French swordswoman, swashbuckler, opera singer, and party animal
(1670-1707). She was often called "La Maupin" or "Mademoiselle Maupin" -- nicknames that are actually better known than her own name. She was born to the family of Gaston d'Aubigny, a
secretary to King Louis XIV's Master of the Horse (not a
stablemaster -- actually a fairly high office in France at the time,
sometimes known as the Grand Squire of France). Julie was trained as a
youth in dancing, literacy, drawing, and fencing. She was introduced
in the court after she became a mistress of the Count d'Armagnac while
she was still in her teens (because the French, that's why), and the
count had her married off to a friend. However, after the affair ended,
her husband moved to the south of France, and Julie decided to stay in
Paris.
For the next few years, d'Aubigny cultivated a reputation as a bit of
a free spirit, if not an out-and-out lunatic, fighting duels with
aristocrats, beating shopkeepers, and having an affair with an
assistant fencing master named Serannes, who eventually got in trouble
for killing a man in a duel. The two of them went on the run
to Marseille, where Julie gave fencing exhibitions, sang in the local
inns, and had more duels. Her habit of wearing men's clothing (along
with her dueling and singing of sometimes filthy and insulting songs
aimed at the people she dueled with) turned her into a minor celebrity.
She also joined Pierre Gaultier's music academy so she could sing in
the theatre.
Julie eventually left Serannes and took up with (gasp!) a young woman. Her lover's parents were
scandalized and put their daughter in a convent in Avignon. Julie
decided to rescue the girl, entered the convent as a novice, stole
the body of a dead nun, placed it in her lover's bed, and set the room
on fire so they could make their escape, possibly while riding a
motorcycle while a screaming guitar played on the soundtrack. The affair
with the girl lasted only three months, and Julie was charged as a male
with kidnapping, body snatching, arson, and failing to appear
before the tribunal. She was tried and convicted in absentia and
sentenced to death by fire. This prompted her to return to Paris, 'cause
seriously, burning at the stake? I'm amazed Angelina Jolie hasn't
made a movie about her already.
And once d'Aubigny got back to Gay Paree, she continued to be
astonishingly awesome. She fought a duel against three squires at
the same time and defeated all of them. She went to check on the health
of one of the men she'd defeated because she'd stabbed him in the
shoulder. And then she said, hey, man, I know I stabbed you in the
shoulder just yesterday, but you in the mood for some bouncy-bouncy? And he was, he was in
the mood for some bouncy-bouncy! And after he recovered (from getting
stabbed, not from the bouncy-bouncy) and had to return to his military
unit, she took up with a fellow singer. And frankly, she carried on that
way for quite a while.
Her career in opera started slowly -- she was initially rejected by
the Paris Opera but was able to get an old friend to get them to
reconsider. She debuted at the Paris Opera as Pallas Athena in
Jean-Baptiste Lully's "Cadmus et Hermione" in 1690 and became quite
popular, partly because she had a beautiful contralto singing voice,
and partly because she was a horny sword-slinging bisexual. Her
relationships with the other performers was a bit more stormy -- she had
serious crushes on a couple other singers, Marie Le Rochois and
Fanchon Moreau. Le Rochois was the Opera's top draw, and her attempts
to get more of her attention led to plenty of arguments and even a few
duels with other performers. Moreau, on the other hand, was the mistress
of the Great Dauphin and refused to give him up for d'Aubigny, which
upset her so much, she attempted suicide.
Julie even became a professional duelist while with the Paris
Opera. At one point around 1693, she fought and defeated three
aristocrats, one after the other, in another demonstration of her
badassery. Unfortunately, she'd broken a law forbidding duels in
Paris, so she hightailed it to Brussels, where she was rumored to be
the mistress of Maximilian Emanuel, the Prince-Elector of Bavaria.
She performed with the Opera du Quai au Foin in Brussels for several
months in 1697-98 before returning to the Paris Opera to replace the
recently-retired Le Rochois. She remained with the Paris Opera until
1705 and continued to draw crowds. André Campra created the role of
Clorinde in "Tancrède" specifically for her. She eventually
reconciled with her husband and lived with him until his death in either
1701 or 1705 (a wide range for records to be unsure about someone's
death, but what can you do about old records).
After retiring from the opera, she entered another convent in
Provence -- but not to kidnap sexy nuns this time. She died there in
1707 at the age of 37. Not the most awesome way to end an amazingly
awesome life, but maybe she'd already dueled and/or made love to
everyone she needed to...
Research:
Wikipedia
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