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In my previous blog post on a Renaissance gay wedding (you can read that here), I noted that the lives and liberties of historical queer people in Europe were often closely connected to their social status and privilege. Much the same was true of the notorious La Maupin, Julie d’Aubigny. Mademoiselle Maupin only lived to her late 30s, but her astonishing life provides insight into how queer persons lived, even thrived, despite an often punishing and hostile cultural environment. A talented opera singer, actress, expert duelist, and passionate lover of men and women, Julie d’Aubigny challenged nearly every notion of 17th century European femininity and hetero-normativity.
Early Life
Although much of Mademoiselle Maupin’s life remains shrouded in mystery, she was likely born in the early 1670s in Paris, France during the reign of King Louis XIV. Julie enjoyed an enclave into the French upper class through her father’s employment for the Count of Armagnac, then the Master of Horse for the Court at Versailles.[1] The Count may have been her first (of many known) lovers when she was a young teenager. In her youth, Julie also took up sword dueling and cross-dressing, often preferring masculine attire both for her sport and her public persona.[2] Julie reportedly became an accomplished fencer in her teenage years, and later grew infamous for her habit of only dueling men – and defeating them.[3]
Julie’s historical claim to fame, however, was for her gifts in the performing arts. Julie came of age in the sparkling world of French Baroque opera, arguably at the height of the art form. Multiple sources agree that Julie became the first mezzo-soprano in leading roles in French opera, performing under her stage name “La Maupin” (taken from her husband’s surname). Julie first began singing as part of what we might think of today as a “side-hustle”. She and her then-boyfriend sang together for performances, complete with staged duels, in Marseille shortly after Julie’s marriage back in Paris. Her success as a local singer led to her audition for the newly-opened Marseille Academy of Music.[4] The young, beautiful Mademoiselle Maupin was soon a rising opera sensation. Her beauty, vivacity and utter fearlessness attracted a growing audience and admirers.
It was around this period, likely her late teenage years or early twenties, that Julie began living as openly bisexual. Julie reportedly attracted, and reciprocated, attention from other young women when she appeared in public as a man. One of these was Cécilia Bortigali, a young woman whose well-bred family was horrified by Cécilia flagrant lesbian affair with an opera singer. The scandal led to one of the most famous events of Julie’s life, wherein she freed her lover Cécilia from a convent by setting it on fire.[5]
Acting, Adventures and Affairs
But Julie’s subsequent condemnation to be burnt (if she were ever apprehended) did little to dim her rising star in music. She soon starred in her first Paris opera, the tragedy Cadmus and Hermione, where her exquisite voice and brilliant performance earned her widespread accolades.[6] She would go on to star in over two dozen operas in Paris between 1690 – 1705.[7] Julie gained entrée to the highest lights of Parisian society which, if anything, only amplified her mounting infamy. One famous episode around this time involved Julie, dressed as a man, kissing and caressing a noblewoman at a party hosted by the King’s younger brother, Philippe, Duke of Orleans. La Maupin’s public display of affection offended a trio of noblemen in attendance (whether because they themselves sought the lady’s attentions, or because they recognized Julie and were offended by the public display of lesbian affection, is unclear).[8] The disgusted noblemen unwisely challenged Julie to a sword duel in the garden, where she felled all three in rapid succession. His Royal Highness the Duke (himself reportedly homosexual) offered Julie an immediate pardon.[9]
After that violent incident, La Maupin spent time in Brussels and then Madrid, engaging in various torrid affairs with both men and women. She returned to France to resume her career in opera around the turn of the 18th century. She soon commenced her last great love affair with Madame la Marquise de Florensac. La Marquise de Florensac was lauded as the “most beautiful woman in France”, and Julie lived openly with her for over two years.[10] These may have been Julie’s happiest years, as all evidence suggests that she deeply loved la Florensac and was distraught at her sudden passing in 1705.[11] Julie abandoned her musical career, possibly because of grief, and did not long outlive her paramour. Julie is thought to have died in relative obscurity in 1707, not even forty years old, but having left behind a dozen lives’ worth of adventures. Novels, plays, and movies since have attempted to portray the infamous La Maupin in all her recklessness and glory.
But what does the legacy of Julie d’Aubigny tell us about the lives of queer people in early modern France? Despite the well-documented hedonism and excesses which surrounded the court of Versailles, the broader social-cultural context was hardly permissive of bisexuality or queer relationships. Even so, Julie appears to have lived openly, and freely, as a queer woman throughout her raucous life. It could be argued that the expert duelist was simply too quick on her feet to ever meet consequences for her behavior.
But her relative ease in moving throughout European high society suggests that fleet feet alone do not explain her story. It is likely that her connections within that high society enabled her to take liberties available to few others. From her earliest affair with a Count, to her final love story with la Marquise, Julie’s relationships probably gave her as much protection from prevailing cultural norms as did her exceptional self-defense skills. Privilege, then as now, plays a key role in the safety of queer people to live authentically to themselves. It can also influence how queer people are perceived by the broader culture around them. But despite confusion, adoration and opprobrium towards La Maupin in her day, we can be thankful that her fascinating story has survived in the intervening centuries. Julie d’Aubigny still stands tall, sword and all, in the pantheon of queer historical figures.
[1] Alan Westby, “Julie d’Aubigny: La Maupin and Early French Opera,” Los Angeles Public Library, June 28, 2017, https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/julie-daubigny-la-maupin-and-early-french-opera.
[2] Ibid.
[3] David S. Newell, “Maupin, d’Aubigny (c. 1670–1707)”, https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/maupin-daubigny-c-1670-1707.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] “Mademoiselle De Maupin; Biographical sketches & anecdotes” in The Dublin University Magazine, Oct 1854
[7] Westby, ibid.
[8] “Mademoiselle De Maupin; Biographical sketches & anecdotes” in The Dublin University Magazine, Oct 1854
[9] Ibid.
[10] Georg Predota, “The Lesbian Diva and Swordswoman! Julie d’Aubigny aka Mademoiselle Maupin”, Interlude, October 29, 2016, https://interlude.hk/lesbian-diva-swordswoman-julie-daubigny-aka-mademoiselle-maupin/.
[11] Newell, ibid.