Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. Just a
Speaker 1: quick reminder for our listeners. This is part two of
Speaker 1: our two part series on the Chevalier de Saint George.
Speaker 1: So if you haven't heard part one yet, go back
Speaker 1: to last week and give it a listen before starting
Speaker 1: today's episode. Okay, now onto the show. Somewhere in the
Speaker 1: United Kingdom, perhaps in Windsor Castle or even deep within
Speaker 1: the recesses of Buckingham Palace, a portrait still sits in
Speaker 1: storage under the lock and key of the Royal Collection Trust.
Speaker 1: This twenty five by thirty inch canvas lays undisturbed in
Speaker 1: a room, likely with several other priceless works of art,
Speaker 1: waiting for a curator's eyes to decide that the these
Speaker 1: portraits are worthy enough to be looked upon. The Royal
Speaker 1: Collection Trust has thousands of pieces in its collection, so
Speaker 1: it makes sense that when not in exhibition, each piece
Speaker 1: is carefully stowed away as to save it from sun
Speaker 1: damage or other potential museum mishaps. But in my opinion,
Speaker 1: this portrait in question, the one we're talking about now,
Speaker 1: feels wasted in the confines of a glorified storage unit.
Speaker 1: Amidst the countless pieces in the Royal Collection trust featuring
Speaker 1: single subjects, more often than not, single subjects sitting in
Speaker 1: their homes, draped in ornate displays a finery, this particular
Speaker 1: piece is different in more ways than one. This portrait
Speaker 1: depicts not one subject, but two. The figures stand facing
Speaker 1: each other. The person on the right is in a
Speaker 1: deep lunge, their sword thrust dramatically toward their counterpart on
Speaker 1: the left, whose foil is in the act of parrying
Speaker 1: at their rival. This isn't a portrait so much as
Speaker 1: an action piece. The inherent action in the scene is
Speaker 1: enough to garner more than a cursory glance. But it
Speaker 1: isn't just the scene itself that makes this portrait worthy
Speaker 1: of note.
Speaker 2: Rather, it who exactly these people are that might cause
Speaker 2: viewers to take a second glance. For one, the figure
Speaker 2: on the right, caught lunging toward the other, is wearing
Speaker 2: a dress. White lace frills delicately around the figure's neck.
Speaker 2: The rest of their black gown pillows out from their
Speaker 2: waist in dramatic ruffles that cascade toward the ground. The
Speaker 2: idea of a woman engaging in a duel in the
Speaker 2: late eighteenth century, let alone one being painted for posterity,
Speaker 2: for it was essentially unheard of, But when it came
Speaker 2: to the Chevalier Dion, unheard of seemed to have become
Speaker 2: their mo For frequent listeners of our podcast, you may
Speaker 2: remember the revered French spy and swordsman, or rather swordswoman,
Speaker 2: the Chevalier Dion, but the matter of their gender was
Speaker 2: the subject of much debate in Europe in the late
Speaker 2: eighteenth century. By April seventeen eighty seven, the date this
Speaker 2: particular duel took place, the Chevalier was presenting as a woman,
Speaker 2: but that didn't stop the public from voicing their opinions
Speaker 2: on the matter loudly, even going so far as to
Speaker 2: famously form a betting pool as to the quote unquote
Speaker 2: true nature of her gender. Now in her late sixties,
Speaker 2: and because she was presenting as a woman, I will
Speaker 2: use female pronouns here, Dion was no stranger to the
Speaker 2: not so subtle whispers that tended to follow in her wake,
Speaker 2: but neither was the man that she was dueling against,
Speaker 2: Joseph Boulogne, the Chevalier de Saint George had been fighting
Speaker 2: to prove himself long before he had ever been given
Speaker 2: a sword, let alone a violin. The accomplished fencer and
Speaker 2: composer spent years in Parasalons, impressing the likes of the
Speaker 2: Duke of Orleans and Marie Antoinette with his talent and
Speaker 2: his charm, but even then he was always considered an outsider.
Speaker 2: Saint George's musical genius should have been reason alone to
Speaker 2: make him a prime marriage candidate, not even mentioning his
Speaker 2: wealth and legendary good looks. But apart from secret trysts
Speaker 2: behind closed doors, Saint George was a perpetual bachelor. The
Speaker 2: Parisian elite were happy to have him share the company
Speaker 2: of their beds, but only in the shadows. To them,
Speaker 2: the reason for their discretion became all too apparent in
Speaker 2: the light of day. The son of a French plantation
Speaker 2: owner and an enslaved woman from the island of Guadaloupe,
Speaker 2: Saint George was a black man. He may have been
Speaker 2: granted entry into their salons and orchestras based on his
Speaker 2: artistic merit, but Joseph likely felt the asterisk that seemed
Speaker 2: to accompany his presence. He was unmatched in skill in
Speaker 2: both violin and sword, and yet he would never be
Speaker 2: one of them. He would forever linger on the outskirts,
Speaker 2: a novelty, to be paraded about, to be looked at,
Speaker 2: to be talked about, but never to be fully included.
Speaker 2: In the back room of some royal storeroom somewhere, this
Speaker 2: portrait sits waiting, two figures from French history, each fighting
Speaker 2: each other for their chance to be seen in a
Speaker 2: world that viewed them as amusing sideshow attractions. Depending on
Speaker 2: the historical account you might read, it's unclear exactly who
Speaker 2: won the duel that day. Some say Dion won handily,
Speaker 2: while others say Saint George pulled back his aggression to
Speaker 2: let Dion take the prize money that she desperately needed
Speaker 2: at this point in her life. Ultimately, I don't think
Speaker 2: the outcome of the duel itself is that important to
Speaker 2: dwell on. Rather, the very fact that this duel between
Speaker 2: a black swordsman slash violinist slash composer and a diplomat
Speaker 2: slash spy slash soldier, who, had she lived today, would
Speaker 2: likely have identified as a transgender woman, even happened at all,
Speaker 2: was just going to show how fast the world was
Speaker 2: changing at the end of the eighteenth century. The portrait
Speaker 2: itself may be hidden away for now temporarily, but the
Speaker 2: visibility that came from this moment in history would only
Speaker 2: go on to foreshadow the major upheaval France was about
Speaker 2: to endure over the course of the next decade. The
Speaker 2: duel of the two chevaliers may not have had a
Speaker 2: clear winner, but coming out of Carlton House, where the
Speaker 2: duel was held that day, one thing was for certain.
Speaker 2: Change was coming. The outskirts of society were knocking at
Speaker 2: the door, and it was only a matter of time
Speaker 2: before they would go ahead and let themselves in. I'm
Speaker 2: Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. The duel between
Speaker 2: the Chevalier Dion and the Chevalier de Saint George was
Speaker 2: one of many duels that Saint George participated in during
Speaker 2: his time in London in seventeen eighty seven. As we
Speaker 2: learned last week, Saint George was left somewhat adrift in
Speaker 2: terms of both his financial and living situations following the
Speaker 2: death of his employer, the Duke of Orleans, in seventeen
Speaker 2: eighty five. By this point, he had composed several concertos
Speaker 2: and even a few operas, but without the concert d'armatur,
Speaker 2: Saint George was left without an orchestra and therefore without
Speaker 2: a way to make a living. Fortunately for him, while
Speaker 2: his employment under the Duke of Orleans may have ended,
Speaker 2: the Duke's son, Philippe the new Duke, had become a
Speaker 2: dear friend to the Chevalier over the years, and the
Speaker 2: newly minted Duke decided to invite Saint George along with
Speaker 2: him to London to meet the Prince of Wales, who
Speaker 2: had heard rumors of Saint George's legendary skill with a sword.
Speaker 2: Saint George happily accompanied his friend the Duke across the Channel,
Speaker 2: but little did he know what else the Duke had
Speaker 2: in store for him. Later in his life, Philippe the
Speaker 2: Duke would change his name to Philippe Egalite, which in
Speaker 2: English would translate to Philippe Equality, to reflect his opposition
Speaker 2: to the absolute monarchy in France and his support of
Speaker 2: the French Revolution. So it should come as no surprise
Speaker 2: that the Duke inviting Saint George's to London in the
Speaker 2: midst of the growing political tensions in France, was more
Speaker 2: than a little politically motivated. Saint George would compete in
Speaker 2: multiple duels during his initial trip to London, but it
Speaker 2: was during this stay that he would befriend the Prince
Speaker 2: of Wales and a handful of other well known Whig
Speaker 2: politicians at the time. If you're keeping track on your
Speaker 2: Noble Blood bingo card, the Chevalier de Saint George's stint
Speaker 2: in London likely covers about half of the board. Considering
Speaker 2: the political circles Philippe the Duke was likely associated with,
Speaker 2: it's not impossible to think Saint George's likely rubbed shoulders
Speaker 2: with not only the Chevalier Deon and the Prince of
Speaker 2: Wales the future George the Fourth, but also Georgiana Cavendish,
Speaker 2: the Duchess of Devonshire, Richard Sheridan, the infamous playwright who
Speaker 2: wrote that play loosely based on her life, and Charles Gray,
Speaker 2: the young man who would one day become Georgiana's lover.
Speaker 2: Suffice to say, this was peak noble blood era, and
Speaker 2: Saint George happened to stumble right into the middle of it.
Speaker 2: But in addition to the Whig Party members he had
Speaker 2: become acquainted with, Philippe made sure to introduce Saint George
Speaker 2: to several British abolitionists as well. Through his connections, Saint
Speaker 2: George would work to translate their literature for the French
Speaker 2: abolitionist group Society di Ami de Noir, which loosely translates
Speaker 2: to the Society of Friends of Black People, which would
Speaker 2: first officially gather in seventeen eighty eight with the goal
Speaker 2: to abolish the slave trade in the French colonies. Philippe
Speaker 2: and Saint George's time in London was spent strengthening liberal
Speaker 2: tide and creating allies to help in the inevitable French Revolution,
Speaker 2: but no amount of political chess could have prepared the
Speaker 2: two men for the wrath that they would face when
Speaker 2: they returned to French soil. After the fall of the
Speaker 2: Bastille in July seventeen eighty nine, Saint George decided to
Speaker 2: take a definitive side in the revolution. His fondness for
Speaker 2: Marie Antoinette and for his aristocratic colleagues probably lingered in
Speaker 2: the back of his mind, but when making his choice,
Speaker 2: the cultural asterisk people had often regarded him with when
Speaker 2: attending the exclusive Parisian salons made his choice easy. In
Speaker 2: the end, he was the son of an enslaved woman
Speaker 2: from a French colony where count of his relatives remained enslaved.
Speaker 2: While he was lucky enough to live his privileged life
Speaker 2: on the continent. He fought unequivocally for the revolution and
Speaker 2: the change in power structures it promised to bring. On
Speaker 2: September seventh, seventeen ninety two, a mixed race black man
Speaker 2: named Julian Raymond appeared in Paris in front of the
Speaker 2: National Assembly and read aloud before the crowd, quote, since
Speaker 2: your beneficent law of the twenty fourth of March reminded
Speaker 2: us of our rights, we have taken an oath to
Speaker 2: spill our blood for the defense of the motherland. We
Speaker 2: shall fulfill this sacred oath. Like all Frenchmen, we are
Speaker 2: burning with the desire to fly to our frontiers. End quote.
Speaker 2: By the next day, the Assembly had agreed to the
Speaker 2: formation of a battalion composed entirely of men of color,
Speaker 2: and their leader would be none other than the newly
Speaker 2: appointed Captain Saint George. It seemed change had finally arrived,
Speaker 2: and Saint George was no longer the man sticking out
Speaker 2: of the crowd. But a man surrounded by his peers
Speaker 2: fighting for their future together. Saint George's clout as a
Speaker 2: swordsman and a former member of the Parisian elite made
Speaker 2: him the perfect choice to lead the new brigade, which
Speaker 2: ended up with eight hundred foot soldiers and two hundred
Speaker 2: mounted troops. Together, his new army of men fought against
Speaker 2: Austrian forces in Lelle just a week after their initial formation.
Speaker 2: In the end, they collected their first victory in the
Speaker 2: name of the French Revolution, and while the regiment's success
Speaker 2: and leal voted well for the Revolution, their progress wasn't
Speaker 2: without its own set of trials. Many of Saint George's
Speaker 2: men were trained officers, but in a group of one
Speaker 2: thousand men, more than a few were green in the
Speaker 2: way of combat and military strategy. At the same time,
Speaker 2: funds that were promised to the troops were being consistently
Speaker 2: delayed by the National Assembly, so much so that when
Speaker 2: they demanded the group's presence on the front in February
Speaker 2: seventeen ninety three, Saint George wrote back quote, he could
Speaker 2: not lead his men to be slaughtered without at least
Speaker 2: a chance to teach them to tell their left from
Speaker 2: their right end quote. Ultimately, Saint George's refusal led his
Speaker 2: thousand man battalion to be disbanded until he was left
Speaker 2: with just a unit of seventy three so in his command.
Speaker 2: But come that September, Saint George would have far more
Speaker 2: to worry about than just diminished troops. The decree known
Speaker 2: as the Law of Suspects, made by the French National
Speaker 2: Assembly in September seventeen ninety three is what most historians
Speaker 2: agree to be what started what's referred to today as
Speaker 2: the Reign of Terror. The vague language of that decree
Speaker 2: ordered the arrest of any enemy of the revolution, specifically
Speaker 2: former nobility and those with connections to the French monarchy. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: for Saint George, his career as a military captain didn't
Speaker 2: do much to diminish his former ties to Marie Antoinette.
Speaker 2: Not to mention, there was his former position as a
Speaker 2: member of the King's Guard in his early twenties, which
Speaker 2: was how on September twenty fifth, seventeen ninety three, he
Speaker 2: and ten of his officers found themselves behind bars on
Speaker 2: suspicion of defying the revolution. After weeks of imprisonment, every
Speaker 2: other officer in Saint George's infantry had been discharged from prison,
Speaker 2: and yet Joseph himself remained behind bars. In the weeks
Speaker 2: that followed, he likely heard just scraps of information from
Speaker 2: the outside world. First came news of the death of
Speaker 2: Marie Antoinette, then word that his beloved friend Philippe Egalite,
Speaker 2: the Duke of Orleans, who wanted nothing more than the
Speaker 2: revolution to succeed, similar met his end under the sharp
Speaker 2: blade of the guillotine. As the months pass Saint George
Speaker 2: waited in purgatory, his efforts to aid the revolution being
Speaker 2: halted by the very people that he was trying to
Speaker 2: work for. Unsure if he would meet a similar fate
Speaker 2: as his friends, he could do nothing but wait. As
Speaker 2: the war was fought and the reign of terror continued
Speaker 2: to relish in the noble blood that flowed in an
Speaker 2: ever constant stream into Paris's gutters. The only reprieve in
Speaker 2: his constant worry came in February seventeen ninety four, when
Speaker 2: word surely reached him that slavery had officially been abolished
Speaker 2: in France. After years of political maneuvering and fighting for
Speaker 2: his right to belong in a world that was built
Speaker 2: to actively diminish him. Saint George celebrated the freedom of
Speaker 2: his brothers and sisters back on the island of Guadalupe
Speaker 2: from inside the walls of a military prison in France. Freedom,
Speaker 2: it seemed, came at a price. It wouldn't be until
Speaker 2: October of seventeen ninety four that Saint George would finally
Speaker 2: learn what was to become of him. After over a
Speaker 2: year in holding and eleven months in military prison, he
Speaker 2: was acquitted of his charges and released. But with his
Speaker 2: closest friends beheaded and with no way to make a livelihood,
Speaker 2: Saint George found that he had nowhere to go. The
Speaker 2: final years of Saint George's life are oddly reflective of
Speaker 2: the legacy he would eventually come to leave behind. Unable
Speaker 2: to turn back to his life of fencing and orchestra
Speaker 2: concertos for the noble elite, Saint George was left with
Speaker 2: no choice but to attempt to climb his way back
Speaker 2: into military life. In the years of his imprisonment, the
Speaker 2: revolution had continued on without him, which meant he had
Speaker 2: to try to claw his way back into a system
Speaker 2: that had essentially forgotten he existed after Saint George's death
Speaker 2: in seventeen ninety nine. Napoleon reinstated slavery in eighteen o
Speaker 2: two in French colonies. Some historians argue that in order
Speaker 2: to quell abolitionist sentiments, Napoleon chose to bury San George's
Speaker 2: history to prevent making him into a martyr. Fortunately, Napoleon's
Speaker 2: reach didn't negate the citizens of Guadaloupe from sharing San
Speaker 2: George's story, as well as sharing his music in them.
Speaker 2: His history lived on the world Joseph Bologna had worked
Speaker 2: so hard to become a part of may have died
Speaker 2: with the French Revolution, but in the end his story
Speaker 2: was carried on and he was seen by the people
Speaker 2: to whom it mattered the most. That's the end of
Speaker 2: our two part series on Joseph Belone the Chevalier de
Speaker 2: Saint George. But stick around after a sponsor break to
Speaker 2: hear about yet another famous figure he encountered during his
Speaker 2: time as a captain in the French Revolution. As I
Speaker 2: mentioned earlier in terms of noble blood lore, the Chevalier
Speaker 2: de Saint George interconnects a fair few of our favorite
Speaker 2: former subjects, but one subject I haven't covered. Who is
Speaker 2: also unbelievably associated with San George was a man named
Speaker 2: Thomas Alexandra Dumas. If the name sounds familiar somewhat, you
Speaker 2: are likely more familiar with the works of his son,
Speaker 2: the very similar named Alexander Dumas, who wrote The Count
Speaker 2: of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers. Well as it happened,
Speaker 2: Alexander's father, Thomas Alexander, was a member of Sant George's
Speaker 2: all person of color military unit during the French Revolution.
Speaker 2: Dumas was similarly descended from a French nobleman and an
Speaker 2: enslaved woman, and served alongside San George at the beginning
Speaker 2: of the Revolution. Interestingly, though, when looking at the younger
Speaker 2: Dumas's memoir about his father, he paints Saint George in
Speaker 2: let's say, a less than favorable light. Alexandre Dumas's father
Speaker 2: died when the younger was only four years old, so
Speaker 2: any stories he may have heard about his father had
Speaker 2: to come from a secondary source. But that in itself
Speaker 2: adds an element of intrigue to Dumas's description of Saint George.
Speaker 2: In one story, he describes his father, not Saint George
Speaker 2: leading his regiment into battle, stating Saint George quote, lacking
Speaker 2: the stomach for a fight end quote, and choosing to
Speaker 2: stay back in Lille when Dumas bravely prevailed into battle.
Speaker 2: It stands to question whether the two men had a
Speaker 2: rivalry of some kind, if the tales told to his
Speaker 2: son were inflammatory as to make Saint George out to
Speaker 2: be a coward while his father got to play the
Speaker 2: role of hero. Perhaps the most interesting detail in all
Speaker 2: of this, though, is the circumstances of Saint George's arrest
Speaker 2: during the Reign of Terror. When Saint George was put
Speaker 2: into custody, Thomas Alexander Dumas had only just been promoted
Speaker 2: to brigadier general that September seventeen ninety three. Coincidence possibly,
Speaker 2: but if there was bad blood between the two men
Speaker 2: and one had recently come into a position of power
Speaker 2: over the other, it may answer the question as to
Speaker 2: why Saint George was the only member of his brigade
Speaker 2: who remained in military prison for eleven months under fear
Speaker 2: of execution when all the other men had been released.
Speaker 2: Like most historical speculation, we will likely never know, but
Speaker 2: Dumas's portrayal of Saint George does leave us with an
Speaker 2: interesting parting thought history. However objective it may seem, always
Speaker 2: has a point of view. Thanks for listening. Episode script
Speaker 2: available at patreon dot com. Slash Noble Blood Tales. Noble
Speaker 2: Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild
Speaker 2: from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is created and hosted by
Speaker 2: me Dana Schwortz, with additional writing and researching by Hannah Johnston,
Speaker 2: Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. The
Speaker 2: show is edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and rima
Speaker 2: Il Kahali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers
Speaker 2: Aaron Manke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: From iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.