Female aristocrats having nymphomania

Catherine the Great was an infamous nymphomaniac, though it's agreed that rumors that that nymphomania extended to animals were probably just a smear by her opponents.

She supposedly had her ......-in-waiting "try out" any potential male lover to see if he was up to snuff before sending him on to her bedroom.

She also commissioned some very......interesting furniture.

Tripwire said:

though it's agreed that rumors that that nymphomania extended to animals were probably just a smear by her opponents.

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We should probably be suspicious of any such claims. Accusing a female ruler of promiscuity would be the go-to insult for any smear campaign.

Fenestella said:

"Being a prostitute is being more pleasurable than being an empress."

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This in particular sounds pretty over the top.

Warehouse said:

We should probably be suspicious of any such claims. Accusing a female ruler of promiscuity would be the go-to insult for any smear campaign.



This in particular sounds pretty over the top.

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I think Catherine the Great's promiscuity was so well known (and because of her power as sole Empress so inconsequential) that they had to up the ante.

"Nymphomania is not a condition you are diagnosed with, it is one you are accused of."

Pauline--sister of Napoleon will definitely qualify.

Barbara Villiers, .... Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland... She was Charles II's maîtresse-en-titre for most of the 1660s. She bore Charles five children, maybe six -- she wanted Charles to recognise her last child, but Charles (and the rest of Court) realised it was most likely Lord Churchill's child and not the king's. Before Barbara became Charles' mistress, she cavorted with Philip Stanhope, Lord Chesterfield, whose wife would later be caught in flagrante delicto with none other than the king's brother! She talked "wantonly" to the aforementioned brother of the king on his 30th birthday (happy birthday, James; not only do you get Barbara Villiers, you also get herpes) and more than likely seduced the king's son. Such an interesting ..... She was very beautiful, if the portraits are to be believed... but I've never liked her.



Hortense Mancini is also a good candidate. She was allegedly the mistress of Louis XIV, then was sent packing to a nunnery by her husband, due to some sexual misconduct with her husband's maid. The two ..... escaped the nunnery together, and then Hortense made her way to England in a gallant's clothes, under guise of visiting the Duchess of York, who was her cousin (Mary of Modena). When she got there, she stayed in the ducal palace, and, knowing James and Hortense, they probably did have some sort of relation. And then when she made her way to Whitehall, she became the mistress of Charles II. During her time as mistress, she had an affair with the King's daughter, by the aforementioned Barbara Villiers!

gladiatrice said:

Barbara Villiers, .... Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland... She was Charles II's maîtresse-en-titre for most of the 1660s. She bore Charles five children, maybe six -- she wanted Charles to recognise her last child, but Charles (and the rest of Court) realised it was most likely Lord Churchill's child and not the king's. Before Barbara became Charles' mistress, she cavorted with Philip Stanhope, Lord Chesterfield, whose wife would later be caught in flagrante delicto with none other than the king's brother! She talked "wantonly" to the aforementioned brother of the king on his 30th birthday (happy birthday, James; not only do you get Barbara Villiers, you also get herpes) and more than likely seduced the king's son. Such an interesting ..... She was very beautiful, if the portraits are to be believed... but I've never liked her.

Hortense Mancini is also a good candidate. She was allegedly the mistress of Louis XIV, then was sent packing to a nunnery by her husband, due to some sexual misconduct with her husband's maid. The two ..... escaped the nunnery together, and then Hortense made her way to England in a gallant's clothes, under guise of visiting the Duchess of York, who was her cousin (Mary of Modena). When she got there, she stayed in the ducal palace, and, knowing James and Hortense, they probably did have some sort of relation. And then when she made her way to Whitehall, she became the mistress of Charles II. During her time as mistress, she had an affair with the King's daughter, by the aforementioned Barbara Villiers!

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Thanks for these. An enjoyable read.

I admit to having a slight defensive mechanism about Barbara Villiers, mostly because no-one has a good word to say about her. I particularly remember reading a biography of Nell Gwynne. The author was so pro Nell Gwynne and anti Villiers that it became annoying after a while. Some of the most outrageous and despicable behaviour from Gwynne was written off as light hearted or playful. Though undoubtedly Villiers was not particularly likeable as a person.

Im always of mixed opinions when I hear of powerful women and "nymphomania". It is the easiest of slurs to accuse a female of. Yet, the sexual urge will have been just as strong back then as it is today; this urge can make almost anyone indulge in questionable behaviour.

I wonder how common and severe sexually transmitted diseases and infections were back in the days, when there was no real cure for any of it and most of the people were way dirtier then today.

I thought it was probably that their husbands had a tendency to bat for the other side.
Henrietta Maria could have gone that way, had not Buckingham had a steel transplant from our Fenton. Relations didn't become 'cordiale' until after Buckingham's fortunate demise.
After a while, Charles was quite happy to kiss and hug his wife in public.

Still, nobody could walk like Charlie 1 without a liberal application of goose grease.

Tommy Wentworth said:

I thought it was probably that their husbands had a tendency to bat for the other side.
Henrietta Maria could have gone that way, had not Buckingham had a steel transplant from our Fenton. Relations didn't become 'cordiale' until after Buckingham's fortunate demise.
After a while, Charles was quite happy to kiss and hug his wife in public.

Still, nobody could walk like Charlie 1 without a liberal application of goose grease.

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Charles I never had any sexual relations with Buckingham... His father did, for sure, but Charles never did. Don't know where that came from. It wasn't that Charles was sleeping with George when he was supposed to be with Henrietta, is was more so that Henrietta absolutely hated George. George was really Charles' only friend. It wasn't sexual, just platonic.

That's what they always say...
Buckingham was a horrible character and Henrietts showed good taste.
He was a manipulator and a user.
And I know you love Wee Charlie but relationships taking off after Bucky got one up him smacks of something going on.

Sorry Glad. I'm reading Clarendon's 'History or the Great Rebellion' as a pennance.
I bought a book in the The Salvation Army Yesterday that you would love....
The Early Stuarts! It's mine and you can't have it.

Bless you!

Tommy Wentworth said:

That's what they always say...
Buckingham was a horrible character and Henrietts showed good taste.
He was a manipulator and a user.
And I know you love Wee Charlie but relationships taking off after Bucky got one up him smacks of something going on.

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Again, there is absolutely no proof that anything sexual went on between George and Charles.

From Dr. Frederick Holmes' The Sickly Stuarts, page 74 (Henry, Elizabeth, and Charles):

In George Villiers, his father's paramour, who was just two years older than Henry and eight years older than Charles, he ultimately found a surrogate older brother. In the matter of Charles' sexual development, Villiers observed that Charles was very slow to show a romantic interest in the female .... The contrast between Charles and Villiers could not be greater and it was totally different than the relationship between James and Villiers. David Bergeron has analysed the relationship of Charles and Villiers. He observes: 'Given the nature of court life, Charles' virtuous sexual behaviour appeared an anamoly...'

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Henrietta and Charles' relationship blossomed after Buckingham was assassinated, you're right. However, it wasn't because Buckingham was Charles' lover -- he wasn't -- but it was because Buckingham was an all-around cad to Henrietta.

From Christopher Hibbert's Charles I, pages 92-3 (The Husband and His Wife):

For her part, Henrietta liked her husband's friends and attendants no better than he liked hers. Above all she detested the Duke of Buckingham, who treated her as though she were a little ...., inexperienced and simple, in need of his worldly advice on how to behave and how to dress, how to conduct herself in English society and at the English court. He disparaged her in the eyes of the King...

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In the beginning, their relationship was so bad it's almost comical (not really, it's actually very tragic but, okay, it's kind of funny). Henrietta would insult Charles to his face, and at one point, she was so mad at him she punched out a window and began to shriek in French, until Charles had to pull her back inside. She would never listen to him, instead flouting his opinions and orders. He was growing more and more angry with Henrietta's defiance, and had asked her chamberlain to tell her that she had to stop this behaviour, it wasn't fitting for a Queen. Charles' indeed received his response, but he said he couldn't take it upon himself to write it down: "She, instead of acknowledging her fault, gave me so ill an answer that I omit the relation of that discourse..." She didn't want to be alone with him or anyone else at the English court, and refused to speak English. However, like we have both acknowledged, their relationship did mend after Buckingham was murdered.

Tommy Wentworth said:

Sorry Glad. I'm reading Clarendon's 'History or the Great Rebellion' as a pennance.
I bought a book in the The Salvation Army Yesterday that you would love....
The Early Stuarts! It's mine and you can't have it.

Bless you!

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Ah, Edward Hyde! I have so many mixed feelings on him. He did help with the Restoration but he was a bit of a jerk to his daughter, Anne... He threatened to kill her if she married the Duke of York in 1660. Joke's on you, Ed, she was already six months pregnant with his child at that point! Enjoy the book, and tell me how it goes.

You know nothing Glad. She wasn't six months pregnant she just had a very short pregnancy.
You wait 'til I forge the Charles and George Papers.
You gotta admit that he walked 'camp'. I've seen vintage footage of him before he was a king. THey used to call him 'Mince Charles'. The early Carolean films weren't a hit because they were done on parchment and candlelight wouldn't pass through them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(6th_century) not aristocrat, but in the line of the previous examples.





I would disqualified 95% of these nymphomaniac cases as slandering.