10 brave women who fell under siege and managed to turn the tide of history

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

For most of the history of war, siege has been the most common form of conflict. After all, military operations were conducted in such a way as to capture territories and cities, forcing the enemy to surrender voluntarily or torturing him with long sieges, trying to break through the walls and defenses, which were held not only by men, but also by women who played an important role in the history of different periods.

1. Women of Weinsberg

The Middle Ages were a time of bloody conflicts in Europe, as well as a period in which they loved to tell tales of deceit and cunning. The story about Konrad III was no exception. According to the Royal Chronicle of Cologne, in 1140 the king laid siege to Weinsberg because it belonged to his enemy. He was so enraged by the disobedience of the townspeople that he decided to put all the defenders to death. But, being a man of honor, he stated that he would allow the women of the city to leave in peace, taking with them as many things as they could carry. But all the women of the city, acting at the same time, left their belongings and, taking one person at a time, left the city, facing the bewildered king.

When an ally of Conrad III offered to stop the women, Conrad III allowed them to leave, saying that the king's word was to be trusted. Although this story has become a popular folk tale, the first written source for this story was not established until thirty years after the alleged event. Therefore, many historians see no reason to doubt that everything happened exactly as described.

2. Black Agnes, Dunbar

One of the roles of a noble lady in the medieval world was to rule over the lands of her lord husband while he was at war. This led to the fact that many of the besieged castles were commanded by women. When the English army came to Scotland to attack their northern enemies, they came to Dunbar Castle, expecting an easy victory. But Black Agnes, Countess of Dunbar and March, was not going to give them such an opportunity. The British demanded that Agnes surrender. But it was not there. And then the Earl of Salisbury, who commanded the attackers, responded to her rebuff by throwing stones at the walls of the castle. When the catapults stopped firing, Agnes sent her maids to dust the battlements with white handkerchiefs. When Salisbury tried to bring down its walls with a battering ram, Agnes threw huge boulders down to smash the English technique.

Having captured her brother, Count of Morea, the British put him in front of the walls of the castle of Agnes and threatened to kill him if she did not surrender. To which the woman simply shrugged her shoulders and told them to go ahead when he died, because in that case she would inherit his lands. In the end, the siege dragged on for five months before the British finally surrendered, leaving Scotland.

3. Dorothy Hazzard in Bristol

The English Civil War pitted two groups of believers against each other. Royalists clung to the idea that God appoints a king, while the Puritans believed that even kings should follow God's laws (as the Puritans interpreted them). Dorothy Hazzard of Bristol was just one of many women who became embroiled in this conflict.

Bristol was held by Puritan parliamentary forces in August 1643 when royalist forces under the command of Prince Rupert attacked. Outside the walls of the city, the troops were thrown back, but the royalists were unable to penetrate the city. When the besiegers seemed to be about to break through the From Gate, Dorothy Hazzard and her friend Joan Batten led a group of women and children with wool bales and earth to block them. She even suggested that a detachment of women be taken outside to serve as human shields. But the governor of the city rejected this proposal and soon gave up. After the war, he was put on trial for his cowardice and the ease with which he surrendered the city, and one of the witnesses against him was Dorothy Hazzard.

4. Nicola de la Hay

Nicolas de la Hay, born in 1150, was fortunate enough to become the great heir to the lands and castles of England. But she was unlucky to be born in a time of great troubles for the country. King Richard the Lionheart is fondly remembered, but he was largely absent from England during his reign, leaving the rule of the kingdom to others. When Nikola's husband was ordered to surrender the castle to the crown, he refused. And all the hardships associated with this fell on the shoulders of the woman. For forty days she held the line until her husband reached a compromise with the crown.

After the death of her husband, Nicola, which was unusual for a woman, was appointed Sheriff of Lincolnshire and received Lincoln Castle by her own right. She tried to hand him over to King John based on her age, but he told her to protect him for him. When the rebels attacked Lincoln during the barons' rebellion against King Ionne, Nicola held the castle, allowing the king to win the Battle of Lincoln.

5. Jeanne Hachette

Jeanne Hachette (known as Jeanne Ax) was a French heroine who earned her nickname for using the ax in the midst of battle. When the troops of Charles the Bold besieged Beauvais in 1472, it was Jeanne who gathered the people and saved the city. There were only three hundred soldiers at the walls of the city, and Charles's troops soon managed to overcome the defenses. When one of the attackers hoisted his banner on the battlements, it seemed as if the battle had already begun. It was then that Jeanne ran up and cut down the banner or, according to some versions, the knight holding it with an ax. Her heroic deed inspired the rest of the defenders, and for eleven hours they fought back until Karl the Bold retreated. For her role in the siege, Jeanne was granted marriage to the man she loved. In addition, the city established an annual parade that paid tribute to the women who defended it.

6. Women of Carthage

The war between Rome and Carthage was one of the greatest battles of the ancient world. Two powerful empires were expanding across the Mediterranean, and neither could allow the other to flourish at their expense. The Punic Wars that led to this set the stage for Roman rule in Europe over the centuries. After many hard battles, the city of Carthage was besieged by Roman troops. Those in Carthage knew that this was a battle for survival. The women of the city gave up their jewelry to pay for the city's defense. They even cut off their hair to make bowstrings and catapult ropes. Men and women worked together to make weapons for the coming battle. Even temples were turned into factories where women worked at night. The Carthaginians took up a strong defense, but the Romans were not going to surrender.

In order to completely close the city, they began to build massive earthen ramparts in the sea in order to block the Carthaginian gates. In contrast, the Carthaginians dug a new canal to the sea, with women and children doing most of the work. When the passage to the sea was completed, the Carthaginian fleet went out to meet the Romans. But it was too late and the great Carthage fell. The men of the city were put to death, and the women and children were taken into slavery. The Roman general Scipio wept as he saw this happen. Not because he pitied the Carthaginians, but because he understood that one day even Rome could fall.

7. Maria Pita

Maria Mayor Fernandez de Camara y Pita, better known as Maria Pita, was the heroine of the siege of Coruña in 1589. British forces under the command of Admiral Sir Francis Drake raided Spain in retaliation for the failed invasion of the Spanish Armada a year earlier. The British were ill-prepared, but still managed to capture the lower part of the city. They were about to capture the fortified heart of the city when the battle was turned back. Mary and several other women joined their husbands on the walls. The crossbow bolt knocked down Maria's husband, but she continued to fight. An English soldier who managed to get to the wall was killed by Maria, and she stood on the battlement wall to shout: "Who has the honor, follow me!" The rest followed, and the British were driven back. Maria received an award for her bravery, and her statue now stands in A Coruña.

8. Sishelgaita Salernskaya

Sishelgaita of Salerno was the wife of the outstanding warlike Robert, Duke of Puglia, who lived in the 11th century. While many women were abandoned during the war, it seems that Sishelgaita had a habit of following her husband into battle or even leading troops. At the Battle of Dyrrhachia, she rode alongside Robert in full armor. When she saw some of her own soldiers retreating, she raised her spear and lunged at them to drive them back into battle. She screamed, “How far will you run? Stop, be men! This woman was not only part of Robert's army, but sometimes commanded it. For example, she led the siege of Trani in 1080 while her husband was in another battle.

9. Arachidamia from Sparta

Sparta was famous in the Greek world for the freedom afforded to her women. While respectable women in Athens were to be kept in the home and never shown to men outside the family, women in Sparta were allowed to own property and manage public affairs. When the Spartan Queen Gorgo was asked, "Why are you Spartan women the only women who dominate your men?" She replied, "Because we are the only women who are the mothers of men." As a matter of fact, Queen Arachidamia was no less daring Spartan.

When the Epirus king Pyrrhus set out on one of his campaigns of conquest, he turned his gaze to Sparta. By the third century BC, Sparta was no longer the formidable military force it once was, and their king was in a different place. It seemed obvious that Sparta would fall. But as soon as the men who remained in the city decided to send the women and children to a safe place, Arachidamia entered the city council with a sword in her hand, declaring that it was impossible to surrender and retreat. And then the inspired Spartans began to defend their city and won.

10. Unknown Mother

Pyrrhus of Epirus was a little out of his mind when it came to fighting. During his life, he conquered and lost several kingdoms. Immediately after the defeat at Sparta, he launched an attack on the city of Argos, and it was the woman who stopped him again. He broke through the city walls, but the narrow streets were soon packed with people. Trapped, the defender managed to wound the king with a spear. Pyrrhus immediately attacked this man. This turned out to be a fatal mistake, because the man's mother, like other women in the city, watched the battle from the roof of the house. When this unknown mother saw her son being attacked, she tore the tiles off the roof and threw them at Pyrrhus. And then, grabbing him from behind by the neck, the man knocked Pyrrhus off his horse and stunned him. Enemy soldiers dragged him through the doorway and beheaded him, probably much to the delight of the mothers and wives watching from above.

Continuing the topic - which to this day cause doubts and contradictions among experts.