Chevalier d'Éon

According to the genealogy, revised and verified in 1775, that the Chevalier d'Éon had published in 1779 by de la Fortelle,[3][lower-alpha 1] the lineage of his family would be traced from Brittany[4] and shared a common ancestor with le Senéchal family of Brittany.[5][6] Two members of this lineage, the Comte de Kercado and the Marquis de Molac, immediately protested against these claims, arguing that the name “d'Éon” was not patronymic and that there had never been such family in Brittany.[7][8] They summoned the Chevalier d'Éon to the Châtelet of Paris «To see it said that he would be required to prove the facts by him put forward, or to retract from them and make them an authentic reparation».[7][9]

Two sentences pronounced on 27 August 1779 at the Châtelet of Paris and published in n° 39 of the Mercure de France of 1780,[10] were subsequently appealed by the Chevalier, who finally on 22 August 1780 obtained the undisputed right of recognizing his origins from the Éons of Brittany.[11]

The Chevalier would descend from the famous heresiarch of the 12th century, Éon de l'Étoile,[5][8] sentenced in 1148 by the Council of Reims, who left Britain and traveled through the dioceses of Sens to Reims and Langres, accompanied by several of his disciples. After his conviction, his descendants didn't return to Brittany, but settled in several of the provinces where their progenitor had taken them. Some of them undoubtedly settled in Ravières and formed the branch from which the Chevalier belonged.[12] They boldly kept their name and the three golden stars (trois étoiles d'or) as part of their coat of arms; they have since added a natural rooster, holding in its raised right foot a heart flaming gules with an azure chief (un coq au naturel, tenant en son pied dextre levé un cœur enflammé de gueules au chef d'azur), symbol of the vigilance and enthusiasm of Éon de l'Étoile, with the motto: vigil et audax.[8][13][14][15]

The genealogy by descent followed by this family begins with Robert d'Eon dit de Molesmes,[11][16] born in 1309, being unable to go back higher with sufficient evidence, because of the general fire which completely consumed the town of Tonnerre on 8 July 1556. François-Alexandre Aubert de La Chesnaye Des Bois published one genealogy in 1865,[17] with the full incorporation of the work of de la Fortelle[3] published in 1779 and which he updated and completed. The agnatic line of descendants leads in 1576 to André d'Éon, born in Ravières.[18][19]

Gustave Chaix d'Est-Ange notes in 1918 about the family d'Eon that La Chesnaye des Bois has given a very detailed genealogy, by tracing descent to the 14th century. “In reality” he writes, “the family d'Éon seems to have simply belonged to the upper middle class of his region. We do not see, in any case, that they ever had their status of nobility being recognized by judgment, or even that they had their coat of arms registered at the General Armorial of 1696”,[20] a coat of arms that Henri Jougla de Morenas mentions in his work Grand Armorial de France published in 1935.[21] Chaix d'Est-Ange then takes up the agnatic descendant from André Déon wrote in previous genealogies.[20]

More recently Jean-Robert Blot,[22][lower-alpha 2] undertook, thanks to the sources now available, to verify the works of de la Fortelle[3] established and drawn up during the lifetime of the Chevalier, where we find a certificate of noble status concerning him.[24] He concludes that this genealogy is erroneous for the oldest part dating back to Éon de l'Étoile, adding that the surname Déon is frequent in the region of Ravières, Ancy-le-Franc and Chassignelles.[22]

For Blot, “the attested ancestor of this family is André Déon;[lower-alpha 3] he would have a brother Nicolas who would have made three pilgrimages to Rome including at least one bare foot and who would have retired to a hermitage near Ravières. This family is a bourgeois one which will rise in the society of Tonnerre, but it will not manage to pass itself off as a noble, especially in 1668. As was customary at the time in all bourgeois families, the different children will have nicknames added to their name (often a locality related to their property)”.[22]

Charles-Geneviève d'Éon[lower-alpha 4] was born on 5 October 1728[22][25] at the Hôtel d'Uzès in Tonnerre, Burgundy, and baptised two days later[25] in the Church of Notre-Dame; in his partly ghost-written autobiography, “The Interests of the Chevalier d'Éon de Beaumont” (Les Loisirs du chevalier d'Éon de Beaumont),[27] –and affirmed in Bram Stoker's essay on the Chevalier in his 1910 book Famous Impostors[28]– he mentioned that was born "capped",[29] that is to say completely covered with a fetal membrane from head to toes, with the physician who attended her mother in the childbirth being unable to determine his gender. His father, Louis d'Éon de Beaumont,[22][30][31] was a lawyer at the Parliament of Paris and director of the King's dominions,[32] later mayor of Tonnerre and sub-delegate of the intendant of the généralité of Paris.[33] His mother, Françoise de Charanton, was the daughter of a Commissioner General to the armies of the wars of Spain and Italy.

The Chevalier began his studies in Tonnerre, then, in 1743, he moved to Paris with his uncle Michel d'Éon de Germigny,[18][34] to continue them at the prestigious Collège Mazarin.[35] A very good student, he obtained a diploma in civil law and canon law, in 1749; he was then twenty-one years old. Family tradition obliges him, and after an exemption from age,[35] he becomes on 22 August 1748 a lawyer in the Parliament of Paris. At one point, he even thinks of taking holy orders.[35] He shows talents in riding and even more in fencing where his skill is such that it does not take long to be recognized as one of the first swordsman de France.[35] At the same time he writes a lot and began a literary work as a contributor to Fréron's Année littéraire, and attracted notice as a political writer by the works Considérations historiques et politiques,[35] who was published in 1753.[36]

In addition, the Chevalier, brilliant in society, has no trouble creating a network of relationships, among which we soon find Louis François, Prince of Conti, Prince du sang and cousin of King Louis XV, who appoints him in 1758 as royal censor for History and Belles-Lettres under the service of Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes.[37] As responsible for the royal censorship, all writing concerning these two areas must receive its imprimatur before being published. The Chevalier was able to win the favor of the Prince of Conti in particular by retouching or sometimes making his verses and madrigals.[35]

In 1756 the Chevalier d'Éon was recruited by the Secret du Roi (King's Secret). This Cabinet noir, created by Louis XV, is considered to be the first truly organized and lasting secret service structure in France. It pursues a foreign policy parallel to official diplomacy and sometimes very different from the latter. The other royal councils ignore its existence, including that of "Foreign Affairs". Foreign countries obviously, didn't know its existence, too. The Chevalier is considered one of the first French spies.[38] These agents are free to achieve their ends by the means of their choice, even if they are illegal. The cabinet is headed by the Prince de Conti then by the Marquis de Ruffec. Among those who joined the Secret du Roi were the Marshal de Noailles, Vergennes, Breteuil and Beaumarchais.

Caricature of d'Éon dressed half in women's clothes, half in men's clothes.

According to some sources, the Chevalier is recruited into the Secret du Roi by Louis XV himself, who meets him at a costume ball disguised as a woman; the monarch is seduced by his good-lookiness. After realizing that he was a man, he thinks that thus disguised, he could serve him without attracting any suspicion. This would happened in June 1756, just at the start of the Seven Years' War. Following the Chevalier's memoirs (although there is no documentary evidence to support that account) Louis XV sent him with a Scottish Jacobite in French service, Alexandre-Pierre de Mackensie-Douglas, Baron de Kildin, on a secret mission to Russia in order to meet Empress Elizabeth and conspire with the pro-French faction against the Habsburg monarchy. At that time the English and French were at odds, and the English were attempting to deny the French access to the Empress by allowing only women and children to cross the border into Russia.

The Chevalier later claimed having to pass convincingly as a woman or risk being executed by the English upon discovery and therefore travelled disguised under the name Lia de Beaumont, and served as a maid of honour to the Empress. However, there is little or no evidence to support this and it is now commonly accepted to be a story told to demonstrate how identifying as female had been of benefit to France in the past.[2] Eventually, the Baron of Kildin became French ambassador to Russia, and the Chevalier was secretary to the embassy in Saint Petersburg from 1756 to 1760, serving Douglas and his successor, the Marquis de l'Hôpital.[39] D'Éon's career in Russia is the subject of one of Valentin Pikul's novels, Le chevalier d'Éon et la guerre de Sept ans («Пером и шпагой»).

In fact, it is more likely that he was recruited by Prince de Conti and dispatched to the Russian court as embassy secretary. In St. Petersburg, the Empress gives costume balls where the roles are reversed: men must be dressed as women and vice versa. the Chevalier undoubtedly takes pleasure in dressing up, his androgynous appearance (narrow build and beardless[40][41]) allows him to mystify everyone.[42] He quickly became one of the closest acquaintances of the Empress. This is how he gradually rallies anglophile advisers to the French cause while the French diplomats who arrive in official delegations have for months been the object of mistrust and rejection.

The Chevalier returned to France in October 1760, two days ahead of the courier sent by the Russian Empress. The king granted him with a pension of 2,000 livres as reward for his service in Russia by giving him a Dragoon captain certificate. In May 1761, the Chevalier became a captain of dragoons under the maréchal de Broglie and fought in the later stages of the Seven Years' War. D'Éon served at the Battle of Villinghausen in July 1761, and was wounded at Ultrop. After Empress Elizabeth died in January 1762, the Chevalier was considered for further service in Russia, but instead was appointed secretary to the Duc de Nivernais, awarded with 1,000 livres, and sent to London to draft the peace treaty that formally ended the Seven Years' War; but in reality, he also was sent to reasume his services as secret agent.[43] The treaty was signed in Paris on 10 February 1763, and he was awarded a further 6,000 livres, and one month later, on 30 March, he received the Order of Saint-Louis, becoming officially in the Chevalier d'Éon, after whom is commonly known in history.[39] The title chevalier, French for knight, is also sometimes used for French noblemen.

Power of attorney with description of Chevalier Charles d'Éon de Beaumont, September 1762. National Archives of France.

In 1762, the Chevalier was sent to London, where he worked as chargé d'affaires with the ambassador, the Duke of Nivernais, at the drafting of the Treaty of Paris, signed on 10 February 1763, which ends the Seven Years' War. France was defeated by Great Britain, the latter particularly wants to seize most of the French colonial empire, it is a question of concluding the least unfavorable treaty possible. The Chevalier will contribute to it. 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 the maximum concessions that his country is prepared to make,[43] an infinitely precious document that Choiseul will use to obtain the least painful agreement that is for France. The King rewards him again, he is decorated with the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis, one of the greatest distinctions of the time.[41]

The Chevalier is now charged by the Secret du Roi with a delicate mission and one could not be more secret: it is a question, to regain the advantage over the English enemy, of drawing up a plan of invasion of Great Brittain — a surprise landing, an unfortunate and clumsy initiative of Louis XV of which his own ministers were unaware. He assisted a French agent, Louis François Carlet de la Rozière, who was surveying the British coastal defences, and keeps the highest authorities informed of the progress of the project in secret and with coded letters. The fact that it was to him that the King entrusted this mission shows the esteem and confidence he has in the Chevalier.[44]

When the Duc of Nivernais, ill, returned to Paris in July 1763,[43] the Chevalier took his place as a plenipotentiary minister (essentially interim ambassador). Immediately the atmosphere changes at the French embassy. The new master of the place abundantly enjoyed the splendour of this interim position,[39] and organizes sumptuous receptions there: the Chevalier not only formed connections with the English nobility with his receptions but by sending them the produce of his own vineyard in France;[39] and have so much notoriety, that later was coined by Tayllerand the phrase "Éon-style diplomacy" (la diplomatie façon d’Éon) — having only friends in the enemy camp. King George III adores it. Recall that, at the same time, the Chevalier is preparing an invasion of his country; however, in Paris his lifestyle was considered to be too extravagant: with 22 servants and one reception per day,[41] he squandered the annual budget of the embassy in a few months.[43] When he asks that the said budget be increased, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Choiseul, refuses. For the first time, the Chevalier is disowned by the royal power.

Upon the arrival of the new ambassador, the Comte de Guerchy in October 1763, the Chevalier becomes its secretary as Minister Plenipotentiary. The two men hate each other, they knew and opposed each other during the Seven Years' War.[43] The Chevealier despises his new superior. Two clans are formed at the French Embassy and a war of libels begins.

Caricature by Charles Benjamin Incledon of d'Éon "producing ... evidence against certain persons."

At the heart of the conflict between the two men are the plans to invade Great Britain. Louis XV gave up this project. The ambassador demands that the Chevalier deliver to him all the documents related to these plans in order to destroy them, but the Chevalier refuses, at least without a monetary compensation. But for the Comte de Guerchy, it is out of the question to consider any negotiation. Was the French monarch who finally decides the matter. On 4 November 1763, Louis XV stripped the Chevalier of his functions at the embassy and requested his extradition from the English authorities.[45] These, who are not constrained by their legislation, refuse; this conflict between the two French diplomats which spreads out in broad daylight delights them. By provocation, the Chevalier continued to go to the French embassy. In February 1764 the 2,000 livres pension that the Chevalier had been granted in 1760 was stopped to being pay; to make the Comte de Guerchy and Louis XV cede, he did not hesitate to exercise daring blackmail: the Chevalier disclosed part of his correspondence with the French monarch under the title Lettres, mémoires et négociations particulières du chevalier d'Éon in March 1764.[46]. This breach of diplomatic discretion was scandalous to the point of being unheard of, but the Chevalier had not yet published everything (the King's secret invasion documents and those relative to the Secret du Roi were kept back as "insurance"), and the French government became very cautious in its dealings with the Chevalier, even when he sued the Comte de Guerchy for attempted murder. With the invasion documents in hand, the Chevalier held Louis XV in check.[47] The Chevalier did not offer any defence when in turn the Comte de Guerchy sued for libel, and he was declared an outlaw and went into hiding. However, the Chevalier secured the sympathy of the British public: the mob jeered the Comte de Guerchy in public, and threw stones at his residence. He then wrote a book on public administration, Les loisirs du Chevalier d'Éon, which was published in thirteen volumes in Amsterdam in 1774.[48]

The Chevalier felt that the Comte de Guerchy was incompetent and unfit for the role of ambassador. He is, it seems, right. Instead of agreeing to pay a modest "ransom" to recover the precious documents in the hands of the Chevalier, the Comte de Guerchy locks himself in a refusal which quite simply jeopardizes the fragile political and military balance between the two most powerful countries of Europe. For him the Chevalier is the man to be destroyed by all means. But, outside the walls of the French embassy, ​​he has no rights and the Chevalier skilfully shelters himself behind the English police and justice. During a trial, a witness reveals that the Comte de Guerchy tried to poison his ex-secretary during a dinner at the ambassador's residence in Monmouth House in Soho Square.[lower-alpha 5] The Chevalier also accuses his ex-boss of trying to have him kidnapped. In September 1767, during another trial, the English justice ruled in favor of the Chevalier, who resumed his duties and received his pension again. Having to appear again in court when he has no lawyer or witnesses, he prefers to disappear. He disguises himself as a woman and takes refuge with a friend.[41]

After the dismissal of the Comte de Guerchy, in July 1766 Louis XV granted the Chevalier a pension (possibly a pay-off for his silence) and a 12,000-livre annuity, but refused a demand for over 100,000 livres to clear the Chevalier's extensive debts. He continued to work as a spy, but lived in political exile in London. The Chevalier's possession of the king's secret letters provided protection against further actions, but he could not return to France.[47] D'Éon became a Freemason in 1768, and was initiated at London's Immortality Lodge.[49]

The Chevalière d'Éon

The Chevalier d'Éon

The Chevalier d'Éon (older)

Eventually the conflict was forgotten, with the French ambassador being concentrated by other problems and the Chevalier renouncing his desire for blackmail. Now that he is in disgrace, without any power or function, he is ostracized by society. So (think many historians[43]) so that all eyes turn to him again, he had the idea of ​​causing a scandal by dressing as a woman. And pretend that he was always a woman.[43] He is again at the center of all attention and conversation. At the French Embassy, ​​immediate attempts were made to take advantage of the Chevalier's "madness", which fueled the libels of Treyssac de Vergy and Ange Goudar.

Immediately various rumors about his sexuality ran in London. In the British gazettes, we see flowering caricatures of the knight who is baptized "Épicène d'Éon". A betting pool was started on the London Stock Exchange about d'Éon's true sex. D'Éon was invited to join, but declined, saying that an examination would be dishonouring, whatever the result. After a year without progress, the wager was abandoned; a trial between two gamblers ends (after hearing various witnesses, but not the Chevalier) with the following verdict: she is a woman.[47]

In 1774, Louis XV demanded that the Chevalier d'Éon put an end to the rumors that discredited the French Embassy by indicating once and for all his true sex. The Chevalier responds with a declaration in which he solemnly affirms to have been assigned female at birth, and demanded recognition by the French government as such. He claimed to have been raised as a boy because Louis d'Éon de Beaumont could only inherit from his in-laws if he had a son. Her gender is validated by several doctors. The Chevalier refusing to undress, these doctors had to content themselves with performing palpations to decide their opinion.[50] This revelation is embarrassing for the Kingdom of France. Various readings have been proposed to interpret this behavior: psychological, even psychiatric ("narcissistic delirium"). Or more politically: the desire to take revenge, to ridicule the country that rejected him, then attempted his own life.

The Chevalier d'Eon is not homosexual or bisexual because we do not know of any adventure.[43] It is generally thought that he is a transvestite only for his sexual pleasure and consists simply of dressing as a woman, and does not need a sexual partner: for him, the gaze of others (or his own) is enough. This inclination is called Eonism in reference to him.

Following the death of Louis XV in 1774, the Secret du Roi was abolished, and the Chevalier tried to negotiate a return from exile. At this time, he was in contact with the French libellist Charles Théveneau de Morande, author of the Memoirs of Madame du Barry, a satirical text, probably with the intention to exposed all his information about his time as spy. In 1775, the playwright (and also a member of Le Secret du Roi) Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, was sent to London by the new King of France, Louis XVI, to recover all these documents, letters, plans, libels, in possession of the Chevalier. In 1777, after fourteen months of negotiations, a twenty-page treaty was signed by both parties, in which was stipulated that the Chevalier was permitted to return to France and retain his ministerial pension, but required that he would turn over the correspondence regarding the Secret du Roi.[47] In addition, the Chevalier (whom in France is now considers to be a woman) will never again have to take off her feminine clothes, although he was allowed to continue to wear the insignia of the Order of Saint-Louis. When Louis XVI's offer included funds for a new wardrobe of women's clothes, the Chevalier agreed; he will henceforth call himself Mademoiselle d'Éon in exchange for which a life annuity is granted to him,[41] but as punishment was briefly banished to Tonnerre.[47] About of this events, Madame Campan writes in her memoirs:

"This eccentric being had long solicited permission to return to France; but it was necessary to find a way of sparing the family he had offended the insult they would see in his return; he was therefore made to resume the costume of that sex to which in France everything is pardoned. The desire to see his native land once more determined him to submit to the condition, but he revenged himself by combining the long train of his gown and the three deep ruffles on his sleeves with the attitude and conversation of a grenadier, which made him very disagreeable company."

When the prospect of a return to France began to take shape, the Chevalier put on his masculine clothes again, against the stipulations of the treaty he prevouiously signed. He is therefore caught in his own trap: furious, he left London on 13 August 1777 and presents himself at court in his Captain of Dragoons attire. Fourteen days later, on 27 August, an order issued by Louis XVI orders him "to leave the uniform of dragoons which she continues to wear and to resume the clothes of her sex, with the prohibition of appearing in the kingdom under other clothes than those suitable for women".[51] Dressed by Rose Bertin at the expense of Queen Marie Antoinette, the Chevalier was presented at court in a robe à panier and corset on 23 November 1777.

In 1779, when France began to help the rebels during the American War of Independence, the Chevalier asked to join the French troops in America at the side of Lafayette, but he was forbidden to doing it.[47] He nevertless dresses up as a Capitain of Dragons, and the royal power rages: arrested on 20 March 1779, the Chevalier was exiled to Tonnerre where he resolved to take care of his family estate.[41] During this time, the Chevalier published a book of memoirs, La Vie Militaire, politique, et privée de Mademoiselle d'Éon; they were ghostwritten by a friend named de la Fortelle and who are probably embellished.[39]

In 1783, Louis XVI let the Chevalier to 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.[52] No longer benefiting from his pension, he does not have the means to pay it except with part with his library of 8,000 books.

Assaut d’armes Carlton House 9 avril 1787 d’Eon de Beaumont contre Saint George. A fencing match involving the Chevalier d'Eon and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Painted for Prince George of Wales by Alexandre-Auguste Robineau, ca. 1787–1789. Currently part of the Royal Collection.

It was at this time that the fencing match (assaut d’armes) between the Chevalier and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, who had come expressly to England, took place.[53] This assault takes place at Carlton House on 9 April 1787, at the express request of the Prince of Wales, the future King George IV, who is rumored to be the son of the Chevalier.[54][lower-alpha 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, the Chevalier reached Saint-Georges seven times[56] and this victory cemented his reputation as a fencer.[57][lower-alpha 7] Alexandre-Auguste Robineau's painting The fencing-match between the Chevalier de Saint-George and the Chevalier d'Éon was made at the request of the Prince of Wales[59] to immortalize the event.

The Chevalier welcomed the French Revolution and even addressed on 10 May 1792 to the National Legislative Assembly a petition in which, relying on a decree of the Constituent Assembly, he asks to be reinstated in his rank and to take service, leading a division of female soldiers against the Habsburgs:

"Now that I see the nation, the law and the king in great danger, I feel my love for the fatherland awaken and my warlike mood revolt against my cap and my skirts: my heart cries out for my helmet again, my sword, my horse and above all my rank in the army to go and fight the enemies of France. To put me in the position of doing good work in the army, let me be granted permission to raise a legion called the legion of volunteers of Eon-Tonnerre. I would try to compose it at least half of veteran soldiers, and the other half of a robust and good-willed youth who will soon be hardened in an active war".[60]

The petition, presented by Lazare Carnot to the Assembly in the session of 11 June, was sent back to the military committee[61] which took no action. The Chevalier therefore remained in London, where his situation became increasingly precarious: the declaration of war of 1 February 1793 by the Convention to Great Britain and the United Provinces and his heavy debts (in France also) forced the Chevalier to remain on British soil,[41] where he lived in poverty. The pension that Louis XV had granted to him was ended by the French Revolution, and the Chevalier had to sell personal possessions, including books, jewellery and plate. The family's properties in Tonnerre were confiscated by the revolutionary government, and the papers he had deposited there in a hidden iron cupboard, seized. He only has to live on a pension of 200 pounds sterling granted to him by George III.[60]

To support himself, he was forced to take part in public fencing matches.[62] Despite his sixty years and his feminine clothes, his swordsman skills allow him to win most fights.[lower-alpha 8] In May 1791, he must resolve to get rid of the remaining of his library.[52] He continued, despite his overweight, to fight duels until the age of 68. On 26 August 1796 at Southampton, during one of his matches, he was seriously injured,[48] the button of the foil having broken unnoticed within an inch of the end; the wound in the crook of the right arm extends over nearly 10 centimeters.[63] He is finally picked up on 31 December 1796 by Mary Cole,[47] a Frenchwoman of his age and widow of William Cole, engineer of the English Royal Navy.[64]

On 2 June 1804 the Chevalier and Mary Cole were sent to a debtors' prison.[65] Released after five months,[66] he signed a contract for a biography to be written by Thomas William Plummer, which was never published. Paralyzed following a fall due to a stroke, he will live another four years in poverty (the last two as a bedridden)[67] before dying at the age of 81, on 21 May 1810 in London[47] at the N° 26 of New Wilman Street.[56][lower-alpha 9]

D'Eon's name listed on the south face of the Burdett-Coutts Memorial.

While performing the autopsy, was discovered with amazement that this supposed old lady was in fact a man.[lower-alpha 10] The surgeon Mr. Copeland, accompanied by seventeen witnesses, members of the Faculty of Medicine of Great Britain declares in their post-mortem certificate,[69] dated 23 May 1810: "I hereby certify that I have examined and dissected the body of the Chevalier d'Éon in the presence of Mr. Adair, Mr. Wilson, Father Élysée and that I have found on this body the male organs perfectly formed in all respects",[70][71] while at the same time displaying feminine characteristics, who were described in the certificate like "unusual roundness in the formation of limbs", as well as "breast remarkably full".[72] The surgeon reaffirms this precision the following day: "As a result of the note of the persons named above, I examined the body, which was of the male sex. The original drawing was made by M. C. Turner,[73] in my presence".[74] Charles Turner simultaneously engraves a mezzotint of the death mask.[75]

The Chevalier d'Eon was buried on 28 May in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church,[76] parish church of the Church of England which at the time was part of the County of Middlesex[70][77][78][lower-alpha 11] before being attached in 1889[lower-alpha 12] to the County of London until 1965, since replaced by Greater London. He leaves a handwritten will in which he appoints Sir Sydney Smith as executor. The Chevalier's remaining possessions were sold by Christie's in 1813.

This testament is preceded by a preamble bearing in mind "Soli Deo Gloria et honor". It begins thus: "Mors mihi lucrum Note"[lower-alpha 13] and ends with this lapidary quatrain where, philosophically, and not without some irony, the Chevalier takes stock of what his life has been:[80][81]

«Naked from the sky I descended, and naked I am under this stone: So having lived on this earth, I have neither won nor lost.»

Closed to burials in 1850, St Pancras Old Church churchyard (where many French Catholics and émigrés were buried) was disused in 1865 due to works on St Pancras Station, the terminus of the Midland Railway, then reopened as a public park in June 1877.[76][82] In 1879 Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts built a memorial for the important graves lost at that time at St Pancras Old Church which bears her name ever since. In the obelisk were engraved the names of over seventy personalities, including that the Chevalier d'Éon on the south face.

The Chevalier d'Éon has appeared as a character in numerous fictional works over the years.

• The Chevalière d'Eon, by Charles Dupeuty and the Baron de Maldigny (1837), Théâtre du Vaudeville[91]
• The Chevalier d'Eon, a comedy in three acts by Dumanoir and Jean-François Bayard (1837), Théâtre des Variétés[92]
• Le chevalier d'Eon, opéra-comique in four acts by Rodolphe Berger, libretto by Armand Silvestre and Henri Cain (1908), Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin; Mlle. Anne Dancrey created the title role[93][94]
• Spy of Madame Pompadour (1928), film.
• Le secret du Chevalier d'Éon (1959), a film loosely based on the life of the Chevalier that portrays d'Éon as a woman masquerading as a man.
• Le Chevalier D'Eon (2006), an anime series loosely based on the Chevalier d'Éon.[95]
• The Sword of the Chevalier, a 2017 episode of the Doctor Who audio series, The Tenth Doctor Adventures.[96][97][98]
• Le Chevalier d'Éon appears as an unplayable character that gives out side-quests in the game Assassin's Creed: Unity.[99]

• The personal archives of Charles de Beaumont, Chevalier d'Éon are kept in the Archives Nationales (France) under the reference 277ap/1.[1]
• de La Chesnaye Des Bois, François-Alexandre Aubert; Badier, Jacques (1865). Dictionnaire de la noblesse : contenant les généalogies, l'histoire et la chronologie des familles nobles de France (in French). Vol. 7. Paris: Schlesinger Frères (3rd edition). pp. 218–243.
• Chaix d'Est-Ange, Gustave (1918). Imprimerie Charles Hérissey (ed.). Dictionnaire des familles françaises anciennes ou notables à la fin du siècle XIX (in French). Vol. XVI. Evreux. pp. 63–64.
• Blot, Jean-Robert. L'abbaye de Molosmes et le village de Saint-Martin-sur-Armançon Famille Déon (in French).
• Gaillardet, Frédéric (1967). Mémoires du Chevalier d'Eon, capitaine de dragons, chevalier de Saint Louis, ministre plénipotentiaire de France à la cour d'Angleterre (in French). Vol. I. Paris: Ladvocat. (1st edition 1836, reprinted by Editions de Saint-Clair)
• Gaillardet, Frédéric (1967). Mémoires du Chevalier d'Eon, capitaine de dragons, chevalier de Saint Louis, ministre plénipotentiaire de France à la cour d'Angleterre (in French). Vol. II. Paris: Ladvocat. (1st edition 1836, reprinted by Editions de Saint-Clair)
• Gaillardet, Frédéric (1836a). Mémoires du chevalier d'Éon publiés pour la première fois sur les papiers fournis par sa famille : et d'après les matériaux authentiques déposés aux Archives des Affaires étrangères (in French). Vol. I. Paris: Ladvocat (2nd edition).
• Gaillardet, Frédéric (1836b). Mémoires du chevalier d'Éon publiés pour la première fois sur les papiers fournis par sa famille : et d'après les matériaux authentiques déposés aux Archives des Affaires étrangères (in French). Vol. II. Paris: Ladvocat (2nd edition).
• Gaillardet, Frédéric (1837a). Mémoires du chevalier d'Éon publiés pour la première fois sur les papiers fournis par sa famille : et d'après les matériaux authentiques déposés aux Archives des Affaires étrangères (in French). Vol. I. Brussels: Société belge de librairie.
• Gaillardet, Frédéric (1837b). Mémoires du chevalier d'Éon publiés pour la première fois sur les papiers fournis par sa famille : et d'après les matériaux authentiques déposés aux Archives des Affaires étrangères (in French). Vol. II. Brussels: Société belge de librairie.
• Gaillardet, Frédéric (1837c). Mémoires du chevalier d'Éon publiés pour la première fois sur les papiers fournis par sa famille : et d'après les matériaux authentiques déposés aux Archives des Affaires étrangères (in French). Vol. III. Brussels: Société belge de librairie.
• Jourdan, Louis (1861). L'Hermaphodite (in French). Paris: E. Dentu.
• Gaillardet, Frédéric (1866). Mémoires sur la chevalière d'Eon : La Vérité sur les mystères de sa vie, d'après des documents authentiques : suivis de Douze lettres inédites de Beaumarchais (in French). Paris: E. Dentu.
  • In the preface, the author points out several inaccuracies concerning the biography of d'Éon, of which he claims to be himself at the origin. Above all, he accused Louis Jourdan[2] of plagiarism, which he also denounced in the press,[3] for his work L'Hermaphodite published in 1861[4] by the same publisher. The book contains in particular the transcription of the baptismal certificate of the Chevalier, as well as that of several "supporting documents".
• de Beaussol, Peyraud (1779). La vie militaire, politique et privée de demoiselle Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Thimothée Éon ou d'Éon de Beaumont (in French). Paris: Lambert.
• Le Maistre, Edme-Louis Anne (1854). Bulletin de la Société des sciences historiques et naturelles de l'Yonne : Le chevalier d'Éon (in French). Vol. VIII. Auxerre: Société des sciences historiques et naturelles de l'Yonne. pp. 171–195.
  • This communication is the subject of a book published by the author: Recherches historiques sur le sexe du Chevalier d'Éon (PDF) (in French). Auxerre: Perruquet et Bouillé. 1855.
• Letainturier-Fradin, Gabriel (1901). La chevalière d'Éon (in French). Paris: E. Flammarion.
• Moiset, Charles (1892). Bulletin de la Société des sciences historiques et naturelles de l'Yonne : Le chevalier d'Éon de Beaumont (in French). Vol. XLVI. Auxerre: Société des sciences historiques et naturelles de l'Yonne. pp. 5–102.
• Rabbe, Alphonse; Vieilh de Boisjolin, Claude-Augustin (1834). Biographie universelle et portative des contemporains, ou dictionnaire historique des hommes vivants et des hommes morts depuis 1788 jusqu'à nos jours (in French). Vol. II. Paris: F. G. Levrault. pp. 1585–1587.

• Cabanès, Augustin (20 August 1936). "Lisez-moi Historia – Quel était le sexe du chevalier d'Éon ?" (in French). Paris: J. Tallandier. pp. 251–264. ISSN 1142-9224.
• Chiland, Colette (2011). Odile Jacob (ed.). "Changer de sexe – Illusion et réalité" (in French). Paris. ISBN 978-2-7381-2451-7.
• Davenport, John (2003). Aphrodisiacs and Love Stimulants. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7661-7633-1.
• de Decker, Michel (1998). "Madame le Chevalier d'Éon". Paris: Éd. France-Empire. ISBN 2-7048-0853-8.
• Frank, André; Chaumely, Jean (1953). D'Éon chevalier et chevalière, sa confession inédite (in French). Paris: Amiot-Dumont. OCLC 459730220.
• Gontier, Fernande (2006). Homme ou femme? : la confusion des sexes (in French). Paris. ISBN 978-2-262-02491-8.
• Hammersley, Rachel (2010). The English Republican tradition and eighteenth-century France : Between the ancients and the moderns: The British origins of the chevalier d’Eon's patriotism. Press Studies in Early Modern European History. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. pp. 110–122. ISBN 978-0-7190-7932-0. OCLC 5105173801. ISBN 0719079322 ISBN 978-1-7817-0234-5
• Hermary-Vieille, Catherine (2018). Moi, chevalier d'Éon, espionne du roi : romanpublisher (in French). Paris: Albin Michel. ISBN 978-2-226-40035-2. OCLC 1033580154.
• Homberg, Octave (1900). La Carrière militaire du chevalier d'Éon : d'après des documents inédits (in French). Paris: Berger-Levrault.
• Homberg, Octave; Jousselin, Fernand (1904). Un aventurier au XVIIIe siècle : Le chevalier d'Éon (1728-1810), d'après des documents inédits (in French). Paris: Plon-Nourrit et Cie. OCLC 457715982.
• de Beaussol, Peyraud (1 February 2012). La Vie militaire, politique et privée de Demoiselle Charles-Geneviève-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée Éon ou d'Éon de Beaumont (in French). Paris: Nabu Press (reprinted; 1st edition: Lambert, 1779). ISBN 978-1-274-54795-8.
• Le Maistre, Edme-Louis Anne (1855). Recherches historiques sur le sexe du chevalier d'Éon (in French). Perriquet et Rouillé.
• Lever, Évelyne; Lever, Maurice (2009). Le Chevalier d'Éon : «Une vie sans queue ni tête» (in French). Paris: Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-61630-8.
  • The subtitle refers to the preface to Éon's autobiography.
• de Loménie, Louis (1858). Beaumarchais et son temps : études sur la société en France au XVIII siècle d'après des documents inédits. Vol. I. Paris: Michel-Lévy. pp. 405–440.
• Moreels, Edith (1996). Le Chevalier d'Éon : l'histoire du plus étrange espion de tous les temps. Histoire et mystères (in French). Marabout. ISBN 978-2-501-02398-6.
• Mourousy, Paul (1998). Le Chevalier d'Éon : Un travesti malgré lui (in French). Monaco: Le Rocher. ISBN 978-2-268-02917-7.
• Perrault, Gilles (1996). Le secret du Roi, tome 1 : La Passion polonaise (in French). Paris: Le livre de poche. ISBN 978-2-253-13703-0.
• Pinsseau, Pierre (1945). L'Étrange Destinée du chevalier d'Éon (1728-1810) (in French). Orléans: R. Clavreuil.
• Royer, Jean-Michel (1986). Le Double Je : mémoires du chevalier d'Eon (in French). Paris: B. Grasset. ISBN 978-2-246-38001-6.
  • Work crowned by the Société des gens de lettres.
• Steinberg, Sylvie (2001). La Confusion des sexes : Le travestissement de la Renaissance à la Révolution (in French). Paris. Fayard. ISBN 2-213-60848-2.
• d'Éon De Beaumont, Charles. The Maiden of Tonnerre: The Vicissitudes of the Chevalier and the Chevalière d'Éon, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-8018-6687-6.
• d'Éon, Leonard J. The Cavalier, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1987, ISBN 0-399-13227-9.
• Kates, Gary. Monsieur d'Éon Is a Woman: A Tale of Political Intrigue and Sexual Masquerade, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-8018-6731-6.
• Luyt, Philippe. D'Éon de Tonnerre. Iconographie et histoire, 2007, OCLC 163617123
• Musée municipal de Tonnerre, Catalogue bilingue de l'exposition, Le Chevalier d'Éon: secrets et lumières, 2007.
• Telfer, John Buchan, The strange career of the Chevalier d'Eon de Beaumont, minister plenipotentiary from France to Great Britain in 1763, 1885, OCLC 2745013