Catherine had several affairs before she became Empress: Poniatowski was a Polish aristocrat and diplomat and the two became lovers sometime around 1758. Poniatowski supported a pro-Russian stance within Polish politics, and when Catherine became empress, she wrote expressing her support for his ascension to the Polish throne.
The two only became lovers much later: Orlov was still in favour and Potemkin spent time abroad in the army, proving his military prowess. Catherine began to rely him increasingly for military help following revolts and uprisings, and rewarded Potemkin handsomely for his aid: he returned to St Petersburg a war hero.
Great Lovers
Almost as famous as her achievements, however, is the list of her many lovers. She was famed for her sexual independence, which gave rise to several false rumours, often created and spread by her many jealous and misogynistic male rivals. The targeted smear campaign was so successful that even to this day Catherine the Great is surrounded by urban legends regarding her sex life - none more famous than the story of bestiality that supposedly ended her life. Although Catherine died from a stroke aged 67, her enemies believed a far more fitting story should go down in history - that the horse she was having sex with crushed her.
While many of the accusations of sexual deviance against Catherine have no basis in fact, it is true that she had multiple lovers during her time as Empress and used sex as a tool to garner and broaden her political power. After her successful coup against her ill-matched husband Peter III in 1762, Catherine realised that to marry again would be to relinquish her power. Instead, she aligned herself with successful military generals and admirals and heavily relied upon her noble favourites. Her favourites became lovers, men she could trust to help consolidate her power. In return, she showered them with gifts, titles and wealth.
The first of her lovers was Russian officer Sergei Saltykov, one of three men she would invite into her bed whilst still being married to Peter. Her marriage was loveless, it was a partnership orchestrated for political reasons only. Catherine later claimed Peter was impotent and their child and heir apparent, Paul I, was actually the offspring of Saltykov.
One of the great romantic legends of Ireland centers on Grainne, considered the most beautiful woman in the land, and the handsome warrior Diarmuid -- a tale which ends (sigh) in disaster. Grainne, the Gaelic form of the phonetic Grania, has in the past been Anglicized as Grace. Diarmuid translates to Dermot.
These famous lovers of Greek myth were separated by the Hellespont, which he swam across every night to see her, until he finally (sigh) drowned. And yes, Hero is a female name, one that is just beginning to be considered here: Myleene Klass used it for her daughter.
A romantic tale from Babylon involving a fatal misunderstanding, as many of these stories do, of lovers kept apart by family rivalry -- an inspiration for Romeo and Juliet. We think Thisbe is an enchanting, energetic name just waiting to be discovered.
There is not a corner on earth where one cannot find a lover of the greatest of creation Hadhrat Muhammad(saw). The hearts of the righteous are so completely annihilated in the love of the Holy Prophet(saw) that not a second goes by without a believer praising his blessed name. In the United Kingdom, a non-Muslim state, the love of the Holy Prophet(saw) is so vast that the name Muhammad is the second most registered name with newly born babies .1
The hunger which they suffered from was something they could simply not avoid due to the dictates of their circumstance and so in order to overcome this great trial they would engulf themselves in the remembrance of Allah. Surely Allahhas promised:
16. Abu Huraira (literally father of the kitten) was a great companion and related the most ahadith of all the companions (a mammoth 5374 ahadith). After the death of the Holy Prophet(saw)) he was appointed by Hadhrat Omar(ra) as the governor of Bahrain.
23. He was the son of a powerful Arab but was taken and sold into slavery at a young age. Despite being an Arab he had a foreign accent as he grew up in Roman lands. Through a miraculous set of events he came to be in Makkah and accepted Islam at the hand of the Holy Prophet(saw). He was greatly loved by the Holy Prophet(as) and when Hadhrat Omar(ra) suffered from the fatal blow which ended his life he instructed that Hadhrat Rumi lead the prayers.
Eudoxia lived for many more years, and in 1731, she was allowed to return to Moscow and resume her royal lifestyle, but no longer played any political role. She died of natural causes in her home and her final words were: "God has given me to know the true value of greatness and earthly happiness."
You want your hookup to be great for everyone involved, and the best way to accomplish that is through clear communication. Luckily, Virgos have no problem on that front. Just try your best to return the favor. Sex is always better when honesty goes both ways. Clear communication FTW.
British poet Alexander Pope turned their story into a piece of classic literature, but Heloise and Abelard were in fact real, ridiculously in love, and doomed to a tragic end in mid 12th century France. Abelard was the girl's live-in tutor, 20 years her senior, and the romance so enraged her disapproving uncle that he had Abelard castrated shortly after they were discovered. Distraught, the lovers entered the monastery and wrote a set of now-famous letters to each other until their death, though they never met again.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: It was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Many versions of the life of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux have been passed down to us, the best-known of which are those of William of Saint-Thierry and Gaufrid of Clairvaux. But one of the most vivid and fascinating literary accounts of the life of the great monastic reformer is that of a certain John the Hermit, which, unfortunately, is relatively unknown today (and has not yet been translated into English). This biography provides us with a truly spell-binding anecdote of how the text of the Salve Regina was communicated to Bernard in a mystical vision:
Herman composed a great many scientific treatises, including: On Music, On the Six Ages, On the Astrolabe, On the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and On Computation. He wrote the histories and legends of many saints, and composed hymns, antiphons and delightful chants. Several of these we may still hear sung in our churches. It was this Herman who composed the Salve Regina, that devout antiphon in praise of the blessed Mary, the Mother of God, which the entire church now sings in her honor. He also translated many works for Greek and Arabic into Latin.
There is just something about the intensity and chemistry between two characters who start off hating each other but then grow to actually fall in love with one another which makes enemies to lovers my favorite trope.
Who says a last-minute gift has to be a bad gift? Certainly not us. There are many great, easily accessible tech gadgets that not only make fantastic holiday presents, but can be picked up at your local electronics store or ordered to arrive on your doorstep the next morning. (Seriously, how did we ever do holiday shopping without Amazon Prime?) 2ff7e9595c
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