Extremely rare work Secret Memoirs to serve in the history of the republic of letters in France published in London in 1784.
This volume retraces the literary, political and journalistic events for the year 1776. This work, published abroad to avoid censorship, provides rare and valuable information on life at the king's court and intellectual life at the end of the 18th century.
Exciting and numerous texts with a critical and very light tone, often imbued with libertinism.
Rare and numerous texts on Marie Antoinette and on Voltaire in Ferney. Beautiful document. Rare text on the transsexual ambassador the Chevalier d'Eon and his relations with Beaumarchais "we have renewed the anecdote that the latter was a girl and that the first married her... »
• Knight of Eon
• Order of Malta
• Organ of Saint Nicholas
• Marie Antoinette
• Ferney
• Voltaire
• Puppet
• Louis XVI
• Curiosa
• Many fascinating texts on life at court.
Superb complete volume, very good interior condition, beautiful binding see photo 304 pages
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Secret memories to serve the history of the Republic of Letters in France from 1762 to the present day
The Secret Memoirs for use in the history of the Republic of Letters in France from 1762 to the present day is an anonymous chronicle of events that occurred between 1762 and 1787.
This chronicle is one of the most abundant and renowned sources for the history of the second half of the 18th century. There are many curious anecdotes there.
“At the center of the most burning debates for a quarter of a century, whether it was the fight against the Jesuits, the parliamentary opposition, resounding trials like that of the Queen's Necklace Affair, or the emergence of new aesthetics: that of bourgeois drama, of Gluckist Opera, of Shakespeare's Theater, they report, almost day by day, in an engaged or distanced, indignant or sarcastic manner, of the ephemeral or profound movements of a public opinion in the process of being formed
It would seem that Bachaumont was only a nominee. It was probably his secretary Pidansat de Mairobert who wrote the first volumes published from 1777. Then when he died, two years later, Mouffle d'Angerville took over. The success was enormous, so much so that the latter took the opportunity to add additions at the end of each book concerning previous years, using the notes left by his predecessors.
In 1830, Ravenel gave a critical and reasoned edition for the first 4 volumes. Paul Lacroix gave an abridgement in 1858. An alphabetical table of authors and characters cited in the Secret Memoirs appeared in Brussels in 1866. It is an essential tool for finding your way around the entire work. A new critical edition is in progress[1].
Secret memoirs (known as those of Bachaumont) to be used in the history of the Republic of Letters in France, from 1762 to the present day or Journal of an observer Containing analyzes of the plays which appeared during this interval; the relations of literary assemblies; notices of new, clandestine, prohibited books; fugitive pieces, rare or handwritten, in prose or verse; the vaudevilles on the Court; anecdotes and witticisms; the praises of dead scholars, artists, men of letters, etc., etc., etc. Volumes IV. Under the direction of Christophe Cave and Suzanne Cornand, Éditions Honoré Champion, 2009. 3 vols., 688, 728 and 552 p., (ISBN 978-2-7453-1760-5)[2]
Conferences
“The reign of criticism: the cultural imagination of Secret Memories[3]” is the second international conference dedicated to Secret Memories.
↑ These volumes, the first in the series, bring together the 5 initial volumes of Secret Memoirs. Volume I: January 1, 1762–December 31, 1763 (by Jean Sgard and Pierre Assayag). Volume II: January 1, 1764 – February 28, 1766 (by Christophe Cave). Volume III: Mars 1, 1766 – Mars 31, 1768 (by Christophe Cave). Volume IV: April 1, 1768 - October 31, 1769 (by Yves Citton). Volume V: November 1, 1769 - September 30, 1771 (by Suzanne Cornand)
↑ See art. online. Proceedings to be published See the Team section on this subject, Christophe Cave's page, “Publications”, The “reign of criticism”: the cultural imagination of Secret Memories.
Notice by Tawfik Mekki Berrada in Dictionary of Journals, 1600-1789, dir. J. Sgard, 1991.
Sébastian G. Longchamp, Jean-Louis Wagnière, Jacques Joseph Marie Decroix, Adrien Jean Quentin Beuchot, Memoirs on Voltaire: and on his works, ed. Aimé André, 1826, p. 187 Read online
Bernadette Fort, The Salons of “Secret Memories”, 1767-1787, Paris, ENSBA, 1999, p. 381 (ISBN 2840560666).
Christophe Cave, “Libertinage and Secret Memories”, in Du genre libertine au XVIIIe siècle (proceedings of the international conference “Libertine literature in the 18th century: does there exist a libertine genre? definition, typology, chronological limits, corpus”, under the direction of Jean-François Perrin, Philip Stewart, Desjonquères, 2004, p. 193-216
in English
(en) Jeremy D. Popkin, Bernadette Fort, The Mémoires Secrets and the Culture of Publicity in Eighteenth-century France, Voltaire Foundation, 1998, 188 p. (ISBN 0729405710)
external links
To modify
Secret memories to serve the history of the Republic of Letters in France, since MDCCLXII by L. Petit de Bachaumont, M.-F. Pidansat by Mairobert and Moufle d'Angerville Volumes 1 to 36 available on Gallica
Charles d'Éon de Beaumont, say it knight of Éon, Diplomat, spy, officer, and literary man French, was born on to theUzès hotel of Thunder, and dead the has London.
He remained famous for his pronounced taste for cross-dressing, which led his contemporaries to speculate about his real sex and became, for ancient authors, a historical enigma. In fact, a college of doctors foundautopsy that he was endowed with normally constituted masculine attributes even if another examination, carried out during his lifetime but not undressed, had reached the opposite conclusion.
He played an important role in official diplomacy and especially in the parallel diplomacy of Louis XV. He helped to change the Russia in the French camp at the start of the Seven Years' War. Then, during his embassy in England, he developed, among other things, a plan to invade the country by sea.
He is one of the most brilliant and contradictory characters in the xviiie century: he lived dressed as a man for forty-nine years and as a woman for thirty-two years. Loving the party and the good dear, he wrote essays on subjects as diverse as they were specific (for example: Memoir on the usefulness of mulberry cultivation and silkworm education in France).
Biography[to modify | modify the code]
Family origins[to modify | modify the code]
If we are to believe the genealogy, reviewed and verified in 1775, which the Chevalier d'Éon had published in 1779 by de la Fortelle1,Note 1, the origin of his family would be in Brittany2 and the same as that of “the Senéchal” of Brittany3,4. Two members of the line, the Count of Kercado and the Marquis of Molac, immediately spoke out against these claims, maintaining that the name “Éon” was not a patronymic and that there had never been such a family in Brittany5,6. They assigned the Chevalier d'Éon to Châtelet from Paris “to see that he would be required to prove the facts put forward by him, or to retract them and make an authentic reparation for them7,8 ».
Two sentences, published in the noto 39 of Mercury of France of the year 1780, intervened at the Châtelet of Paris on this dispute on 9, then, at the knight's call, the , left the Chevalier d'Éon in the indisputable possession of drawing his origin from the Éons of Brittany10.
The knight would descend from the famous heresiarch of xie century, Aeon of the Star4,11, condemned in 1148 by a Council of Reims, who left Brittany and traveled through the dioceses of Sense, of Reims and of Langres, accompanied by several of his relatives who had become his disciples. After his conviction, his parents did not return to Brittany, but settled in several of the countries where their leader had led them. Some of them undoubtedly settled in Ravières and formed the branch, from which the knight came12. They boldly retained their name and three gold stars, for talking weapons; they have since added a rooster proper, holding in its raised dexter foot a flaming heart gules on a chief azure, symbol of the vigilance and enthusiasm of Éon de l'Étoile, with this motto: vigil and audax13,6,14,15.
The genealogy by descent followed by this family begins with Robert d'Eon16,10, said of Molesmes, born in 1309, for lack of being able to go back further, with sufficient proof, because of thegeneral fire, which completely consumed the city of Thunder THE . François-Alexandre Aubert de La Chenaye-Desbois published one in 186517, which entirely takes up the work of La Fortelle1 published in 1779, which he updated and completed. There agnatic lineage descendants led in 1576 to André d'Éon, born in Ravières18,19.
Gustave Chaix d'Est-Ange note in 1918 about the d'Éon family that La Chesnaye des Bois gave a very detailed genealogy, tracing the lineage back to xie century. " In reality ", he writes, “the Éon family seems to have simply belonged to the upper class bourgeoisie of his region. We do not see, in any case, that she ever had her nobility recognized by judgment, nor even that she had her coat of arms registered in the General Armorial of 169620 », coat of arms thatHenri Jougla de Morenas mentioned in his Grand Armorial of France published in 193521. Chaix d'Est-Ange then takes up the agnatic descendant tree of André Déon from previous genealogies20.
More recently Jean-Robert Blot22,Note 2 undertook, thanks to the sources now available, to verify the work of the Fortelle1 established and drawn up during the knight's lifetime, where we find a certificate of noble status concerning him24. He concludes that this genealogy is erroneous for the oldest part dating back to Aeon of the Star, adding that the surname Deon is common in the region of Ravières, Ancy-le-Franc, Chassignelles22.
For Blot, “the attested ancestor of this family is André DeonNote 3, he would have a brother Nicolas who would have made three pilgrimages to Rome including at least one barefoot and who would have retired to a hermitage near Ravières. This family is a bourgeois family which will rise in Thunder society, but it will not succeed in passing itself off as noble, particularly in 1668. As was customary at the time in all bourgeois families, the different children would have nicknames added to their names (often a place related to their property)22 ».
Youth[to modify | modify the code]
Charles-Geneviève d'ÉonNote 4 born on 25,22, to theUzès hotel Thunder27 and was baptized two days later, on 25 in theNotre-Dame de Tonnerre church. He says in his autobiography, The Leisure of the Knight of Éon de Beaumont, that it is born “coiffed”28, that is to say covered in fetal membranes, head and sex hidden, the doctor who delivered his mother being unable to determine her sex. (It seems that this last statement by Éon is actually just a ploy to further blur the truth of his gender.) He is the son of Louis Déon (or d'Éon) of Beaumont29,30,22, lawyer at Parliament of Paris, advisor to the king, elected mayor of the small Burgundian town of Thunder, subdelegate of thestewardship of Paris, inspector or traveling controller at king's domain31, and also director of the king's wine estates[ref. necessary] ; he gets rich in the wine trade[ref. necessary]. His mother, Françoise de Chavanson32, is the daughter of a commissioner general of wars to the armies ofSpain and D'Italy.
He began his studies in Tonnerre, then, in 1743, he moved to Paris, with his uncle Michel d'Éon de Germigny33,34, to pursue them to the prestigious Mazarin college35.
Very good student, he obtained a diploma in civil law and canon law, in ; he was then twenty-one years old. Family tradition obliges, he becomes the , with an age exemption35, lawyer At parliament of Paris. He thought for a moment about taking orders.35. He showed talents in horse riding, and even more in fencing, where his skill was such that he was soon recognized as one of the first swordsmen in France.35. At the same time he wrote a lot and began to publish, , Historical and political considerations. His works are noticed35.
Furthermore, the young knight, brilliant in society, has no trouble creating a network of relationships, among which we soon find the prince of Conti, prince of blood, cousin of the king Louis XV, which names it royal censor for History and Belles-Lettres36. As responsible for royal censorship, any writing concerning these two areas must receive its imprimatur before being published. D'Éon was particularly able to win the favor of the prince, by sometimes retouching or rewriting his verses and madrigals35.
Career[to modify | modify the code]
Charles-Geneviève d’Éon is recruited into the “ Secret of the King ". This black cabinet, created by Louis XV, is considered the first structure of secret Service truly organized and sustainable in France. He pursues a foreign policy parallel to official diplomacy, and sometimes very different from the latter. The other royal councils are unaware of its existence, including that of “Foreign Affairs”. Neither do foreign countries. The Chevalier d'Éon is therefore considered one of the first spies French37. These agents have complete freedom to achieve their ends, by the means of their choice, even if they are illegal. The firm is headed by prince of Conti then by the Count de Broglie.
These include, in particular, the Marshal of Noailles, Vergennes, Breteuil, Beaumarchais.
Saint PETERSBOURG[to modify | modify the code]
According to some sources, d'Éon was recruited into the secret service by the king himself, who met him at a costume ball disguised as a woman. The monarch is seduced by this pretty person. After understanding that it is a man, he thinks that thus disguised, he could approach the Tsarina Elizabeth ID without attracting suspicion. It's June , there Seven Years' War begin. His mission is to convince the sovereign to form an alliance with France. Under the name Lia de Beaumont, he managed to approach her, he became her reader, and he managed to plead the French cause at the Russian Court more effectively than the official ambassadors.
In fact, it is more likely that he was recruited by the Prince de Conti and sent to the Russian Court as embassy secretary. HAS Saint PETERSBOURG, the Tsarina gives costume balls, where the roles are reversed: the men must be dressed as women and vice versa. D'Éon undoubtedly takes pleasure in cross-dressing, his androgynous appearance (narrow build, absence of beard38,39) allows him to mystify everyone40. D'Éon quickly became friends with many of the Tsarina's relatives. This is how he gradually rallies Anglophile advisors to the French cause, while the French diplomats who arrive in official delegations have for months been the target of distrust and rejection.
He was again present in Saint Petersburg as embassy secretary from 1758 to 1760. Another treaty of alliance is signed, immediately the knight reports it to the king at Versailles, two days ahead of the courier dispatched by the Tsarina. The king rewards him by giving him a captain's certificate. dragons. Charles-Geneviève participated in the last campaigns of the Seven Years' War, where he was injured. He left the army in 1762 to become a secret agent again.41.
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London[to modify | modify the code]
In 1762, Charles-Geneviève d'Éon was sent to London, where he collaborates, as “secretary of the French embassy for the conclusion of general peace” with the ambassador, the Duke of Nivernais, in the writing of Paris peace treaty, signed on , which ends the Seven Years' War. France was defeated by England, the latter notably wants to seize most of the French colonial empire, it is a question of concluding the least unfavorable treaty possible. The knight will contribute to this. During one of those very watered meals that he likes, he manages to steal for a moment from an English negotiator a document containing the list of maximum concessions that his country is willing to make.41. Infinitely precious document, which Choiseul will exploit to obtain the least painful agreement possible for France. The king rewards him again, he is decorated with theroyal and military order of Saint-Louis, one of the greatest distinctions of time39.
D'Éon is now charged by the Secret of the King a delicate mission that could not be more secret: it involves, in order to regain the advantage over the English enemy, developing a plan for the invasion of Great Britain. A surprise landing. It recognizes the ribs with the Marquis Carlet de la Rozière. He keeps the highest authorities informed of the progress of the project in secret and coded letters. The fact that it was to him that the king entrusted this mission shows the esteem and confidence he has for the knight.42.
When the Duke of Nivernais, ill, returns to Paris41, he takes his place on an interim basis. The atmosphere immediately changed at the embassy. The new master of the place organizes sumptuous receptions there, all the people who count in the kingdom of England are invited there, and they flock there. We have so much fun there, the knight is so charming... So charming, it's "Éon-style diplomacy" (which prefigures that of Talleyrand): having only friends in the enemy camp. The king George III love it. Let us recall that, at the same time, d'Éon was preparing an invasion of his country. But in Paris his lifestyle is considered too extravagant: 22 servants, one reception per day39, he squandered the embassy's annual budget in just a few months41. When he asks for the said budget to be increased, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Étienne-François de Choiseul, denied. For the first time, the knight is disowned by the royal power.
A new ambassador, the Count of Guerchy, takes office, Charles-Geneviève d'Éon becomes its secretary as minister plenipotentiary. The two men hate each other, they knew each other and opposed each other during the Seven Years' War41. The knight despises his superior. Two clans form at the French embassy and a war of libels begins.
At the heart of the conflict between the two men are plans to invade the country. Louis XV abandoned this project. The ambassador demands that the knight deliver these plans to him in order to destroy them. D'Éon refuses, without there being a negotiation, and an agreement being found on specific remuneration for such good work on such a judicious project. For Count de Guerchy, it is out of the question to consider any negotiation. The royal power ends up deciding. THE , Louis XV dismisses the knight from his functions at the embassy and requests his extradition to the English authorities43.
They, who are not obliged to do so by their legislation, refuse: this conflict between the two French diplomats which is being exposed in broad daylight delights them. As a provocation, d'Éon continued to go to the French embassy. In 1764, to make Guerchy and the king give in, he did not hesitate to use daring blackmail: he divulged part of his correspondence with the royal power. He does not go so far as to publish the letters which specifically concern the landing, but the threat to do so is underlying.
The knight believed that the new ambassador was incompetent. He is, it seems, right. Instead of agreeing to pay a modest “ransom” to recover this precious document, he locks himself into a refusal which simply endangers the fragile political and military balance between the two most powerful countries in Europe. For him, the knight is the man to be defeated by all means. But, outside the walls of the embassy, he has no rights and the knight skillfully shelters behind the English police and justice. During a trial, a witness reveals that the ambassador tried to poison his ex-secretary during a mealNote 5. D'Éon also accuses his ex-superior of trying to have him kidnapped. In September 1767, during another trial, English justice ruled in favor of the knight, who resumed his functions and received his pension again. Having to appear in court once again, while he has neither lawyer nor witnesses, he prefers to disappear. He disguises himself as a woman and takes refuge with a friend39.
Sex[to modify | modify the code]
Little by little the conflict gets bogged down, then it dies down, the ambassador being taken up by other problems and the knight giving up his desire for blackmail. Now that he is in disgrace, without power or function, he is ignored. So, many historians think41, so that eyes are turned towards him again, he has the idea of causing a scandal by dressing as a woman and pretending that he has always been a woman41. He is once again at the center of all attention and conversation. At the French embassy they immediately tried to take advantage of the knight's "madness", which fueled the libels of Treyssac de Vergy and D'Angel Goudar.
Various rumors about his sexual identity immediately spread throughout London. In the British newspapers, we see caricatures of the knight who are called “ Epicene d’Éon.” In the capital, bets are launched on one's gender. A trial between two punters ends – after hearing various witnesses, but not the knight – with the following verdict: she is a woman44.
In 1774, Louis XV demanded that the Chevalier d'Éon put an end to the rumors, which discredited the French embassy, by indicating his true gender once and for all. The knight responds with a declaration in which he solemnly affirms that he is a woman. This certificate is validated by several doctors. The knight refusing to undress, these doctors had to be content with carrying out palpations to form their opinion45. This revelation is embarrassing for the Kingdom. Various readings have been proposed to interpret this behavior: psychological, even psychiatric ("narcissistic delirium"), or even political: desire to take revenge, to ridicule the country which dismissed him, then attempted his life.
The Chevalier d'Éon is not homosexual or bisexual, because we do not know of any affair with him.41. It is generally believed that he is only a transvestite, his sexual pleasure, the transvestism, simply consists of dressing as a woman, and does not need a sexual partner, the gaze of others (or one's own) is enough for him. This inclination is calledeonism in reference to d'Éon.
At this time, d'Éon was in contact with the French libellist Charles Théveneau de Morande, which communicates to him the Memoirs of Madame du Barry, satirical text, of which he is the author. In 1775, the playwright, but also a member of the Secret of the King, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, is sent to London by the new king of France, Louis XVI, to recover all these documents, letters, plans, libels, in the knight's possession.
After many adventures, at the end of fourteen months of negotiations, a transaction of more than twenty pages, stipulating the handing over of all sensitive documents, was concluded. Furthermore, the knight – who France now considers to be a woman – will never have to take off his feminine clothes again. He will now be called Mshe Éon, in exchange for which a life annuity is granted to him39.
When the prospect of a return to France begins to become clearer, d'Éon puts on his masculine clothes again, against the wishes of the new royal power. The Chevalier d'Éon is therefore caught in his own trap. Furious, he left London on and presents himself to the Court in his captain's outfit dragons. An order taken on by the king orders him “to leave the dragoon uniform that she continues to wear and to resume the clothes of her sex with the prohibition of appearing in the kingdom in clothing other than that suitable for women46 ». Dressed by Rose Bertin at the expense of Marie Antoinette, he is presented to the Court in a basket dress and corset THE .
In 1779, d'Éon wanted to participate in the American War of Independence against England alongside Lafayette. He dresses up as a dragon, but the royal power cracks down: arrested , he is exiled to Tonnerre, where he resolves to take care of his family estate39.
End of life[to modify | modify the code]
In 1783, the king let him return to Paris; in November 1785, he returned to Great Britain; arrived in London, he discovers that the owner of his apartment is demanding his unpaid rent from him47. No longer benefiting from his pension, he does not have the means to pay it, except to part with his library of 8,000 books.
It is at this time that theweapons assault between the knight of Éon and the knight of Saint-George, who came to England expressly48. This assault takes place at Carlton House THE , at the express request of Prince of Wales, George Augustus of Hanover, future George IV, who is rumored to be the son of the Chevalier d'Éon49,Note 6.
It was a sporting feat between two fencers accustomed to shooting together in the same room. Despite the embarrassment of his women's clothing, d'Éon reached Saint-George seven times51 and his victory established his reputation as a fencer52,Note 7. The table ofAlexandre-Auguste Robineau The fencing-match between the Chevalier de Saint-George and the Chevalier d’Éon was carried out at the request of the Prince of Wales54 to immortalize the event.
D'Éon welcomes the French Revolution and even addresses the to theNational Legislative Assembly a petition in which, relying on a decree of the Constituent, he asks to be reinstated in his rank and to take service:
“Now, when I see the nation, the law and the king in great danger, I feel my love for the homeland awaken and my warlike mood revolt against my cornette and my skirts: my heart cries out for my helmet, my sabre, my horse and above all my rank in the army to go and fight the enemies of France. To put myself in a position to do good work in the army, please grant me permission to raise a legion called the volunteer legion of d'Éon-Tonnerre. I would try to make it at least half composed of veteran soldiers, and the other half of robust and good-willed youth who will soon be seasoned in an active war.55. »
The petition, presented by Lazare Carnot to the Assembly in the session of , is referred to the military committee56 who takes no action. D'Éon therefore remained in London, where his situation became more and more precarious. The declaration of war over there Agreement to Great Britain and United Provinces and heavy debts (also in France) forced him to remain on British soil39 where he lives poorly.
The property he has in France is confiscated, the furniture of his house in Tonnerre is sold, the papers he has deposited there, in a hidden iron cupboard, are seized. He has nothing left to live on except a pension of 200 pounds sterling granted to him George III55.
To support himself, he is forced to participate in public fencing matches57. Despite his past sixty years and his feminine clothes, his skills as a fencer allow him to win most fights.Note 8. In , he must resolve to get rid of his library47. He continued, despite his overweight, to fight duels until the age of 68. THE has Southampton, during a large assault in public, he is seriously injured, the button of the foil having broken without anyone noticing thumb from the end; the wound in the crook of the right arm extends almost 10 centimeters58.
He was finally collected on by Mary Cole, a Frenchwoman of her age, widow of William Cole, engineer of the English royal navy59.
THE , d'Éon and Mary Cole are imprisoned for debt60. Released after five months61, he signed a contract to publish his autobiography but he was struck by paralysis, following a fall due to a vascular attack. He will live four more years in poverty, the last two years as bedridden62 before dying at the age of 81, in London (New-Wilman Street, noto 26)51,Rating 9.
While carrying out her mortuary toilet, we discover with amazement that this supposed old lady is in fact a man.Note 10. The surgeon Mr. Copeland, accompanied by seventeen witnesses, members of the Medical Faculty of Great Britain declares in a medico-legal report64, THE : “I hereby certify that I have examined and dissected the body of the Chevalier d’Éon in the presence of Mr. Adair, of Mr. Wilson, of Father Élysée and that I found on this body the male organs of generation perfectly formed in all respects"65,66.
Surgeon Copeland even provided this clarification the next day: “In consequence of the note of the persons named above, I examined the body, which was of the male sex. The original drawing67 was made by MC Turner, in my presence68 ». Charles Turner simultaneously engraves a print of the death mask69.
The Chevalier d'Éon was buried on at the cemetery of St Pancras Old Church70, parish church ofChurch of England which at the time was part of county of " Middlesex »65,71,72,Note 11 before being attached in 1889Note 12 until 1965 county of london, since replaced by the Greater London. He leaves a will holographic in which he appoints as executor Sir Sydney Smith.
This will is preceded by a preamble heading “ Soli Deo Gloria and honor ». It begins like this: “Mors mihi lucrumNote 13 » and ends with this pithy quatrain where, philosophically, and not without some irony, the knight takes stock of what his life has been like74,75 :
Closed to burials in 1850, the cemetery of St Pancras Old Church, where many Catholics and French emigrants were buried, was decommissioned in 1865 due to the work of the St Pancras station, terminus of Midland Railway, then reopened as a public park in 70,76. The Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts then builds a memorial, inaugurated in 1879, which has since carried her name (in).
L'obelisk is erected in memory of the people who were buried near the church St Pancras Old Church and the names of more than seventy of them are engraved there, including that of the Chevalier d'Éon, on the south face.
Posterity[to modify | modify the code]
Eonism[to modify | modify the code]
L'eonism designates the aesthetic-sexual inversion corresponding to the need that certain men feel to adopt sartorial or social behaviors socially considered feminine. Two approaches to eonism prevail: the psychologist Havelock Ellis considers that eonism would be the first stage ofsexual inversion, this being expressed symbolically on a sartorial level. The psychiatrist Angelo Hesnard thinks that eonism is a means of appropriation of the image of woman by the transvestism and can lead to a form of sexual perversion. In certain sexual practices, notably fetish, eonism is a powerful stimulant. As such, the Chevalier d'Éon is considered by the LGBT community as the “patron saint of transvestites”77.