Wild Nuns, Heartbreaker Queen, Pope's Orgy: The Most Spicy Scandals of the Renaissance

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Although during the Renaissance there was no television or yellow press in Europe, scandals provided no less food for gossip and were discussed just as widely - from spicy curiosities from the life of townspeople to the antics of the mighty. Fresh news was transmitted orally, in letters or in illegally printed libels, and, although by the time it spread to every corner of Europe, it was no longer so fresh, it still caused a storm of emotions. Here are just a few scandals from the life of stars and ordinary townspeople of the era.

Very bad girls

At the very beginning of the sixteenth century, in the monastery of the town of Littlemore, during an inspection, an inconvenient fact was revealed: sexual orgies with young boys were held within its walls. As a matter of fact, Europe is already accustomed to this type of scandals, but this time the monastery was for women. In addition, it turned out that the abbess from under the floor was slowly selling the monastery property.

When three nuns were chained in stocks on the spot and locked in one of the cells, others, having previously strengthened their spirits with degree drinks, broke down the door, broke the stocks, set fire to the monastery and fled with the rescued. The ending of the story came out so original that they discussed this purely English news in half of the neighboring countries.

Another high-profile case involving a very bad girl happened half a century earlier in the German city of Speyer. First, it turned out that a certain visiting youth had managed to instruct a number of respectable townspeople with weighty horns. Secondly, it was also revealed that the youth was actually a youth - a girl named Katerina Hetzelförfer. In order to have sexual intercourse with respectable townspeople, Katerina made herself a tight penis made of wood, red leather and cotton.

The seduced as one assured that they did not understand that the penis was not real. Perhaps they were really embarrassed to look at him. However, it was not this fact that was most actively discussed in the city, but the fact that the penis was the size of a woman's hand, but none of those who accepted it suffered.

As a result, the unfaithful wives were sentenced to exile, which gave them a double reason to feel relief: firstly, they usually killed for same-sex relationships, and secondly, they did not have to stay where everyone around was making greasy jokes that swirled around the size. Katerina herself seems to have drowned herself, although there are people who believe that she threw herself into the river just in order to escape in this way (and succeeded). In any case, nowhere else did Katerina and her big little friend emerge.

Duke of Buckingham

Yes, yes, we are talking about that very Buckingham from the story of the blillant garters. He began his court career with a scandal: he became the lover of King James I. He liked the situation, first of all, because he could afford a lot - for example, starting a fight in the presence of the king, whipping a nobleman on the cheeks. The fight, however, did not go further than this, but in any case, according to English law, it had to be severely punished. But Buckingham, of course, was forgiven.

Although the favorite remained with his crowned lover until the latter's death from old age, many later said that he poisoned Jacob I in order to openly become the lover of his son, King Charles I. So or not, but it was with Buckingham that Charles went to Spain to negotiate about his wedding with the Spanish Infanta. However, Buckingham's defiant behavior, who again wanted to prove to everyone and to himself that he could do anything, thwarted the negotiations. Naturally, the rumor immediately spread that Buckingham had upset the wedding on purpose, out of jealousy.

The third spicy scandal around Buckingham is associated with the name of Anna of Austria. Yes, he really courted her, moreover, he did it shamelessly, demonstratively and obsessively - perhaps, all from the same desire to prove that he could even do that. It got to the point that, while walking in the garden after dinner with one noble person, the duke and queen who were talking, accidentally broke away from the others and went ahead, hiding from the eyes of the observers.

Almost immediately after that, Anna almost ran back, shaken, flushed and clearly frightened. Probably, the duke tried to go further, although it seemed much further than the attempt to publicly kiss the queen's shoes, undertaken by him earlier. Later, Dumas will give this story a much more romantic look.

Cardinal Richelieu and the bells

Another sex scandal involving Anne of Austria involves Cardinal Richelieu. In the Soviet film, there is only a slight hint of him: the cardinal in the form of a song recalls how he danced with the queen and confessed his love to her, and she refused him. In reality, the dance scene looked different.

Either Anna was really irresistible, or Richelieu, no less than Buckingham, loved to feel that he could do anything, but the cardinal began courting the young queen when it became noticeable that her husband did not show interest in her. Once Anna made it clear that she could respond to the feelings of the cardinal - but only if he danced alone with her the dance of her country, sarabanda, according to all customs.

Sarabanda was supposed to be danced with bells attached to clothes almost everywhere, including the codpiece. At the appointed hour, the cardinal came in a secular suit, put on bells and began to dance. He tried until he realized that the tapestries on the walls were shaking from the fact that observers were writhing with laughter behind them - Anna invited several young court ladies to share the wonderful spectacle (hoping at the same time with their help to be saved if the cardinal was inclined to too decisive gestures). From that time on, Richelieu literally hated Anna.

True, his heart did not remain free for long. Soon he made his own niece his mistress, that very Madame d'Aigillon from the verses in the film. But the propensity for incestuous relationships among the highest Catholic clergy at that time had already become such a talk of the town that the scandal did not come out too hot.

Caesar Borgia's chestnut banquet

The Borgia family in general constantly found itself in the center of various scandals, and the Chestnut Banquet is just one of many episodes that shocked contemporaries with their invention so much that, according to rumors, similar events were later organized by several more people in different countries.

The son of Pope Alexander VI (just like Richelieu, who was seen in incest), Caesar arranged a banquet for his closest friends (in the amount of several dozen) in one of the halls of the papal residence, known as the Apostolic Palace. Chestnuts were scattered on the floor around the tables, and fifty of Rome's most beautiful courtesans served as waitresses.

After dinner, Caesar held an auction. Clothes from girls were sold. The lots ran out pretty quickly, and after that Borgia suggested that the naked girls finally remove the chestnuts from the floor. The girls crawled across the floor on all fours, collecting chestnuts in baskets. The men immediately wanted to help them, and they too dropped to all fours.

According to the results of cleaning, the guests were given prizes for such achievements as the most impressive penis, the largest number of eruptions, a record for the number of girls who received assistance in cleaning, and the like.

However, the Renaissance was not a unique era in terms of fried news, if you remember, how English, Russian and Prussian imperial children shook Europe with love scandals.