Is The Honest Courtesan a true story?
The Honest Courtesan is a 1992 biographical book by Margaret Rosenthal about a 16th-century Venetian courtesan named Veronica Franco.
Who was Veronica Franco’s lover?
King Henri III of France
By her early 20s, Franco was one of Europe’s most celebrated courtesans, as well as a respected member of the Venetian literati lead by Domenico Venier. At one point she was mistress to King Henri III of France, who in turn sent reinforcements to Venice when it came to blows with the Ottoman empire.
What is a Venetian courtesan?
Venetian courtesans were fashion trend setters who played artfully with the visual boundaries separating women into distinct groups. They manipulated the visual demarcations that divided women into groups according to the stages of their life cycle and their marital status: that is, maiden, married woman, or widow.
What did King Henry do to Veronica?
In the movie’s factual source book, The Honest Courtesan, biographer Margaret F. Rosenthal reports that Henry III was known for his “bizarre sexual proclivities”; the film’s Veronica (Catherine McCormack) discerns his kinks and scores the boats.
Did courtesans get married?
In some cases, courtesans were from well-to-do backgrounds, and were even married—but to husbands lower on the social ladder than their clients.
Who was the most famous courtesan?
Still, Phryne became the most successful and sought-after courtesan in ancient Greece, commanding 100 times the going rate. Supposedly, she was even the model for the sculpture called Aphrodite of Cnidus, one of the most famous works of Greek art.
What do courtesans do?
Scholars define a courtesan as a woman who provides a male patron with artistic graces, elevated conversation and her relatively exclusive sexual availability, Feldman said. Modern sensibilities have equated courtesanship with prostitution, but courtesans and their societies did not.
Can a courtesan be male?
A male figure comparable to the courtesan was the Italian cicisbeo, the French chevalier servant, the Spanish cortejo or estrecho. The courtesans of East Asia, particularly those of the Japanese empire, held a different social role than that of their European counterparts.
What is the difference between a geisha and a courtesan?
Geisha are not courtesans. The image of geisha as prostitutes was popularized by American soldiers after World War II. The geisha has always been a symbol of beauty and elegance, so girls from lower social classes tended to introduce themselves to American soldiers as geisha.