1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Jean Barret was born July twenty seventh, seventeen 2 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 1: forty or two hundred and eighty four years ago today 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: if you're listening the day this episode came out. So 4 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: we are bringing out our episode on her as Today's 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: Saturday Classic. This one originally came out on October fourteenth, 6 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History 7 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: Class a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 8 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye And today's 9 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: episode is a sponsored one. It's sponsored by the all 10 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: new twenty twenty Ford Explorer. They asked us to do 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: something that was related in some way to exploration and 12 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: then left it totally up to us. How did we 13 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: want to interpret that? So of course we had a 14 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: big pile of ideas at the ready that fit in 15 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: some way for that theme, and we finally decided to 16 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: talk about Jean Beret, who was the first woman known 17 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: to circumnavigate the globe. But her experience was not just 18 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: about the travel like a lot of the women travelers 19 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: that we have talked about were traveling to explore just 20 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: mostly because they had disposable income, and you know, had 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: the means and the money to do that kind of thing, 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: and sometimes to do other work alongside all the travel. 23 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: But like the travel was a major piece of it. 24 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: She was working, and the work she was doing was 25 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: taking her to places that were totally unexpected for somebody 26 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: of her gender and her economic class in the eighteenth century. 27 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: Jean Beret was born on July twenty seventh, seventeen forty, 28 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: to Jean Barret and Jeanne Pouchards. They lived in La Caamelle, France, 29 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: which is roughly two hundred miles that's about three hundred 30 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: and twenty kilometers southeast of Paris. This is a rural 31 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: agricultural area, and Jehne's father worked as a day laborer. 32 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: He did not own any land or always have access 33 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: to steady work. So the Beret family and others who 34 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: were similarly situated were some of the poorest people in 35 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: that part of Europe. We really know almost nothing about 36 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: her upbringing or her early life, but she might have 37 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: been trained as an herb woman, so somebody who knew 38 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: how to grow and forage and prepare medicinal herbs. This 39 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: is something that she would have learned from other women 40 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: based on knowledge that was mostly passed down orally. We 41 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:24,239 Speaker 1: do know that when she was in her early twenties, 42 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,519 Speaker 1: Barret started working for a man named Philibert Commerson, who 43 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: was about twelve years older than she was. He was 44 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: from an affluent family and was formally educated in both 45 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: medicine and botany. He much preferred botany, though, and he 46 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 1: never established a medical practice. Yeah, and the Grand Scheme 47 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: of social and economic circumstances, they were nearly opposites. Instead 48 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: of going into that medical practice, Commerce established a botanical 49 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: garden in Chatillon les Domme. In the late seventeen fifties, 50 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: he visited Voltaire and one of his colleagues was Swedish 51 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: botanist Carl Linnaeus, who is the person who helped establish 52 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: that system of binomial nomenclature that is still used to 53 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: classify organisms today, although that system, of course, has evolved 54 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,519 Speaker 1: a lot since then. Linnaeus secured a commission from the 55 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: Queen of Sweden for Comerson to catalog Mediterranean fish. So 56 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: in addition to his work as a botanist, he was 57 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 1: also an ichthyologist. So if Baret was already trained as 58 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: an herb woman, it would have made a lot of 59 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,639 Speaker 1: sense for Commersoon to hire her. There is a twenty 60 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: three page table of medicinal plants arranged in order of 61 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: their virtues and according to the healing indications that is 62 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: among Commerson's papers, which biographer Glennis Ridley suggests was actually 63 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: Beret's work. If that is correct, and if the knowledge 64 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: contained in that notebook was something that Bahret had already 65 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: learned before being hired, she would have been a very 66 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: clear help to Commersoon's botany work from day one. But 67 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: it appears that at least at first, commerce On hired 68 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: Beret not as a botany assistant, but as a domestic servant, 69 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: and that would have been more stable and financially lucrative 70 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: than what the family had been experiencing as day laborers. 71 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: We don't know exactly when she started working for him. 72 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: Her formal employment sorted in seventeen sixty four, but she 73 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: seems to have also been working with him in some 74 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: capacity before that. It's possible that she started working there 75 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: just after the death of Commerson's wife at the age 76 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: of thirty four. That happened shortly after she gave birth 77 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: to their child, and it's possible that part of Bret's 78 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: role working for him was to help care for this newborn. Ultimately, though, 79 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 1: the baby was sent to live with an uncle, and 80 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: at some point Bahret and Commerson's relationship became more personal 81 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: rather than employer and employee. In seventeen sixty four, Bahret 82 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: became pregnant. Unmarried women were legally required to register their pregnancies, 83 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:56,039 Speaker 1: including naming the baby's father. Bahret did register her pregnancy 84 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: on August twenty second, seventeen sixty four, but she traveled 85 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: to another town to do it, and she took two 86 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 1: men with her as character witnesses. They maintained that she 87 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: had been assaulted by an unknown man, and that that 88 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: assault had resulted in her pregnancy. This baby was almost 89 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: certainly commerceans, with the character witnesses being a part of 90 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,559 Speaker 1: an effort to cover up what would have been something 91 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: truly scandalous if people had actually known the facts of 92 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 1: the situation. Barret and Comercell moved to Paris together in 93 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: September of seventeen sixty four. She was given a salary 94 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: of one hundred livres a year. They lived near the 95 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: Jardines Lelois, or the Royal Gardens. Which is today known 96 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: as the Jardines des plant. In January of seventeen sixty five, 97 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: Barret surrendered her baby, named Jean Pierre, to a home 98 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: for foundling children. Jean Pierre was placed with the Foster family, 99 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: although he died a couple of years later. The registry 100 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: of Barret's pregnancy, Jean Pierre's birth, and his fostering and 101 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 1: death are all documented in the historical record, but Berets 102 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: and Commons Arson's thoughts and feelings on these events really 103 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: are not part of any of those documents. Within a 104 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: few months of surrendering Jean Pierre, Barret and Commerceans were 105 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: preparing for a voyage around the world. This expedition of 106 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 1: exploration and scientific discovery had been authorized by King Louis 107 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: the fifteenth, and it was meant as both an exploratory 108 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:26,720 Speaker 1: voyage and a scientific endeavor. Admiral Louis Antoine, Comte de Bougambieux, 109 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: who had served in the Seven Years War, was in 110 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 1: command of three hundred and thirty men who were divided 111 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: between two vessels, the Boudoeus and the Etois. In addition 112 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: to being in command of the expedition as a whole, 113 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: Bougambilleux was in command of the Boudeus, and Francois Chenard 114 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: de la Girodet was in command of the Etois. Three 115 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: scientists had been recruited to participate in this expedition, commercal 116 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,279 Speaker 1: who was acting as royal botanist and naturalist, astronomer Pierre 117 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: Antoine Veron, and cartographer Charles Routier des trem Ville. Among 118 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: his other duties, Commercant was one of the people helping 119 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: to plan the expedition's route. Comerson was given a budget 120 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: to hire an assistant naturalist to take on this voyage 121 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: to help him collect and catalog specimens and to illustrate 122 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:19,679 Speaker 1: what they found, but he could not take Jen Barret, 123 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: at least not legally. It had been illegal for women 124 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: to be on French naval ships for anything other than 125 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: a brief visit since sixteen eighty nine. Officers who broke 126 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: this rule could be suspended for a month, and sailors 127 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: who broke it could be sentenced to fifteen days in chains. 128 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: There is a lot that we don't know about the 129 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: dynamics between Comerson and Barret. There were obvious and meaningful 130 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: disparities between the two of them. Especially when it came 131 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: to power and wealth stemming from both their relative social 132 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: class and their genders, and as well as him being 133 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: her employer. But at the same time, what happens next 134 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: suggests that Bahret was in this relationship willingly, and we're 135 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: going to get into that after we first pause for 136 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: a little sponsor break. As they were preparing for their 137 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:19,239 Speaker 1: expedition around the world, Philibert Commerson wrote out a will 138 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: and that bequeathed his actual property to his son, but 139 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: it also made it clear that all of the women's 140 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: clothes and similar possessions in his home belonged to his housekeeper, 141 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,839 Speaker 1: Jean Beret, to whom he left the household, furnishings and linens, 142 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: along with six hundred livres. The will also gave her 143 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: the right to live in his home for a year 144 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: after the date of his death, during which time she 145 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: would organize his specimens and manuscripts and then send them 146 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: on to the Royal Collection. The will makes it sound 147 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: as though Jean Beret was staying behind while he was 148 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: going on this expedition, and it also noted that she 149 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: was sometimes known as Jean Bonifoy. Barret was not staying behind, 150 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: though instead Commersam maintained that he had not been able 151 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: to find a workable assistant to go with him on 152 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: this voyage in spite of all of his efforts to 153 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:16,440 Speaker 1: do so. Then Jean Barret, dressed in men's clothing and 154 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: using the name Bonifoy, arrived at the port of Rochefort, 155 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: maintaining that she was looking for work. Commerson hired the 156 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: disguised beret on the spot, and from that point on 157 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: for much of the expedition, he consistently referred to her 158 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: as male. Based on everything we know about the situation, 159 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: this was a disguise and not a reflection of her gender, 160 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: so we will keep referring to her as a woman. 161 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: This whole ruse seems like kind of a stretch to me, 162 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: the idea that he would have just hired a random 163 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: person on the spot, having failed to find somebody that 164 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: met actual criteria for a botanist's assistant on this voyage. 165 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,559 Speaker 1: But it seems like everyone thought that was it made sense. 166 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: I guess that he hired an apparently random person at 167 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: the dock. I feel like this is one of those 168 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: things where it's like the excuse checklist of like, look, 169 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: you all know who this is and I know who 170 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: this is, and she knows. You all know who this is. 171 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: But we have you know, we've checked all the boxes 172 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: for all you know, you can say you thought it 173 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: was a dude the whole time. Yeah, this is. This 174 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: is also really to me the moment that if she 175 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: had wanted to get out of this situation, it would 176 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: have been easy enough to not show up, which definitely 177 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:35,959 Speaker 1: would have been a reduction in the opportunities that were 178 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: available to her. She probably would have had to go 179 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: back home and try to find some kind of other employment. 180 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: But this would have been an easier moment for her 181 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 1: to kind of slip away if she did not actually 182 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: want to go on this voyage. So the Aetol and 183 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: the Budeaus planned to cross the Atlantic separately, traveling southwest 184 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,559 Speaker 1: across the Atlantic Ocean to rendezvous at Rio in June 185 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: of seventeen sixty seven. From there, they would sail south 186 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 1: along the coast of South America and through the Strait 187 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,680 Speaker 1: of Magellan. Then they would follow the western coast of 188 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: South America before turning west across the Southern Pacific. Then 189 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: to return to Europe, they would travel through the East 190 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 1: Indies and around the Horn of Africa, then back north, 191 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 1: obviously back to Europe, and they would make stops all 192 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 1: along the way, gathering specimens, making maps, recording the people 193 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: in places they saw. They would also claim land where 194 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: they could, and in what case they would give it up. 195 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,600 Speaker 1: One stop on the voyage involved surrendering the Falkland Islands 196 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: to Spain. Commersant and Baret were to sail aboard the 197 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: atois when they embarked. Commerson had so much equipment with 198 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,319 Speaker 1: him that he was given the captain Stateroom as his quarters. 199 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: The captain State Room had its own private baths, which 200 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,199 Speaker 1: would have made it easier for Baret to conceal her 201 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: sex while on board. The idea of easy was really 202 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: relative here, though. For almost two years Baret maintained a 203 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: disguise that required her to bind her breasts. Today's chest 204 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 1: binders are usually made with synthetic elastic fibers, which have 205 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: some stretch, but these materials had not been invented yet 206 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 1: when Barret was living. She would have been using bandages 207 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,439 Speaker 1: or strips of cloth, and giving the materials that were 208 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: available at the time, they wouldn't have been very stretchy 209 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,839 Speaker 1: or giving at all. This would have made this whole 210 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,439 Speaker 1: process a lot more uncomfortable and difficult, with the bindings 211 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:31,320 Speaker 1: also prone to slipping and shifting during the day. Working 212 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: as commercial's assistant also required by Ray to do a 213 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: lot of physical work in all kinds of weather and 214 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: climate conditions, from the tropics to the far southern tip 215 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: of South America which is almost in the Antarctic circle. 216 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: So even before accounting for the difficulties of travel and 217 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: the work itself, Barret's job was inherently uncomfortable, often unpleasant, 218 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: and very physically demanding. Added to that, there were storms 219 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: that seriously damaged the ship and periods where they were 220 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,839 Speaker 1: becalmed and ran out of dude illnesses spread among the crew, 221 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 1: and there was intense seasickness at sea, and that often 222 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: affected both Baret and Commercel. So he was able to 223 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 1: spend time out on deck that a lot of the 224 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,839 Speaker 1: time will help with seasickness because you can see the 225 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: way the boat is moving. But Barrat didn't have that option. 226 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: She really had to weather all this in the confines 227 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: of commerce On's quarters to try to protect her privacy 228 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:29,319 Speaker 1: and her identity. That would not have been a particularly 229 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: comfortable place to try to ride that out. Even though 230 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: Bahrat meticulously maintained her disguise and Commerceong scrupulously addressed and 231 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,080 Speaker 1: referred to her as a man, Rumors began to spread 232 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,679 Speaker 1: throughout the ship that they were carrying a woman in disguise, 233 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: and that happened not long after the A twelve set 234 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: sail from Rochefort on December fourteenth, seventeen sixty six, and naturally, 235 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: suspicion fell on Baret, who, among other things, did not 236 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:59,199 Speaker 1: have facial hair and didn't use the communal toilet facilities 237 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 1: for the crew who her rank. Obviously, there are plenty 238 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,080 Speaker 1: of men who don't have facial hair, but that was 239 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: one of the things that drew suspicion to her. On 240 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: March twenty second of seventeen sixty seven, the Attwell crossed 241 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: from the northern to the Southern hemisphere, and the ship's 242 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: crew had sort of a ritual baptism in quotation marks 243 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:21,239 Speaker 1: for people who hadn't previously crossed the equator. The details 244 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: of this hazing ritual differed depending on the person's rank 245 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: and for the officer's servants, which was how Barria was classified. 246 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: It involved being made to drop into a pool made 247 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: of a sail cloth that was being dragged alongside the ship. 248 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: The people who were having to do this were also 249 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: blackened with soot and prevented from getting out of the water. 250 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: And because of all this water and mess involved, the 251 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: men who were being made to undertake this ritual usually 252 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: did it partly or completely nude. Because she was a woman, 253 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: Barre would have had to do this still dressed. Commersome 254 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: does describe this ritual in his journal, but he doesn't 255 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: make any reference to Barre's participation in it. Eventually, Etoile's captain, 256 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:08,120 Speaker 1: Francoisin now de la Girodet, was obligated to investigate the 257 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: rumors about a woman on board his ship. Apart from 258 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: it being unlawful for anyone to bring a woman on board, 259 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 1: the rumors and efforts to figure out whether they were 260 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: true were clearly causing a disruption. According to his logs, 261 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: he questioned Bahret about her gender, and she told him 262 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,040 Speaker 1: that she was a eunuch. Framing it in terms of 263 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: the men who guarded the Ottoman empire, this seems to 264 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: have at least temporarily stopped the suspicion, or at least 265 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: reined in the sailor's harassment. Of her to try to 266 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: figure out if she was a woman in disguise. The 267 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: Ottoman Empire's implementation of slavery included enslaving Christian men, although 268 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: this practice was at least officially ended before this voyage 269 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: was taking place, but horror stories about it still circulated 270 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: in a lot of Europe, and the idea of being 271 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: captured and enslaved and then castrated by the Ottoman end 272 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 1: Empire was frightening and disturbing. That probably led to the 273 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 1: sailors treating Barret with a little more kindness than they 274 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: had before. After this interrogation, the captain did put a 275 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: stop to Baret sleeping in Commerson's quarters. From that point, 276 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: Baret was always armed, especially when she slept or went 277 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: ashore to gather specimens. Commerceong was frequently ill, and he 278 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: had an abscess on his leg that didn't want to heal, 279 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 1: so it was often Bahret and not Commersong who was 280 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: doing the botany work on shore, and she was often 281 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: doing it without him or anyone else to protect her. 282 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: The plants that they collected in the earlier part of 283 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: this voyage included the one that they named Bougunvilla spectabilis 284 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: or the Great Bugambilla, which is named, of course, for Bougambe, 285 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: the commander of this expedition. It still cultivated a lot 286 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: as an ornamental plant today as very lovely blossoms, and 287 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: Barret was likely the person who gathered it. Others aboard 288 00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: the Atoale eventually discovered Jean Barret's sex, but accounts disagree 289 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: on exactly when this happened or how, and we're going 290 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,120 Speaker 1: to get into that after we have one more little 291 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: sponsor break. Luis Anspine de Bougambille wrote the account that's 292 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:22,199 Speaker 1: most often cited as far as how jam Beret was 293 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: discovered to be a woman. This isn't just because he 294 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:28,439 Speaker 1: was in command of the whole expedition and was one 295 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: of the most prominent people on it. It's also because, 296 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: unlike the authors of all the other accounts, he later 297 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: edited his journals into a book and had them published. 298 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: His account of the discovery is noted as having been 299 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: written on May twenty eighth or twenty ninth, seventeen sixty eight, 300 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 1: about six weeks after the expedition left Tahiti, which was 301 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: the first time that the French had actually seen this island. 302 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: Bougainville writes that some business called him over to the 303 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,359 Speaker 1: atual and quote, I had an opportunity of verifying a 304 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:02,959 Speaker 1: very single fact. For some time there was a report 305 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,159 Speaker 1: in both ships that the servant of Monsieur de Comerson, 306 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: named Bahret, was a woman. His shape, voice, beardless chin, 307 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,680 Speaker 1: and scrupulous attention of not changing his linen or making 308 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 1: the natural discharges in the presence of anyone. Besides several 309 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:22,720 Speaker 1: other signs had given rise to and kept up this suspicion. 310 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: He went on to describe Baret as an expert botanist 311 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: who had worked alongside Colmerson with quote so much courage 312 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: and strength that the naturalist had called him his beast 313 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,720 Speaker 1: of burden. He went on to write quote A scene 314 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: which passed at Tahiti changed this suspicion into certainty. Monsieur 315 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:44,440 Speaker 1: de Commerson went on shore to botanize there. Bahret had 316 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,120 Speaker 1: hardly set his feet on shore with the herbal under 317 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,400 Speaker 1: his arm, when the men of Tahiti surrounded him, cried out, 318 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: it is a woman, and wanted to give her the 319 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: honors customary in the aisle. The Chevalier de Bernard, who 320 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: was upon guard on shore, was obliged to come to 321 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,919 Speaker 1: her assistance and escort her to the boat. Okay, the 322 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 1: honors customary to the isle that he is referring to. 323 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: We should clarify the French had virtually no experience with 324 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:15,119 Speaker 1: Pacific island cultures at this point, and they really widely 325 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,479 Speaker 1: misinterpreted a lot of actions and gestures as being an 326 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:22,640 Speaker 1: offer or an expectation of sex. And this includes ceremonial 327 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: gifts of cloth which were given wrapped around a woman 328 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,199 Speaker 1: or a girl's body, along with various dances and a 329 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: general acceptance of nudity as being socially acceptable. Also, Bougomvilla's 330 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: writing about Tahiti and Tahitians in his journal really spread 331 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: a highly romanticized idea of the island and reinforced the 332 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: idea of the quote noble savage that was being spread 333 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: at the time by romantic writers like Jean Jacques Rousseau. 334 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: According to Bougainville, the discovery changed the tone of Barret's 335 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: relationship to the rest of the crew quote. After that period, 336 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,880 Speaker 1: it was difficult to prevent the sailors from alarming her modesty. 337 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,120 Speaker 1: When I came on board the Attoine Bahret, with her 338 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,199 Speaker 1: face bathed in tears, owned to me that she was 339 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: a woman. She said that she had deceived her master 340 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,880 Speaker 1: at Rochefort by offering to serve him in men's clothes 341 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,679 Speaker 1: at the very moment when he was embarking, that she 342 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,439 Speaker 1: had already before served a geneva gentleman at Paris in 343 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: quality of a valet, that being born in Burgundy and 344 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: become an orphan, the loss of a lawsuit had brought 345 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: her to a distress situation and inspired her with the 346 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 1: resolution to disguise her sex. That she well knew when 347 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 1: she embarked that we were going round the world, and 348 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:39,360 Speaker 1: that such a voyage had raised her curiosity. Although Bougamville 349 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 1: had grounds to be angry with both Commerson and Bahret 350 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 1: because they had been deceiving everyone on board and her 351 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 1: presence on the ship was unlawful, he finishes his account 352 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: of what happened in a way that's relatively respectful, at 353 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: least for part of it. After alluding to this trip 354 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: around the world, he wrote, quote, she will be the 355 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: first woman that ever made it, and I must do 356 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,720 Speaker 1: her the justice to affirm that she has always behaved 357 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 1: on board with the most scrupulous modesty. And then it 358 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:10,919 Speaker 1: gets into the part that's maybe less respectful quote, she 359 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: is neither ugly nor handsome, and is no more than 360 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: twenty six or twenty seven years of age. It must 361 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:19,400 Speaker 1: be owned that if the two ships had been wrecked 362 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,120 Speaker 1: on any desert isle in the ocean, Barret's fate would 363 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: have been a very singular one. Another account also connects 364 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: the discovery of her sex to Tahiti, or at least 365 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 1: to a Tahitian person. A man named Ahutoru, who was 366 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: a chieftain's brother, learned French while the expedition was in 367 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 1: Tahiti and asked to be taken to France when they departed. 368 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:42,880 Speaker 1: He described Barret as mahu, which is a term used 369 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 1: in several Pacific island cultures to signify a third gender. 370 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 1: After colonization by European powers, in many places, that term 371 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:55,360 Speaker 1: took on a disparaging connotation connected to cross dressing, and 372 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: that being a pejorative term. Ahutoru died of small pop 373 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: before the voyage got back to France, however, but most 374 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,520 Speaker 1: of the other accounts placed this discovery of Jean sex 375 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,679 Speaker 1: later in July of seventeen sixty eight on the island 376 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea, not in May 377 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: in Tahiti. The ship's log for July eighteenth, seventeen sixty 378 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: eight reads quote the physician Monsieur Comercen's domestic was discovered 379 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: to be a girl who until now passed as a boy. 380 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: Ship's surgeon Flacois Vives, wrote about several moments in Baret's 381 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:31,640 Speaker 1: time on board. In his journals, he wrote of rumors 382 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,160 Speaker 1: about a woman in disguise and then the captain's putting 383 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 1: a stop to Barets sleeping in Commercal's cabin. He writes 384 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: as though he was present when the captain interrogated Bahret, 385 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: and that she said she was a eunuch. This account 386 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,639 Speaker 1: of the discovery includes a reference to a body song 387 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: about a woman named Geneton who is accosted by fore 388 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: men in a field, suggesting that some of the crew 389 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,640 Speaker 1: may have physically assaulted her to figure out her sex. Yeah, 390 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,399 Speaker 1: most of his writing about her comes off as pretty gross. 391 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,440 Speaker 1: The Prince of nessau Stigen, who was on board as 392 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: a paying passenger, also alluded to the discovery of Barret's 393 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: sex and said quote, I want to give her all 394 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,200 Speaker 1: the credit for her bravery, a far cry from the 395 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:16,760 Speaker 1: gentle pastimes afforded her sex she dared confront the stress, 396 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,680 Speaker 1: the dangers, and everything that happened that one could realistically 397 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: expect on such a voyage. Her adventure should, I think, 398 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: be included in a history of famous women altogether. These 399 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: other accounts suggest that Jean Barret was discovered to be 400 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:34,919 Speaker 1: a woman almost a month after bugain Villa reported in 401 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: his book. It's not clear whether he fiddled with the 402 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 1: timeline to take suspicion off of himself in some way, 403 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 1: or if this was just a matter of where it 404 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:47,360 Speaker 1: seemed to fit while the journal was being edited. Regardless, 405 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: though afterward Barret continued dressing in masculine attire that was 406 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,439 Speaker 1: what she had with her, but she stopped binding her 407 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: chest after her identity was known. For his part, Comersov 408 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:01,680 Speaker 1: claimed that he was totally surprised with this entire revelation, 409 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: writing that Beret was quote a courageous young woman who, 410 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,679 Speaker 1: taking the clothing and temperament of a man and the 411 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: curiosity and audacity to circumnavigate the world, accompanied us without 412 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: us knowing it. I think he might have been covering 413 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 1: his own tail there. He really it is, I mean, 414 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: just bordering all on impossible that he would not have 415 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: recognized her, and this whole thing really did play out 416 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:29,120 Speaker 1: as just him hiring a random person at the dock 417 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 1: like that. Just it's so far fetched, and he just 418 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: seems to have kept up with this. Wow that turned 419 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,639 Speaker 1: out to be a woman. I didn't have any idea again, 420 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 1: checklist reasonable deniability. Boudaville's expedition left New Ireland on July 421 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,159 Speaker 1: twenty sixth, seventeen sixty eight. By December, they had traveled 422 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:51,160 Speaker 1: across the Indian Ocean toward the eastern coast of Africa. 423 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: On December twelfth, the ships left a small island now 424 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 1: known as Mauritius, which was then a French colony known 425 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,959 Speaker 1: as El de France. They left without Burrets or Commerceant 426 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: on board. Commersant had been released from the expedition. The 427 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 1: ship's astronomer left at that time as well. On Mauritius, 428 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: Commerceant and Beret continued to live together and pursue their 429 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,399 Speaker 1: botanical work. This included making an expedition to the island 430 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:21,160 Speaker 1: of Madagascar and documenting various things on Mauritius. The island's 431 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: governor was another botanist, a man named Pierre plav who 432 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: had become friends with them and It's pretty likely that 433 00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 1: Bougainville thought that it was best that they both be 434 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,439 Speaker 1: off the ship, and that a French colony with a 435 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,879 Speaker 1: friendly governor who was also a botanist made Mauritius the 436 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,640 Speaker 1: best situation they could probably find to accomplish getting them 437 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: off the ship. Comersong Mbaret lived together on Mauritius for 438 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 1: about five years. At first they lived with Poivre at 439 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,479 Speaker 1: the governor's residence, but when he was recalled to France, 440 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,640 Speaker 1: they had to find their own lodgings. Commercen had been 441 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: chronically ill for much of their time together, and his 442 00:25:56,200 --> 00:26:00,159 Speaker 1: condition worsened in the early seventeen seventies. He died in 443 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy three, leaving Baret without protection or support. So 444 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: Baret once again found work, first working out a tavern 445 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,880 Speaker 1: and then running one. On May seventeenth, seventeen seventy four, 446 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:16,639 Speaker 1: she married a non commissioned officer named Jean Dubarnand, and 447 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: by that point she'd been on Mauritius for seven years. 448 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: It's not clear exactly when Bahret returned to France, but 449 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: when she did, that last leg of the journey made 450 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,720 Speaker 1: her the first woman known to have circumnavigated the globe. 451 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: Bougamville intervened on her behalf after she got back to 452 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,119 Speaker 1: France to make sure she wouldn't be punished for her 453 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,240 Speaker 1: time aboard ship, and a point in her favor in 454 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: his doing this was that he didn't think that her 455 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 1: example would inspire other women to do something similar. He 456 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 1: thought she'd just be the only woman ever to circumnavigate 457 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 1: the globe, and that quote her example is not likely 458 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,679 Speaker 1: to be contagious. This line of logic really reminds me 459 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: of the way that people talked about Sorwana Inez de 460 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,199 Speaker 1: la Cruz and how her becoming a nun was going 461 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: to keep her from inspiring other women to be similarly 462 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: iconoclastic in their behavior. Instead, the opposite wound up happening 463 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:11,360 Speaker 1: to being punished. The French Ministry of Marine recognized her 464 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,199 Speaker 1: work with the expedition and awarded her a pension of 465 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,240 Speaker 1: two hundred livres per year, and then she also secured 466 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: the money that Commerceon had left her in his will, 467 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 1: although by that point his death was long enough in 468 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 1: the past that she didn't live in his house for 469 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 1: a year. Not much as known about Jean Varret's last years. 470 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: She did not get to do the cataloging of the 471 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 1: collection that Commerson had hoped she would. Everything that they 472 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,880 Speaker 1: had collected on bugin Vie's expedition and afterward was either 473 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:41,399 Speaker 1: in storage or impounded after Commerson's death. However, since the 474 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,679 Speaker 1: unorganized collection was not well known or associated with a 475 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,359 Speaker 1: prominent member of the nobility, it made it through the 476 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Today, at least 477 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: six thousand specimens survive in museum collections, including the French 478 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,439 Speaker 1: National Museum of Natural History, part of which is on 479 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,159 Speaker 1: the site of the former Royal Guard. Yeah, a lot 480 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,879 Speaker 1: of that stuff still has its original handwritten labeling that 481 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 1: was probably written by her. Jean Barret died in Santavier, France, 482 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,160 Speaker 1: on August fifth, eighteen oh seven, and left her remaining 483 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: property to Commerson's heirs. She was sixty seven. We know 484 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 1: so little about Commerson's feelings towards her. He named a 485 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,880 Speaker 1: plant after her during the expedition, calling it Baretia bonifidia, 486 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: although it turned out to be a species that had 487 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: already been discovered and named, and he wrote of her 488 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,439 Speaker 1: very fondly. Here is a sample cited in a biography 489 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: published in nineteen ninety three quote. Armed with a beau 490 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: like Diana, armed with intelligence and seriousness like Minerva, she 491 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: eluded the snare of animals and men, not without many 492 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:48,480 Speaker 1: times risking her life and her honor. He also praised 493 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: her for doing all of this risky and difficult work 494 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: without complaint. He did also call her his beast of burden, 495 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: but he did that while trying to maintain this ruse 496 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: that she was a man and that doesn't seem like 497 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: a weird way for a man to talk about his 498 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,200 Speaker 1: male assistant at the time. Although the plant that Comersome 499 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: named after her didn't stick, Barrey did have a species 500 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 1: permanently named for her in twenty twelve. That was Solanum beryte, 501 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 1: which is part of a large and diverse plant genus 502 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: that also includes the night shades. This particular species was 503 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: selected to bear her name because of its leaves, which 504 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: are really variable in their shape and size. This was 505 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: also true of the species that Commersome had originally named 506 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: after her, because he thought this variability really reflected her 507 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: life and her character, and like the fact that she 508 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: had disguised herself as a man for so long and 509 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: taken on so many jobs that were really unexpected for 510 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: women at the time. My two cents are are that 511 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:49,840 Speaker 1: that is such a thoughtful way to look at the 512 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: selection of her plant species that he wanted to be 513 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 1: named for her, that it does suggest a very genuine 514 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: affection between the two of them. Yeah, her relationship with 515 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:02,480 Speaker 1: Hi definitely started as his hiring her to do work, 516 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,960 Speaker 1: but a lot of their life together they really seem 517 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: to live basically as common law spouses, not so much 518 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: as employer and employee, especially once they were off the 519 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: expedition and she was no longer officially on his payroll, 520 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: but they were continuing to live together essentially as a couple. 521 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: I feel like her story is pretty complicated. It's clearly 522 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:27,240 Speaker 1: that she went through so much difficulty and possibly even 523 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: violence while on that expedition, but also the fact that 524 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: she was from really the poorest class of people where 525 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 1: she was living, and a woman, and was able to 526 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:43,080 Speaker 1: go on this round the world voyage, which was just 527 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: a whole like universe away from the possibilities that were 528 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: open to people in that same situation. It's really incredible 529 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: to me. She sounds kind of spectacular. That's the person 530 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: I would use the time machine to go back and 531 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 1: talk to Yeah. Thanks so much for joining us on 532 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 533 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,960 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address or a Facebook RL 534 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 1: or something similar over the course of the show, that 535 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 1: could be obsolete now. Our current email address is History 536 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can find us all 537 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:25,080 Speaker 1: over social media at missed Inhistory, and you can subscribe 538 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: to our show on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, 539 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed 540 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 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