La Maupin: duels, loves and scandals in the Paris of the Sun King

She was a woman with such a tumultuous life that the king had to spare her life twice. Julie d'Aubigny was born in 1670 (according to other sources, in 1673), probably in Paris, although no documents confirm it. Her father was secretary to the Grand Equerry of the Palace of Versailles.

Monsieur d'Aubigny found himself raising a beautiful and utterly uncontrollable daughter who, moreover, lived among men. Worried about her safety and resigned to the fact that trying to control her was like trying to put a leash on a cat, the poor father chose to teach her how to defend herself in case it should ever be necessary.

Julie became the mistress of her father's superior, the one man whom monsieur d'Aubigny could not challenge to a duel to defend his daughter's honor.

To avoid coming to blows with his employee, Julie's lover hurriedly arranged a marriage for her with a certain Maupin, intending to put an end to the rumors that had begun circulating that Julie would never be a married and respectable woman, something that was vitally important at the time. Monsieur Maupin, curiously enough, quickly found a good job on the other side of France and unfortunately had to leave, leaving his wife in Paris with her lover. At the first opportunity, Julie (who had meanwhile become Madame de Maupin, a married and presumably respectable lady) left Paris with a fencing instructor wanted by the police for having killed several gentlemen in duels. That story did not last long either.

At that point, for the first time in her life, Julie found herself having to earn her own living without her father's protection.

Julie decided that she was tired of men and wanted a girlfriend; blonde. What certainly corresponds to reality is that, precisely during that period, the daughter of a well-known merchant fell madly in love with her. Julie returned her feelings with considerable ardor, and the two demonstrated their mutual interest in a way that satisfied them both. The girl's father, not exactly thrilled by the situation, sent his daughter to a convent in Avignon, intending to keep her as far away from La Maupin as possible. Julie quit her job and entered the same convent as a novice in order to free her beloved and pick up their relationship where they had left off.

The plan was as follows: recover the corpse of a nun who had died a few days earlier, put it in the girl's bed and escape from the convent. The other nuns wouldn't notice the difference between a corpse and a novice? No problem! Just burn down the convent.

The two lovers stayed together for several months before the merchant's daughter returned home for reasons unknown to us. Perhaps they had something to do with the fact that Julie had had to leave Marseille in great haste after being accused of grave desecration, kidnapping, setting fire to a convent and two or three other little things. Needless to say, she had been sentenced to death and had to flee immediately. Curiously, her name did not appear on the sentence; instead, it bore the name of a certain Monsieur d'Aubigny, perhaps to spare the girl's family the embarrassment of a lesbian scandal.

Julie hurried off to Paris and went back to singing in taverns to earn a few coins.

Julie wanted to return to singing at the opera, but first she had to get rid of that inconvenient death sentence. Once in Paris, she put pressure on her first lover and managed to get the king to grant her a pardon. After offering a little warmth to a considerable number of individuals in order to get an audition, Julie managed to enter the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, then known as the Paris Opera.

Julie did not possess great musical technique, but she had a very melodious voice and great talent as an actress. After her stage debut, Julie officially became «la Maupin», one of the actresses most beloved by the public. She was so successful that leading roles intended for sopranos were even modeled on her.

Despite her fame, La Maupin did not stop dressing as a man or hunting for new lovers in taverns. Her life was a succession of scandals, which fascinated the public even more.

Since many of those she defeated with the sword claimed that they had been attacked by several men (rather than admit that an opera singer had soundly beaten them), Julie began collecting trophies: small objects, pocket watches, things like that. So, if someone spread falsehoods about her, she would return the stolen object to him and destroy his reputation.

At this point in the story, La Maupin was not yet twenty-one. Another of the great scandals in this story took place a few years later, when La Maupin attended a ball organized by Louis XIV's brother. Naturally, she appeared in men's clothing and spent the entire evening courting a young woman from high society until, while they were dancing together, the two began kissing in front of everyone. Immediately, three men who had tried during the reception to win the young woman's favor and had become increasingly irritated at seeing La Maupin monopolize her attention challenged her to a duel. A typical Friday night, in other words.

La Maupin declared that she would fight all three simultaneously, so as not to waste time. They went out into the gardens, drew their swords and, in no time at all, Julie left all three opponents on the ground and returned to the ball, because the young ladies in the room certainly weren't going to court themselves. At the time, duels were still commonplace, but technically they were forbidden by law. So, technically, Julie was once again condemned to death. She managed to get away with it this time too, because apparently the king and his brother had greatly enjoyed the spectacle.

King Louis XIV had decided to adhere to the rule established by his predecessor, Louis XIII, who had made duels illegal in 1626. Even though more than fifty years had passed since that decree, duels continued to be fought regularly to settle offenses, albeit with greater discretion