Andrea R. Cooper's Blog, page 54

R is for Raziya Sultana

Raziya was born Raziyya al-Din in 1205. Her father was Shams-ud-din Iltutmish to the Sultanate of Delhi. Since she was a Muslim princess she was taught to lead armies and manage kingdoms in case the need arose. At the age of thirty-one, she became Sultan after being proclaimed heir apparent years before. Her father, being born a slave, saw no reason why she couldn’t be next in line to rule the most powerful state in northern India just because she was female. Thus she became the first woman sultan of Northern India. Amazingly, this was not the case of an only child to succeed the throne, but she had many half-brothers who were not thought fit enough to rule by her father. Many did not agree with her father and people rioted. However, being trained for such an emergency, Raziya led the army and extinguished these outbreaks.

Despite being a girl, but lucky for her being a princess, she was educated. Obviously she believed in education for she had schools and libraries constructed. She also had roads build and wells dug. Coins were made with her name and the inscription ‘Pillar of women, Queen of the times.’ She wore a sword, trousers, and turban, but would not dress in the veil. And she knew how to use that sword for she was acknowledged as a wonderful swordsman.

Once she was thrown into prison by her opposers. She promised marriage to her guard, who used to be her Calvary head, if he would help her escape. He did. They rallied her supporters and she went into battle to win back the throne. However, she did not win. There are various counts of her death. Some say the enemy was repulsed at her unveiled face and they killed her, or by Turkish paid Hindu troops, Shi’tes, her own army, or even a man who gave her food thinking she was a man. Fatigued from fighting, she slept and the man saw the jewels beneath her clothes; he killed and buried her. Supposedly he was arrested and her body recovered and she was reburied.

Her legacy was the Sultana of Delhi  from 1236 until  May 1240.

Razia Sultana was the only woman ruler of both the Sultanate and the Mughal period, although other women ruled from behind the scenes.[1]

Razia is said to have pointed out that the spirit of religion was more important than its parts, and that even the Islamic prophet Muhammad spoke against overburdening the non-Muslims.

Although Raziya ruled for a few years, she is still recognized as one of the great queens of India.

Bibliography

.[1]Table of Delhi Kings: Muazzi Slave King The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 2, p. 368..

Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki Leon

http://www.historyswomen.com/admire/Admire51.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razia_Sultana

Q is for Queen Tamar of Georgia

Born in 1160, Tamar (also known as Tamara) was the daughter to King Giorgi III. Amazingly, her father declared her co-ruler and heir apparent to avoid uprising from his nephew when he died. At the age of twenty-two she reigned with her father as co-ruler of Russian Georgia – which was between the Caspian and Black Sea.  Her father died when she was twenty-eight making her Queen and sole ruler.

She developed a status of outstanding ruler. So much so that she was nicknamed by her people as “King of Kings and Queen of Queens”. During her rule, she brought almost every neighboring Muslim state under her authority.

There is a Russian poem that is believed to be about her: “A lion’s cubs are lions all, male and female alike.”

She was the commander of her army.

Her kingdom thrived and became a lucrative, political, and cultural strength.

In 1204 she helped found the Empire of Trebizond which was located on the Black Sea’s southern shore-which its capital is now the city of Trabzon. This was to make a shield state along Georgia’s southwestern borders.

She was forced to marry Prince Yuri of Rus, but divorced him in 1187. She then married Prince David Sostan and they had a son and daughter together. In appreciation she entitled him to be co-ruler but only pro tem. Both of her children ruled for a time after their mother’s death.

Her first ex-husband attempted to have her killed twice through a coup, but did not succeed. She reigned for thirty-four years and created a Russian dynasty that persisted for two and half centuries.

Tamar died in 1213. After her death, myths and legends evolved, and her Tamar’s reign became known as the Golden Age of Georgia. She was canonized as a saint by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

 

Bibliography

http://listverse.com/2008/03/17/top-10-badass-female-warriors/

Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki Leon

http://www.helium.com/items/1525870-queen-tamar-of-georgia

P is for Pope Joan

There is no proof that there was a Pope Joan. However, there are things that make me (and maybe others) wonder. Legend has it that Joan was born Johanna in the 9th Century in Germany. She supposedly changed her name to John Anglicus

In this account the popess is placed about the year 1100. It is said that a woman, dressed as a man, became notary to the Curia, then cardinal and finally pope; that one day this person went out on horseback, and on this occasion gave birth to a son; that she was then bound to the tail of a horse, dragged round the city, stoned to death by the mob, and was buried at the place where she died; and that an inscription was put up there as follows: “Petre pater patrum papissae prodito partum“. In her reign, the story adds, the Ember days were introduced, called therefore the “fasts of the popess”.

However, there may be evidence of a woman pope. Let’s look at traces buried in ancient parchment, artwork and writings, even in tarot cards and a peculiar chair once used in a Vatican ritual before the pope was proclaimed.

Her story first appeared in histories written by medieval monks, but today the Catholic Church dismisses it.

“Ninety percent of me thinks there was a Pope Joan,” says Mary Malone, a former nun who wrote a history of women and Christianity.

Donna Cross, a novelist who spent seven years researching the time period, says the historical evidence is there. “I would say it’s the weight of evidence — over 500 chronicle accounts of her existence.”

Rare book dealers in Rome pull ancient tarot cards from their shelves. The card for hidden knowledge is “La Papessa” — the Female Pope. Baronius also wrote that the pope at the time decreed that the statue be destroyed, but some say the local archbishop didn’t want a good to statue go to waste.

At Siena to the Duomo, the cathedral has a collection inside of terra-cotta busts depicting 170 popes. In the 17th century, Cardinal Baronuis, the Vatican librarian, wrote that one of the faces was a female — Joan the Female Pope. Baronius also wrote that the pope at the time ordered the statue destroyed, but it is rumored that the local archbishop didn’t want to waste it.

“The statue was transformed,” believes Cross. “I mean, literally, it was scraped off, her name and written on top of Pope Zachary.”

At the Basilica in St. Peter’s Square are carvings by Bernini, one of the most famous artists of the 17th century. Among the carvings are eight images of a woman wearing a papal crown, and the images seem to tell the story of a woman giving birth and a baby being born.

She was killed after giving birth, though the story as to how are varied. In the decades that followed, the intersection was called the Vicus Papissa — the Street of the Female Pope — and for more than 100 years, popes would take a detour to avoid the shameful intersection. Polonus writes: “The Lord Pope always turns aside from the street … because of the abhorrence of the event.”

Many scholars say there were many women martyrs in that era, women who were tortured for their religious beliefs. And there were women who became saints while cross-dressing as monks.

St. Eugenia, for example, became a monk while disguised as a boy, and was so convincing she was brought to court on charges of fathering a local woman’s child. She finally proved her innocence only by baring her breasts in public.

“There are over 30 saints’ lives in which women dress as men for a variety of reasons, and with a variety of outcomes,” says Hotchkiss

But how do historians explain the enormous purple marble chair on which popes once sat as they were crowned. The chair has a strange opening, something like a toilet seat, reportedly used to check “testiculos habet” — or whether the pope had testicles. After looking underneath the chair, it was proclaimed, “The pope has testicles” in Latin. Now why would they need to do that if a woman had never been passed as a man? Protestants in the 1500s had a field day making fun of the chair, and so it was hidden from view.

In 1276 Pope JOHN XX changed his name to pope JOHN the XXI in official recognition of Joan’s reign as Pope JOHN VIII. Or were the Pope misnumbered? Whatever the reason there has never been a Pope John XX.

 

Bibliography

Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki Leon

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08407a.htm

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1453197&page=1

http://www.biography.com/people/pope-joan-279083

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O is for Olga of Kiev

Olga’s origins are unknown. Although she may have come from Pskov, according to the Russian Primary Chronicles, she came from Vyshgorod. She was probably of Varangian heritage. She is believed to have been born about 890. About 903 she married Prince Igor I, who was the son of the founder of Russia, Rurik. Prince Igor succeeded his father Oleg as the ruler of Kiev and its territories, which now constitute parts of a number of present day nations: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Poland.

In 945, Olga was Queen in Russia. Her husband, King Igor, had been killed by Derevlyanins. Her son was only three years old. She reigned until her son was of age. Ensuring there would be no threats to either of them, she went after the barbarians. She used clever ways to keep them from ever thinking of attacking her or her son. The first group she had buried alive, the next ones boiled in baths. Then her army went after any stragglers.

She was known as a strong and effective ruler. In 955 she introduced the Greek Orthodox form of Christianity to all of Russia. Her feast day is July 11.

She visited Emperor Constantine VII in Constantinople. He admired her looks and intelligence. Before her baptism, Constantine asked her hand in marriage, but Olga deferred claiming that she wanted to be baptised an Orthodox Christian first. Again, after the baptism, Constantine requested her hand in marriage, but the quick-thinking Olga tricked him (since he was her godfather in baptism), noting that he called her his daughter in baptism and so such a union is forbidden under Christian law. While Constantine commented to Olga about her trickery, he lavished gifts on her when she returned to Kiev. In Kiev she instructed her son, Svyatoslav, and entreated him to be baptized. While he could not bring himself to commit to baptism, he would not forbid others.

Bibliography

Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki Leon

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Olga_of_Kiev

 

N is for Nakano Takeko

Born in 1847 Nakano Takeko was an onna-bugeisha or Japanese female warrior samurai who was fully trained in the martial arts. She is one of only a few female warrior samurai in the history of Japan. Nakano Takeko was also highly skilled in the long spear. Her teacher Akaoko Daisuke adopted Nakano. She later worked with her adoptive father as a martial arts instructor during the 1860s.

She entered Aizu during the Battle of Aizu and fought with a naginata and was the leader of a Women’s Army which consisted of female combatants who independently fought in the battle. The senior Aizu leader did not allow them to fight as a part of the army.

In the town there is annual Aizu Autumn Festival, where a group of young girls wear hakama and white headbands in the procession, which commemorates the actions of Nakano and the Women’s Army of the Joshigun.

Takeko fought against the Japanese Imperial Army in the Boshin War, serving with great distinction until she took a bullet to the chest. Knowing that she would die, the 21-year-old ordered her sister to behead her and bury it, denying her enemy the privilege.

Bibliography

www.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment/top-10-legendary-female-warriors

http://asianhistory.about.com/od/imagegalleries/ss/samuraiwomen_10.htm

http://samurai-warriors.org/women-samurai-warriors-tomoe-gozen-nakano-takeko/

M is for Margaret of Anjou

Was born in 1429. She was 15 when she became the wife of Henry VI who was considered mentally ill. She took over and defended the Lancasters against the House of York in the War of the Roses. However, she lost but ordered executions and ordered her armies into battle.

Even though the Lancasters lost, Margaret and her son escaped capture. They fled to France and solicited help to invade England to take back the throne. With the assistance of the Earl of Warwick, King Edward was removed from the throne and replaced by King Henry VI. This victory was short-lived as he only remained on the throne for six months. At the Battle of Tewkesbury Warwick was killed and Margaret led the army. However, the Lancasters and Margaret lost. She and her son were put in prison. Her son executed. She was forced to ride in a carriage next to King Edward as he march in victory to London. She was a prisoner for five years until King Louie XI of France paid a ransom for her release. However, she died at the age of 52 near poverty.

Priory of Sion: Margaret’s father Rene was allegedly the ninth Grand Master of the Priory of Sion, an organization popularized by literature such as The DaVinci Code.

Bibliography

www.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment/top-10-legendary-female-warriors

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/medbritishqueens/p/margaret_anjou.htm

L is for Louise Labé

Louise Labé was born in 1525 to a rope-maker and his wife. She believed women could do or learn anything. This is during the time period just after the Black Death and when women were thought of as property. Lyons, the city of her birth, was from where the French Renaissance spread. She wrangled up an education for herself despite that she was a woman and from the lower middle class.

“Since a time has come, Mademoiselle, when the severe laws of men no longer prevent women from applying themselves to the sciences and other disciplines, it seems to me that those of us who can should use this long-craved freedom to study and to let men see how greatly they wronged us when depriving us of its honor and advantages. And if any woman becomes so proficient as to be able to write down her thoughts, let her do so and not despise the honor, but rather flaunt it instead of fine clothes, necklaces, and rings. For these may be considered ours only by use, whereas the honor of being educated is ours entirely. ” Louise Labé

At the age of twenty-two, she became a superlative horsewoman, archer, dancer, singer, musician and even martial artist. She even loved jousting. During the Perpignan siege, she put on armor and fought for them.  She is also known as a poet. Here’s a sample:

Kiss me again, kiss, kiss me again;

Give me the tastiest you have to give,

Pay me the lovingest you have to spend:

And I’ll return you four, hotter than live

After her death, detractors couldn’t wrap their minds around a woman writing passionate poetry. In 1584, John Calvin denounced Louise as a courtesan and whore and she became known as “la Belle Cordière” (the beautiful rope-makers wife).

Perhaps Louise knew better than anyone her biographers would battle over her reputation when she wrote, “I see my fate, and it’s a bitter pill.” And here’s another wonderful line of hers “a woman’s heart always has a burned mark.”

Bibliography

Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki Leon

http://blog.raucousroyals.com/2010/03/louise-labe-love-and-history-is.html

http://coulmont.com/labe/sonnet18.html

K is for Khawla bint Al-Azwar

Khawla bint Al-Azwar was the daughter of a powerful chief of an Arab tribe known as the Bani Assad. In the early 600s, she was an early convert to the religion of Islam. During the Islamic Conquest when the sons of the Prophet tore through many non-European empires, she served as nurse and healer. Later, Khawla fought as a warrior on the front lines.

She learned the sword from her brother. There is much more information on Khawla and her battles, but I’ve only have a short amount of space.

Her name remained greatly unknown, until the battle of Ajnadin, not far from Jerusalem, where Derar lost his spear, fell from his horse, and was taken prisoner. She donned a male knight’s attire, took her arms and rode her mare through the Roman ranks, using her sword skillfully against whoever tried to stop her. The Muslim soldiers, and their leader Khalid, watched her with great admiration, presuming that she was a man.

The Arab Historian, Al Waqidi, tells us in his book “The conquering of Al Sham (greater Syria)” that: “In a battle that took place in Beit Lahia near Ajnadin, Khalid watched a knight, in black attire, with a big green shawl wrapped around his waist and covering his bust. That knight broke through the Roman ranks as an arrow. Khalid and the others followed him and joined battle, while the leader was wondering about the identity of the unknown knight.”

Rafe’ Bin Omeirah Al Taei was one of the fighters. He described how that knight scattered the enemy ranks, disappeared in their midst, reappeared after a while with blood dripping from his spear. He swerved again and repeated the deed fearlessly, several times. All the Muslim army was worried about him and prayed for his safety. Rafe’ and others thought that he was Khalid, who had won great fame for his bravery and genius military plans. But suddenly Khalid appeared with a number of knights. Rafe’ asked the leader: “Who is that knight? By God, he has no regard for his safety!”

Khalid answered that he didn’t know the man, though he greatly admired his courage. He called on the arm to attack as one man and to make sure that they protect their hero(ine). They were fascinated as they watched the knight appear with a number of Roman knights chasing him. Then he would turn around and kill the nearest before resuming his attacks.

The Romans eventually lost the battle and fled, leaving many dead and wounded in the battlefield. Khalid looked for the knight until he found him. By then he was covered in blood. He praised his bravery and asked him to remove his veil. But the knight did not answer, and tried to break away. The soldiers wouldn’t let him do that. And everyone asked him to reveal his identity.

“I am Khawla Bint Al Azwar. I was with the women accompanying the army, and when I learnt that the enemy captured my brother, I did what I did.”

Khalid ordered his army to chase the fleeing Roman army, with Khawla leading the attack, looking in all directions for her brother, but in vain. By noontime, the victory was decisive. Most of the Roman soldiers were killed.

Knowing that the prisoners had to be somewhere, Khalid sent Khawla with a number of knights to find them. After a hot chase, they managed to catch up with a Roman detachment that was taking the prisoners to their headquarters. Another fight took place, the Roman guards were all killed and the prisoners saved.

Khawla served the rest of the war, eventually married a powerful Arab prince, and is now remembered as one of the greatest female warriors in the Muslim world. To this day nearly every city in the Middle East has a school named after her. They’ve also named a number of awards and military combat ships after her, and even more recently a unit of women soldiers serving in the modern-day Iraqi military is named after the Islamic faith’s most famous war heroine.

Bibliography

Women Warriors: A History (The Warriors)  by David E. Jones

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/khawla.html

http://www.siddiqi.org/khawla/khawla_bint_alazwar.htm

J is for Julian of Norwich

What no Joan of Arc? I could have written the J-Blog for Joan of Arc, but everyone knows her-or at least they should.

Julian of Norwich was known as a mystic and recluse

Famous for: revelations, published as Showings and Revelations of Divine Love; hers was the first book written by a woman to be published in England

When she was thirty years old, Julian of Norwich became seriously ill. So sick that the sacrament of extreme unction was performed. She recovered, and while regaining her health, she experienced visions.

She became an anchoress. She, and a servant, was walled into an enclosure where she “died” to life, complete with a church service recognizing her soul’s burial.

Her enclosure did not mean complete isolation. The enclosure was attached to a church, the Norwich Church of St. Julian. It is from this church that she took the name that we know her by. She was recognized for her holiness and wisdom, and many sought her counsel, including another English mystic of the time, Margery Kempe.

Her records of her visions were published and widely distributed. The focus of her writings was the goodness of God. Among the unusual ideas was (as came in her visions as a revelation from God) the dual nature of God and Jesus as both father and mother.

Her writings were not challenged by the authorities, though her ideas verge on universalism and she writes of both Jesus and God as “mother.”

The last date at which Julian is mentioned as alive is in 1416. We don’t know her actual death date or the circumstances of her death.

Quotes:

• Between God and the soul there is no between.

• The fullness of Joy is to behold God in everything

Bibliography

Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki Leon

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/medievalchristianity/p/julian_norwich.htm

I is for Isabella of France

Also known as: Isabella Capet; She-Wolf of France

Recognized for: Queen Consort of Edward II of England, mother of Edward III of England; leading campaign with her lover, Roger Mortimer, to depose Edward II

No sooner had the joyful newlyweds (Isabella & Edward II) arrived in England that her husband went out and gave Piers Gaveston a bunch of jewels that he received as part of Isabella’s dowry, and told him how much better he was than his annoying wife. This was a serious slap in the face to the young Queen, but insult was soon added to injury, and before long Gaveston actually held a higher position of honor in the King’s court than that of Queen Isabella.

Isabella left England for France in 1325, and the next year she and her lover, Roger Mortimer, helped with efforts to invade England and depose Edward. Mortimer and Isabella had Edward II murdered in 1327, and Edward III was crowned king of England, with Isabella and Mortimer as his regents.

In 1330, Edward III decided to assert his own rule, escaping likely death. He executed Mortimer as a traitor and banished Isabella, forcing her to retire as a Poor Clare for more than a quarter century until her death. Isabella lived under house arrest in her lavish resort of a castle for twenty-seven more years.

Bibliography

Uppity Women of Ancient Times by Vicki Leon

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/medbritishqueens/a/Isabella-of-France.htm

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/isabella.html