Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland

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Sir Peter Lely : Lady Barbara Villiers

Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland (November 1640 - October 9, 1709 ; married Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine) was next to Nell Gwyn the most famous of the numerous mistresses of the English King Charles II.

Life

Barbara Villiers was the only child of William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison and the wealthy heiress Mary Bayning. When her father died of a war wound in 1643, he left his wife and daughter in poor conditions. She was considered an outspoken beauty, but due to lack of dowry she was not a good match. Her first love when she was fifteen for Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield , failed because of it.

On April 14, 1659, against the wishes of his family, she married Roger Palmer , a diplomat and mathematics scholar. In 1660 she became the lover of Charles II while he was still living in exile in Holland . Five of their six children were officially recognized by King Charles II, but not legitimized to succeed to the throne. It is believed that none of her children came from her husband.

Charles II raised Roger Palmer to Baron of Limerick and Earl of Castlemain in 1661 , a title that was primarily used to care for his mistresses and their children. The title was inherited by Roger Palmer was not expressly given to the children Barbara Palmer "[...] children gotten on Barbara Palmer, wife now." . In 1661 she gave birth to the first of five children with Charles II, Anne Palmer. In 1662 she separated from her husband after the birth of their first son.

Barbara Palmer's beauty was often described and praised by Samuel Pepys . Sir Peter Lely painted several portraits of her. Lely was so smitten with her that he saw, according to Pepys unable to retain their beauty in pictures "[...] it was beyond the compass of art to give {ago} ago due as to her sweetness and exquisite beauty." ( Samuel Pepys, Diary).

John Michael Wright : Lady Barbara Villiers, oil on canvas, 1670

However, in Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon , the king's adviser, she had an archenemy who disliked her position as the queen's maid . The relationship with the queen, who remained childless and had to accept her as the official mistress, was also very tense. 1662 came the so-called Bedchamber Crisis , in which Barbara Palmer was even able to prevail against the wishes of the English Queen. In the same year she obtained the dismissal of a lady-in-waiting of the queen because she had dared to quarrel with her. Until 1662 she apparently had more influence at the English court than the queen.

Because of her notorious outbursts of temperament, with which she also demanded the legitimation of her illegitimate children from the king, her influence on the king and at the English court continued to decline from 1670. In 1670 Charles II appointed her Baroness Nonsuch , Countess of Southampton and Duchess of Cleveland . When the king turned more to other mistresses, such as Nell Gwyn or Louise de Kérouaille , she also turned to new lovers, such as the tightrope walker Jacob Hall and her cousin John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough , whom she received partly with money from the king endured. In 1673 she lost her position as Lady of the Queen's Bedchamber under the Test Act . The Test Act also banned Catholics from working in court or in royal apartments. In 1676 she traveled to Paris with her four youngest children . Her husband died in 1705 and she married Major-General Robert Fielding, whom she later reported for bigamy . In 1709 she died of dropsy .

progeny

From the mutual relationship with King Charles II:

literature

  • Derek Parker: Nell Gwyn Sutton Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 0-7509-1992-2 , biography in English, from page 60 ff. Partly very detailed information about Barbara Villiers and her life
  • Antonia Fraser: Charles II Phoenix mass market, December 2004, ISBN 0-7538-1403-X
  • Allen Andrews: The Royal Whore, Barbara Villiers, Countess Castlemaine , Hutchinson, London 1971, ISBN 0-09-107040-6
  • Eleanor Herman: Love in the Shadow of the Crown. The story of the royal mistresses , Fischer, Frankfurt / M. 2004, ISBN 3-596-15987-3

See also

personal data
SURNAME Villiers, Barbara, 1st Duchess of Cleveland
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Palmer, Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English noblewoman, mistress of Charles II.
DATE OF BIRTH November 1640
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1709