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Women as Warriors in the 11th Century

Women as Warriors from 3500BC to the 20th Century

Emma, Countess of Norfolk held Norwich Castle in 1075 when it was beseiged. She was eventually offered safe conduct for herself, her troops and her possessions if she agreed to leave the castle. (see Earl Ralph of Norfolk-Suffolk) Urraca, Queen of Aragon became ruler of Leon-Castile in 1094 when her husband died. She remarried in 1098 and then spent 13 years at war with her second husband, Alfonso the Battler, to protect the inheritance rights of her son by her first marriage. She led her own armies into battle. Teresa of Portugal, half sister of Urraca, also led her own armies into battle. Matilda of Ramsbury, mistress of Bishop Roger of Salisbury commanded the Bishop's Castle in Devizes, England. She and her son were beseiged there by King Stephen's forces for three days in 1139. Matilda surrendered when the King threatenned to torture and kill Roger and his sons. (see Division Town - King Takes Bishop)
Duchess Gaita of Lombardy (also known as Sichelgaita Princess of Lombardy or Sykelgaita), who died in 1090, was married to a Norman mercenary. She was a soldier and rode into battle with her husband wearing full armour. Princess Anna Comnena of Constantinople called Gaita a "formidable sight." (for further info contact Moogie - moogie@nondescript.net)	Countess Matilda of Tuscany, 1077
Matilda, Countess of Tuscany (also known as Matilda of Canossa) was born in Northern Italy in 1046. She learned weapons skills as a child. She first went into battle at her mother's side in 1061 defending the interests of Pope Alexander II. When her stepfather, Duke Godfrey, died in 1069 Matilda began to command armies. She is described as having led her troops personally and wielded her late father's sword. She spent some thirty years at war in the service of Pope Gregory VIII and then Pope Urban against the German Emperor Henry IV. She married twice, but had no children. She retired to a Benedictine monastery, but in 1114 when there was an uprising in the nearby city of Mantua she threatenned to lead an army against the townsfolk. She died in 1115. (source "Battle Cries and Lullabies" - Linda Grant de Pauw - University of Oklahoma Press - 0-8061-3288-4 see also Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, Italian History, Biographies and Matilda, Countess of Tuscany) In the late 11th Century there was a conflict over land in Northern France in which Isabel of Conches "rode armed as a knight". (source "Battle Cries and Lullabies" - Linda Grant de Pauw - University of Oklahoma Press - 0-8061-3288-4)

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