The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-04-02

inine desire to ape masculinity in all
things. But as far as the duello is con-
cerned tho woman of today is nm immeas-
urablc distance behind her sister of n cen
fury or two ago. In fact, the farther back
one goes into the duskiness of the past tho
moro prevalent tho dueling woman be-
comes.
In the time of the crusades, particularly
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. the
lighting woman was as prevalent as bad
debts are today. Clad in mail and armed
with sword and lance, she accompanied
her warrior husband, brother or sweet
hcart to the Holy Land and mixed plenti-
fully in the constant broils which marked
those long and boisterous marches
She came from England, France and
Germany by the thousand and figured
prominently in the outrages which blotted
the pathways of tho blood splitting crusad
ers. In some of the crusades there were ms
many ms $4,000 of tho amazons, and nat.
urally they didn't get ON very well togeth
er, their rows invariably ending by re.
course to arms. In fact, they fought SD
much among themselves that the leaders
of subsequent crusades forbade their Join
ing the army, but this cdict was futile.
Disguised rs men and with proficiency
in arms equal to the average warrior,
they easily passed off us the masculine ar
ticlc and continued to kill tho Saracen
and each other until the last of the cru
sades.
The Frenchwoman has always taken
front rank in the matter of duols Italian
and Spanish women have often settled dis
putes with the sword Austrian and Eng
lish women figure lightly in the history of
tho duel, and tho instances of American
women who resorted to the field of honor
are extremely rare.
One of the few cases of the latter kind
occurred in France only II years ago. A
Frenchwoman named Nine Astia de
Valsayrc considered herself insulted by
some utteranco of an American girl named
Gcneyieve Shelley The Frenchwoman
demanded satisfaction on the field of hon
or, and the American girl, who had lived
In France from her babyhood, saw nothing
particularly strange in the idea of fem
lnine dunl. 20 s!n:o accepted. Seconds, a
surgeon and t!sa principals journeyed to
the field of Waterloo, where the duel was
fought with swords. Both were clever
fcnccrs, but Mmc. Valsayre WINS tho more
experienced, and succeeded in wounding
her antagonist in the sword arm This
satisfied the injured honor of the combat
ants, nnd the duel ended
The most noted woman duelst was n
mysterious creature named Charles Gene
We've Louis Augusta andre Timothcc
d'Eon, whose mixture of masculine and
feminine names was quite consistent with
her mode of life. Onc-half Of the time she
passed as man and the other half rs
woman. So successfully did she imper-
sonatc tho masculine that after her death
countless disputes arose over tho question
OF her sex, and some historians of to-day
still throw doubt on the matter.
ISut when pVprvthipu 10 pon oiInro1 IL
seems that she was n woman, and beau
tiful woman too. She was contemporary
OF the wicked Nine. Pompadour and Nine
du Barry who helped King Louis XIV TO
rule France.
The times We're propitious for an advcn-
turous person like tho Chevalicrc d'Eon,
and it seems that she made tho most of her
opportunities. She was favoritc of the
King and in many diplomatic necessities
performed extraordinary services, at ono
time wheeling out state secrets as q beau
uful ana fascinating woman, mt another
time bullying as n deadly, fighting man.
In womans garb D'Eon was cmbassa-
dress to tho court of the Empress Eliza
beth of Russia from 1895 to 1860, and lat
cr, as man, was ambassador to England.
The chcvalicrc's face was handsome and
the voice high pitched. When dressed in
feminine attire, she was as handsome a
woman as any in the courts of Europe,
and us man, in the silk and satin bray
cry of those picturesque times, there was
not noble among all the courtcrs who
could drink deeper or throw dice for high
or stakes than the chevalierc
No mans hand more readily sought the
hit of his sword than did D'Eon's She
was ono of the best sword wiclders of tho
epoch and was n noted and much feared
UllOllSt. Shn Ind N h1n pto, 81
the Chcyalicr do ST. Georges one brigh5
summers day in tho Place Royaie, a ia
vorte spot, and was wounded in her sword