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Women as Warriors in the 15th Century

14th Century < < > > 16th Century Women as Warriors from 3500BC to the 20th Century
Margaret of Denmark (1353-1411)

Jacqueline of Bavaria, Countess of Holland, Hainault and Zealand (1402-1437)

Defenders of a bulwark in Prague in July 1420 included two women and one girl who threw stones and lances at the attacking army.
(source "John Zizka and the Hussite Revolution" - Heymann, Frederick G.- Princeton University Press.
Info given by Peter Nyikos nyikos@math.sc.edu )

Jehanne la Pucelle (Joan of Arc) 1412 - 1431 		Bernese Army ,1485
During the siege of Orléans, France, in 1428, townswomen hauled buckets of boiling water, fat, lime and ashes to be poured them down on the English attackers.
(source Military History - April 1998 - The Maid of Orléans
Isabella of Lorraine 1429

Maire o Ciaragain led Irish clans in revolt

Margret Paston took charge of the defence of her home in her husband's absence during the Wars of the Roses, she asked him to send crossbows, poleaxes and iron spikes in a letter in 1448.

 Trial by Combat, 15th Century
Isabella I of Castile (1451-1504) was married to Ferdinand of Aragon. She was heir to her half brother Henry IV of Castille and inherited his throne in her own right in 1474. This led to a war with supporters of his wife's allegedly illegitimate daughter, Juana.
Later in her reign she and Ferdinand attacked the Moors and drove them out of Southern Spain.
Isabella wore armour and led her army in the field, she also planned strategy and organised the supplies and field hospitals.
Her importance to the army was illustrated by the fact that her illness after a miscarriage while she was in command of an army at Toledo in 1475 gave her enemies a respite.

From "Treasure of the City of Ladies" by Christine de Pizan : "We have also said that she [the baroness] ought to have the heart of a man, that is, she ought to know how to use weapons and be familiar with everything that pertains to them, so that she may be ready to command her men if the need arises. She should know how to launch an attack or to defend against one." (info given by Wendy)
The Burgundians (and most other European states) sometimes had women serving on gun crews (info given by Mark) The gun captain was hired and given a fixed amount of money to provide a crew, so there was a tendency to use his own family so as to keep more of the money.

The Royal Armouries Yearbook 1997 (ISBN 1366-3925) has an article by Thom Richardson on The Bridport Muster Roll of 1457. These are the names of ordinary people who were called up to the army.
174 names on the list are legible, and 5 of these (2.9%) are women. Alis Hammel has her own jack, sword, buckler, salet, bow and arrows. Alis Gare has a bow and a coat of plates."Condefer Wife" has bow, arrows, sword and buckler. Margaret Athyn and Sally Pens do not have any equipment listed, but overall 39% of the names on the list do not have any equipment listed. 		Trial by combat, 1485

A German fighting manual published in 1467 by Hans Talhoffer includes a section on techniques which could be used in a judicial duel between a man and a woman.
(source "Medieval Combat" - Hans Talhoffer - Greenhill - 1-85367-418-4)

Maroula of Limnos (or Lemnos), Greece, fought against the Turks in 1475/8. (source Limnos, Limnos and Island of Hephestos, god of fire)

Caterina Sforza (also known as Catherine or Katherina) was the daughter of the Duke of Milan. She married Girolamo Riaro, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV. She is said to have excelled in boisterous athletic sports.
In 1483 she defended her husband's territory from the Venetians.
While seven months pregnant she held a fortress at St Angelo after the death of Pope Sixtus until his successor could claim it.
After her husband's death she was sole ruler of Forli and Imola in Italy in the name of her son. She fought in many campaigns.
She refused to surrender in return for safe passage during one seige. She was captured in 1500 and eventually released in 1501. She died in 1509.
(for further information contact Maria Grundmann - rapierblonde@yahoo.com)

In the War of the Roses (1459-1487) Queen Margaret became the Lancastrian leader (source - "British Battles" - Ken and Denise Guest - Harper Collins - 0-00-470968-3)

During the War of the Roses Lady Knyvet refused to surrender her castle to Sir Gilbert Debenham because her husband had left her in charge of its defence. (source - "British Battles" - Ken and Denise Guest - Harper Collins - 0-00-470968-3)

(see also Women in the Knightly Orders)

The naginata is a Japanese curved spear. Since the 15th Century it has been the traditional weapon of ladies of the bushi class.		 Joan of Arc
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