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| Friedrich I of Germany @Wikipedia |
(1122-1190)
Holy Roman Emperor
1155-1190
His lover was:
1) Gela.
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| Friedrich II of Germany |
(1194-1250)
Holy Roman Emperor
1220-1250
His lovers were:
1. Adelheid von Urslingen (1184-1222)
Lover in 1215-1220.
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| Anais de Brienne @tumblr |
2) Anais de Brienne (1205-1236).
Lover in 1225-1229
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| Frederick II & Bianca Lancia @Wikipedia |
Offspring: " . . . The youngest male of the Imperial illegitimate brood was Manfred. His mother, Bianca Lancia, came from Asti in Piedmont; her connexion with her seducer began in 1231. When she was lying on her death-bed, at some period during the nine last years of Frederick's life, she besought him to marry him. But the Church never recognized the union, since the Emperor was at the time an excommunicated man. He distinguished Manfred from his other children by bestowing upon that youth a part of the lands usually granted as a dowry to the Sicilian Queens, with which the dying Bianca had been gratified... Manfred had one sister, Constance, who was married to the Greek Emperor. . . ." (Kingston-Oliphant: 478)
4) Manna di Messina.
5) Maria di Antiochia.
6) Richina von Beilstein-Wolfsoden
Heinrich IV of Germany.
"It is an historical fact that the Emperor Henry IV was a luxurious and abandoned prince. And in particular this may be said to form a characteristic feature in the history of his wars for the subjection of Thuringians. For when we found himself, in the course of the campaign in a very dangerous position on his approach towards Goslar, and by the intercession of the princes who had leagued against him, expressed a disposition to negotiate with the enemy, it was insisted among other stipulations that he should dismiss some of his numerous mistress. The adventure here ascribed to him at Castle Scharzfeld is, therefore, by no means improbable, and perhaps the fictitious part added to it by the people, that of the Castle Spectre, was intended, through such medium, to give a striking characteristic of their Emperor. . . ." (German Romances, Vol 2: 118)
"It is an historical fact that the Emperor Henry IV was a luxurious and abandoned prince. And in particular this may be said to form a characteristic feature in the history of his wars for the subjection of Thuringians. For when we found himself, in the course of the campaign in a very dangerous position on his approach towards Goslar, and by the intercession of the princes who had leagued against him, expressed a disposition to negotiate with the enemy, it was insisted among other stipulations that he should dismiss some of his numerous mistress. The adventure here ascribed to him at Castle Scharzfeld is, therefore, by no means improbable, and perhaps the fictitious part added to it by the people, that of the Castle Spectre, was intended, through such medium, to give a striking characteristic of their Emperor. . . ." (German Romances, Vol 2: 118)
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| Emperor Sigismund 1433 |
(1368-1437)
Holy Roman Emperor
1433-1437
Prince-Elector of Brandenburg
1378
King of Hungary & Croatia
1387
King of Germany
1411
King of Bohemia
1419
King of Italy
1431.
Son of: Emperor Karl IV & Elisabeth von Pommern.
Husband of:
1) Erzsebet Morzsinay.
" . . . In the year 1392, according to this tale, Sigismund was in the Hatziger district of the Hunyad county, whither he had travelled for the purpose of opposing the progress of the Turks in Bulgaria, and of bringing Myrxa, Woywode of Wallachia, to a sense of his duty. Here he became acquainted with the beautiful Elizabeth Morsinay, but the approach of the infidel soon forced him to quit the neighbourhood of his mistress. On his return she announced to him her pregnant condition; and before his next departure he presented her with a valuable ring, at the same time bidding her to bring the child to Ofen so soon as she should be able; and show the ring in token of her right to an interview with him; by way of further securing her comfort he married her to a Wallachian boyard, who was serving in his army, named Woik Buti, and gave him some lands in the vicinity of Hunyadi. Elizabeth waited for Queen Mary's death to appear in Ofen; and she then arrived under the escort of her brother Caspar, bringing her little son John with her. The King gave this child the town of Hunyadi and sixty villages, to the great disgust of the Hungarians, and kept him to be reared in Ofen." (Women of Europe in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, Vol 1: 331)
Husband of: Marie, Duchess of Burgundy.
Noble Queen of Honours: . " . . . When her letter reached Maximilian, he consulted his father, who considered the matter and pointed out 'firstly, the honour of the marriage; secondly, the usefulness of the possessions; thirdly, the care he should take to obtain all this. . . .' Thereupon the young Weisskunig replied: 'My father, nothing is better than real honour, and nothing more pleasing to God than to live in His commandments. . . .' Therefore he decided to go and marry the princess, the 'noble queen of honours.'" (Hare: 42)
His lover was:
1. Margaretha of Edelsheim.
Natural offspring:
a. Georg von Osterreich (1504-1557)
Prince-Bishop of Liège 1544; Bishop of Brixen (Tyrol) 1525-1537; Archbishop of Valencia 1538 and 1544.
.jpg) |
Emperor Maximilian II (1525-1576) |
(1527-1576)
Holy Roman Emperor
1564-1576
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| Emperor Maximilian II @Wikipedia |
His lover was:
1. Anne von Ostfriesland.
1. Anne von Ostfriesland.
"Maximilian II had, before marriage, a natural daughter, Helena Scharseg. Her mother, a Countess Anne of Ostfriesland, was lady of the bedchamber to his mother. The daughter is described as a pattern of beauty and sense. She was married to a Carinthian nobleman, Baron Andrew Everard von Rauber; who won her as his prize in a match against a gigantic Spaniard, whom, according to the terms of the contest, he put in a sack and this deposited at the feet of the Emperor. The baron was likewise a giant in size and strength. His portrait, still extent in the Nuremberg Gallery, represents him with the remarkable appendage of a beard, carefully plaited, and reaching down to the ground, and from thence back to the girdle, with a legend stating its dimensions." (Memoirs of the court, aristocracy, and diplomacy of Austria, Vol 1: 229)
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| Emperor Rudolf II @Wikipedia |
(1552-1612)
Holy Roman Emperor
1576-1612
Rudolf's natural offspring.
"Rodolph had by his numerous and ever-changing mistresses several natural children, of whom, six, four sons and two daughters, have been known. After the example of Maximilian I, he allowed the four sons, whom he acknowledged as his own, to call themselves 'Lords de Austria.' They inherited the wild passions of their father.
1. Don Carlos de Austria serviced the Emperor Ferdinand II in the Thirty Years' War; but having from mere wantonness, in one of the suburbs of Vienna, taken part in a riot caused by a woman of the town, he was killed without being known.
2. For the second son, Don Giulio de Austria, his father bought the large Bohemian lordship of Krummau, which now belongs to Prince Schwarzenberg.
3. A third natural son of Rodolph, Don Matthias de Austria, as Khevenhuller states, 'came in 1619 to Spain, to see the country and to try his fortune; but he was not allowed to come to Madrid, and, after his score had been paid for him, was sent back with 4000 ducats to Germany, where he died in 1626.
4. A fourth of these illegitimate scions of the House of Habsburg was put to death by his father's orders. He was called Don Cesare; he had done violence to a young lady of noble birth and murdered her afterwards. Rodolph ordered him to die the death of Seneca, having his veins opened in a warm bath.
Of the two daughters, one, Donna Carlota, married a Spanish Count Cantacroy, of the Perrenot-Granvella family; and the other, Donna Dorothea, died in a convent." (Memoirs of the court, aristocracy, and diplomacy of Austria, Volume 1: 265)
1. Catalina Strada.
" Despite considerable pressure from his relations to ensure a legitimate heir, he refused to marry Philip's favourite daughter, Isabella, preferring instead his long-term mistress, Katharina Strada, with whom he had at least six children. This close relationship was an exception, as Rudolf found it increasingly difficult to deal with the living, retreating into an exaggerated veneration for his ancestors. Those who did get to meet him, often after waiting literally for months at a time, were struck by his intelligence, curiosity and wife knowledge. He became an avid art collector and patron of astronomers, alchemists and poets. His Spanish experience left him with an inflated sense of majesty that prevented him from delegating responsibility to those who wanted to help him. While not afraid of hard wok, his mind was crowded by too many thoughts, leading to indecision, especially as he was likely to get discouraged if his initial efforts failed to meet immediate success." (Europe's Tragedy: A New History of the Thirty Years War)
"To date, there is scant information on the birth and childhood of Ana Dorotea of Habsburg. She was a daughter of Emperor Rudolph II but her mother's identity is still unknown, despite the fact that she issued a medal to commemorate her child's delivery. Although there is no proof, several biographies claim that her mother was Catalina Strada, the daughter of Jacob, the emperor's famous antiquarian; according to Rudolph's biographers, she was his most famous mistress and the mother of several of his children. Ana Dorotea was born in Vienna either at the end of 1611 or the beginning of 1612, immediately before her father's death. The biography of Margaret of the Cross published by Juan de Palma in 1636 appears to be the only source of her first years of life in Central Europe. This Francisca author narrates that after the death of Rudolph II gis daughter Dorotea---as she was christened---was brought up in the imperial court at the side of his uncle, Emperor Mathias, and his wife Ana, whose name was added to hers at the time of her confirmation. Following Mathias's death in 1619, she was sent to the Augustinian convent of St. Agnes zur Himmelpforte in Vienna, where she resided until September 1622, when she set off for the Descalzas Reales in Madrid." (Early Modern Habsburg Women)
2. Euphemia von Rosenthal
3. Lucia von Neuhaus
4. Kareoina Stradova
5. Philipp Lang
6. Wolfgang von Rumpf
7. Unnamed mistress
Husband of: Anna von Osterreich-Tyrol.
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
" . . . He was well formed, but small, and debilitated in body and mind. When not prostate under the tortures of gout, which sorely tormented him, he knew no between employment for his time than court festivals, balls, jousting, pageants, and the chase. Dancing especially was most assiduously cultivated by him, which made Prince Christian of Anhalt once say, 'that his Majesty, if the right dance should once begin, was not likely to distinguish himself by his steps." (Memoirs of the court, aristocracy, and diplomacy of Austria, Vol 1: 268)
His lovers were:
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
" . . . He was well formed, but small, and debilitated in body and mind. When not prostate under the tortures of gout, which sorely tormented him, he knew no between employment for his time than court festivals, balls, jousting, pageants, and the chase. Dancing especially was most assiduously cultivated by him, which made Prince Christian of Anhalt once say, 'that his Majesty, if the right dance should once begin, was not likely to distinguish himself by his steps." (Memoirs of the court, aristocracy, and diplomacy of Austria, Vol 1: 268)
His lovers were:
1) Barbara Edelpeck.
2) Susan Wachter.
"A short time only before Rodolph's death, Matthias was allowed to take a wife. The chosen lady was Ann, daughter of Ferdinand of Tyrol by the Princess of Mantua, whom that archduke had married after the death of his beloved Philippine Welser. Before that, Matthias had lived with a mistress, Susan Wachter. Matthias, at the age of fifty-four, married the Princess Ann, who was then in her twenty-seventh year, on 4th December, 1611, just after his return from the Bohemian coronation to Vienna. Seven weeks after, Rodolph died, and on the 24th June, 1612, Matthias was elected Emperor, in opposition to the far more able Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, whom Henry IV of France, the wisest prince of his time, had suggested. . . ." (Memoirs of the Court, Aristocracy, and Diplomacy of Austria, Vol 1: 269)
(1678-1711)
Holy Roman Emperor
1705-1711
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
"Joseph I was fair, with blue eyes, of healthy constitution, and, from a child, active and lively; but his pious and stern mother Eleanor of Neuburg kept him under strict and even harsh discipline. The first Joseph had to endure from Eleanor, just as the second Joseph from Maria Theresa, very unceremonious and severe chastisement, evn as King of the Romans. He bore it with great impatience, and once, subsequently to his coronation at Augsburg, broke out into the remark that such treatment was most unbecoming to a twice-crowned head. His two principal passions---a most excessive and truly Olympian price, and a very strong inclination to gallantry, in the infamous fashion of the French court---were first fostered by this saintly and monkish education. The influence of the Empress-mother on her son was nearly as great as that of Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua had been on her stepson Leopold. The Empress-mothers have played a great part at the court of Vienna even down to the most recent times." (Memoirs of the Court and Aristocracy of Austria, Vol 2: 79)
His lover was:
Pimping a succession of mistresses.
". . . Although Empress Eleonore supported Wilhelmine Amalia by scolding the crown prince and throwing his procurers into a fortress prison, Leopold's death in May 1705 left Joseph free to ignore family's sensibilities. As emperor he sustained a steady succession of mistresses, with the help of his favourite drinking and hunting companion, Count Johann Philip von Lamberg, whose principal talent consisted of 'excellent pimping for his master'. . . . " (Orr: 116)
Conjugal venereal disease.
Conjugal venereal disease.
". . . Even before his succession, Joseph had established such a reputation for wild partying and socially indiscriminate promiscuity that his marriage to Wilhelmine Amalia was initially held up by the discovery of Lucrezia Borgia in the remote reaches of her family tree. Although a specially prepared thirty-page memorandum on her conjugal pedigree allayed the imperial couple's fears, little could be done about Joseph himself. Despite every appearance of a sexually fulfilling relationship with his bride, Joseph soon infected Wilhelmine Amalia with a venereal disease that he had apparently contracted from the daughter of a court gardener. . . . " (Orr: 116)
Royal favours.
Royal favours.
" . . .At his death Joseph bequeathed a legacy of 500,000 fl. to his last lover, Marianne Palffy -- exactly ten times the annual pension that he left his own mother. . . ." (Ingrao: 124)
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| Charles VI of Germany |
Son of: Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor & Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg.
Husband of Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
"His wife was Elizabeth of Brunswick, who, as Lady Mary Wortley Montague writes, 'was admitted for her beauty by many nations.' One of her special charms was her maiden-like modesty and bashfulness; the effect of which was heightened by the dazzling whiteness of her complexion; and when he saw her for the first time, in Barcelona, was quite fascinated by her appearance and said that he could never have believed her to be so beautiful. . . A despatch of the Russian envoy at Vienna, Count Podewils, mentions that 'she was thought to have entertained little affection for the Emperor; but that, as she always treated him as if she was very fond of him, her attentions and kindness had completely won his heart.' Ambition,' the letter adds, 'was her principal passion. She was eminently a woman of sense, and possessed great firmness. She took an active part in the conduct of affairs without having the appearance of meddling with them, and frequently managed to turn them according to her own pleasure. With the public in general she was no favorite, as many people suspected her of not being sufficiently attached to the Roman Catholic religion, and of still harbouring heretical principles. Some even asserted that she continued secretly to read Lutheran devotional books." (Memoirs of the Court and Aristocracy of Austria, Volume 2: 97)
His lover was:
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| Maria Anna Josepha Countess of Althann the Spanish Althann @Wikipedia |
Maria Anna Josepha, Grafin von Althann (1689-1755)
"The new Emperor Charles VI was rather more discreet than his brother. He had a brief affair in Barcelona prior to Elizabeth Christine's arrival in Spain, and he began a lengthy relationship with Countess Althann shortly after returning to Vienna while his consort was acting as his regent in Spain. . . . " (Queenship in Europe 1660-1815: 116)
". . . Marianna Pignatelli was a very great lady indeed, both by birth and by marriage; her late husband, John Michael III, Count of Althann, had been the chief favourite of Charles VI. She herself had long been, and perhaps still was, the Emperor's chief flame---honours in a German Court, where every infraction of the morality of lower folk was sanctified by its title, badge, and place in the hierarchy. She was very rich, had beautiful possessions in Moravia, and moreover was extremely influential and venerated at Court. She was an intellectual, liberal-minded woman, not indeed (being an Austrian by marriage) as jovially familiar with writers, composers, and singers, as her warm-hearted sister-in-law Princess Belmonte, could be in unceremonious, undignified Naples; but appreciative, encouraging, gracious to talent, whatever its number or paucity of quarterings. . . . " (Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol 19: 505)
"The mistress of Charles, whom---notwithstanding his love for the beautiful Elizabeth---he in the French fashion took unto himself, was Marianna Countess Althann, called by the Viennese the Spanish Althann; by descent a Duchess of Pignatelli-Beliguardo, of a Neapolitan princely house, on which Charles, in 1723, bestowed likewise the princely dignity of the German Empire. Charles had made her acquaintance shortly after his arrival in Spain; and soon after his own marriage, when she was not more than twenty-one years of age, he married her to his friend the General and Imperial Chamberlain John Michael, Count Althann, who thereby hoped to acquire a great position at court. In this expectation he was not disappointed; his Imperial friend showered the richest favours upon him. Since 1716, Althann held the post of master of the horse to the Emperor; in virtue of which office, he and his Spanish wife were quartered in the same palace with their sovereign. Charles and the countess saw each other every day at an appointed hour. . . ." (Memoirs of the Court, Aristocracy, and Diplomacy of Austria, Vol 2: 114)
"Other information shows that our Sicilian was linked with the rich and powerful Althanis. Volkmann has described the romantic marriage of Count Althann, who had gone to Spain as a gentleman of the archduke, with Marianna Pignatelli, a noble pupil in the convent in Barcelona that had offered shelter to Charles and his suite from the bombardment of the French fleet. . . ." (Pagano: 222)
". . . Subsequent homosexual relationships that he appears to have sustained with adolescent boys may have found their way into his diary, but only in an as-yet indecipherable code. . . . " (Queenship in Europe 1660-1815: 116)
Keeping appearances up.
". . . The curious reserve of Charles's diary entries suggests residual moral constraints that may have also extended to the continued absence of any mention of Imperial bastards. By arranging Countess Althann's marriage to one of his chief ministers, Charles protected himself and the empress from such an embarrassment, since any children would ostensibly be fathered by Count Althann. . . . " (Queenship in Europe 1660-1815: 116)
Grafin Altmann's other lover was:
Pietro Metastasio.
Court Poet to Vienna.
". . . Moreover, she was ceasing to be young, forty was fast approaching, and as it approached, her famous beauty, her famous fascinations were vanishing, Charles VI may still have been jealous, but he probably had long ceased to be in love: she was turning into a neglected dowager, without much interest in life. At that moment appeared Metastasio, young, good-looking, witty, broad in opinions, delightful in manners, an Italian, a genius or very nearly, and ready to see her young, beautiful, fascinating, all that she had been; ready to adore her discreetly, humbly, raising his eyes upon her only enough to show her that he wished to do more but dared not. She was delighted with him, with his respectful love: she encouraged him. . . . " (Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol 19: 505)
Grafin Altmann's other lover was:
Pietro Metastasio.
Court Poet to Vienna.
". . . Moreover, she was ceasing to be young, forty was fast approaching, and as it approached, her famous beauty, her famous fascinations were vanishing, Charles VI may still have been jealous, but he probably had long ceased to be in love: she was turning into a neglected dowager, without much interest in life. At that moment appeared Metastasio, young, good-looking, witty, broad in opinions, delightful in manners, an Italian, a genius or very nearly, and ready to see her young, beautiful, fascinating, all that she had been; ready to adore her discreetly, humbly, raising his eyes upon her only enough to show her that he wished to do more but dared not. She was delighted with him, with his respectful love: she encouraged him. . . . " (Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol 19: 505)
(1708-1765)
Holy Roman Emperor
1745-1765
His lovers were:
1) Eva Maria Volet.
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| Maria Wilhelmina von Auersperg |
2) Maria Wilhelmina von Auersperg (1738-1775)
Lover in 1755-1765.
Maid-of-honour to Empress Maria Theresia
Wife of: Johann Adam Joseph von Auersperg, Prince von Auersperg, mar 1756.
"The warm conjugal affection which Maria Theresa showed her husband, was not sufficient to keep him from indulging in gallant adventures. Even as early as 1747, Podewils mentions in his despatch, 'He is fond of women, and formerly showed a particular attachment for the countess Colloredo, the wife of the vice-chancellor; the Countess Palffy, maid of honour to the Empress, who afterwards married the Sardinian envoy Count Canales; and for several others. He even secretly arranged suppers and other small gay parties with them; but the jealousy of the Empress compelled him to restrain himself. As soon as she remarks that he is particularly attentive to any lady, she pouts with him, and lets him feel her displeasure in a thousand ways. Being aware of his propensity for gallantry, she has him watched everywhere. People, however, will have it that, notwithstanding all these jealous precautions, he, under the pretext of going out shooting, still finds means to arrange parties fines.' The houses at which the Emperor visited in Vienna, were those of the Princess Dietrichstein, and of the Countesses Daun, Losy, and Tarouca. At a later period, Francis had for his declared favourite the Princess Auersperg-Neipperg." (Memoirs of the Court and Aristocracy of Austria, Vol 2: 259)
"Maria Wilhelmina von Neipperg was the daughter of the Marshal Count Neipperg, of unfortunate celebrity, into whose face the Pasha of Bosnia spat; who afterwards concluded the disgraceful Peace of Belgrade; and who lost the battle of Mollwitz. She was born on the 30th of April, 1738; and married in 1755, when she had just completed her seventeenth year, Prince John Adam Joseph Auersperg who was a widower and double her age. She survived her Imperial lover by more than ten years. She never had children. She died in October, 1775. Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, in his detailed account of her character, describes as being remarkably beautiful and fascinating, but as the most inveterate gambler." (Memoirs of the Court and Aristocracy of Austria, Vol 2: 259)
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| Joseph II of Germany |
1. Isabella of Parma
2. Maria Josepha von Bayern.
"However, this does not mean that Joseph lived a life of monastic abstinence. He satisfied his carnal appetites in countless affairs with women from lower social strata which were common knowledge at the time. He is supposed to have fathered numerous illegitimate children. The emperor was also known to visit prostitutes but was notorious for being tight-fisted when it came to paying for their services, as still attested today by the following inscription on the entrance to a house on the Spittelberg in Vienna, then a quarter of ill-repute and the centre of the city’s red light district: ‘Durch dieses Thor im Bogen, kam Kaiser Josef II. geflogen’ (‘Emperor Joseph II came flying through this archway’)." (The World of the Habsburgs)
" . . . During the last months of his life, his feeble constitution gave way altogether; he almost entirely lost his memory and with difficulty remembered things as they happened from one day to the other. He had a very large family; but he indulged in profligate excesses which ruined his health. His wife, Maria Ludovica, a daughter of King Charles III of Spain, whom he married in 1765, was a thin, pale, and very delicate lady, not at all handsome or attractive. She showed great forbearance to his infidelities; so much so, that at Florence she would sometimes have her embroidery frame taken to the house of her rival, the opera singer Livia, and converse with her in the most condescending manner. She survived the Emperor only about ten weeks, during which she wept and prayed incessantly, feeling very deeply that her husband had been called so suddenly to appear before his God. The Emperor's death happened very shortly after his coronation with the Bohemian crown at Prague, after an illness of only three days. . . There was a rumour of his having been poisoned, the suspicion even fixed on Signora Livia, who afterwards lived in great luxury in Italy. Hormayr, however, has completely refuted this gratuitous suspicion. Leopold dabbled in alchemy and chemistry, and hastened his death by the use of stimulating pills, manufactured in his own laboratory, of that sort which were then in Ital Diavolini. . . ." (Memoirs of the Court, Aristocracy, Aristocracy, and Diplomacy of Austria, Austria 2: 370)
"Donna Livia was, however, not the only mistress of Leopold; she had to share his favour with a Polish woman, Prohaska, a German Countess Wolkenstein, and other ladies of lower rank. From the time that Leopold had taken up his residence at Vienna, the countess was the only declared favourite; he even presented her to his Empress; who, with much forbearance, expressed herself to the purport, that she felt more kindly towards the countess than any other, provided she did not meddle with affairs of government. Leopold presented his sultana with 200,000 florins in bank bills; his sudden death was thought to have prevented him from providing for the other ladies. There was found in his cabinet a whole collection of magnificent stuffs, rings, fans, and even a quantity, nearly amounting to 100 lbs. of superfine rouge." (Memoirs of the Court, Aristocracy, Aristocracy, and Diplomacy of Austria, Austria 2: 372)
His lovers were:
1) Eleonore Sullivan, Lady Crawford.
His lovers were:
1) Eleonore Sullivan, Lady Crawford.
Italian opera singer.
Polish woman.
German countess.
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| Emperor Leopold II |
(1747-1792)
Holy Roman Emperor
1790-1792
The emperor's 'arsenal of lust'.
"Though Frederick of Prussia and Joseph II of Austria lived purely, at least after their respective accessions, and were, politically, epoch makers in history, they were both succeeded by rulers who were morally and politically decadent. Leopold of Austria (1790-1792) died after a reign of but two years, his death being caused by sexual excesses and debauchery with his German and Italian concubines. His private cabinet, after his death, found to be a true 'arsenal of lust.'" (Women of the Teutonic Nations)
His lovers were:
1) Hannah Anne Gore, Countess Cowper (1758-1826)
Daughter of: Charles Gore
" . . . According to Sir Nathaniel William Wraxall, she was 'distinguished by his [Leopold's] attachment, and the exertion of his interest with Joseph II, his brother, procured her husband, Earl Cowper, to be created soon afterwards [31 Jan. 1778] a Prince of the German [Holy Roman] Empire. . . Mrs. Piozzi's note on this passage is: 'She was beautiful when no longer a court favourite, in 1786. Her attachment was then to Mr. Merry, the highly accomplished poet, known afterwards by name of Della Crusca. . . ." (Horace Walpole to Mary Berry, 8 November 1790)
" . . . The third Earl Cowper, who was so severely censured by Horace Walpole for preferring to stay in Florence with this mistress the Marchesa de Corsi than to return to England to the bedside of his dying father, settled for life in the city, marrying in 1774 the very young and pretty Miss Gore, of Lincolnshire, who was then on a visit with her family. The charming Countess, rival of the Countess of Alban, wife of the Young Pretender, for the palm of beauty, became notorious as the mistress first of Robert Merry and afterwards the Grand Duke himself, and it was surely because of her that the Grand Duke obtained the Cower title of Prince of the Empire 'in order to prevail upon them to stay' in spite of the scandal. The possessor of a lowering jaw, which was so pronounced as to be almost a malformation, Cowper was kindly, and was beloved by the poor of Florence for his generosity." (The English Della Cruscansand Their Time, 1783-1828: 21)
2) Livia Raimondi.
Lover in 1786-1790.
Italian ballerina.
2) Livia Raimondi.
Lover in 1786-1790.
Italian ballerina.
". . . For the young dancer Livia Raimondi . . . Leopold established a small palace in Florence, and in 1788 she bore him an illegitimate son who was named Luigi. . . . " [Habsburger.net]
Benefits: ". . . He builds a 'Casino' for her, a palace with a garden in Piazza S. Marco in Florence. He visits her or takes her to the theatre. The Grand Duke abandons himself to Livia, loving her restlessly. She is lithe and dedicated. From the open windows a scent of cypress and wet night creeps into the room." (The Cultural Magazine)
Natural Offspring:
Luigi: "In 1788, Raimondi gave birth to one such illegitimate child of Peter Leopold, a son named Luigi, who was later given the name von Grunn. . . (O)n March 1, 1792, Leopold II died suddenly. Six weeks later, Leopold's son and successor, Francis II, had his half-brother Luigi taken from her to be brought up and educated in Austria. . . Despite her efforts, she never saw her son again; he died of consumption at 26. On hearing of her son's death, she took successful legal action to gain a quota of his estate. . . ." (The Florentine)
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