WHO WAS THAT FIERY SPANISH DANCER? by Kathleen Bittner Roth

Welcome back to History Undressed our regular first Tuesday blogger, Kathleen Bittner Roth! Today she's written a fascinating post for us about a Spanish dancer. Enjoy!

Lola Montez

WHO WAS THAT FIERY SPANISH DANCER?

by Kathleen Bittner Roth

While writing Celine, book one in my When Hearts Dare series, I had a scene where the hero and heroine clashed over another woman. The woman couldn’t be anyone they knew. I wanted someone who stood out above all others and thought nothing of brazenly making a play for the hero. The name Lola Montez popped into my mind. I vaguely recalled the name and thought she was some kind of famous Spanish dancer (I was right). I had no idea if she’d ever been to America, let alone New Orleans, or if she’d even lived during the time period of my story (1853). Since I was writing a first draft, I figured I would do the research later and find the right woman to fit my story. To my utter surprise, not only had Lola Montez toured America, she’d passed through New Orleans one time only—the very month and year I had written her into my story! 

Lola as a dancer

So who was this mysterious lady that caused so much trouble between my hero, heroine, and the hero’s cousin? It didn’t take long into research to learn that this Spanish dancer was no more Spanish than was the Queen of England.

Lola Montez was a stage name for Maria Eliza Gilbert, the Countess of Landsfeld! 

How did this woman, born in Ireland in 1821, become an exotic dancer and courtesan? And titled?

Lola, or Eliza, as they called her in her youth, was barely two-years-old when her father, an army ensign, was dispatched to India and took his family along. He died of cholera shortly thereafter. Lola’s mother quickly remarried. Lola’s stepfather adored her, spoiled her, and let her run wild in the streets of India. She became such a handful, she was sent to her stepfather’s family in Scotland, but they couldn’t control the wild little girl from India, so they sent her to an Aunt in England. Hot tempered, uninhibited Lola was soon sent to a private boarding school.

At sixteen, Lola eloped and ended up back in India, where, five years later, the couple separated. That’s when Mrs. Eliza James changed her name to Lola Montez and became a popular Spanish dancer. Unfortunately, she was recognized and a scandal ensued which prevented her from returning to England.

Scandal wasn’t about to stop this feisty woman now known for her beauty and quick temper. She departed Calcutta for the Continent where she became a courtesan. In Paris, she met and had an affair with the famous Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt, who introduced her to not only a Bohemian life but to other men, one of which was Alexandre Dumas with whom she carried on a torrid affair while still the mistress of a high-profile newspaper man. When he died, Lola left Paris for Munich.

Not long after, Lola became the mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. He was so smitten with her that he gave her the title Countess of Landsfeld, and granted her a large annuity, much to the chagrin of the King’s people. From 1846 to 1848, Lola seemed to be the power behind the throne until the King abdicated and Lola fled Bavaria for England.

Once again, she married, but the terms of her divorce from her first husband did not allow remarriage so the newlyweds left England for Spain where her husband allegedly drowned. Alone, Lola sailed to the U.S. where she became popular as a dancer and actress from 1851 to 1853, exactly when I needed her for my story! That year, Lola Montez left the U.S. to perform in Australia, where she married yet again, only to be divorced yet again. Finally, she returned to the U.S. where she passed away at age thirty-nine in Brooklyn, New York in 1861.

Lola

If you’re a writer of historical romance reading this account of a scandalous Lola Montez, don’t let anyone tell you that ladies of that era would not do or act in certain ways. Throughout history there were always those who defied society’s rules and danced to their own tune. Lola Montez, Countess Landsfeld was one of those women.

Kathleen Bittner Roth thrives on creating passionate stories featuring characters who are forced to draw on their strength of spirit to overcome adversity and find unending love. Her own fairy tale wedding in a Scottish castle led her to her current residence in Budapest, Hungary, considered one of Europe’s most romantic cities. However, she still keeps one boot firmly in Texas and the other in her home state of Minnesota. A member of Romance Writers of America®, she was a finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart® contest. Find Kathleen on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest and www.kathleenbittnerroth.com.

 

Check out Kathleen's list of books on Amazon!

Guest Author, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon on the Scandolous Lola Montez in California

Today I am excited to welcome guest author Elizabeth Kerri Mahon to History Undressed!  Many of you know and are fans of Elizabeth's blog, Scandalous Women. She is a brilliant researcher and writer, never ceasing to fascinate! (and now there's a book!!!) Today she is going to scandalize us with the story of Lola Montez in California... Take it away, Elizabeth...

*****



What on earth made one of the world's most glamorous women, used to the bright lights of London, Paris and New York, bury herself in the middle of nowhere? That was the question that was on everyone's lips when Lola Montez temporarily retired from the stage and settled down in a single-storey white cottage in Grass Valley, CA. By 1853, Lola Montez was one of the most famous women in the world, better known for her love affairs with Franz Liszt and King Ludwig of Bavaria than her dancing. She had even managed to conquer the fickle audiences of Broadway with her acting. But even a living legend needs to kick back her heels and just rest for awhile. It wasn't just R&R she was seeking, she was also nursing a broken heart. She had impulsively married San Francisco newspaperman by the name of Patrick Tull six weeks after her arrival in the city. Irish born like Lola, he was good-looking but rough around the edges and he'd won her heart with his gift of the blarney. It was her third marriage, although bigamous since her first husband was still alive. Two months later, Lola had kicked him out, tired of him sponging off her.

Lola's new home was certainly no metropolis, but it was the 6th largest town in California, with a population of 3,000, most of them men who worked the nearby quartz mine. The town had a theater of sorts, on the 2nd floor of the Alta Saloon, a school, church, hotels, a sewing circle and even a Grass Valley Literary Society. The residents were excited by the prospect of having a celebrity in their midst, a real life Countess, even if she had earned her title in a scandalous manner. Even before she had placed a dainty foot in town, a hill had been named after her. For once Lola was at peace, living a Martha Stewart like existence, planting a cactus garden, decorating her house from top to bottom, making friends instead of enemies. Lola loved animals and kept a pet bear named Major who she took for walks until he bit the dainty hand that fed him. She also kept a menagerie of dogs, cats, birds, a turkey, a pig, a pony as wells as goats and sheep

Everything she did made news in the small town. There was the incident where she took a horsewhip to Henry Shipley, the hard drinking editor of The Grass Valley Telegraph while he was having his morning libation at the Golden Gate Saloon, all because she had taken offense to something he written in an editorial savaging the literary efforts of Queen Christina of Spain. "There is such a Lola Montez-like insolence and barefaced hypocrisy in her lines that the ex-King Ludwig of Bavaria might be delightfully mystified by them." Them was fighting words to Lola. Shipley soon left town to work for another paper.

Of course Lola, being Lola, she wasn't alone for long. She entertained numerous male friends including passing players at her Wednesday night salon, offering brandy and cigars. Guests were expected to sing for their supper, singing songs, performing monologues, playing games. Occasionally Lola would even dance. Nobody knows precisely how many lovers she took to her bed in Grass Valley but there were at least two whose names have come down to us. But Lola also had an altruistic side that is rarely written about. In her fifteen months in Grass Valley, she threw a Christmas party for the local children. They called her Madame Lola, and there are many stories of helping injured miners and riding over the hills to be with sick children whose parents couldn't afford a babysitter.

It was a financial crisis that made Lola give up her idyll in the Valley. She needed to make money and a tour of Australia seemed just the ticket to fill her empty coffers. A woman like Lola could stay away only so long from the bright lights of the stage. Australia would bring her new adventures and a new love in actor Ned Follin. She was well-liked by the townspeople for her many acts of kindness and generosity. Montez was remembered fondly long after she left which was not always the case with tempestuous Lola.

*****

Elizabeth Kerri Mahon is a professional actress and amateur history geek. Her blog Scandalous Women (scandalouswoman.blogspot.com) was named one of the 50 Top History Blogs by Zen College Life. And the book SCANDALOUS WOMAN was the non-fic pick of the month in April's RT Book Review. A native New Yorker, she still calls Manhattan home.