https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne Thu, 23 Apr 2026 15:48:57 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/318/sl-salons-and-the-art-of-conversation https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/318 Sun, 08 Jul 2012 14:24:22 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/276/when-chairs-flew-in-versailles https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/276 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:36:26 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/252/side-stories-anecdotes-and-characters-part-iv-essay-on-the-art-of-crawling-by-baron-dholbach https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/252 Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor 2006;
CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2006. ]]> Sat, 11 Jun 2011 08:07:29 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/250/just-a-sad-old-french-song-for-some-friends https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/250 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:05:05 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/246/venice-carnival-in-rl-versailles-on-july-9th https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/246 Fri, 27 May 2011 09:36:13 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/223/present-royal-courts-fencer-of-the-year-rankings https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/223 Tue, 08 Feb 2011 10:14:42 -0800 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/222/a-sunny-fencing-day-in-melioria https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/222 Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:51:40 -0800 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/215/anecdotes-side-stories-and-characters-part-three https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/215 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 13:55:31 -0800 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/212/a-french-christmas-tale https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/212 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:30:27 -0800 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/209/royal-courts-fencer-of-the-year-rankings https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/209 Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:50:56 -0800 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/208/results-of-coeur-grand-open-tournament https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/208 Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:38:27 -0800 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/207/side-stories-anecdotes-and-characters-part-two-footnotes-to-the-true-story-of-la-maupin https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/207 Sat, 06 Nov 2010 09:24:02 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/206/side-stories-anecdotes-and-characters-part-two-the-true-story-of-la-maupin-last-chapter https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/206 Sat, 06 Nov 2010 00:42:38 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/204/side-stories-anecdotes-and-characters-part-two-the-true-story-of-la-maupin-chapter-two https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/204 Chapter Two: By now, La Maupin is described as a beauty in full bloom, tall, statuesque athletic body, haughty bearing, long auburn curly hair with golden reflections, the fairest skin, blue eyes, slightly aquiline nose, exquisite luscious lips and perfect breastsShe still does not seem to be granted feature roles in Marseilles Opera House, and probably continues her act with Srannes at the same time. But soon, she gets tired of her lover: is it because he no longer fits her new lifestyle? Or because she now becomes bored with men in general, feeling new attractions? She has an affair with a young noble girl, who is seduced by this dominant and overwhelming amazon. After three passionate months together, the young girls family discovers the truth, and, fearing scandal, sends her to a nunnery in Avignon, 60 miles north of Marseilles. La Maupin is infuriated, she cannot stand to be antagonized nor resisted. She knocks at the convents door , meets the Superior Sister, and pretends she wants to join the community as a novice (actually desiring to meet her dear girlfriend again). She plots an horrendous stratagem to escape with her. One night she digs a dead nun out of the nunnerys graveyard, and lays the corpse in her friends bed. She sets the convent on fire, to cause distraction, and they both get away. Hand in hand, they run for cover to the woods nearby, hearing behind them the eerie howls of the fire and the tragic crackling sounds of the convents burning woodwork and carpentry. When they reach the forests edge, they stop and look back to see the huge flames crowning the building like a devilish Medusas hair of fire: the young girl is in tears, and La Maupins face beams with an evil grin. Such an outrage! Julie dAubigny La Maupin is put on trial , in absentia , by the Provence Parliament in Aix. For the motives of abducting the young girl, unearthing the buried corpse, and burning the religious buildings, she is sentenced to death on the bonfire, the usual punishment for crimes against religion. Meanwhile, she and her friend hide and live like outlaws, in poverty. The young girl, out of guilt and shame, eventually returns to her family, but Julie cant go back: she has a death sentence pending. She heads to Paris, zig-zagging her way North, East and West. Orlans : She sings and fences in taverns again. Poitiers : She is hosted by an old singing Master ( and drunkard), Marechal, who perfects her vocal technique, says her future in Opera is bright, and gives her a recommendation letter for a friend of his in Paris, a theater director. Tours : She enters a tavern in her mans attire, wearing a long cloak, holding her foil by her hip. Next to her table, four young aristocrats are drinking. They begin to tease her, and she answers in her daredevil usual way. Their leader persists, and as she stands up to leave the room to avoid a quarrel, he grabs her by the wrist to keep her standing still. Thats too much! She unsheathes her sword and threatens him, he laughs, and they fight. After a few attacks, parries and ripostes , she pins him between chest and shoulder, and the iron pierces through, protruding ten inches out of his back. He turns his head over his shoulder and sees the blade tainted with his own blood. Big silence in the tavern. All jaws drop. She withdraws her foil, and walks out like a queen. This young wounded man is named Louis Joseph dAlbert de Luynes, heir to the Duc de Luynes, one of the highest and oldest noble families of France. A surgeon comes to clean and bandage his wound, but Luynes tears off these bandages: he wants this woman to change them! One of his friends finds La Maupin in the nearest inn. He explains that Luynes apologizes for his behavior, and how he needs her to help in his recovery. She says she will come with her answer later. In the middle of the night, she creeps into dAlberts room, and letting her mans cloak fall to the ground, she appears to him in a feminine tulle negligee She heals him beyond his expectations. They become passionate lovers, but soon dAlbert has to rejoin his Army Regiment. Their affair will continue intermittently, until his wedding, some years later. Alone again, Julie still cant decide whether or not to go to Paris. Too dangerous. Now we find her in Rouen , singing again. She meets an Opera singer named Thvenard, who falls in love with her, and convinces her to try their luck in Paris. When they reach the capital town, she first addresses her former lover, le Comte dArmagnac, and asks him to plead her cause to the King. In remembrance of their past, this he does. Louis XIV, to please his cousin, pardons and cancels the death sentence of the Aix Parliament. Free at last! Thevenard is hired in the Paris Opera House, as is La Maupin, soon afterwards, with her letter of recommendation. She has lived several lives to the fullest, yet she is only twenty years old! ( to be continued) (Pictures, from top to bottom: (1) Mademoiselle de Maupin, dressed as a male fencer, by Kirchneer (2) Women training in a salle d'armes, with a Matre d'Armes on the left (3) La Maupin ( and Luynes?) , painting by Delaroche ( I think) ]]> Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:24:01 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/203/side-stories-anecdotes-and-characters-part-two-the-true-story-of-la-maupin-adventuress-opera-singer-and-fencing-champion https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/203 Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:38:06 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/195/critical-acclaim-for-side-stories-anecdotes-and-characters https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/195 Tue, 26 Oct 2010 05:48:38 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/192/footnote-to-the-story-of-latude-the-lettres-de-cachet-or-sovereigns-sealed-letters https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/192 France was ruled in 18 th century by an absolute Monarchy: it means all powers ( including the judicial power) were united in the hands of the King, who held them by a decree of the Divine Providence: it therefore could not be discussed, disputed or contested. Of course, the king could not rule alone a country of 30 million inhabitants: so, for instance in the judicial field, he delegated his power to Parliaments ( which were not Parliaments according to our present day meaning, but Courts of Justice), the big one in Paris, and several others in different regions). So there were, in French law, two kinds of Justice, the Justice Dlgue( Justice delegated to the Parliaments), and the Justice Retenue ( Withheld Justice) : the latter term meaning the King could in many circumstances decide not to delegate his judicial power to the Parliament, but to exercise it himself directly. The usual legal tool for this Withheld Justice was the Lettre de Cachet. It was a sealed letter, signed by the King, giving an order, mainly to jail someone. The letter was the sentence and its order of execution, and the royal sentence, being final, needed no motives nor explanation. They were of two sorts : les Lettres de Grand Cachet, and les Lettres de Petit Cachet. -Les lettres de Grand Cachet : These were decisions of the King himself, by his own will. It concerned mostly political issues, as in the case of Voltaire and Diderot, who were jailed in La Bastille. It could also concern some lesser characters, when the king thought a public trial by the Parliament could be a nuisance to himself or his relatives, or favorites, or cause a scandal in the Court. They were also a mean of avoiding to have a case judged by the Parliaments, which were often in conflict with the King, and could sentence differently than the King would have wanted them to. (Latude was a typical example of this use of the Sovereign's Sealed Letters). -les Lettres de Petit Cachet: By far, the most frequent use of the Lettres de Cachet, they were signed by the King at the request of individuals: they could not concern crimes, but only lesser offences. They were most of the time requested for private affairs, by Nobles or Rich plaintiffs, who intended to protect their family name from a public scandal. 5 categories of offences could lead to a Lettre de Petit Cachet: -Madness or Irresponsible behavior -Excess of Youth -Libertinism -Unbalanced Marriage( mostly between nobles and the people) -more serious offences. The consequences were: -Unlimited detention in case of madness or insanity -One or two years in jail in case of libertinism or debauchery,etc - More important sentences for violent offences, or offences who would have dishonored the Families if a Court had judged them. To ask for a Lettre de petit Cachet, the process was as followed: A family or individual would file a request at the Bureau des Placets, opened daily in Paris. In case of a public scandal, the request may be filed by the local priest , or bishop, or Landlord. Then an investigation is led by the Police, checking two main points: are the facts mentioned in the request real and true? Can the applicant, family or individual, pay for the expenses of the jail?( when one asked for a Lettre de petit cachet, one had to pay for the prison expenses for all the duration of detention). In case of a Lettre de Grand Cachet, the Royal Treasure paid for the State Prisoners expenses. ( for instance, Latude had the status of a prisoner of State, having been jailed by a Lettre de Grand Cachet, and all expenses were paid by the Royal Treasure. On the other hand, examples of prisoners by Lettres de Petit Cachet were the Comte de Mirabeau, jailed in Jura because he was about to ruin himself and his family with debts and libertinism, and Marquis de Sade well, in this case, you know whytheir families paid for the prison costs). Even if it was statistically marginal, this practice of Lettres de Cachet was immensely unpopular by the end of 18 th century: The Philosophers had compared the Law in England and France on this matter, and claimed for the adoption of the British HABEAS CORPUS in French Law ; the King never accepted to abdicate this power of his. This showed two conceptions of Sovereignty and Law ,too far apart to compromise, and announced the revolutionary clash. ( the illustration on top of this footnote is a "Lettre de cachet" signed by Louis XV) ]]> Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:55:20 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/191/latude-or-35-years-in-jail-without-a-trial-and-seven-escapes https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/191 He is known ( a little) in History as LATUDE, but was born Jean HENRY ( such a common name !) in 1725, in the small village of Montagnac in Languedoc, from an unknown father. His mother belonged to the small provincial Bourgoisie, and raised him alone, trying to provide this young, ardent, imaginative, presumptuous and undisciplined child with the best possible education, but her best was not enough. At age 17, he enrolls as a Garon Chirurgien ( Surgeon Assistant) in the French Army, when the War of Austrian Succession storms all over Europe. He shaves beards and pulls teeth between the battles, and after victories or defeats, holds the wounded during amputations, or carries the dead to the common grave. He dreamt of a glorious or at least enviable destiny, and this one is certainly not compliant with his chimera. When the war is over, he resigns, and his relentless ambition calls him to Paris , the center of the world, and the City of all opportunities: he changes his name for the first time, in Jean Danry, and is flabbergasted by the hectic life of the French Capital, and by the Parisiennes. His hopes for opportunities to earn a fortune without working are disappointed though, and the spare money he kept from his Army years soon runs short. He has to find an idea soon. At the same time, the rumor spreads through Versailles and Paris of a great conflict between Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV s favorite, and the Comte de Maurepas, Minister of State, and Chancellor of the Royal Treasure. Madame de Pompadour convinces the king to dismiss Monsieur de Maurepas, and it causes an uproar at the Royal Court. Jean Henry or Danrys time has come: he gets the idea of having a parcel delivered to la Marquise de Pompadour, and this gift contains a bomb of his own making. A miserable, inefficient bomb, but actually his idea is to warn the Versailles Security before the parcel reaches the Marquise, and therefore to attract attention on himself, and appear as the savior of the Favorite. He hopes a reward, and who knows? a pension, or a place in Versailles. But things turn otherwise: he is suspected ( the Security had him writing down his testimony of the facts , and his handwriting is very much the same as the one on the parcel), the Pompadour harasses the King to discover who plotted against her behind the scenes, the opposing party rages against the PompadourThe King senses that if he lets the Parliament ( name of the Court of Justice) deal with this affair, as ordinarily he should, the scandal will go on and on, and grow up and up: he decides to sign a lettre de cachet, which is an order to lock Danry in the State Prison of La Bastille, at the eastern border of Paris, without any trial . This is much more discreet! We are in 1749, Danry is 24 years old. He is set on the grill ( metaphorically) there, by investigators, to reveal who are his sponsors and accomplices in this plot: of course, he says nothing, since theres nothing to say! Time passes, other plots or intrigues happen in Versailles, the interest in his case fades awayHe is transferred to another jail, the Dungeon of Vincennes: this prison is looser than la Bastille: he can walk in the yards, meet the other prisonersHe soon begins to court his jailers daughter, who brings back , every Sunday, the laundry of prisoners who can afford to have their linens washed and ironed. They chat and flirt in the main courtyard of Vincennes, and the girls dog barks and plays around them. Danry-Latude throws a twig to the dog, the dog brings it back; he throws it again further, and it hits a small door in the Prison wall: the dog rushes to this place, and catching the twigswings the door opened! It wasnt locked! So Danry, quietly, without running, escapes and disappears in the streets. A few days later, wandering at loss in the streets of Paris, he comes back in the Vincennes vicinity, and is caught. Back to Bastille! This time he is more severely locked in, with another prisoner: soon, the two jailpartners manufacture a rope ladder, out of logs for their fireplace, and threads from sheets and clothes. After six years , it is ready, and they escape again! A sensation! it never had happen before in La Bastille! ( engraving of La Bastille Prison during the 18th century) Danry-Latude crosses the border and takes refuge in the Netherlands: after six months, he is captured again, and sent back to La Bastille: this second escape aggravates his case, so he is thrown alone in an isolated jail, deeper, damper, and filthier than the former ones. He lives there in the sole company of rats, and, sharing his daily food with them, tries to tame them, giving them first names, and pretending he is their new kingHe also begins to write letters to all the influent and mighty people of Versailles, Paris, Nobles, members of the Parliament, writers, religious dignitaries, intending to attract their attention on the unfair and desperate situation he has been unjustly thrown in. He flatters them most of the times, and sometimes, as no answer is coming, he threats. Irritated by the lack of reactions to his pleas, he writes more and more letters, giving advices on how the kingdom should be governed. He signs these letters Masers de Latude: its more chic! He will now be known as Latude. After the death of Madame de Pompadour in 1764, he is transferred again in Vincennes, to alleviate his pains. There again, he can walk outside, even out the prison itself, on the strict condition to be accompanied by a guard. One day, as he walks side by side with his warden in the streets of Vincennes, a thick fog suddenly wraps them.What do you think of the weather?asks Latude. -Methinks its bad says the soldier -Methinks its good, answers Latude, - for an escape, at least! By-ye!. Once free, he naively, stupidly or madly goes on writing letters here and there, asking for protection, demanding indemnities for his unjust imprisonment, detailing wondrous fanciful political projectsand of course is trapped again. Back to Vincennes. In 1775, the Minister Malesherbes, visiting the state jails, meets Latude, and convinced the latter is plain insane, has him sent him to Charenton, an asylum. Two years after, he is released, but obliged to stay out of Paris. He doesnt, and is soon accused of extorsion, and sent first to the Jail of Le Chatelet, and next to the asylum of Bicetre. Latude gets sick, catching scurvy, but goes on writing letters, and his biography. (Latude's escape rope ladder) Finally, he is freed in 1784, having spent 35 years in jail WITHOUT ANY TRIAL, and having escaped six (or seven?) times. He then has his book, Despotism Unveiled, or the Memoirs of Henri Masers de Latude, jailed for 35 years in different State Prisons, published in 1787 in the Netherlands ( to avoid French censorship). He suddenly becomes the talk of the town, the toast of the Enlightened, and the darling of Society Ladies: times have changed. The monarchy is exhausted , needs reforms which the undecided King is unable to promote against the opposing lobbies, the enlightened ideas are gaining the ground the absolute monarchy is yielding, and the word Revolution, blossoming on many lips, is not anymore taboo; besides, the overall mood of the day is clearly pre-romantic, and many Nobles and Bourgeois shed a tear on the ill fate of this poor victim of despotism. Some of them begin to sponsor Latude, for the first time in his life. But the best , for him, is yet to come: on the 14 th of July 1789, the Bastille is assaulted by the people of Paris, its the starting day of the French Revolution. Latude goes there immediately, and grabs, before the Bastille is demolished, his escape ladder that had been kept there for 28 years(this same ladder can still be seen nowadays in the Paris History Museum, Muse Carnavalet). In his old days he becomes a hero of the people, a legend, a symbol of the victims of false arrests and Royal Arbitrary: he is awarded a life-time pension by the Convention( political Parliament of the Revolution), and every Lady with a Salon definitely wants him at her Dinner Parties! Day after day, year after year, he is asked again and again to tell about his escapes, and oh my, does he like it! The Duchesse dAbrants invites him one evening and writes in her Memoires : Lorsquil arriva, je fus au devant de lui avec un respect et un attendrissement vraiment difiants. Je le pris par la main, je le conduisis un fauteuil, je lui mis un coussin sous les pieds ; enfin, il aurait t mon grand-pre que je ne laurais pas mieux trait. A table, je le mis ma droite. But the charm soon dissipates , and she adds : Il ne parlait que de ses aventures, et avec une loquacit effrayante. To sum it up, he is a self assured bore. He has his final escape, without return, on January, the first 1805. I like to imagine him on the threshold of Heaven, anxiously looking at St Peters bunch of keys, and wondering if Hes not one more jailer Thus ends the story of an otherwise unremarkable fellow whose remarkable destiny illustrated one of the aspects of Justice in 18 th Century. If you are interested in more legal details , read the footnote to be published separately . (Donjeon de Vincennes, former Latude's prison) ]]> Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:56:45 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/190/side-stories-anecdotes-amp-characters https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/190 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:05:28 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/139/first-tournament-of-the-royal-fencing-group-what-a-day https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/139 Mon, 31 May 2010 12:31:03 -0700 https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/115/une-belle-journee-descrime https://livinghistoryvw.com/lord-myron-de-verne/blog/115 Sun, 21 Mar 2010 10:12:25 -0700