Female Warriors, Vol. I (of 2)

Barons' Wars)-Blanche of Castille, Queen-Regent of France-Women of Culm-Blanche de Rossi-Black Agnes, Countess of March-Countess de Montfort-Julia du Guesclin-Jane de Bellevil

les, priests, peasants, beggars, all alike impelled by the same blind impulse, many amongst them scarcely knowing where they were going or for what they went to fight,-hastened to take

Denmark, of Nor

f Ireland, of G

of Saxony, an

of Greece, of Rom

them in the ranks, by carrying food and ammunition to the battle-field, by speaking with enthusiasm of the cause for which they had armed. It was, indeed, owing as much to the courage and endurance of the women, who suffered without a murmur the miseries of cold, hunger, and want of clothing, as to their own indomitable brave

than her courage, received the title of the "Golden Footed Dame," or the "Lady with the Golden Legs," on account of her magnificent gilded buskins and spurs. She enrolled her troop under the banner of the emperor Conrad, who started for the East 1147. The French Amazons were co

a crusade; but their first essay in the presence of the enemy proved sufficient to put an end to their gallant resolutions and cover their leader with ridicule. The corps of Amazons, escorted by a band of sterner warriors commanded by a distinguished knight, had been sent on in advance, with strict orders from the king to encamp on the heights of Laodicea, and there await his arrival. They reached the spot as the

t under peculiarly disadvantageous circumstances against an enemy who received reinforcements from moment to moment, Louis was so near being made prisoner as to be obliged to seek refuge in a tre

ears since, several light cuirasses, made for a band of Genoese ladies, who, towards the close of the thirteenth century, wished to join in a crusade against

with the knights beyond the seas. In this poem the author, describing how the combatants, to acquire proficiency in the use of arms, disputed the prize of valour with all the courage and enthusiasm of the knights of thos

uitaine. After she had been for some years the wife of king Henry II., she stirred up her sons, Richard and John, to rebellion against thei

t was defended for King John by Eleonora, who, though she had then attained the age of four-score, was as active as ever, and had only just returned from a journey into Spain-a matter of some difficulty in those days. When the French had captured the town, th

disturbed only by the revolt of Baldwin, Earl of Exeter, and the invasion of David, King of Scotland. Matilda showed herself to be an able politician and a brave soldier. In

England, and after sending Stephen in irons to Bristol, she entered London. Matilda made humble suit for the liberty of her lord, and offered, in his name, to resign all claim to the crown; but the empress refused, save on the petitioner also surrende

riod; but Eustace was scarcely seven years old at the time when these efforts were made for the deliverance of his royal sire; therefore it is plain to those who

men of London and Kent, headed by Matilda, Eustace, and William of Ypres, were soon at the city gates, and Maud was closely invested for several days in her palace. To escape the horrors of

led to dress herself and her attendants in white, which, as the ground was covered with snow, more readily escaped observation, and so steal away from the t

51, a little more than three years before her husband. The empres

welfth century. The struggle was at first hardly more than a feud between two powerful families; but it soon developed into an obstinate

to William degli Adelardi, a noble and influential citizen of Ferrara, and to the Countess de Bertinoro. Aldrude, the countess, who belonged to the illustrious house of Frangipani, has been immortalized by the Italian writers of those days, on acco

n a hill overlooking the Ghibeline tents, the soldiers were assembled, and harangued with exciting speeches, which they received with loud applause, mingled with the

army, received a fresh stock of provisions. They came out to than

of retreating Ghibelines. Numerous skirmishes took place,

is heroine's d

lished a claim on the crown of the Two Sicilies in right of his wife, the daughter of King Roger. Constantia became the rightful queen of Sicily on the death of William the Good in 1189; but the throne was usurped

Tarentum. But the cruel and perfidious emperor, who had failed in all his attempts on Naples and Sicily during the life-time of the king, cast

ciating tortures. Constantia, shocked at his barbarity, quarrelled with her husband, cast off her allegiance, and stirred up the Sicilians to a fresh rebellion. Thousands flocked to her standard, and the empr

ring poison, to rid her people of a cruel and vindictive tyrant. After his death, Constantia lived peacefully in Sicily as

against Gilbert de Gaunt, who had captured the city; and after the death of John she defended it for his son, Henry III. Shortly after the death of King John, the Count de la Perche, a French knight commanding the Confederate Barons, marched to Lincoln at the head of six hundred knights a

great vassals of the throne conspiring to deprive Queen Blanche of the regency. However, Blanche of Castille was not a woman easily intimidated. At the head of a large army, she

nd ice, which stopped both roads and rivers, laid siege to the stronghold of Bellesme. This fortress which from the thickness of its walls, was supposed to be impregnable, had a garrison of Bretons, supported by a body of English auxiliaries. The besieged were in hopes that the royal army, horribly decimated by the severe weather, would be compelled soon to retire. But the queen was not the one to yield

d the garrison surrendered. The Duke of Brittany was made prisoner, though, through motives of policy, he was speedily set at libe

he queen during the siege of Bellesmes, she recei

n hands; but she again took up the regency in 1248, when her son set forth on his c

astille, that many of the queen-dowagers of France assumed the sur

bes vanquished, again and again they rebelled. In 1240 a general insurrection of greater magnitude burst forth, and nearly all the knights were massacred. Those who escaped-principally the Knights of the Cross-took refuge in the castles of Thorn, Reden, and Culm, where they were soon beleaguered by the Prussians. The knights in Culm were induced by

y, and adopted the manners and customs of Ge

es and the adjacent territories. The various military leaders, whether Italians or Germans, were mere freebooters, accountable to no one for their acts, permitting the utmost license to themselves and their followers. One of the most infamous of

nd Blanche, after making a desperate resistance, was made prisoner and led in triumph before Acciolin. Directly the villain set eyes upon his beautiful captive, he was seized with a violent passion for her; and to escape him, she sprang, clad as she was in armour, through a window. But in place of death, she only met with a sprained shoulder. Directly

d siege to the castle of Dunbar, a place of great importance, esteemed as the key of Scotland, on the south-east border. It had been fortified very recently; and in the absence of the Earl of March, was defended by the countess, who, from the dark colour of her complexion, was popularly styled "Black Agnes." She was the daughter of Randolph, Earl of Moray, and inherited from her father a fierce

ntending the siege operations, when an arrow from the castle whizzed past and struck a kni

ins," exclaimed the Earl. "Agnes's l

the testudo of the Romans, was at last rolled to the foot of the walls. When the

your sow shall so

an immense piece of rock upon the "sow," c

The Earl, who commanded the party that were to seize the castle, rode through the darkness at the head of his soldiers, found the gates open according to agreement, and was about to enter, when one of his men, John Copeland, passed in

you should have supped with us to-night, and assis

. Alexander Ramsay, hearing of the extremities to which Black Agnes was reduced, embarked with a party of forty resolute men, eluded the vigilance of the English, and entered the castle, under cover of night, by a postern

ried the duke's granddaughter. Philip de Valois, King of France, decided the dispute in favour of Charles, and despatched a large army to establish him in the capital.

of a lion." Directly the news of her husband's capture arrived at Rennes, where she resided, the countess assembled the citizens, showed them her infant son, and entreated them not

ist the French, and to adopt the requisite measures of defence. Then, sending her boy to England

e presence of the valiant countess, made a resolute defence. Jane herself performed prodigies of valour. Clad in armour from head to foot, she stood foremost in th

ntercept her return. Jane, seeing that her retreat was cut off that way, galloped towards Arrai, where she arrived in safety. In five days she returned, cut her way through the camp of Charles, and re-entered the town. By this time, however, the breaches in the walls had grown so numerous that the place was deemed untenable. The bishop of Léon

The English succour

chivalrous Sir Walter Manny, cast themselves into the town. The negotiations were at once broken of

glish sallied forth, hewed the monster catapult in pieces, burned the sow, and threw the enemy's camp into confusion. The foe, recovering from their first astonishment, tried to surround the returning warriors; but the English knights stood their ground till the archers and men-at-arms had re-crossed the ditch. Th

me evening, and retired to that of Pri

her assistance. He commanded Robert of Artois to return with her, accompanied by a strong force, to Brittany. They encountered the French fleet near Guernsey; and during the engagement Jane displayed her accustomed bravery. The contend

nce, during which the Count de Montfort was set at liberty; but he died of a fever on Sept. 20th, when his son John was proclaimed duke. At the end of July, 1346

and. The treaty, though it did not interfere with Brittany, brought about an arrang

d in favour of the Count de Montfort, by the death of Charles and his son John, both of whom were slain in the

e besiegers were many, but Julia, with a courage worthy of her brother Bertrand, persuaded the French not to surrender. Clad in a coat of mail (one of her brother's) she stood on the ramparts and hurled back all who attempted to scale the walls. Animated by her courage, the French made so sturdy a defence that the English were com

eturned to her convent, where

urning for revenge, sold her jewels, and with the proceeds equipped three vessels. After sending her son, a lad of twelve, to England, to ensure his safety, Jane cruised about the coast of Normandy, attacking every French ship which came in her way, and ravaging the country for a mile o

Egidius Albornez. But the Papal governors were so tyrannical that the nobles of the Romagna, with few exceptions, fought desperately to maintain their independence. Francesco d'Ordelaffi, lord of Forli, was the last to give way. He was ably seconded in his brave resistance by Marzia, his wife, a member of the house of Ubaldini. While he was defending

ope offered him honourable terms he would sustain a siege in every one of his castles, that when they were all taken he would defend Forli, the walls, the streets, his own palace, even to the last tower of his palace, before surrendering h

to retire into the citadel with four hundred soldiers and citizens who swore to stand by her to the death. But the citadel, undermined by the Papal engineers, almost hung in the air. Mar

so skilfully did she manage, that the Legate, afraid of driving her to despair, consented that her soldiers shoul

or herself, so the legate cast Ma

e now no remains of Cesena to comme

her father, Margaret, through her exceeding popularity with the people, succeeded in placing Olaus, her son, on the throne. Haquin, King of Norway, Margaret's husband, died in 1380, and Olaus in 1387. The election of a

fered her the crown. She marched into Sweden with a large army, and after a war of seven years defeated and captured King Albert

almar, 1397. She restored tranquillity at home, and was successful against all her enemies abroad; but her l

he 19th of August, 1388, and displayed the same style of valour attributed to the gallant Witherington, who fell in th

illiard lies u

stature, but gr

h lads she la

were off, she foug

ge of his wife, Lady Joan. Sir John was one of the fifteen lances who disembarked at Ravenspur, in July, 1399, with Henry; and on the 4th of the same month, while he was sharing the fatigues and perils of what seemed then a rash enterprise, the partiz

a Knight of the Bath, and appointed royal sword-bearer, treasurer-at-war, and chief butler to the king. The king further displayed his confidence

in refused to accept the imperial decree, and the war waxed fiercer every day. The Hanseatic League, whose fleet then ruled the Baltic, joined the alliance against Denmark; and in 1428 a powerful armament, commanded by Count Gerard of Holstein, invested Copenhagen. The city would doubtless hav

, invested Stralsund. But this time fortune was against the heroine. The Danish navy was almost entirely destroyed in a great sea-fight. Eric, without reflecting that he had himself suffered many a worse defeat, flew