Theresa Berkley

Theresa Berkley , also Berkeley , († September 1836 ) was an English brothel owner who specialized in flagellantism and sadomasochism and a well-known London dominatrix of the 19th century . She is credited with inventing the so-called Berkley Horse , an apparatus for erotic flagellation.

Flagellantism in the 19th century

One of the first works on flagellantism appeared in 1718 under the name The Benefit of Striking - A Treatise on the Use of Whips in Medicine . With the publication of the book flagellation was also Europe as a sexual variety known the French described the erotic flagellation as le vice anglais , the English sin, an expression of the centuries both the flagellation and for the Corporal Punishment (Engl. Corporal punishment , cf. . Discipline , another type of often associated with strokes erotic role-playing game ) was used.

England has long been considered the home of flagellantism, for example BJ Hurwood writes in The Golden Age of Erotica : “Perhaps it is the cold climate that originally made the English want to be beaten. Nowhere in the world do you find such a deep affection for the rod ” . A book on sexual life in England written by I. Bloch states: “Flagellation mania (the desire to be hit and to be hit) and the preference for the use of the rod can be described as typically English abuse; it was so prevalent among all ages and classes that it was one of the most interesting features of their sexual life. "

Mistress Theresa Berkley

There were a number of high-class brothels in the 19th century, one of the best known was the one at 28 Charlotte Street, Portland Place (now Hallam Street near Marylebone), London, operated by Theresa Berkley. She was a so-called governess (corresponds to today's term domina), she was, for example, specialized in sexual practices such as chastity , needling and flagellation and was referred to as the "queen of her profession", as an experienced user with various instruments of punishment and a master of the infliction of and that Dealing with pleasure pain . Ashbee describes her instruments: “Her instruments of torture were more numerous than those of any other governess. Their supply of birch rods was abundant, kept in water and therefore always fresh and pliable. She had quivers with dozens of whips in each of them; a dozen different sized nine-tailed cats , some with needle-sharp tips; many different canes ... " . Because of this, and because of their absolute discretion towards their clients, their talents have been in great demand by the contemporary aristocracy . It was claimed that her clientele included both rich men and women, but her career has been extremely lucrative.

There is no pictorial representation of Theresa Berkley, only some descriptions suggest that she was attractive and rather bold. Although she is often referred to in sources as Mistress or Misses Berkley, it is unclear whether she was actually married or whether these names result from her status as Dominatrix or Governess. Hurwood said of her in “The Golden Age of Erotica” about her “She had the most important quality a courtesan can possess: lust, without which a woman cannot permanently show her positive attitude towards lust, and one will soon see that she only moves her hands or her buttocks to the sound of pounds, shillings and pence. "

Berkley died in London in 1836, leaving all her belongings to her brother, who had worked as a missionary in Australia from around 1800. After learning where his sister's wealth came from, he rejected the inheritance and promptly returned to Australia. The inheritance fell to Berkley's family doctor, Dr. Vance, who refused to manage the inheritance, subsequently went to the Crown; only Berkley's correspondence kept Dr. Vance, allegedly boxes full of letters that she had exchanged with the highest nobility and that were later likely destroyed.

The Berkley Horse

Berkley Horse

She is credited with inventing a unique whipping bench in 1828, the so-called Berkley Horse or Chevalet ( French for easel, frame), which made her a fortune by whipping wealthy men and women and the first in history Represents flogging apparatus. Whether someone designed this device for Theresa Berkley, or whether she had the idea for this horse herself and simply had it built by an external craftsman, is unknown - most of the sources assume an invention by Berkley herself.

Ashbee describes the whipping bench based on Berkley's memoirs: it can be opened to a considerable extent so that the body can be brought into any desired angle. There is an illustration in Mrs. Berkley's memoir that shows an almost naked man on it. A woman sits in a chair directly below, bare bum, stomach and pubis, who pleases the man with her hand while Mrs. Berkley works his back with birch rods. "

From the beating bench shown, it is not clear why it is called a horse. But beating benches in the form of stylized horses are also known as Berkley Horses, on which the victims are tied.

Apparently the horse was given to the Royal Society of Arts in London after Berkley's death , but the whereabouts of the equipment are unknown. Even after more than 100 years, the horse is occasionally mentioned in fictional sadomasochistic-erotic literature , for example in Pauline the Prima Donna from 2004.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ John Henry Meibomius: The Use of Flogging . 1718
2. ↑ Article on flogging ( Memento of the original from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) 
3. ↑ Bernhardt J. Hurwood: The Golden Age of Erotica . Sherbourne Press, 1965. Quotation: “Perhaps it was the cold climate which originally aroused in Englishmen a desire for whipping. Nowhere in the world do we find such a deep affection for the rod. "
4. ↑ cf. Ivan Bloch, literature list
5. ^ ^{A b} Autumn Stanley: Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology , Rutgers University Press, 1995, pp. 585/586. ISBN 0-8135-2197-1
6. ↑ Pisanus Fraxi ( Henry Spencer Ashbee ): Centuria Librorum Abscondidorum , 1879, p 445
7. ↑ Ashbee, full paragraph: “Her instruments of torture were more numerous than those of any other governess. Her supply of birch was extensive, and kept in water, so that it was always green and pliant: she had shafts with a dozen whip thongs on each of them; a dozen different sizes of cat-o'-nine-tails, some with needle points worked into them; various kinds of thin bending canes; leather straps like coach traces; battledoors, made of thick sole-leather, with inch nails run through to docket, and currycomb tough hides rendered callous by many years flagellation. Holly brushes, fart brushes; a prickly evergreen, called butcher's bush; and during the summer, a glass and China vases, filled with a constant supply of green nettles, with which she often restored the dead to life. Thus, at her shop, whoever went with plenty of money, could be birched, whipped, fustigated, scourged, needle-pricked, half-hung, holly-brushed, furze-brushed, butcher-brushed, stinging-nettled, curry-combed , phletbotomized, and tortured till he had a belly full. "
8. ↑ Bernhardt J. Hurwood: The Golden Age of Erotica , Sherbourne Press, 1965. ( Excerpt ( Memento of the original from July 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. , English) 
9. ↑ The Flagellation Sourcesheet: The Flogging Whores of Old London ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ^ GL Simons: The Illustrated Book of Sexual Records . Putnam Pub Group, 1983. ISBN 0-933328-63-X
11. ^ Åke E. Andersson, Nils-Eric Sahlin: The Complexity of Creativity . Springer, 1997, p. 59. ISBN 0-7923-4346-8
12. ↑ Ashbee, full paragraph: “It is capable of being opened to a considerable extent, so as to bring the body to any angle that might be desirable. There is a print in Mrs Berkley's memoirs, representing a man upon it quite naked. A woman is sitting in a chair exactly under it, with her bosom, belly, and bush exposed: she is manualizing his embolon, whilst Mrs Berkley is birching his posteriors. "
13. ↑ For the Berkeley Horse, the alternative name Chevalet (easel) is much more appropriate. This inclined “mattress” bears no resemblance to a horse, e.g. B. with a trestle with a horse head in front. It is therefore surprising where the name “horse” comes from. The illustration of a horse-like buck does not come from the classic Berkley literature.
14. ↑ Ashbee: "When the new flogging machine was invented, the designer told her it would bring her into notice, and go by her name after her death;" and it did cause her to be talked of, and brought her a great deal of business. She died in September, 1836, having funded ten thousand pounds during the eight years she had been a governess. The original horse is among the models of the Society of Arts at the Adelphi, and was presented by Doctor Vance, her executor. "
15. ^ Anonymous: Pauline the Prima Donna , Blackmask Online, 2004, p. 102. ISBN 1-59654-133-4

literature

• Ivan Bloch: Sexual Life in England Past and Present . Oracle Publishing Ltd, 1996. ISBN 1-86196-003-4

Web links

• Data strike - paper tiger: Berkley Horse
• The Flagellation Source Sheet: The Flogging Whores of Old London (English)