Do you think the most important people from literature and history were fully respectable, dull people? Then you were fooled.
Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Walt Whitman were tangled in a love-triangle. Lord Byron is responsible for Twilight and his...
Now, of course you guys will get all chapters, but for now, I want to tell you how one person tricked the Ancien Régime of France, Russia and England, until half a continent was unsure whether this scandalous knight was a man, a woman, or just a really fucking brilliant spy.
On 9 April 1787, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a French noble-man, opera singer, violinist and general of colour, who would later found the first battalion composed entirely of men of colour (another awesome story) is polishing his rapier in the dining hall of Carlton House, England. The Chevalier is nervous - he will soon fight a showcased fencing match with one of the best fencers that France ever had. A spy and dragoneer officer, who single-handedly defeated a Prussian regiment and saved the diplomatic relationships with Russia. Who blackmailed the King of France several times and went into hiding after being found guilty of attempted murder. And whose whole wardrobe was payed for with taxpayers money.
The door opens, and the most honourable Chevalier d'Éon - or Chevalière Charlotte d'Éon, as they call themself nowadays - enters the room. In a dress.
This attire doesn't hinder the Chevalière from being a worthy opponent to Saint-Georges - and that, even though they are already around sixty! The former diplomat is still in shape (and, to be fair, they also need the money.)
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Who wins the fight is uncertain - as uncertain as almost everything that has been said or written about the Chevalier, also because they effectively wrote their own legend.
They were born in 1728 as Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont to a poor, but noble family. They later claimed to have been assigned female at birth, but were raised as a son to provide an heir - most likely just an claim made to justify their status as a woman, later on.
We don't know much about the Chevalier's early life and childhood - most we have is taken from their autobiography (which is not the most reliable source in some aspects) and from the novel "Famous Impostors" that Bram Stoker (of course it was Bram Stoker) wrote. In any case, Charles (as they're are called around that time) goes to school as a boy and becomes best of their class. They study law at the famed university of Paris and soon become known for their political essays and for being the secretary to other politicians and nobles. At this point, they are only 25!
But Charles is not only equipped with a very sharp mind.
At a masquerade ball in Versailles, the Chevalier appears in female clothing - they act so convincingly female that King Louis XV doesn't recognize them for the whole evening. Only later, when the king asks the lady for 'her' name, he gets the answer that he is actually talking to the supposedly male secretary. The king almost chokes on his champagne.
"Hold up, Charles, that's you?!"
"Yes, your majesty. Mademoiselle Charlotte d'Éon, at your service."
