Angélique Chevalier

Little is known about Angélique Chevalier’s life. However, records show at least three women by this name who, at different times between the late 1600s and the late 1800s, printed short and diverse works in Reims, just outside Paris. It is believed that the name Angélique may have passed from grandmother to granddaughter, or perhaps it was simply a nom de plume.

This raises the intriguing possibility that at least one of these Angéliques was truly a woman of the French court—a would-be swordswoman, a lady-in-waiting, and Queen Anne of Austria’s personal spy. All excellent reasons, we think, to hide behind a pseudonym.