(1) If I novelized this true story a little bit, hopefully for your reading enjoyment, I did not invent the facts : they are documented, scattered in different books about history of music, history of fencing, or history of amazons and out of ordinary women, by such specialized authors as Letainturier-Fradin, Fetis, Campardon, Colombey, Gilbert, Salmonsona brilliant synthesis of these scattered pieces was made by Jim Burroughs, on the web.

Mademoiselle de Maupin is also a 19^th century book by French writer and romantique Thophile Gautier, which , except for the title, and a few fencing and cross dressing sections, bears no resemblance whatsoever with the life of this astounding and scandalous woman.

(2) WOMEN AND FENCING

During the 17^th century suddenly appeared some fencing or dueling women. Not many of course, but as this had never existed before, it was all the more striking. Gilbert writes: Duels between women became a more common event towards the end of Louis XIV reign. Archives state, for instance, that one woman wrote to another: I reverse the natural order of things, and opposing to women s established custom, I let you know that I stand in your back street right now, sword in hand, in order to fight with you for ownership of my dear Philemon.

J.A. Salmonson also writes:In the 1600s, swordswomen were considered as an unusual but eventual occurrence; people would pay to attend their duels, just as they would have paid to see a dancing bear ( charming comparison!)

Why did it all begin in the second part of 17^th century? Was it a more opened society, allowing a broader place to women and having a new look on how they should behave or not? Maybe a little( but very little). In my opinion, the main reason was something else.

In those days, a new kind of sword, the foil, was invented: it was much, much lighter and thinner than former rapiers, and therefore easier to handle. The foil was also a thrust only type of weapon, as opposed to cut and thrust blades of ancient times. The foil blade was a bit flexible, and quadrangular of triangular in shape, with no cutting edge. The pointe, or thrusting extremity, could be covered by a button, in order to avoid severe wounds during trainings or duels. Even more important than this novelty: a new and different technique of fencing was needed to adapt to this new weapon. It caused the development of the French Style of fencing( lEcole Franaise).

This new French Style, born with the foil, instead of putting the emphasis on strength and violence, insisted on dexterity, visual accuracy, timing, speed and precision in gestures and moves, a rational approach to the different attacks, parries and ripostes, and, finally, on elegance, virtuosity and panache .

No more frightful cuts, slaps and slashes with the cutting edges, most of the times no more piercing the opponent from side to side, but only some sort of competitive art form with a weapon. Some even compared this new style to a dance adapted to its special fighting aim. I read that some salles darmes, therefore, added the teaching of dancing to the teaching of fencing. What was formerly reserved to men to prepare them for war combats, became more of a social ritual, a forerunner of todays sports.

These two changes ( foil, French Style) made fencing more accessible to women with a feeling for adventure, and made them more acceptable in this formerly for men only world.

The moves and gestures in SL En Garde! are obviously derivative from this foil technique.

(3) BANNING THE DUELS

In the 1600s, duels of honor between Nobles had become a social nuisance, thousands of young noble gentlemen being killed or becoming disabled The Cardinal de Richelieu, Louis XIII Prime Minister, banned dueling by a state decree, to protect the elite of the countrys youth.

Those who infringed the rule could be sentenced to a dishonorable death if they had killed their opponent, or to jail if they only wounded them.

This banning decree was not applied strictly, but renewed with more details many times under the following reigns of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. It did not stop completely the duels of honor habit, which was so strongly rooted in the morals of the Nobility.

( See for instance the duel of honor at the beginning of Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers, where dArtagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, the three Musketeers, are interrupted by the Guards of Cardinal de Richelieu, who try to arrest the Musketeers for infringing the ban.)

This relative inefficiency of the ban caused the political power to encourage and sometimes sponsor the salles darmes, where fencing could be practiced and enjoyed with no danger.

(4) MADEMOISELLES ON STAGE

In those days, actresses and female Opera singers were called Mademoiselle, whatever their age, and whether they were married or not. Mademoiselle de Maupin is a good example. The reason for this is that actresses and singers, if they were admired for their artistry on stage, were considered in everyday life, notably by the allmighty Church, as evil persons ,or at least doing an evil job. They therefore could not be granted the dignity of a Madame. Usually, after their death, the church refused them a mass before their burial.

Even if the connotation of Evil disappeared with the times, notably by the end of the 19^th century, the habit of calling actresses and singers Mademoiselle, even if they were 80 years old with legions of grand-children, remained in France until recent years.

(5) MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN A LOPERA

Mademoiselle de Maupin was a true star of the Acadmie Royale de Musique, as the Opera, located in the Paris Palais-Royal, was called then. Latainturier-Fradin and Campardon inventoried 30 plays in which she performed in Paris, and we should add those she sung in Brussels, maybe 5 or 6 of them.

In those days, as far as stage music was concerned, there was a competition between French and Italian styles. The Italian Operas focused on the melody and vocal solo prowess of singers, when the French style was, according to the taste of the Royal Court, trying to achieve a total show, blending music (strongly based on harmony rather than melody), singing ( solo and choirs) and a lot of dancing, with the frequent use of machines ( scenic equipments allowing the actors to fly over the stage, or simulating clouds, thunders, fire, and so on.)

The main style of French Opera was the Lyrical Tragedy: a prologue, and usually 5 acts or Entres (The Italian Opera was usually in three acts). The subjects, as in Theater tragedies of the same time by Corneille or Racine, were drawn from Roman or Greek antiquity and Mythology. A variant came later, called the Heroic Pastorales, where the main characters were idyllic peasants in love, drawn from the antique mythology.

The greatest exponent of the lyrical tragedy was Jean-Baptiste Lully, who created it, and to a lesser degree, Andr Campra. Many other composers existed though, whose works are reputed less interesting. Under the reign of Louis XV, this style became out of fashion, in spite of the tenacious efforts of Jean-Philippe Rameau, the best of them all.

Simultaneously, another style of stage music was also favored in France, the OPERA-BALLET.

Invented by Colasse, a disciple of Lully, it was bettered by Campra ( in LEurope Galante) and brought to its final perfection by Rameau in Les Indes Galantes.

It was not built around a story, but was rather a sequence of scenes in a lighter vein, loosely assembled on a vague theme, each scene being whether sung or danced, full of variety and imagination.

For those interested, I may advice the DVD of Lullys lyrical tragedy Cadmus and Hermione by Herv Dumeste and Le Poeme Harmonique, a splendid rendition following as strictly as possible the original style ( I have posted a video of an extract with English subtitles-even Frenchmen have difficulties in understanding the old-stylish way the lyrics are worded!) This Cadmus and Hermione was the first work in which La Maupin sung in Paris in 1690.

I may add the charming Opra-Ballet Les Indes Galantes by Rameau, directed by Willliam Christie and his Arts Florissants , a lively and true to original musical version, in a semi-modernized and enthusiastic scenography.