Julie d’ Aubigny

Julie d’Aubigny (French: [ʒyli dobiɲi]; 1670/1673–1707), better known as Mademoiselle Maupin or La Maupin, was a 17th-century opera singer.

Little is known for certain about her life; her tumultuous career and flamboyant lifestyle were the subject of gossip, rumor, and colourful stories in her own time, and inspired numerous fictional and semi-fictional portrayals afterwards. 

Julie d’Aubigny was born in 1673[1] to Gaston d’Aubigny, a secretary to Louis de Lorraine-Guise, comte d’Armagnac, the Master of the Horse for King Louis XIV. Her father, who trained the court pages, took care of her education teaching her academic subjects of the type given to boys but also trained her in fencing in which she gained competence from the age of 12, competing successfully against men.[2][3] 

In 1687, the Count d’Armagnac had her married to Sieur de Maupin of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and she became Madame de Maupin (or simply “La Maupin” per French custom). Soon after the wedding, her husband received an administrative position in the south of France, but the Count kept her in Paris for his own purposes.[3]

Also around 1687, d’Aubigny became involved with an assistant fencing master named Séranne. When Lieutenant-General of Police Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie tried to apprehend Sérannes for killing a man in an illegal duel, the pair fled the city to Marseille.[4]On the road south, d’Aubigny and Sérannes made a living by giving fencing exhibitions and singing in taverns and at local fairs. While travelling and performing in these impromptu shows, La Maupin dressed in men’s clothing but did not conceal her sex.

 Jean, Lecomte du Nouÿ. “Mademoiselle De Maupin.” WikiArt: Visual Art Encyclopedia, 1902

On arrival in Marseille, she joined the opera company run by Gaultier de Marseilles [fr] (1642-1696), singing under her maiden name.[3]

“Julie d’Aubigny.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_d%27Aubigny. Accessed 31 July 2022.

Antoine Meunier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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It was at this time that she had her first lesbian affair. The family of the young woman with whom she had fallen in love with, sent the young woman away to a convent in Avignon to avoid contact with La Maupin. Julie followed the young lady and joined the convent so they could resume their relationship.

The two then escaped the convent by placing the corpse of a recently deceased nun in Julie’s paramour’s bed, and setting the room on fire.

The scheme was to prevent a search for the young woman by the authorities, as the couple hoped that the deceased nun’s body would pass for the young woman herself. The plot was discovered,  and the Parliament of Aix-en-Provence sentenced La Maupin in absentia— under the male title “Sieur”— to death by fire.

La Maupin’s audacious behavior offstage led to her own scandals, eventually curtailing her professional career in Paris while at its ascent.

Dressed as a man at a court ball, she kissed a woman whose attentions three noblemen were seeking. The three nobles challenged La Maupin to a fight, and she defeated all three in fencing duels.

Since Louis had outlawed dueling, she now had to flee the city, again pursued by the law

Westby, Alan. “Julie d’Aubigny: La Maupin and Early French Opera.” Los Angeles Public Library, 28 June 2017, http://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/julie-daubigny-la-maupin-and-early-french-opera

“In 1703 she fell in love with Madame la Marquise de Florensac, the “most beautiful woman in France” (Saint-Simon 1897) – so beautiful that she too had had to flee to Brussels for several years because the Dauphin was obsessed with her. La Florensac was also one of the most famous, wealthy and well-connected women in France. The two women lived, according to one account, in perfect harmony for two years, until de Florensac died of a fever.”

Gardiner, Kelly. “The Real Life of Julie d’Aubigny.” Kelly Gardiner, kellygardiner.com/fiction/books/goddess/the-real-life-of-julie-daubigny. Accessed 31 July 2022.

Henri, Bonnart II. “Madame La Marquise De Florensac.” Madame La Marquise De Florensac – Henri Bonnart II – WikiArt.org.
MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN
BY
THÉOPHILE GAUTIER

Queen Elizabeth I

House of Tudor Family Tree

Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603)[a] was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor.[1]

Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed when Elizabeth was 21⁄2 years old. Anne’s marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her half-brother Edward VI ruled until his death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane Grey and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, the Roman Catholic Mary and the younger Elizabeth, in spite of statute law to the contrary. Edward’s will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Mary’s reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

Upon her half-sister’s death in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel.[b] She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the supreme governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England.

It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir; however, despite numerous courtships, she never did. She was eventually succeeded by her first-cousin twice-removed, James VI of Scotland, laying the foundation for the Kingdom of Great Britain. She had earlier been reluctantly responsible for the imprisonment and execution of James’s mother, Mary, Queen of Scots.

In religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. After the pope declared her illegitimate in 1570 and released her subjects from obedience to her, several conspiracies threatened her life, all of which were defeated with the help of her ministers’ secret service.

Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the major powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, and Ireland. By the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain, and won a celebrated victory against the Spanish Armada.

As she grew older, Elizabeth became celebrated for her virginity. A cult of personality grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. Elizabeth’s reign became known as the Elizabethan era.

Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. However, Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer and a dogged survivor in an era when government was ramshackle and limited, and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. After the short reigns of her half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped to forge a sense of national identity.[3]

“Elizabeth I.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.

Queen Elizabeth I

via National Portrait Gallery CC License

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Via National Portrait Gallery, CC License

History Chicks Podcast: Queen Elizabeth I

Christine de Pizan

Illumination from The Book of the City of Ladies.

“Although modern-day scholars continue to debate whether she can be called a “feminist” when the concept did not exist in her lifetime, there is no denying that she embodied the values and principles of feminism, specifically that women were the equals of men in every regard and should be accorded the same rights, opportunities, and respect as any male. Her works would influence later writers, male and female, through the early era of the Renaissance after which they fell out of favor and were only rediscovered in the late 19th century CE.”

Mark, Joshua. “Christine de Pizan.” World History, 26 Mar. 2019, http://www.worldhistory.org/Christine_de_Pizan.

View her digitized manuscripts at the British Library.

Christine de Pizan and the Book of the City of Ladies

Guan Daosheng

“Guan Daosheng also known as Guan Zhongji or Lady Zhongji (her courtesy name) (Chinese: 管道昇; Wade–Giles: Kuan Tao-sheng; 字仲姬；1262–1319) was a Chinese painter and poet who was active during the early Yuan Dynasty. She is credited with being “the most famous female painter and calligrapher in the Chinese history…remembered not only as a talented woman, but also as a prominent figure in the history of bamboo painting.”[1] She is also a well-known poet in the Yuan dynasty.[2]

The focus of Guan’s work on bamboo painting was atypical for a female artist, as the subject was thought to be imbued with highly desirable masculine qualities, namely its ability to bend without breaking and greenness through the winter, symbolic of steadfast companionship. She is also believed to have depicted bodies of water alongside bamboo in her work in order to add more feminine associations to the plant.[13] A bamboo scroll of hers from 1301 was found in her husband’s studio, obviously showing her knowledge on the discourse surrounding bamboo being depicted by a woman; the scroll confidently stated:

To play with brush and ink is masculine sort of thing to do, yet I made this painting. Wouldn’t someone say that I have transgressed? How despicable; how despicable.

Guan Daosheng

Poetry

“She wrote a poem called “Song of Me and You” in response to her husband’s desire to have concubines, a common practice in China during that time, especially for those who worked in the government or high-ranking officers.[18] In addition, she further wrote a poem called “Married Love” before her death. Her husband later found this piece of poem and decided not to marry a third time.”

“Guan Daosheng.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Daosheng. Accessed 18 Sept. 2021.

Daosheng, Guan. Bamboo and Stone (竹石图). Ink on paper. National Palace Museum. Taipei

You and me, and me and you, so much in love are we;
So much in love, like bathing in fire are we.
We knead and shape a clod of clay into figures of you and me:
We smash, trash our two figures, add water to admix the debris
To again knead and shape fresh figures of you and me;
In my clay then, you’ll abide, and in yours, there I’ll be.
(O you and I, in life, one single quilt we share,)
 O me and you, in life, one single quilt we share,
In death, in the same coffin, please bury me.

Guan Daosheng:
Song of Me and You/ Clay Figures
Bamboo Groves in Mist and Rain
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