Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge

If history teachers included a book like "Sex with Kings" on their class reading lists, they'd probably be rewarded with a slew of overeager students! Eleanor Herman's book is basically a summary of the art of being a royal mistress. Many different illicit royal relationships are covered in the book, from King David and Bathsheba to Charles and Camilla. Rather than just compile a biography of famous mistresses in history, Herman dives into the specific qualities that made a mistress successful. In order to make a decent living as a royal mistresses, not only did women have to know how to please a king in bed, but they also had to orchestrate a lot of other maneuvers as well: provide intellectual conversation, riveting entertainment, indulgence in the king's boring hobbies and stories, etc. Additionally, a good mistress would figure out ways to "save for retirement." Since most mistresses would inevitably be tossed out on their rear ends when the king tired of them or a younger, prettier woman came along, it was imperative that royal mistresses secure their financial futures by keeping lots of cash on hand, acquiring land and titles, and having as many illegitimate children as possible. "Sex with Kings" is crammed with so many over-the-top stories that at first glance, this book could easily be mistaken as fiction. However, everything that is documented in the book actually happened and is backed up with Herman's meticulous research. I encourage everyone to read this book: history buffs will love it and non-history buffs will probably love it even more...who knew history could be so scandalous (and just plain naughty)?!

This is a breezy telling of the somewhat spotted history of royal mistresses, from King David & Bathsheba down to Prince Charles & Camilla. There's a rather light-hearted approach to the subject, but it does go into detail of the lives of the women who seduced, or were seduced by, various monarchs. Interwoven in the tale is much of European history, and a lot of diplomacy which was occasionally (mis)managed by politically ambitious mistresses. The ends of mistresses varied greatly, from death in childbirth, to dismissal with pensions or not, to long lives with their husbands, to early death from illness, to being murdered. The story of the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor is particularly interesting, for it puts a different slant on that affair than I had ever considered, and for that bit of information alone I consider the book well worth reading.

Eleanor Herman has done a marvelous job of researching European kings and their mistresses over the past half-millennia or so. And as an added bonus, Herman is a fine writer. There's nothing salacious in this history. Rather, it is a study of the various aspects of a royal mistresses' life. How they became the king's mistress; how they fended off rivals; the rewards and perils of being the king's wnore. All in all, Eleanor Herman makes this small aspect of history just plain delightful. One can hope she continues exploring lesser known aspects of European history. Jerry

Sort of embarrassed,I stood in line with my "Sex with Kings" book for all to see in the hands of this prim prime-timer, hoping the transaction would go quickly. Worried about the outside, I soon learned I had nothing to fear from the inside. "Sex with Kings" has no sexual details unless you consider one mention of a king's foot fettish sexy, but, oh is it rich with life details. I discovered amazingly interesting history from the Biblical mistress Bathsheba to today's Camilla Parker Bowes. Some main mistresses ruled both the kings and their kingdoms for years while some along with their children nearly starved. One mistress was so hated for marrying her prince that the king ordered assassins to rip her to shreads in her own garden. And, the author has an obsession with Madame Pompadour who appears throughout the book as if the icon for a king's mistress. One mistress went to war with her king. Most mistresses were constantly at war with those who would unseat them. Out in our Wild West one Bible studying Lola, King Ludwig's mistress who broke his heart, chased, caught and horsewhipped a man. Can you imagine what one former mistress lectured about in 1857 at 37 in America and Europe and was well paid for it and attracted crowds? Find out about the tossed aside mistress whose jealous and insane husband announced he was a tulip, planted his feet into the ground, and ordered his servants to water him, which they did. Learn the fates of the cast aside mistresses who went crawling back to their husbands. All of this intrigue, gossip, backbiting, sabbotage, murder, poisoning, potions, betrayal, espionage among mostly stinking, dirty, flea-infested, lice-covered people who rarely bathed, except one mistress who insisted on a bath at least three times each week and put up with the stench of her king, makes the book a hard-to-put-down read. The detailed life of a mistress: no peace, no rest, always at your best and subject to loss of royalty's attention at the drop of a petticoat. Yet, famous paintings of Agnes Sorel (Charles VII) grace some of the most famous museums in our time. I learned what country's mistresses were the most powerful and which were the least, in general. What mistress who married after she was let go by the king told her sons that they have to take it on the chin if people call them sons of a whore because they are, but told them never to allow anyone to call them bastards because they were legitimate, unlike the king's children she birthed. And wait until you hear about their financial rewards during and after their tour of bed duty, including the one who absconded with her booty and had it confiscated. Fascinating is the best word for this book.

As a student of history, I thought I knew everything there is to know about the personal lives of European royalty. Eleanor Herman is obviously a researcher and historian of great talents, because I learned more about the great royal courtesans from her book than I had discovered from any other single source. And here is the really great thing about this book: it's wildly entertaining! I wish more historians had such a sense of humor about their subjects--we'd all be more educated about the past. The author treats her subjects with great dignity and respect, yet never forgets that the mistresses were, at their core, entertainers themselves. This is a stylish and comprehensive romp through the bedrooms of kings that I enjoyed immensely and will recommend to everyone I know. SEX WITH KINGS is a breath of fresh air that blows the dust off of history shelves. BRAVA!