Lola Montez had a strange, rare, and unique combination of beauty, intelligence, and attractiveness. She was famous for her many relationships with men, not just any men, but she chose the man who could always put her in a high social and financial position.
Lola Montez was born in 1818, the daughter of a British army officer, born in Limerick, Ireland, but lived in India with her parents.
She was known as a little girl for being unruly, grumpy and out of control.
Her real name was Mary Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, and Her father died of cholera in India when she was seven years old, so her mother married another man.
When she was fifteen years old, her mother sent her to Europe for education there, and she used to visit her mother from time to time, and when she was 19 years old, specifically in 1837, she met Sergeant James of the Indian army, married him, fled with him to India, lived with him for 5 years, and then divorced her.
The beginning of her successes
Lola returned to England in 1842 after her husband divorced her and she went to study the art of dance, but she did not master the art of dance and her performances at the Royal Theater in London did not impress anyone.
A year later, in 1843, she changed her name to Lola Montez" the Spanish dancer", and changed her date of birth to 1821, I don't know why.
Then she decided to show her performances in Germany, Poland, Russia, and Paris and achieved great success, then she went to Munich in 1847.
Actually She danced all over Europe, and finally became a dancer in the halls and performances of the European nobility.
Lola had an affair with the prestigious musician Franz Liszt, as many prestigious historical figures knew her: such as the writer Alexander Dumas, the writer George Sand, but what made her name remembered in history were the tricks she played on Ludwig I king of Bavaria.
The success of her plan
One night, at a party, Ludwig I publicly asked Lola when she was on stage whether her breasts were real or not, and Lola responded Without any word by taking off her clothes, becoming naked and approaching him to make sure for himself, he fell in love with her at that moment.
Ludwig loved lola very much and he granted her citizenship, and more than that, he gave her the title of Countess of Landsfeld and ordered to give her a salary estimated at 2000 pounds sterling per year.
Increasing Lula's influence
Days passed and Ludwig I's love for Lola Montez grew and she became the de facto ruler of Bavaria.
Lola became so influential in Ludwig's court that it was rare for him to make any decision without her advice or approval, and she used her influence to support the passage of laws aimed at fighting conservatives in general.
Lola became very arrogant, Lola once went out for a walk with her dog, and her dog attacked a citizen in Bavaria Instead of keeping the dog away from the man, she started hitting the man with the bridle and This angered the Bavarian people.
and anyone who complained Lola to Ludwig would have been put in prison and removed from his position.
The Bavarians had previously saluted their king, but now they despised him, while Lola was given the title of Countess and a new palace was built for her.
She began to engage in politics and present to the king Advice on the affairs of the country, and it became the greatest power in the Kingdom and its influence on the country and Her influence over the prime minister and her condescension to other ministers increased.
The result was that unrest swept through all over the country, this kingdom, which had previously enjoyed peace, became on the brink of civil war, and students everywhere started chanting death to Lola.
The Jesuit Order was very widespread, and they are a sect that claims to be the disciples of Jesus Christ, and their belief in Christ was greater than their belief in God, so Lola Montez adopted a liberal policy against the Jesuit Order but her political opponents were stronger than her.
Due to Lola's major interference in governing decisions, In February 1848, Ludwig could no longer bear the pressure. He had to choose between Lola or the throne, but in great sadness he ordered Lola to leave Bavaria immediately.
During the next five weeks the Bavarian people continued to rage against the king who had lost their love for him, and in March 1848 he was forced to abdicate.
Another Life
Lola Montez left for England, and like any woman, she wanted to feel respected and appreciated, especially since she was once the wife of the governor of Bavaria, and although she was still legally married, she set her sights on George Travold Held, a promising army commander and the son of a prominent and influential lawyer in the High Courts.
Although Held was ten years her junior and could have chosen a wife from the most beautiful and wealthy girls in English society, he fell under her spell and they were married in 1849.
She was quickly arrested on charges of bigamy, but she was bailed out and fled with Heald to Spain.
They were always fighting, and once Lola cut George Held with a knife, and eventually kicked him out of her life.
When he returned to England, he found that he had lost his position in the army and was ostracized from English society, so he fled to Portugal and lived in poverty, and after a few months his short life ended in a drowning in 1853.
The end of Lola Montez
In 1851, Lola Montez appeared on Broadway in New York and then appeared again in the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia, and when her husband George Held drowned in Lisbon, and she did not grieve for him much because in the same year she married the owner of the San Francisco newspaper, but she also did not live much with him, and appeared more than once in Australia after she gained wide fame for her infamous dances, then in 1857 she returned to America in the hope that she would become a theater actress, but she did not achieve great successes and decided to lectures on beauty, dance and art.
Lola, despite her notoriety, was a loyal friend to her female friends and had many admirers from all over the world, her health deteriorated and she devoted the rest of her life to visiting outcast women in New York, She lived out her final days in a sanitarium, where she became paralyzed and died in Astoria on January 17, 1861.
This was the end of Lula after she had once ruled a country.
