Скачать или смотреть La Maupin: The Sword-Wielding Opera Rebel Who Escaped a Convent

Julie d'Aubigny, known as La Maupin, was a 17th-century French sword fighter with an extraordinary life. She mastered fencing at 12, married at 14, defeated a man in an illegal duel, and had a daring sapphic relationship, even escaping a convent with her lover. Julie d'Aubigny, known as La Maupin, was as famous on the opera stage as she was in back-alley duels. Beyond her documented sword fighting, she was a celebrated performer at the Paris Opera, with composer André Campra even writing an opera specifically for her in 1702. Her defiance of social norms was legendary; she frequently wore men's clothing and lived openly, leading to numerous run-ins with the law. The most severe was the convent escape, where she reportedly placed a deceased nun’s body in her lover’s bed and set the room ablaze to cover their tracks. This act earned her a death sentence, issued in absentia by the Parliament of Aix-en-Provence. Yet, her talent and connections were so formidable that King Louis XIV himself pardoned her on two separate occasions.