Royal mistress

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A royal mistress is the historical position and sometimes unofficial title of the extramarital lover of a monarch or an heir apparent, who was expected to provide certain services, such as sexual or romantic intimacy, companionship, and advice in return for security, titles, money, honours, and an influential place at the royal court. Thus, some royal mistresses have had considerable power, being the power behind the throne. The institution partly owes its prevalence to the fact that royal marriages used to be conducted solely on the basis of political and dynastic considerations, leaving little space for the monarch's personal preferences in the choice of a partner.

The title of royal mistress was never official, and most mistresses had an official reason to be at the court, such as being a lady-in-waiting or maid-of-honour to a female member of the royal family or a governess to the royal children. However, their real position was most often an open secret, and there was no real division between formal and informal political power in the early French court. From the 15th century onward and most importantly in France, chief mistresses gained a semi-official title (French: maîtresse-en-titre, literally "official mistress"), which came with its own assigned apartments in the palace. A chief mistress was also sometimes called a maîtresse déclarée, or "declared mistress". An unacknowledged, less important royal lover was known as a petite maîtresse ("little mistress").

In Europe, the children of mistresses were typically not included in the line of succession, except when secret marriages were alleged. They were however regularly given titles and high positions in the court or the army.

List of royal mistresses
List of French royal mistresses
List of Russian royal mistresses and lovers
List of Swedish royal mistresses

Austria
Margareta von Edelsheim (d.1522) and Anna von Helfenstein, mistresses of Maximilian I
Johanna van der Gheynst (1505-1541) and Barbara Blomberg (1527-1597), mistresses of Charles V
Kateřina Stradová (1568-1629), mistress of Rudolf II
Maria Wilhelmina von Neipperg (1738-1775), mistress of Francis I
Livia Raimondi, mistress of Leopold II
Katharina Schratt (1853–1940) and Anna Nahowski (1860-1930), mistresses of Franz Joseph I
Mizzi Kaspar (1864-1907) and Baroness Mary Vetsera (1871–1889), mistresses of Crown Prince Rudolf

Belgium
Caroline Bauer (1807–1877) and Arcadie Claret (1826–1897), mistresses of Leopold I
Caroline Lacroix (1883–1948), mistress of Leopold II
Sybille de Selys Longchamps (born 1941), mistress of Albert II

Denmark
Helena Guttormsdotter (fl. 1205), mistress of Valdemar II
Cecilia (d. aft. 1459), mistress and later wife of Eric of Pomerania
Edele Jernskjæg (d. 1512), mistress of John I
Dyveke Sigbritsdatter (1490-1517), mistress of Christian II
Karen Andersdatter (d. 1673), Vibeke Kruse (d. 1648) and Kirsten Madsdatter (d. 1629), mistresses of Christian IV
Anne Lykke (1595-1641), mistress of Crown Prince Christian
Margrethe Pape (1620-1684), mistress of Frederick III
Sophie Amalie Moth (1654–1719), mistress of Christian V
Charlotte Helene von Schindel (1690 - 1752), mistress of Frederick IV
Charlotte Amalie Winge (fl. 1766) and Else Hansen (1720-1784), mistresses of Frederick V
Støvlet-Cathrine (1745-1805), mistress of Christian VII
Frederikke Dannemand (1792-1862), mistress of Frederick VI
Louise Rasmussen (1815-1874), mistress and later wife of Frederick VII

Egypt
Bilistiche (b.280BCE), mistress of Ptolemy II Philadelphus
Agathoclea (247-202/3BCE), mistress of Ptolemy IV Philopator
Barbara Skelton (1918-1996), mistress of Farouk

Germany
Bianca Lancia (1210-1248), mistress and possible last wife of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Clara Elisabeth von Platen (1648-1700), mistress of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover
Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz (1675-1694), mistress of John George IV, Elector of Saxony
Wilhelmine Dorothee von der Marwitz (1718-1787), mistress of Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
Katharina Werner, mistress of Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden
Karoline Jagemann (1777-1848), mistress of Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Bavaria
Aleid van Poelgeest (1370-1392), mistress of Albert I, Duke of Bavaria
Agnes Le Louchier (1660-1717), mistress of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
Maria Caroline Charlotte von Ingenheim (1704-1749), mistress of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Josepha von Heydeck (1748-1771), mistress of Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
Diana Rabe von Pappenheim (1788-1844), mistress of Jérôme Bonaparte
Lola Montez (1821–1861), mistress of Ludwig I of Bavaria
Jane Digby (1807-1881), mistress of Ludwig I of Bavaria and his son Otto of Greece

Brunswick
Eva von Trott (1505-1567), mistress of Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Anna Rumschottel (fl.1528), mistress of Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Éléonore Desmier d'Olbreuse (1639 - 1722), mistress and later wife of George William, Duke of Brunswick
Maria Antonia Branconi (1746-1793), mistress of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick

Hesse
Barbara Christine von Bernhold (1690-1756), mistress of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Helena Martini (1728-1803), mistress of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Charlotte Christine Buissine (1749-1781), Rosa Dorothea Ritter (1759-1833), and Karoline von Schlotheim (1766-1847), mistresses of William I, Elector of Hesse

Prussia
Catharina von Wartenberg (1674-1734), mistress of Frederick I
Wilhelmine, Gräfin von Lichtenau (1753-1820), mistress of Frederick William II

Württemberg
Wilhelmine von Grävenitz (1684-1744), mistress and bigamous wife of Erbhard Louis
Countess Franziska von Hohenheim (1748-1811), mistress and wife of Charles Eugene

Italy
Rotruda of Pavia (d.945), mistress of Hugh of Italy
Isabella Boschetti (b.1502), mistress of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua
Claudia Colla (d.1611), mistress of Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma

Ferrara
Stella de' Tolomei (d.1419), mistress of Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara
Laura Dianti (d.1573), mistress of Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara

Milan
Agnese del Maino (1411-1465), mistress of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti
Giovanna d'Acquapendente, mistress of Duke Francesco I Sforza

Naples
Lucrezia d'Alagno (1430-1479), mistress of Alfonso V of Aragon
Trogia Gazzella (1460-1511), mistress of Alfonso II of Naples

Florence
Lucrezia Donati (1447-1501), mistress of Lorenzo de' Medici
Fioretta Gorini (1453-1478), mistress of Giuliano de' Medici
Taddea Malaspina (1505-1559), mistress of Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence
Bianca Cappello (1548-1587), mistress and later wife of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

Savoy
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes (1670-1736), mistress of Victor Amadeus II
Anna Canalis di Cumiana (1680-1769), mistress and later wife of Victor Amadeus II
Laura Bon (1825-1904), mistress of Victor Emmanuel II
Rosa Vercellana (1833–1885), mistress and later wife of Victor Emmanuel II
Eugenia Attendolo Bolognini (1837-1914), mistress of Umberto I of Italy

Norway
Tora Mosterstong, mistress of Harold Fairhair, mother of Haakon the Good
Borghild Olavsdotter (fl.1115), mistress of Sigurd the Crusader
Bjaðǫk, 12th cenutry mistress of Harald Gille, mother of Eystein II of Norway
Inga of Varteig (1183/5-1234/5), mistress of Haakon III, mother of Haakon IV

Poland
Sulisława (d.1294) mistress and later wife of Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania
Esterka mistress of Casimir III the Great. He married another mistress: Krystyna Rokiczana (d.1365)
Katarzyna Telniczanka (1480-1528), mistress of Sigismund I the Old
Barbara Radziwiłł (1520-1551), mistress and later wife of Sigismund II Augustus
Urszula Meyerin (1570-1635), mistress of Sigismund III Vasa
Jadwiga Łuszkowska (1616-1648) and Rozyna Małgorzata von Eckenberg (1625-1648), mistresses of Władysław IV Vasa
Marie Françoise Catherine de Beauvau-Craon (1711-1786), mistress of Stanisław Leszczyński
Magdalena Agnieszka Sapieżyna (1739-1790) mistress, and Elżbieta Szydłowska (1748-1810), possible wife of Stanisław August Poniatowski

Augustus II the Strong
1694–1696 Countess Maria Aurora von Königsmarck
1696–1699 Countess Anna Aloysia Maximiliane von Lamberg
1698–1704 Ursula Katharina of Altenbockum, later Princess of Teschen
1701–1706 Maria Aurora von Spiegel
1704–1713 Anna Constantia von Brockdorff, later Countess of Cosel
1706–1707 Henriette Rénard
1708 Angélique Debargues, French dancer and actress
1713–1719 Maria Magdalena of Bielinski, Countess of Dönhoff then Princess Lubomirska
1720–1721 Erdmuthe Sophie of Dieskau and of Loß
1721–1722 Baroness Kristiane of Osterhausen and of Stanisławski

Portugal
Madragana (b.1230), mistress of Afonso III
Inês de Castro (1325-1355), mistress and later wife of Peter I
Teresa Lourenço (b.1330), mistress of Peter I, mother of John I
Inês Peres, mistress of John I
Maria Soares da Cunha, mistress of Alfonso V
Brites Anes (b.1460) and Ana de Mendonça (1460-1542), mistresses of John II
Francisca Clara da Silva and Maria da Cruz Mascarenhas, mistresses of Peter II
Paula de Odivelas (1701-1768) and Luísa Clara de Portugal (1702-1779), mistresses of John V
Domitila de Castro, Marchioness of Santos (1797-1867), mistress of Pedro I of Brazil
Gaby Deslys (1881-1920), mistress of Manuel II

Romania
Doamna Velica (fl. 1601), mistress of Michael the Brave
Marițica Bibescu (1815-1869), mistress and later wife of Gheorghe Bibescu, Prince of Wallachia
Doamna Velica (1831-1876/9), mistress of Alexandru Ioan Cuza
Elena Văcărescu, mistress of Ferdinand I
Magda Lupescu (1899–1977), mistress and later wife of Carol II.

Spain
Aldonza Ruiz de Ivorra (1454-1513), mistress of Ferdinand II of Aragon
Isabel Osorio (1522–1589) and Eufrasia de Guzmán (fl.1592), mistresses of Philip II
María Calderón (1605-1678) and María Manrique, mistresses of Philip IV
María del Pilar Acedo y Sarriá (1784-1869), mistress of Joseph Bonaparte
Elena Sanz (1844-1898), mistress of Alfonso XII
Carmen Ruiz Moragas (1898-1936), mistress of Alfonso XIII
Bárbara Rey (b.1950) and Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (.1964) mistress of Juan Carlos I

Castile and León
Jimena Muñoz (d.1128), mistress of Alfonso VI of León and Castile
Gontrodo Pérez (1105-1186), mistress of Alfonso VII of León and Castile
Rahel la Fermosa (1165-1195), mistress of Alfonso VIII of Castile
Urraca López de Haro (1160-1230), mistress and later wife of Ferdinand II of León
Aldonza Martínez de Silva (d.1236), mistress of Alfonso IX of León
Mayor Guillén de Guzmán (1205–1262), mistress of Alfonso X of Castile
Eleanor de Guzmán (1310-1351), mistress of Alfonso XI of Castile
María de Padilla (1334-1361), mistress and posthumous wife of Peter of Castile

United Kingdom

Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, mistress of George I
Henrietta Howard, mistress of George II
Dorothea Jordan, mistress of William IV before his marriage and ascension
Freda Dudley Ward and Thelma, Viscountess Furness, mistresses of Edward VIII
Camilla Parker Bowles, mistress and later wife of Charles III

George IV
Maria Fitzherbert
Mary Robinson
Frances Twysden
Grace Elliott
Isabella Seymour-Conway, Marchioness of Hertford
Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham

Edward VII
Hortense Schneider
Giulia Barucci
Susan Pelham-Clinton
Lillie Langtry
Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick
Agnes Keyser
Alice Keppel

Other Countries

Eudokia Angelina (1173-1211), mistress and later Empress of Alexios V Doukas of Byzantium.
Agnes of Kuenring (circa 1236 – flourished 1261), mistress of Ottokar II of Bohemia
Barbara Edelpöck (d. 1495), mistress of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
Angelitha Wass (d. aft. 1521), mistress of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia
Marietta de Patras (d.1503), mistress of John II of Cyprus
Fotini Mavromichali (1826-1878), mistress of Otto of Greece
Émilie Ambre (1849–1898), mistress of William III of the Netherlands
Katarina Konstantinović (1848-1910), mistress of her cousin Mihailo Obrenović, Prince of Serbia
Draga Mašin (1867-1903), mistress and later wife of Alexander I of Serbia
Marie Juliette Louvet (1867-1930), mistress of Louis II of Monaco