Editing Lola Montez (section)

===Life as a courtesan===
[[File:Joseph Karl Stieler - Lola Montez.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|''[[Portrait of Lola Montez]]'' (1847), painted by [[Joseph Karl Stieler]] for [[Ludwig I of Bavaria]] and his ''[[Schönheitengalerie]]''}}]]
[[File:C Buchner - Lola Montez (Guache 1847 PhS115).jpg|thumb|Lola Montez ([[Gouache]] by {{ill|Carl Buchner|de}}, 1847)]]

In 1844, Eliza, now known as Lola Montez, made a personally disappointing Parisian stage debut as a dancer in [[Fromental Halévy]]'s opera ''[[Le lazzarone]]''. She met and had an affair with [[Franz Liszt]], who introduced her to the circle of [[George Sand]]. After performing in various European capitals, she settled in [[Paris]], where she was accepted into the city's [[Bohemianism|literary bohemia]], becoming acquainted with [[Alexandre Dumas père|Alexandre Dumas]], with whom she was also rumoured to have had a dalliance. In Paris she would meet {{ill|Alexandre Dujarrier|fr}}, "owner of the newspaper with the highest circulation in France, and also the newspaper's drama critic". Through their romance, Montez revitalised her career as a dancer. Later on, after the two had their first quarrel over Lola's attendance at a party, Dujarrier attended the party and, in a drunken state, offended {{ill|Jean-Baptiste Rosemond de Beauvallon|fr}}. When Dujarrier was challenged to a duel by de Beauvallon, Dujarrier was shot and killed.<ref name="48LawsPower77">{{cite book|last=Greene|first=Robert|title=The 48 Laws of Power|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2000|page=77|isbn=978-0-14-028019-7}}</ref>

In 1846, she arrived in [[Munich]], where she was discovered by and became the mistress of King [[Ludwig I of Bavaria]].<ref name="48LawsPower77"/> There was a rumour that when they first met, Ludwig asked her in public if her breasts were real. Her response to the question was to tear off enough of her garments to prove that they were.<ref>BBC - Woman's Hour - January 2007</ref><ref>James Morton, ''Lola Montez - Her Life and Conquests'' (2007)</ref> She soon began to use her influence on the king and this, coupled with her arrogant manner and outbursts of temper, made her extremely unpopular with the [[Bavarian people]] (particularly after documents were made public showing that she was hoping to become a naturalised Bavarian subject and be elevated to [[German nobility|nobility]]). Despite opposition, Ludwig made her Countess of Landsfeld and Baroness of Rosenthal on his next birthday, 25 August 1847, and along with her title, he granted her a large annuity.<ref name=amer>{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Montez, Lola|year=1920}}</ref><ref name=colliers>{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Montez, Lola}}</ref><ref>[https://pfaffs.web.lehigh.edu/node/54272 The Vault at Pfaff's.- An Archive of Art and Literature by the Bohemians of Antebellum New York]</ref>

For more than a year, she exercised great political power, which she directed in favour of [[liberalism]], [[anti-Catholicism]], and in attacks against the [[Jesuits]].<ref name="amer"/><ref name="colliers"/> Her ability to manipulate the king was so great that the Minister of State, [[Karl von Abel]], was dismissed because he and his entire cabinet had objected to Lola being granted Bavarian nationality and the title of countess. The students at [[Munich University]] were divided in their sympathies, and conflicts arose shortly before the outbreak of the [[revolutions of 1848]], which led the king, at Lola's insistence, to close the university.<ref name=amcyc>{{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Lola Montez}}</ref>

In March 1848, under pressure from a growing revolutionary movement, the university was re-opened, Ludwig abdicated in favor of his son, King [[Maximilian II of Bavaria|Maximilian II]], and Montez fled Bavaria, ending her career as a power behind the throne.<ref name="eireann"/><ref name=amcyc/> It seems likely that Ludwig's relationship with Montez contributed greatly to his forced abdication despite his previous popularity.<ref name="48LawsPower78">{{cite book|last=Greene| first=Robert|title=The 48 Laws of Power|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2000|page=78|isbn= 978-0-14-028019-7}}</ref>

After a sojourn in [[Switzerland]], where she waited in vain for Ludwig to join her, Lola made one brief excursion to France and then removed to London in late 1848. There she met and quickly married George Trafford Heald, a young army [[Cornet (military rank)|cornet]] (cavalry officer) with a recent inheritance.<ref name="48LawsPower78"/> But the terms of her divorce from Thomas James did not permit either spouse's remarriage while the other was living, and the beleaguered newlyweds were forced to flee the country to escape a bigamy action brought by Heald's scandalised maiden aunt.<ref name="48LawsPower78"/> The Healds resided for a time in France and Spain, but within two years the tempestuous relationship was in tatters.  George would survive a reported drowning in Lisbon in 1853, but three years later would be dead from tuberculosis.<ref name="Seymour"/>{{rp|302, 353}} <ref name="adb"/> Meanwhile Lola in 1851 set off to make a new start in the United States, where she was surprisingly successful at first in rehabilitating her image.<ref name="Seymour"/>{{rp|283}}