She is widely regarded as the first celebrity to emerge from a tabloid newspaper.
Franz Liszt, Alexandre Dumas, and King
Ludwig of Bavaria were among her admirers.
One of her young loves was assassinated
in a duel, while another was lost at sea.
Two of her three marriages were to Irish men, while the other two were bigamous.
She was arrested for repeatedly slapping, flogging, and kicking victims.
And was expelled from several European nations
for inciting political unrest.
She was a woman who celebrated the idea of freedom
via activities that outraged people worldwide.
Yet, She was considered one of the most outstanding women of her generation
as an actress, writer, educator,
and, more notably, a Spanish dancer.
We'll now look at the outrageous life of Lola Montez.
In reality, Lola Montez,
aka Eliza Gilbert, was of Irish ancestry.
Lola's mother, Elizabeth Gilbert, was born in 1821 in County Sligo.
But Elizabeth had big expectations for her daughter.
Her father, Edward Gilbert, sought advancement with the British army
at the urging of his wife, and they travelled to India as a family.
However, disaster was about to hit.
Gilbert died immediately upon their arrival in Calcutta.
Eliza then stated her mother had effectively abandoned her at this point,
resulting in a spirit of wildness she would never lose.
Early on, it became evident that mother and daughter did not get along,
and Eliza was eventually moved to England for boarding school at the age of nine.
Eliza Gilbert had a stubborn attitude that had developed
in Bath, the place made famous by Jane Austen.
Eliza, on the surface, seemed like an elegant and lovely child.
Still, it was impossible to look at her without feeling persuaded
she was made up of very problematic characteristics.
Her temper's and frustration frequently caused distress.
At the age of sixteen, her mother paid her a visit
with an offer Eliza would find difficult to refuse.
When her mother arrived from Calcutta,
she brought a great bustle of garments and expensive gifts.
Soon, though, it became clear that her mother intended her to marry
a wealthy and creaky jointed 60-year-old gentleman.
Eliza went mad and stormed in the wildest language of defiance,
vowing that she'll never be delivered into these gates of hell,
but her mother was immovable.
It was one of those family disputes in which the child is compelled
to go along with the plan or forever be told she would live to see
only unforgivable unhappiness and disaster.
Eliza sought assistance from her mother's friend, Lt.
James, an army officer on leave.
Eliza refers to this gentleman as her "mother's hero" in her memoirs.
It is likely that Eliza's mother and lieutenant James flirted,
but if he was interested in the mother, his attention appears
to have turned to the daughter.
And eventually, he convinced Eliza to elope,
and the couple vanished, ending up in Ireland.
As was the case
in Victorian society, the seduction of such a young girl caused an uproar;
Eliza just being 16 at the time.
However, a hurried marriage in Ireland was planned.
Eliza said, "My recommendation to any young females considering
such a step is to hang or drown themselves an hour before they begin.
As with runaway horses, runaway matches nearly always result in a smash-up."
It was a life she despised and not what she had anticipated.
Her dreams of glamour and entertainment never transpired; instead, she encountered
a rural Irish life devoid of thrills, and she immediately got restless.
Her husband became tiresome with Eliza's moods and took to drinking,
and some evidence points to the fact he may have slapped
his young wife from time to time.
Eliza's marriage to James did not last
despite a return trip to India with her spouse.
Confronted with her husband's brutality and infidelity and shunned by her
mother for bringing further dishonour to the family, Eliza fled to England.
However, other scandals accompanied her on her journey.
In Madras a handsome army commander named Lennox joined the crew,
and he and Eliza quickly began having an affair.
Not long after, Lennox abandoned Eliza, who was still under twenty.
Lt. James then filed for divorce.
With her reputation ruined and little prospect
of remarriage, Eliza found herself in a predicament.
In a society startled by her low-class behaviour,
she was essentially unemployable as a governess or lady's companion.
Eliza, ever inventive, formulated a plan.
She spent several months in Spain and returned as Lola Montez,
the Spanish Dancer.
Unfortunately, her debut in London was a fiasco,
as she was instantly exposed and investigated for fraud.
Without any means of income, she embarked on a tour of Europe,
where she targeted the aristocrats who had an affinity for attractive women.
Lola initially became associated with politics in Warsaw
when the Prince Viceroy fell madly in love with her.
This elderly gentleman was a funny sight
to behold, a man, in her words, "close to death
making love to a lady could not have been more repulsive or horrifying
but refusing him was not welcomed." She would eventually have to flee Warsaw.
Paris was her next stop;
she met Franz Liszt and Alexandre Dumas and fell in love with both.
At the time, Liszt was the talk of society.
Although famous, it's said Liszt permitted her to make love to him
and enjoyed himself without conviction with this risky lover.
But her old leanings soon returned;
she annoyed him during work hours enough to make him plan an escape from her.
After coordinating everything with the hotel porter,
he went without leaving an address, leaving behind Lola locked in his room.
His departure didn't finish this fiery lady, and she created
what can only be described as a frightful commotion for twelve hours,
smashing anything she could get her hands on.
Lola met her greatest love in Paris,
Charles Dujarier, a prominent financier and newspaper editor.
He educated her on liberal politics and quickly offered marriage.
However, while Dujarier was out having a drink one night,
he was challenged to a duel and killed.
Lola was grief-stricken and alone once more.
However, it wasn't long before Lola discovered that King Ludwig of Bavaria yet
another man 30 years her senior possessed a passion for foreign ladies.
She relocated to Munich.
Upon their first meeting, Lola is said to have ripped apart her bodice,
revealing what she was made of, and Ludwig was instantly smitten.
Whatever the facts, the Lola Montez-Ludwig scandal
was destined to have far-reaching political repercussions.
It wasn't long before Lola began to irritate the citizens
of Munich by publicising her affair with their aged ruler.
She went on to seduce a corps of student bodyguards
who shocked the conservative community by holding what were alleged to be orgies.
Ludwig's administration and the catholic
hierarchy resisted what they described as nonsense.
Ludwig said, "Lolita is bound to me by love, honour, and duty.
A plot has emerged to separate me from her, but it has only strengthened
my attachment to her." As word spread that Ludwig was spending
even more money on his mistress, clashes erupted.
The newspapers of the day loved it, and headlines were prominent.
A mob attempted to break down the door to Lola's residence.
There were now just as many guards at her home as at the King's.
After some demonstrators had left the area,
Lola appeared, making obscene gestures and throwing ice.
Word reached the King and, along with two uniformed soldiers,
went to her, only to find themselves under abuse from the rebels.
Again nothing would stop Ludwig, and his obsession with Lola grew.
He developed a penchant for her feet, requested intimate items
of clothing from her, yet he'd only slept with her twice.
Ludwig, was besotted, yet exacerbated his people's fury by elevating
Lola to the rank of a countess and providing her with a lifetime income.
Lola was shocked by the outpouring of rage,
and she said, "they might take my life but never my cause."
Ludwig, who was struck by a stone
on one occasion, said, "it's nothing, and it's nice to have suffered for you."
Following that, "I sobbed alone in my room while I spoke of you to my wife.
The universe cannot separate me from you."
Something had to change as the disturbances spiralled out of control.
He was advised to exile Lola.
but Losing face and Lola compelled him to make one of the most shocking
recommendations of his time.
Ludwig said, "My lovely Lola, to whom I am so dedicated,
I have voluntarily abdicated the throne in this hour without being asked.
I intend to travel
to Switzerland, to your arms and live with you for an extended time."
Although he had refused to believe stories that Lola had
taken youthful lovers while avoiding sleeping with him.
He was heartbroken when one of the students confessed.
He realised he had been betrayed and yet had given up his reign
for nothing more than a fantasy that never came to fruition.
Although Lola's romances landed her in the tabloids,
her connection with Ludwig elevated her to international celebrity status.
She wrote memoirs and vowed to divulge Ludwig's
love letters unless he continued to support her.
However, Ludwig drew the line
when Lola married a wealthy young British officer named Heald.
Shortly afterwards, Lola found herself imprisoned for bigamy.
Even though she was divorced
from James, the law stipulated that she could never remarry.
Lola's adventure
would continue this time in the United States, where P.T.
Barnum offered her a contract.
Without his assistance,
she toured the country in a production called 'Lola Montez in Bavaria'.
A celebrity with a story to tell would ultimately draw large audiences.
Lola then used the money gained from the shows to support a trip
to the California goldfields, where she met husband number
three, Patrick Purdy Hull, who was also a bigamist.
He, too, was a newspaper editor and an Irishman.
Yet again, it was short-lived.
Lola purchased gold claims in the Sierra Nevada within months
and was entertaining theatrical troupes on tour in Grass Valley.
But her wandering eyes soon connected with another man, an actor named Follan,
they decided to travel to Australia and take a theatre troupe.
But upon arrival down under, the quarrels and even whippings
ensued, but the worst was yet to come.
Her new man Follan was lost overboard on the way home,
and rumours spread that it occurred during an argument with Lola.
Lola arrived in New York, she was distraught and turned to religion.
She said, "for many years she had been guided by satan
and her sin obsessed nature." It was time to change!
She began fundraising for safe havens
for prostitutes and continued writing.
Then, in the late 1850s, she returned triumphantly to Ireland,
where she delivered a lecture at the Rotundo Rooms in Dublin.
The news of her Dublin
talk sparked an unprecedented level of curiosity.
The platform was frequently crowded with admirers,
leaving Madame Montez with just enough room to stand.
She was listened to with eager anticipation;
although catcalls were common, she still continued.
Eventually, Lola returned to New York; she had made
substantial amounts of money by this time, but this would be her final trip.
In the summer of 1860, Lola Montez suffered a stroke at the age of 39.
Little is known as to the symptoms which caused her death the following year,
and it has been documented that malaria, possibly
syphilis, could have contributed to her end.
Lola Montez died in January 1861.
Newspapers throughout the world carried the story.
Lola constructed her own myth, which has endured.
Stories about Lola will continue; she was the first woman
to write herself into history, more or less by sheer force of will.
Other women who have made significant contributions have done it
due to their birth, their nobility, their ascension to the throne,
or as queens.
Yet, Lola accomplished this solely through the power of her personality.