Casanova is a name we recognise from the several movies that have been made about the womaniser. We often think of the man as a reckless, wild youth, but he was actually a highly distinguished man in Europe. Casanova de Seingalt was born Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt in April 1725. He was definitely an adventurer of Italian descent. He even wrote an autobiography of himself depicting his social life during the 18th century.
Besides the book all about himself he wrote the Republic of Venice. He was a lawyer who spent many of his evenings with women and at the gambling tables. He actually stated in his autobiography that he set out to be a professional gambler, but soon realised that would not work. He lacked the ability to stop when his luck was unfavourable. He also had trouble stopping himself when he won as he would want to keep going and going.
Even though he did not stay as a professional gambler he did continue to play many games. He never picked just one. Rather, he played faro, lotteries, piquet, basset, biribi, quinze, primero, and whist with many of the high clergy and nobility. It is also somewhat amazing that the man who would gamble, spend many nights with women, and enjoy life was a devout Catholic. Prince Charles de Ligne even stated that Casanova was the most interesting person he had ever met. He further said that Casanova was capable of it all in the world.
What most of us see from the history books are on Hollywood screens where Casanova is being chased by husbands for his affairs with women. It is known that he slept with several married women and wooed many others. He was also associated with Voltaire, Mozart, Goethe, and numerous popes and cardinals. The aforementioned story of his life was written while he was in Bohemia working as a librarian at Count Waldstein’s home.
Casanova did not escape being a wanted man. A day after he turned 30 he was arrested. The charge was for grave faults that were outrages to the public and against the church. Despite his being very religious his actions did cause him to be arrested. He was on the top floor in Doge’s Palace, which was a place reserved for political crimes or those with a higher status. Casanova was given five years of prison time without a trial.
He was even put in solitary confinement, but this did not keep him. Rather, five months worth of an appeal managed to get him a better sleeping situation. He also found a black marble piece and an iron bar which he managed to get into his cell. He used the bar to create a spike and then began working on the door for his escape. Casanova was moved to a new cell, but this was all for the better as he did manage to escape with the assistance of a priest. After his escape he went to prison, though the story of his escape is somewhat disbelieved in how he definitely managed to get out of prison.