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32-434: He was the author of popular swashbuckler novels such as Le Loup blanc (1843) and the perennial best-seller Le Bossu (1857). He also penned the seminal vampire fiction novels Le Chevalier Ténèbre (1860), La Vampire (1865) and La Ville Vampire (1874) and wrote several celebrated novels about his native Brittany and Mont Saint-Michel such as La Fée des Grèves (1850). Féval's greatest claim to fame, however,

64-707: A first variation of the classic swashbuckler there have also been female swashbucklers. Maureen O'Hara in Against All Flags and Jean Peters in Anne of the Indies were very early action film heroines. Eventually the typical swashbuckler motifs were used up because they had so often been shown on TV screens. Later films such as The Princess Bride , the Pirates of the Caribbean series and The Mask of Zorro include modern takes on

96-417: A sequel to an earlier work, Bel Demonio (1850)) and Jean Diable into the chronology of Les Habits Noirs , creating a veritable human comedy of evil and secret conspiracies. By its methods, themes and characters, Les Habits Noirs is the precursor of today's conspiracy and organized crime novels. Féval's heroes, from Gregory Temple, the first detective, to Remy d'Arx, the investigative magistrate who pursues

128-558: Is a compound of "swash" (archaic: to swagger with a drawn sword) and " buckler " (a small shield gripped in the fist) dating from the 16th century . While man-at-arms and sellswords of the era usually wore armor of necessity, their counterparts in later romantic literature and film (see below) often did not, and the term evolved to denote a daring, devil-may-care demeanor rather than brandishment of accoutrements of war. Swashbuckling adventures and romances are generally set in Europe from

160-505: Is as one of the fathers of modern crime fiction . Because of its themes and characters, his novel Jean Diable (1862) can claim to be the world's first modern novel of detective fiction . His masterpiece was Les Habits Noirs (1863–1875), a criminal saga comprising eleven novels. After losing his fortune in a financial scandal, Féval became a born-again Christian, stopped writing crime thrillers, and began to write religious novels, leaving

192-588: Is skilled in swordsmanship , acrobatics, and guile , and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, and idealistic: he rescues damsels in distress , protects the downtrodden, and uses duels to defend his honor or that of a lady or to avenge a comrade. Swashbucklers often engage in daring and romantic adventures with bravado or flamboyance. Swashbuckler heroes are typically gentleman adventurers who dress elegantly and flamboyantly in coats, waistcoats, tight breeches, large feathered hats, and high leather boots, and they are armed with

224-399: Is the precursor of today's conspiracy and organized crime fiction . Féval's heroes, from Gregory Temple, the first "detective" in modern detective fiction , to Remy d'Arx, the investigative magistrate, are also the first modern characters of their kind. In 1862, Féval founded the magazine Jean Diable , named after his eponymous Habits Noirs novel, and Émile Gaboriau , future creator of

256-885: The Indiana Jones movies) set in the modern era have been described as swashbuckling. The genre has, apart from swordplay, always been characterized by influences that can be traced back to the chivalry tales of Medieval Europe, such as the legends of Robin Hood and King Arthur . It soon created its own drafts based on classic examples like The Mark of Zorro (1920) , The Three Musketeers (1921) , Scaramouche (1923) and The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) . Some films did also use motifs of pirate stories. Often these films were adaptations of classic historic novels published by well-known authors such as Alexandre Dumas , Rafael Sabatini , Baroness Emma Orczy , Sir Walter Scott , Johnston McCulley , and Edmond Rostand . Swashbucklers are one of

288-542: The Revue de Paris . It was soon followed by two more swashbucklers: Rollan Pied de Fer (1842), Les Chevaliers du Firmament and Le Loup Blanc (both 1843). The latter novel features a heroic albino who fights for justice in a Zorro -like disguise, one of the earliest treatments of a crimefighter with a secret identity . Féval's break came with the Les Mystères de Londres (1844), a sprawling feuilleton written to cash in on

320-549: The Habits Noirs , are also the first modern heroes of their kind. In 1865, Féval became President of the Société des Gens de Lettre (Society of Authors), a position he kept until 1868. He was President again from 1874 to 1876. In 1865, Féval also wrote La Vampire , a seminal text featuring the perversely charismatic Countess Addhema, the first and foremost prototype of the female vampire-as-libido-run-wild theme. Some scholars claimed

352-540: The film genre , which extended the genre to the Golden Age of Piracy . As swashbuckler stories are often mixed with the romance genre, there will often be a beautiful, aristocratic female love interest to whom the hero expresses a refined, courtly love . At the same time, since swashbuckler plots are often based on intrigues involving corrupt religious figures or scheming monarchs, the heroes may be tempted by alluring femmes fatales or vampish courtesans. "Swashbuckler"

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384-419: The public domain :  Chisholm, Hugh , ed. (1911). " Féval, Paul Henri Corentin ". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 305. [REDACTED] Media related to Paul Féval (père) at Wikimedia Commons Swashbuckler A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who

416-544: The Irishman, Grey Jack the faithful old servant, the revenge-driven Doctor Magnus Szegeli, and Polly Bird, one of the vampire's earlier victims, mount an expedition to find the legendary vampire city of Selene. In 1873 and 1875, Féval tried to join the Académie française but was rejected, because of the popular nature of his works, but also because of his political convictions. In 1875, a few months after finishing La Bande Cadet ,

448-507: The Renaissance and Enlightenment periods led to fencing being performed on theatre stages as part of plays. Soon actors were taught to fence in an entertaining, dramatic manner. Eventually fencing became an established part of a classical formation for actors. Consequently, when movie theaters mushroomed, ambitious actors took the chance to present their accordant skills on the screen. Since silent movies were no proper medium for long dialogues,

480-530: The classic stories about heroes who would defend their honour with sword in hand were simplified and sheer action would gain priority. This was the birth of a new kind of film hero: the swashbuckler. For Hollywood actors to depict these skilled sword fighters, they needed advanced sword training. Four of the most famous instructors for swashbuckling swordplay are William Hobbs , Anthony De Longis , Bob Anderson and Peter Diamond . The larger-than-life heroics portrayed in some film franchise adventures (most notably

512-424: The following: Actors notable for their portrayals of swashbucklers include: Fiction writers whose novels and stories have been adapted for swashbuckler films include: Les Habits Noirs Les Habits Noirs is a book series written over a thirty-year period, comprising eleven novels, created by Paul Féval, père , a 19th-century French writer . By its methods, themes and characters, Les Habits Noirs

544-536: The genre was Le Bossu (1857) in which a prodigious swordsman, Henri de Lagardère, disguises himself as a hunchback to avenge his friend the Duke de Nevers, murdered by the villainous Prince de Gonzague. It features the famous motto: "If you don't come to Lagardère, Lagardère will come to you." Le Bossu has been the subject of half-a-dozen feature film adaptations and a number of sequels, written by Féval's son. That same year, with Les Compagnons du Silence , Féval returned to

576-597: The late Renaissance up through the Age of Reason and the Napoleonic Wars , extending into the colonial era with pirate tales in the Caribbean . Jeffrey Richards traces the swashbuckling novel to the rise of Romanticism , and an outgrowth of the historical novel, particularly those of Sir Walter Scott , "... medieval tales of chivalry, love and adventure rediscovered in the eighteenth century". This type of historical novel

608-466: The most flamboyant Hollywood film genres, unlike cinema verite or modern realistic filmmaking. The genre attracted large audiences who relished the blend of escapist adventure, historic romance, and daring stunts in cinemas before it became a fixture on TV screens. With the focus on action, adventure, and, to a lesser degree, romance, there is little concern for historical accuracy. Filmmakers may mix incidents and events from different historical eras. As

640-467: The police detective Monsieur Lecoq (a hero seemingly unrelated to the villainous Lecoq of the Habits Noirs ), was his assistant. Les Habits Noirs (1914), Pathé silent feature directed by Daniel Riche A O.R.T.F. french TV adaptation was made in 1967, "Les Habits Noirs". This article about a 19th-century novel is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See guidelines for writing about novels . Further suggestions might be found on

672-466: The police detective Monsieur Lecoq , a hero seemingly unrelated to the villainous Lecoq of the Habits Noirs first introduced by Féval. Gaboriau's Lecoq later influenced Conan Doyle 's creation of Sherlock Holmes . In 1863, Féval embarked on his masterpiece, Les Habits Noirs , a sprawling criminal saga written over a twelve-year period, comprising seven novels. He retroactively incorporated Les Mystères de Londres , Les Compagnons du Silence (itself

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704-469: The protagonist and the villain. There is a long list of swashbucklers who combine courage, skill, resourcefulness, and a distinctive sense of honor and justice, as for example Cyrano de Bergerac , The Three Musketeers , The Scarlet Pimpernel , Robin Hood , and Zorro . As a historical fiction genre, it is often set in the Renaissance or Cavalier era. The stock character also became common in

736-534: The series under the pseudonym Sir Francis Trollop . With Les Mystères de Londres , Féval became the equal of Dumas and Sue in the eyes of his contemporaries. However, he was unhappy about his success as the author of adventure novels and soon tried to gain literary recognition with social satires such as Le Tueur de Tigres (1853), but in vain. He returned to popular literature with more swashbucklers such as La Louve (1855) (a sequel to his earlier Le Loup Blanc ) and L'Homme de Fer (1856). His biggest success in

768-739: The seventh volume in the Habits Noirs series, Féval lost nearly all his fortune–the staggering sum of 800,000 francs–several million dollars by today's reckoning–in a financial scandal linked to the Ottoman Empire . As a result, he became what today would be called a born-again Christian, and stopped writing crime novels, which he then considered sinful. In fact, he reclaimed the rights to his earlier books and tried to rewrite them to better conform to his new principles. He also began writing religious-themed novels such as La Première Aventure de Corentin Quimper (1876) and Pierre Blot (1877). In 1882, Paul Féval

800-588: The success of Eugène Sue 's Les Mystères de Paris . In it, Irishman Fergus O'Breane tries to avenge the wrongs of his countrymen by seeking the annihilation of England. The plot anticipates that of Alexandre Dumas, père 's The Count of Monte Cristo by one year. The novel also features a Mafia -like criminal secret society called the Gentlemen of the Night , a theme that will become recurrent in Féval's oeuvre. Féval published

832-560: The swashbuckler archetype. Television followed the films, especially in the UK, with The Adventures of Robin Hood , Sword of Freedom , The Buccaneers , and Willam Tell between 1955 and 1960. US TV produced two series of Zorro in 1957 and 1990 . Following the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro , a TV series about a female swashbuckler, the Queen of Swords , aired in 2000. Famous swashbuckler characters from literature and other media include

864-560: The tale of the Habits Noirs uncompleted. Paul Henri Corentin Féval was born at the Hôtel de Blossac in Rennes in Brittany on 29 September 1816. A number of his novels deal with the history of his native province. He was educated for the bar and became a full-fledged lawyer in 1836. However, he soon moved to Paris, where he gained a footing by the publication of his novel Le Club des phoques (1841) in

896-492: The text was initially penned in 1856, over 40 years before Bram Stoker 's Dracula . Féval returned to the theme of vampirism with La Ville Vampire (1867) the ultimate literary ancestor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in which the protagonist is Gothic novel writer Ann Radcliffe herself. In it, to save her friends from the dreaded vampire lord Otto Goetzi, Radcliffe and her fearless vampire hunting companions, Merry Bones

928-431: The theme of criminal conspiracies. It was followed by Jean Diable (1862), arguably the first modern crime thriller. In it, Scotland Yard Chief Superintendent Gregory Temple is mystified by the actions of a supremely gifted crime leader who hides behind the identity of John Devil. In 1862, Féval founded the magazine Jean Diable , named after his eponymous novel. One of its editors was Émile Gaboriau , future creator of

960-413: The thin rapiers that were commonly used by aristocrats Swashbucklers are not usually unrepentant brigands or pirates , although some may rise from such disreputable stations and achieve redemption. His opponent is typically characterized as a dastardly villain . While the hero may face down a number of henchmen to the villain during a story, the climax is a dramatic one-on-one sword battle between

992-451: Was again ruined, the victim of an embezzler. He became paralyzed and unable to write. In April 1884, he suffered another blow when he lost his wife. He was taken to the hospice of the Brothers of Saint-Jean de Dieu where he died on 8 March 1887. His son, Paul Féval (1860–1933) also became a prolific writer. [REDACTED]   This article incorporates text from a publication now in

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1024-530: Was further developed by Alexandre Dumas . John Galsworthy said of Robert Louis Stevenson 's 1888 swashbuckling romance, The Black Arrow , that it was "a livelier picture of medieval times than I remember elsewhere in fiction." Anthony Hope 's 1894 The Prisoner of Zenda initiated an additional subset of the swashbuckling novel, the Ruritanian romance . The perceived significant and widespread role of swordsmanship in civilian society as well as warfare in

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