party at her home. 303 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: The Aleman and were parading around dressed only in their shirts, 304 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: carrying Lola on their shoulders. When one of them ran 305 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: her into a low hanging chandelier, she got a concussion. 306 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: She also repeatedly got into physical confer intations with people, 307 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,120 Speaker 1: and this was something that carried additional risks for her 308 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: since she wasn't a Bavarian citizen like just go pick 309 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,920 Speaker 1: a bunch of vice of people, maybe get deported. To 310 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: deflect criticism, she maintained that her enemies, especially Jesuits, were 311 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,360 Speaker 1: spreading lies about her. Even though her Spanish persona included 312 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:24,959 Speaker 1: pretending to be Catholic, she frequently maintained that she was 313 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: a victim of just a massive Jesuit conspiracy against her. 314 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 1: The king's advisors tried to persuade him to distance himself 315 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,160 Speaker 1: from her. When that didn't work and Lola's behavior seemed 316 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: to just get even more over, the top advisors and 317 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: cabinet members started resigning in protest. Montes took particular delight 318 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:49,440 Speaker 1: when the people resigning were conservative Catholics. When Ludwig named 319 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 1: Lola Countess of Lansfield, which came with citizenship and a 320 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: permanent income, his entire cabinet resigned, although Lola was extremely 321 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:04,119 Speaker 1: good convincing Ludwig that these indiscretions were just rumors and 322 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: that she loved only him, while also reminding him of 323 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: how much he loved her. All of this made the 324 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 1: king incredibly anxious. He was under so much stress that 325 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,440 Speaker 1: he broke out in what sounds like hives. And all 326 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,639 Speaker 1: of this happened alongside social and political unrest in Bavaria, 327 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:26,639 Speaker 1: including intense disputes between conservative Catholic and more liberal Republican 328 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 1: factions at the university. This was compounded by Lola's scandalous 329 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: association with the Alemannin. In the hope of getting things 330 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,680 Speaker 1: under control, Ludwig tried to shut the university down. This 331 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: had worked to quell dissent in the past, but in 332 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: this case it just made everything worse. Public opinion about 333 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: Lola Montez waxed and waned in Bavaria that by early 334 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: eighteen forty eight people were outraged that this notorious woman, 335 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: who was not even from there, and who got into 336 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 1: fights and had indiscreet affair hers with multiple men, had 337 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: such a huge influence on the king. In February of 338 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: eighteen forty eight, thousands of people took to the streets 339 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: and low. La Montez was driven out of Munich by 340 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: a mob. Ludwig considered sending in the army to restore order, 341 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: but his minister of war said that if he was 342 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,120 Speaker 1: ordered to do so, he would excuse himself, go into 343 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: the next room and take his own life. On March 344 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,959 Speaker 1: ety eight, so, not long after she was run out 345 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: of town, Ludwig the First abdicated and was succeeded by 346 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 1: his son Maximilian the Second, and sometimes Lola Montez as 347 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: described as being the one who convinced him to step down, 348 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: while she definitely encouraged him to abdicate. After her departure, 349 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,919 Speaker 1: Ludwig really started to question his own judgment and what 350 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 1: his entanglement with her said about his abilities as king. 351 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: He was also just under a huge amount of pressure 352 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,879 Speaker 1: from conservative Catholic elements of the nobility, the conservative faction 353 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 1: at the university. There was a lot going on besides 354 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 1: just her telling him that she thought he should step down. 355 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: Lola surrendered her Bavarian naturalization certificate, saying that she never 356 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: wanted to return. Then she went to London and tried 357 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:19,479 Speaker 1: to plan a trip to Spain. This was complicated by 358 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,200 Speaker 1: the fact that she was passing herself off as Spanish, 359 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,399 Speaker 1: but she had no Spanish passport. She refused to reveal 360 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: who she really was in order to get a British one, 361 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: and although Ludvig was sending her money, he refused to 362 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,240 Speaker 1: pull strings to get her a Bavarian passport. Then something 363 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 1: happened that resolved all of this. She married twenty one 364 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: year old Coronet George Trafford Healed, which made her eligible 365 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:47,640 Speaker 1: for a British passport without disclosing her real identity. Since 366 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,400 Speaker 1: she was pretending to be Catholic, they had both Catholic 367 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: and Church of England ceremonies. Ludwig had granted Lola a 368 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: pension under the condition that she never marry. She wrote 369 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: to tell him that she was considering Mary Ridge, but 370 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: that her husband to be had such a modest income 371 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: that she should be allowed to keep her pension. This 372 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,600 Speaker 1: was not, in fact true. Healed was pretty comfortable, and 373 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: when Lynddig realized Lola had already gotten married before he 374 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:17,159 Speaker 1: could even answer her letter, he was outraged. Another person 375 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: who was outraged was George's aunts, who did not trust 376 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: Lola at all and looked into her background and it 377 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,199 Speaker 1: did not take long to figure out that she was 378 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 1: really divorcee Eliza Gilbert, who could not marry while her 379 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: ex husband was still living. So Lola was charged with 380 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: bigamy and released on bail, and she and George went 381 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: ahead with their trip to Spain. They came back to 382 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: London just ahead of her trial. Authorities had confirmed that 383 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: James was still living as of Junet, but that wedding 384 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: had happened on July ninete, so Montez hoped to argue 385 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,199 Speaker 1: that it was possible that he had died within that 386 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: few weeks. But while she was in Spain it had 387 00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: been confirmed that Thomas James was alive on her wedding day. 388 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,679 Speaker 1: A conviction for bigamy seemed inevitable, so she forfeited her 389 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,600 Speaker 1: bail and she and George fled to France. This whole 390 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: scandal just added to Lola's infamy. This also wasn't really 391 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:16,120 Speaker 1: what George had signed up for, even by marrying someone 392 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,439 Speaker 1: as notorious as Lola Montez. He left Lola at a 393 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,360 Speaker 1: couple of different points, and then in eighteen fifty when 394 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:24,439 Speaker 1: he left her for good, he took a lot of 395 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: her possessions along with his own, and this included her 396 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: alabaster model of Ludwig's hand and her Bavarian certificate of 397 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: nobility and Ludwig's letters to her. Lola's correspondence with Ludwig 398 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: ended about a year later, which was also the last 399 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: year that he sent her money. At one point, either 400 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: Lola or George, or maybe both, tried to extort money 401 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: from him by threatening to publish his very explicit letters 402 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: to her. In the end that those letters were returned 403 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: to the former monarch. Lola needed money, though, and in 404 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty one she published an ad biography. She also 405 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 1: met a promoter who suggested she take a US tour. 406 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: She signed a contract with a manager for a series 407 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: of appearances in Europe, the America's and Africa, although she 408 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: dumped that manager and those plans before even finishing the 409 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: European leg of what they had arranged. But she did 410 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: plan to go to the US, and she set sail 411 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: at the US in November of eighteen fifty one, and 412 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:29,479 Speaker 1: we'll talk about that after we have a sponsor break. 413 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,880 Speaker 1: By the time Lolamantez was preparing for her US tour, 414 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 1: she was internationally infamous while reporting on rumors that p 415 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: t Barnum had hired her. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle described 416 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,680 Speaker 1: her as quote quite a celebrity among the profligates of Europe. 417 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,160 Speaker 1: On September eighteen fifty one, The New York Times had 418 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,680 Speaker 1: this to say, quote, we shall be sadly disappointed if 419 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,880 Speaker 1: this creature has any agree of success in the United States. 420 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: She has no special reputation as a dancer. She is 421 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: known to the world only as a shameless and abandoned woman. 422 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: If such a reputation shall prove attractive in this country, 423 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: we have greatly mistaken its character. Oh whoever wrote that, 424 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: I hope they never time travel. I had the same thought, 425 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:26,680 Speaker 1: O friend. Most of Lola's performances in Europe had been 426 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: dances during the act breaks of other works, but her 427 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:34,159 Speaker 1: US tour was built on much longer appearances. She commissioned 428 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: a play called Lola Montez in Bavaria, in which she, 429 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: of course played herself. The text of this play has 430 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: been lost, but it presented Montez as introducing all kinds 431 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 1: of liberal advances to Bavaria before fleeing in the wake 432 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: of a counter revolution. Yeah, a lot of the accounts 433 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: of how much how much liberalizing influence she had over 434 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:03,400 Speaker 1: the King seems to have come from Bowl interpreting descriptions 435 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: of this play as being definitely grounded in reality. Maybe 436 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 1: it's somewhat, but yeah, it's uh. She this was both 437 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:18,560 Speaker 1: a touring piece for her and self promotion. Montes had 438 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,159 Speaker 1: reworked her Spanish inspired dance at several points over the years, 439 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 1: and she had picked up new styles. A suggestive pantomime 440 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 1: involving stomping on a spider seems to have been there 441 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: from the very beginning. I mean that first review doesn't 442 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:35,120 Speaker 1: give a play by play of what she was doing, 443 00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:38,960 Speaker 1: but there's this whole like sauciness and stamping, pettish leap 444 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: in the description. It was really in the United States, though, 445 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: that her most famous dance became known as the Spider 446 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:52,680 Speaker 1: Dance and also gained a reputation for being absolutely scandalous. 447 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: So this pantomime hinged on the idea that a spider 448 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: was crawling into Lola's dress. Audiences would see flashes of 449 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: her skin, and she tried to get rid of the spider, 450 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: although exactly how much skin and how much she was 451 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: wearing under her skirts kind of depends on which account 452 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,959 Speaker 1: you read newspapers in the US started describing this as indecent, 453 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,200 Speaker 1: which prompted Montes to write angry letters to their editors, 454 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: while also making the dance even more risque. Lola, Montez 455 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: and Bavaria ran on Broadway and then she toured around 456 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: the eastern part of North America. Her last stop was 457 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: in New Orleans, and while she was there, she got 458 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: into a dispute with her lady's maid. Her lady's maid 459 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:36,679 Speaker 1: had decided she wanted to stay in New Orleans and 460 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: leave Lola's service. Lola struck her, and when the police 461 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: arrived to arrest Lola for battery, she drew her dagger 462 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 1: and tried to fight them before drinking the contents of 463 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 1: a vial that was labeled as poison, so something that 464 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: she said she always carried on her person in case 465 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: she needed to escape a truly impossible situation, but Seema 466 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: raculously recovered. There are many ways to interpret this, and 467 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: the one I'm sticking with this that she had a 468 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: fake poison vial to be dramatic. Uh huh, it's probably 469 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 1: full of sugar water. In eighteen fifty three, Montes left 470 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 1: New Orleans bound for San Francisco by sea with a 471 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 1: land crossing in Panama. Along the way, she met newspaper 472 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: editor Patrick Purdy Hull, and they married about six weeks 473 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: after arriving in California. This marriage was stormy and brief. 474 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: At one point, Lola threw all of his possessions out 475 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: of hotel window, and not long after that she threw 476 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 1: him out of the home she had bought in Grass Valley. 477 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,720 Speaker 1: There are also reports that a German doctor who was 478 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: named in the divorce suit was mysteriously shot. All of 479 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 1: that is a little bit murky, since his unclear weather 480 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: divorce papers were ever actually filed. Montes had become tired 481 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: of quote splendor and fast living, and she spent about 482 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: the next two years living in Grass Valley. Before this, 483 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: she'd always had a lapdog, but now she indulged her 484 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: love of animals with a personal menagerie that included a parrot, 485 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 1: two dogs, and a grizzly bear cub. Really, grizzly bear 486 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 1: cubs do not make good pets, and after this one 487 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 1: mauled her, she put it up for sale. I'm sure 488 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: that bear is long gone, but I worry for it 489 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: just the same me too. I could not figure out 490 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: the ultimate fate of the bear. Oh, I know how 491 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 1: that stuff goes. In Grass Valley, Montes doated on her 492 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 1: neighbor's children, including a lot of crab tree, who Lola 493 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:40,800 Speaker 1: encouraged in her acting and dancing. She also started studying 494 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: spiritualism and reading the Bible. This time was not all harmonious, though, 495 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: When The Grass Valley Telegraph criticized a dancer who she knew, 496 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 1: Lola whipped its editor, Henry Shipley in the street in Montez. 497 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:01,080 Speaker 1: Decided to tour Australia. She hired Noel Fallen, who used 498 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: the stage name Noel fall Land with a d as 499 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: a manager. He was estranged from his wife and children 500 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 1: in New York, but he was financially supporting them. Montes 501 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: performed to full houses in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, and 502 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: she appeared on stage around Australia's gold fields, where she 503 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,240 Speaker 1: encouraged her audiences to tip her by tossing gold nuggets 504 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: at her. This tour was just as full of drama 505 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 1: and strife as all of her earlier tours had been. 506 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: Various parties tried to shut down her shows for their indecency. 507 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: In Melbourne, she had a running feud with the Reverend 508 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: John Lawrence Milton after the Baller at times ran an 509 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: unflattering letter about her, she got into a fight with 510 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: editor Henry C. Camp, with the two of them whipping 511 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 1: each other until onlookers physically separated them. Did everyone carry 512 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: a whip? Well, she did like to ride and was 513 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,960 Speaker 1: reportedly a very good writer, and apparently Henry C. Camp 514 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: also equipped with a whip. I think a lot of 515 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:05,520 Speaker 1: people who rode horses had horse whips with them. Uh 516 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 1: Montes experienced recurring illnesses throughout her life. Like we said earlier, 517 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,160 Speaker 1: she probably got malaria while she was in India, and 518 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: she was sick a lot while in Australia. She started 519 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 1: describing her spider dance as involving being bitten by the 520 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: spider to explain away any swooning or fatigue that she 521 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:26,680 Speaker 1: showed on stage. Eventually, she cut the tour short and 522 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: she disbanded the company that had traveled with her from California. 523 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 1: Their contracts had included passage back to the United States, 524 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: so the actors tried to take her to court. When 525 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 1: the authorities tried to arrest her, she argued that their 526 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: warrant was not in her real name, and because she 527 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 1: was married, legal action also had to go through her husband. 528 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: This was an argument that she made more than once. 529 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:55,880 Speaker 1: When somebody would, you know, offer give her a summons 530 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,000 Speaker 1: that said Lola Monte, She'd be like, Oh, that's not 531 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: my name though, so that's not allied. Then she left town, 532 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:08,600 Speaker 1: basically leaving her performers with no recourse. Montes and Fallen 533 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 1: left for the US in May of eighteen fifty five. 534 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 1: Their ship back to San Francisco stopped in Hawaii, and 535 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 1: shortly after setting sail again, Noel Fallen fell overboard and drowned. 536 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 1: It's not clear exactly what happened, but Montes blamed herself 537 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:28,280 Speaker 1: for his death. She personally notified his family and tried 538 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 1: to support them financially, including selling her jewelry and property 539 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,560 Speaker 1: she owned in San Francisco to send them the proceeds 540 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 1: with the note that she wanted his children to be 541 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 1: educated in spiritualism. Around this same time, Montes also learned 542 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:48,120 Speaker 1: that George Healed had died. She became more focused on spiritualism, 543 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,640 Speaker 1: and she joined the Episcopal Church. After making one last 544 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 1: visit to Grass Valley, she sold her property there and 545 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:58,120 Speaker 1: then did another brief tour of the East Coast, performing 546 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 1: Lola Montez in Bavaria again and also visiting Noel fallen stepmother. 547 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,200 Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty seven, at the age of thirty six, 548 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:11,000 Speaker 1: Lola Montez changed directions and became a lecturer. While she 549 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,280 Speaker 1: still went by the name Lola Montes, she mostly dropped 550 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 1: the pretense that she was Spanish and Catholic. Her lecture, 551 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,200 Speaker 1: titled Gallantry was about the gallantry of men, including King Ludwig, 552 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,719 Speaker 1: the First Wits and Women of Paris, was a tour 553 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,319 Speaker 1: of notable people she had met in Paris, including Alexandra 554 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:34,400 Speaker 1: Dumapeer and George sald Romanism was a vehement condemnation of 555 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:39,440 Speaker 1: the Catholic Church. Sometimes people described Montez as an early feminist, 556 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: but her lecture Heroines and strong Minded Women of History 557 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 1: makes it clear that she did not have a high 558 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 1: opinion of feminism. It's at least feminism in terms of 559 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:54,440 Speaker 1: how she saw it in the nineteenth century world. She 560 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 1: described suffragists and activists for women's rights as scolds and 561 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:05,160 Speaker 1: invention women, before walking through historical examples of women, warriors 562 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: and monarchs, who she saw as real examples of women's strengths. 563 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:14,200 Speaker 1: Uh not those complainers who were having conventions to say 564 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:18,440 Speaker 1: how victimized they were. Montes's first book was a collection 565 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 1: of these lectures, along with an autobiography. And this autobiography 566 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,239 Speaker 1: is kind of weird. We mentioned before. It's written in 567 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 1: the third person, it's sometimes credited to Charles Chauncey Burr, 568 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,879 Speaker 1: and often it's actually not flattering of her at all. 569 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: At times she is depicted almost as a child, throwing 570 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:38,680 Speaker 1: tantrums to get her way among wealthy and powerful men. 571 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: And when I read it, I was like, who who 572 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: wrote this? And why did they hate you? I mean, 573 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:47,799 Speaker 1: I can see many reasons why somebody would have a 574 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,799 Speaker 1: negative impression of Lola Montes. But I was like, this 575 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:53,800 Speaker 1: is your autobiography and your book, and it is making 576 00:35:53,840 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 1: you sound like a petulant, like immature terror. Montes published 577 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:05,040 Speaker 1: two other books after that lecture collection. They were The 578 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: Arts of Beauty or Secrets of a Lady's Toilet with 579 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:12,640 Speaker 1: Hints two Gentlemen on the art of Fascinating and Anecdotes 580 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:15,839 Speaker 1: of Love, being a true account of the most remarkable 581 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,040 Speaker 1: events connected with the history of love in all ages 582 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,719 Speaker 1: and among all nations. Like other beauty books that we 583 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 1: have talked about on the show before Montes notes that 584 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:29,520 Speaker 1: beauty is totally subjective and that standards of beauty have 585 00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: varied around the world and throughout history, and then she 586 00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:35,840 Speaker 1: moves into twenty eight chapters on how to be beautiful, 587 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:40,440 Speaker 1: including how to obtain a handsome form, habits which destroy 588 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 1: the complexion, a beautiful bosom, and beauty of dress. This 589 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,560 Speaker 1: book drops a lot of names of notable people that 590 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:52,160 Speaker 1: she's met in places that she's traveled. It also includes 591 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:55,399 Speaker 1: a lot of recipes, with Montes advising readers to make 592 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:59,560 Speaker 1: their own cosmetics since commercially available products are often full 593 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:04,480 Speaker 1: of reasons, they often were full of pleass of that part, 594 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:09,719 Speaker 1: that part mostly makes sense. The Arts of Beauty ends, 595 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 1: as we said, with fifty rules for the art of fascinating. 596 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,359 Speaker 1: And this is a tongue in cheek satire written as 597 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:20,280 Speaker 1: tips for men, but for the amusement of the women 598 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: reading the book. So, for example, rule the tenth is quote, 599 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,560 Speaker 1: if you are invited to dine, go at least an 600 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:29,520 Speaker 1: hour or an hour and a half before the time 601 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:33,279 Speaker 1: for then the lady will be sure never to forget you. 602 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,800 Speaker 1: As the attentive and polite gentleman who allowed her neither 603 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:41,520 Speaker 1: time to dress nor to superintend her dinner, Like its 604 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 1: name suggests. Anecdotes of Love is the collection of famous 605 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:50,400 Speaker 1: historical love stories, including past podcast subjects Aspasia, Empericles, and 606 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:55,160 Speaker 1: Abillard and Elouise. In eighteen fifty seven, Montes briefly considered 607 00:37:55,280 --> 00:38:01,640 Speaker 1: marrying again, this time to Prince Ludwig Johann Szukowski of Austria. 608 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,279 Speaker 1: He was one of the many royals she had met 609 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:06,719 Speaker 1: while she was in Europe. We did not name all 610 00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: of these royals before um. He had fled Austria in 611 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:14,600 Speaker 1: the wake of the Revolutions of eighteen forty eight. Montes 612 00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,520 Speaker 1: sailed to Paris, believing that he was going to meet 613 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,760 Speaker 1: her there, But it turned out he was already married 614 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,360 Speaker 1: and this whole thing was a giant hoax. I'm debating 615 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,000 Speaker 1: over whether I feel like this is a taste of 616 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,680 Speaker 1: her own medicine or not, but I had the same 617 00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:32,319 Speaker 1: I had the same response, honestly. Uh. In eighteen fifty eight, 618 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:36,000 Speaker 1: Montes returned to the UK. She gave another lecture tour, 619 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:38,480 Speaker 1: and in London she gave a speech on the institution 620 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,960 Speaker 1: of slavery in the US. Her argument here was kind 621 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:45,480 Speaker 1: of a tangle. She described slavery as an enormous national 622 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,759 Speaker 1: sin and lynch law as a terror we can all 623 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:52,080 Speaker 1: agree with. But she also claimed that enslaved people on 624 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:56,840 Speaker 1: southern plantations were content and that the institution would somehow 625 00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:02,480 Speaker 1: just disappear on its own. British abolitionists criticized this lecture heavily, 626 00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:06,400 Speaker 1: and Montes countered that this reaction was hypocritical, considering the 627 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:09,240 Speaker 1: British Empire's treatment of the native peoples of the places 628 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 1: it was colonizing, including India. Montes returned to New York 629 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:17,120 Speaker 1: in the fall of eighteen fifty nine and continued to 630 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:21,359 Speaker 1: lecture around the US. On June eighteen sixties, she had 631 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:24,719 Speaker 1: a stroke. Her mother came to the United States to 632 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:27,160 Speaker 1: see her. In some cases this was to take care 633 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,080 Speaker 1: of her, and in others it was more to try 634 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:32,520 Speaker 1: to get money from her. Either way, their reunion doesn't 635 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:34,920 Speaker 1: seem to have gone very well, and her mother didn't 636 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,799 Speaker 1: stay long. Lola Montes seemed to be recovering well, but 637 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:43,080 Speaker 1: then she contracted pneumonia. She died on January seventeenth, eighteen 638 00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:46,359 Speaker 1: sixty one, at the age of thirty nine. Yeah, there's 639 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:50,799 Speaker 1: been various uh, speculation about what could have caused her 640 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:54,000 Speaker 1: to have a stroke at such a relatively young age, 641 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:59,760 Speaker 1: um with explanations anywhere from the malaria that she pretty 642 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:04,040 Speaker 1: clear lee had for her whole life to syphilis. But 643 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,880 Speaker 1: again that's like very speculative based on the fact that 644 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,839 Speaker 1: somebody had a stroke at a pretty young age than 645 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:14,520 Speaker 1: one would typically think of someone having a stroke. When 646 00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:18,799 Speaker 1: Lola Montez died, Ludwig the First of Bavaria was seventy four. 647 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,880 Speaker 1: He had not seen her in thirteen years, and he 648 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,400 Speaker 1: learned of her death through news reports. Later on, he 649 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:28,399 Speaker 1: got a letter from her friend Maria E. Buchanan, which 650 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:33,080 Speaker 1: was sent to Lola's request, and this letter expressed Lola's 651 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:35,840 Speaker 1: sincere regard for him and said that she had died 652 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:40,920 Speaker 1: as a true penitent. Ludwig seemed to appreciate this, he 653 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:43,120 Speaker 1: wrote back and it was a nice little note. And 654 00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,440 Speaker 1: then Maria later wrote to him again, suggesting that he 655 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,879 Speaker 1: might pay to have offense put around her grave at 656 00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:56,200 Speaker 1: Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery. Ludwig dignat answer that one Lola's first husband, 657 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,960 Speaker 1: Thomas James, also outlived her. He died in eighteen seventy one, 658 00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:05,000 Speaker 1: so he could have gotten remarried. He start. One of 659 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:09,000 Speaker 1: the biographies that I read of her was called Lola Montez, 660 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:11,760 Speaker 1: a Life by Bruce Seymour, and I think he traced 661 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:15,120 Speaker 1: what happens to Thomas James afterward, and I don't remember 662 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:18,920 Speaker 1: off the top of my head. Lola Montez's notoriety continued 663 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:22,439 Speaker 1: for decades after her death, with fictional characters based on her, 664 00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:27,480 Speaker 1: and plays and movies fictionalizing her exploits. More recently, she 665 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:30,320 Speaker 1: inspired the song whatever Lola Wants Lola Gets from the 666 00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:36,520 Speaker 1: Broadway musical Damn Yankees. I could sing that by heart. Uh. 667 00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:38,920 Speaker 1: And there is a running bit about her in season 668 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:42,480 Speaker 1: two of Dickinson on Apple Plus that as a show 669 00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:46,480 Speaker 1: I was watching before I started working on this episode, 670 00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:50,640 Speaker 1: and when I learned there was a Lola Montez running bit, 671 00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:53,680 Speaker 1: I was like, I gotta stop what else I'm watching 672 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:57,720 Speaker 1: and catch up and see this. Yeah. And Dann Yankees, 673 00:41:57,760 --> 00:41:59,920 Speaker 1: do you know the story? In Dann Yankees, She's been 674 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:05,400 Speaker 1: with the devil um and and becomes involved with the 675 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:08,880 Speaker 1: lead character when he makes a similar pact. Uh, And 676 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:14,040 Speaker 1: it's sort of their story. She's uh, not so violent 677 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:19,319 Speaker 1: in that and it is much more of a winsome character. Um. 678 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:23,360 Speaker 1: She is not physically present on screen anywhere on Dickinson, 679 00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:27,440 Speaker 1: but it's it's a it's a running joke that spans 680 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:32,040 Speaker 1: over multiple episodes. Today, Mount Lola and the Sierra Nevada 681 00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:34,880 Speaker 1: is named for her, as our Two Lakes and Tahoe 682 00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:38,759 Speaker 1: National Forest. Her home in Grass Valley, California is a 683 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:43,520 Speaker 1: state Historic landmark. Uh, that is Lola Montes. I don't know, 684 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:47,879 Speaker 1: having referenced all this, if I would actually call her 685 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:51,440 Speaker 1: a trip. However, most of the things that would make 686 00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:53,760 Speaker 1: me maybe not call her that are things that aren't 687 00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:57,520 Speaker 1: usually covered in quick write ups of her, like like 688 00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:00,400 Speaker 1: striking her lady's maid when her ladies may try to 689 00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:05,359 Speaker 1: leave her service, and leaving her touring company stranded in Australia. Like, 690 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:09,279 Speaker 1: I can't get behind any of that, I can. You know. 691 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:13,120 Speaker 1: I often take some glee in people who push against 692 00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:16,719 Speaker 1: societal norms. Uh, And then that way, she's kind of 693 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:18,359 Speaker 1: a trip. But in other ways, I'm like, you're more 694 00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:21,040 Speaker 1: of a mess to me. See now, I'm like, what 695 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:23,319 Speaker 1: does a trip mean to you? Because to me, those 696 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:28,040 Speaker 1: all factor in. But I think that's just one of 697 00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:32,439 Speaker 1: those like colloquial vernacular things that probably has no clear 698 00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:36,600 Speaker 1: definition anyway, right, sure, yeah, yeah. I think in my 699 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:38,759 Speaker 1: head I would describe somebody who was a trip as 700 00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:46,399 Speaker 1: a little less harmless than ested see. To me, part 701 00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:48,319 Speaker 1: of it is the juxtaposition of oh, she was a 702 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:51,520 Speaker 1: super like fun, love and party gal but also very violent. 703 00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:54,839 Speaker 1: What a trip? But oh I like the journey from 704 00:43:54,840 --> 00:44:00,640 Speaker 1: one to the other. This is so interesting to me. 705 00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:05,440 Speaker 1: Do you have interesting listener mail? I do, and this one. Uh. 706 00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:08,080 Speaker 1: In terms of when I was preparing this episode, I 707 00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:09,719 Speaker 1: was like, I feel like this is a little long, 708 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:13,000 Speaker 1: so I just have a super quick listener mail from 709 00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:16,399 Speaker 1: Sarah and Sarah wrote to say, Hi, Holly and Tracy, 710 00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:19,640 Speaker 1: I really enjoy listening to your podcast. I teach fourth 711 00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:22,839 Speaker 1: grade E. L A and social studies. Your content has 712 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:26,400 Speaker 1: made me appreciate history even more. While this isn't truly 713 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:29,000 Speaker 1: important at all, I feel it's important to add my 714 00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:32,719 Speaker 1: experience when listening to the Operation paper Clip episode. In 715 00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:36,080 Speaker 1: addition to enjoying the history content, I also remembered the 716 00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:40,560 Speaker 1: cartoon paper clip Clippy from old Microsoft Office. As I listened, 717 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:45,080 Speaker 1: I found myself picturing different theatrical versions of Clippy. Acting 718 00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:48,759 Speaker 1: out the espionage field story. I thought you would enjoy 719 00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:51,480 Speaker 1: that image. Thanks for the work you do, Sarah. I did, 720 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:57,600 Speaker 1: in fact enjoy that image, partly because, um, at least 721 00:44:57,640 --> 00:45:01,320 Speaker 1: in terms of my experience with Clippy, Clippy was pretty 722 00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:07,080 Speaker 1: much universally hated among everyone I knew who encountered Clippy 723 00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:12,920 Speaker 1: and their Microsoft Office lives. So thank you, Sarah for this. 724 00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:16,359 Speaker 1: I did quite enjoy that mental image. If you would 725 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:18,920 Speaker 1: like to write to us, were a history podcast that 726 00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:21,560 Speaker 1: I heart radio dot com, and you can find us 727 00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:23,600 Speaker 1: all over social media at missed in History. That's where 728 00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:27,600 Speaker 1: you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. And you 729 00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:30,640 Speaker 1: can subscribe to our show on the I heart Radio 730 00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:38,840 Speaker 1: app and really anywhere else you get your podcasts. Stuff 731 00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:40,880 Speaker 1: you Missed in History Class is a production of I 732 00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:44,399 Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit 733 00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:47,720 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 734 00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:48,760 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.