Nell Gwyn
Nell Gwyn (* February 2, 1650 or 1651 probably in Hereford or London, † November 14, 1687 in London as Eleanour [also: Ellen Gwyn, Gwynn, Gwin, Gwynne]) was an actress and the most popular of the many mistresses in the English people of the English King Charles II . By Samuel Pepys was because of her wit and her sharp tongue and Pretty Witty Nell called.
Life
Childhood and youth
Nell was the second and youngest daughter of Thomas Gwyn and his wife Rose. Her older sister was born in 1648 and was named after her mother, Rose. After the father's death or disappearance, the children grew up in very poor circumstances in what is now London on Drury Lane . By 1655 Drury Lane was still in Middlesex and surrounded by farmland and wasteland.
Some biographies report that the father was a captain in the English army, was wounded in battle and died from it. Others claim he was arrested as a royalist after a fight and sentenced to prison. Still others speak of a traveling salesman with whom their mother got involved. Exact information can no longer be determined today.
Even Thomas Gwyn's paternity and existence has been questioned, especially by contemporary writers. The English playwright Sir George Etherege wrote the following two-line line about Nell's mother:
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In Drury Lane, as well as in Coal Yard Alley or Long Acre, there were almost exclusively brothels and pubs at that time, at the time also called bawdy-house (obscene house), so that contemporary sources call this area the “center of the Prostitution ”. Rose Gwyn was from this street and lived there with her two young daughters. One can assume that in addition to her work as a tapwoman at the Rose Tavern on Russell Street, Rose also worked as a prostitute . Nell's biographer Derek Parker writes that Nell probably worked as a child prostitute herself. According to Cunningham, Nell is said to have said about her childhood that she grew up in a brothel and sold strong drinks to gentlemen . The following statement about a bawdy-house should come from Nell himself:
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Her biographer Derek Parker thinks it likely that when the King's Theater was rebuilt, she knew that the nobles of the court were not only visiting the actresses out of interest in their acting talent. She is said to have become an actress in order to supplement her income and in the hope of finding a wealthy patron soon. But she got her first impressions of the theater as the "Orange Girl" : she sold fruit and sweets during the performances. To this end, she also transmitted messages between the viewers and the actresses and is said to have earned money later as a mediator and pimp.
actress
Whether Nell ever received proper acting lessons is doubtful, especially since she could neither write nor read and had to learn her lyrics through auditioners. Based on the fate of her sister, who was now a well-known prostitute, married a highwayman and was imprisoned for stolen goods, she would have guessed that the most advantageous and impressive way to present herself to the wealthier gentlemen in the boxes was by being on stage was standing.
Your first "protectors" were the actors John Lacy and Charles Hart. John Lacy started his stage career as a dancer and comedian. He was so successful that Charles II had three portraits made for himself. An anonymous biographer of Nell Gwyn (the book was published in 1752) reported that John Lacy had served in the same company as Nell's father (John Lacy actually served as a soldier) and that he therefore took care of his friend's daughter and promoted her. John Lacy taught Nell dance and the basics of acting. She became the mistress of both men, John Lacy and Charles Hart. Together with Charles Hart, Nell was the first to play a "gay couple" , a kind of comedic couple, at the Restoration Theater. Nell made his debut in The Indian Emperor when he was only fifteen . In 1664 she played the leading role in John Dryden's play Indian Queen. Nell was a quick success, and John Dryden dedicated four more plays to her, starring her: The Wild Gallant (1663), The Rival Ladies (1664), The Indian Emperor (1665) and Tyrannic Love (1669). Hart and Gwyn were a sensation and very successful as a couple on stage from day one. In the play All Mistaken by James Howard he played the role of Philidor, Nell that of Mirida. Shortly thereafter, both appeared in The Gay Monsieur and The Chances . Both were best known in the play Secret Love , the plot of which was based heavily on William Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing .
John Dryden is said to have quickly recognized Nell's repartee and talent for light, comedic roles. He literally wrote the roles for her in his plays. Through her success with the play Secret Love , other authors became aware of Nell and wrote plays or roles for her. Though comedy was her major, she played a role in William Killigrew's tragedy The Siege of Urbino in 1664/5 . Nell got along very well with her fellow actors, even the wives of her admirers, and was praised for her beauty and talent by Samuel Pepys.
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Mistress of the king
In July 1667, Nell first became the mistress of Lord Buckhurst, who placed her in his home in Epsom . Pepys reports on this relationship as follows:
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The relationship between the two lasted barely a month. In August Nell was back at the theater in the play The Indian Emperor .
The king and Nell probably did not meet until 1668, the year when the influence of his chief mistress Barbara Villiers slowly waned. Charles II had seen her in some of her roles in the theater before, but had never made close contact with her. When his childhood friend George Buckingham, 2nd Duke of Buckingham began to bring him new ladies in order to disempower his cousin and long-time mistress Barbara Villiers, her fellow actors Mall Davis and Jane Roberts, with whom the king liked to meet, were candidates alongside Nell . It is not known when the two met each other. Samuel Pepys noted in his diary on January 2, 1668: The King did send several times for Nelly, and she was with him (The King sent several times to Nelly and she was with him.) . As early as the spring of 1668, they seemed to know each other so well that they started dating. Here, too, she showed her cheeky joke by referring to two former lovers with the name Charles as " my Charles the Third" .
Between September 1668 and the spring of 1669, Charles and Nell spent a great deal of time together. When Henrietta Anne Stuart , the sister of the English King and Duchess of Orléans, came to London on a visit in 1670 , she even met Nell personally, and Nell received gifts from Minette , as Henrietta Anne was called by her brother. Although shortly thereafter Louise de Kérouaille , a young lady-in-waiting in the entourage of Henrietta Anne Stuart, also became a mistress of Charles II, Nell did not perform any scenes of jealousy. Unlike Barbara Villiers or Louise, Nell didn't insist on an apartment in Whitehall either .
Her intercourse with the king's other mistresses was low, and Nell condescended to mocking remarks or jokes. Especially when the behavior of the Duchess of Cleveland, Barbara Villiers, was once again too ostentatious and presumptuous, Nell made fun of exposing this very behavior to ridicule. Barbara is said to have ridden through London in a six-horse carriage. Nell rented a big car with a team of six oxen, put on a sloppy-looking dress, and drove past Barbara's house. Right in front of the house she cracked the whip and shouted “Whores to market”.
Nell was also very direct and blunt in her speech to the king. So when the King asked Nell to invite the Countess of Shrewsbury to a party which Nell gave in his honor, Nell is said to have replied:
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In public, Nell is said to have asked the king several times and very directly whether he would come to her in the evening or not.
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As might be expected, Nell never hoped in vain to see the king at night.
Nell obviously had no problem with the term "whore" or "hooker". She used this term often and gladly, also to make it clear that differences in class were unimportant to her. On one occasion when she had dinner with James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth , an illegitimate son of the king, and he referred to her as "ill-bred" (of minor origin and poor upbringing), she is said to be very self-conscious , alluding to the origin and life of his mother Lucy Walter , who, as Robert Sidney's lover, also called herself Mrs. Barlow, asked:
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On May 8, 1670, Nell gave birth to their first son, Charles II, who was named after his father Charles. In the meantime she had moved into a large and comfortable house in the then very popular suburb of Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. In 1671, shortly before she gave birth to Charles's second son, she moved into a more representative address: 79 Pall Mall.
Charles was careful about inviting Nell to Whitehall, and Nell never asked for such invitations. Her biographer Derek Parker writes that Nell had no desire to act like a lady she wasn't and that she preferred to meet the King in her own house in a far more informal atmosphere. Louise de Kérouaille, in contrast to her of noble descent and educated at court, moved into apartments in Whitehall in 1671 . Both women seldom met in Whitehall, but often at family reunions, because Charles loved throwing out trips and picnics with his children and mistresses. On one occasion, Louise is said to have congratulated Nell on her social rise by saying she was as rich as a queen. In reference to the bestowal of the title "Duchess of Portsmouth" to Louise through the birth of her first and only son with Charles, Nell is said to have responded
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Louise was known for her many alleged illnesses or suicide threats, which came into play whenever she felt she was losing the king's interest. Because of these emotional scenes, she was also called Squintabella by Nell .
When Louise's son, Charles Lennox , was made Duke of Richmond in 1675, things started to stir in Nell. Her two sons were previously not provided with titles and lands, unlike the other illegitimate children of the king. This is how she is said to have called her son with the following words when Charles visited her at her house
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When Charles reprimanded her not to insult the child with the label "bastard," Nell replied:
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In 1676 her firstborn was bestowed the titles of Baron Headington, Earl of Burford and Duke of St. Albans . Since Charles II provided titles and lands to all of his children, the poet Andrew Marvell rhymed the following poem:
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The very close relationship between the king and Nell lasted until 1677. One can assume that sexual relations gradually declined, giving way to deep friendship and sympathy. The King seemed to enjoy being with Nell very much and was happy to amuse himself with her witty ideas for walks, meetings, dinners, parties and picnics. On a fishing trip with the king, she is said to have stuck fried fish secretly bought on her line, so that the excursion would not be so boring and so that one would really have something to eat in case the fishing luck was not great.
Nell Gwyn continued to be very popular with the English people and was openly defended by the audience when attacked against her in a theater. Thomas Herbert, who later became the 8th Earl of Pembroke , is said to have drawn his sword to kill the attacker. When she drove through Oxford in her carriage in 1681, the people who took her to be another lover of the king, the Catholic Louise de Kérouaille, became furious against her. Nell stuck her head through the window and said:
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Another time she stopped her driver from fighting a man whom she had called a whore. She means:
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This typical expression made it extremely popular among the English people and has not been forgotten to this day.
End of life
Nell Gwyn was never ennobled for her "services to the king" or showered with fortune and jewelry, like Barbara Villiers or Louise de Kérouaille . The king gave her several houses and gave her an annual pension of £ 2,000. Knowing many nobles personally and being an enterprising person, she gave many dinner parties and celebrations or went out in her homes. Despite many offers, she never returned to the theater.
Nell never dared meddle in her lover's personal or political issues, as Louise and Barbara did. Derek Parker suspects a strong character resemblance between Charles II and Nell. Nell knew such discussions would only cause trouble and avoided these topics.
When her youngest son died in Paris in June 1681, Nell was very distressed and accused himself of being to blame for his death. She had sent him to Paris for upbringing and training for a year, accompanied by his tutor. James is said to have died of an "open leg," likely an infected wound after an accident.
The establishment of a hospital in Chelsea should have been suggested by her. There is no evidence that the idea of founding a hospital for former members of the army came from Nell, but it is attributed to her in many texts and biographies.
In July 1679, the English newspaper The Domestic Intelligence reported the death of Nell's mother Rose. Rose was a well-known alcoholic at the end of her life. During a night walk, she is said to have fallen into a stream, passed out and drowned. One day after her death, Nell arranged a lavish funeral for her mother, who had supported her financially throughout her life. Rose Gwyn was buried in St. Martin's Church.
When Nell learned of the king's serious illness at the beginning of February 1685 and wanted to see him, she was not admitted to his bed. His brother James, the upcoming King James II , let her know that she was not a member of the royal family. When Charles died on February 6, 1685, she was forbidden to show mourning or wear mourning clothes. Likewise, she was not allowed to attend the funeral service or his funeral.
After James was crowned king on April 23, 1685, Nell sent him a letter asking for a monthly pension, as Charles' contributions have now been suspended. James set her pension at £ 500, later at £ 1,500 a year, and paid some of her bills or took off her mortgages. In doing so, he complied with the wish his brother had made on his death bed. ( "Let not poor Nelly starve!" - "Don't let poor Nelly starve!" )
From the spring of 1687, Nell consulted Richard Lower , a recognized and well-known doctor, to be examined by him. There has been much speculation about her illness over the past few centuries, and nothing has been proven by sources except the cause of death. Her biographer Derek Parker writes that Richard Lower told her around mid-1687 that she was going to die. She then dictated her will and arranged her funeral. When she died on November 14, 1687, her son Charles was not with her. He fought against the Turkish invasion of the continent. Nell Gwyn died of a stroke at the age of only 37 .
Nell had arranged for himself a magnificent funeral that devoured the astronomical sum of £ 375 at the time. The future Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr. Tenison, held the funeral service. Like her mother, Nell was buried in St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Church (now St. Martin's) in what is now Trafalgar Square .
Nell Gwyn was to use the words of English playwright George Etherege to say
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children
With Charles II:
- Charles Beauclerc (1670-1726), was appointed Baron Heddington and Earl of Burford on December 21, 1676, and on January 5, 1685, Duke of St. Albans .
- James Beauclerc (1671-1681)
Voices of contemporaries: legend and myth
In 1883 the Bishop of Hereford gave his approval for a plaque of Nell Gwyn's birthplace to be placed on the outside of his garden wall. The place of the commemorative plaque is supposed to mark the place where her birthplace supposedly stood.
Film adaptations
- 1911: Nell Gwynn the Orange Girl
- 1914: Nell Gwynne
- 1926: Nell Gwynne
- 1934: Nell Gwyn
- 2003: Charles II. - The Power And The Passion
- 2004: Stage Beauty
Stage plays
- 2015: Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale, premiered in September 2015 at the Globe Theater , London, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw
literature
- Charles Beauclerk: Nell Gwynn: a biography . London 2005, ISBN 0-333-90471-0
- Charles Beauclerk: Nell Gwyn. Actress and lover of the king . Osburg Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-940731-10-4
- Derek Parker: Nell Gwyn . London 2000, ISBN 0-7509-1992-2
- Antonia Fraser: Charles II: his life and times . London 1993, ISBN 0-297-83221-2
- Peter Cunningham: The Story of Nell Gwyn and the Sayings of Charles the Second . 3rd edition, London 1927
- Eleanor Herman: Love in the Shadow of the Crown. The story of the royal mistresses . Fischer, Frankfurt / M. 2004, ISBN 3-596-15987-3
- Mary Hooper: The Extraordinary Life of Eliza Rose . Bloomsbury, 2006, ISBN 3-8270-5142-8
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ a b c d comp. Peter Cunningham: The Story of Nell Gwyn and the Sayings of Charles the Second . Introduction xxi.
- ↑ cf. Peter Cunningham: The Story of Nell Gwyn and the Sayings of Charles the Second . Introduction xxxviii.
- ↑ a b c Comp. Peter Cunningham: The Story of Nell Gwyn and the Sayings of Charles the Second . Introduction xxii
- ↑ a b cf. Catchpenny: Life of Eleanor Gwinn . published 1752
- ↑ cf. Derek Parker: Nell Gwyn . London 2000
- ↑ cf. Peter Cunningham: The Story of Nell Gwyn and the Sayings of Charles the Second . Introduction xxviii
- ↑ cf. Peter Cunningham: The Story of Nell Gwyn and the Sayings of Charles the Second . Introduction xxxix
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Gwyn, Nell |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gwyn, Eleanour (maiden name); Gwyn, Ellen; Gwynn, Nell; Gwin, Nell; Gwynne, Nell |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English actress and mistress of the English king Charles II. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 2, 1650 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | unsure: Hereford or London |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 14, 1687 |
| Place of death | London |