Countess Cosel - Józef Ignacy Kraszewski

Born Anna Constantia von Brockdorff in 1680, this German noblewoman rose from a minor lady-in-waiting to become the mistress of the King of Poland and finally, the most famous prisoner in Saxony.

In her youth, she had an affair and the scandal was covered up.  Then she made a respectable marriage but that proved inconvenient once she caught the King’s attention.  She withstood his advances until she had gained everything; title, position and power. But in the process she made enemies who would one day prevail against her.

Her fate was to be 49 years a prisoner, never giving the King the one thing he desperately wanted.  In doing so she chose death in prison over freedom.