I was researching the other day (as I do) and I was incredibly surprised by the number of women who dressed as men (and vice versa), especially for the purpose of fighting in wars (Mulan-style). Here, I am going to put a list and description of some of my favorite examples of this. If you have any questions or if I have left anyone out who you think deserve to be there, shoot me a comment. I'll get back to you really soon!
Achilles
You all know this guy. He was a jerk, but he was great on the battlefield. Threw a hissy fit until his buddy (boyfriend?) Patrocalus was killed, then kicked butt until he got shot in the heel.
What you probably don't know about this story was that when the great Achilles was a baby, his mother, a nymph named Thetis heard from an Oracle that her son would die in battle. This caused her to do two things. First, she dipped him in the River Styx (except for his heel) to make him almost unkillable. The second thing that she did was to dress him up as a girl to prevent him being taken to war. Needless to say, it didn't work and the prophecy eventually came true as prophecies tend to do.
Hua Mulan
Sound familiar? This is the very same Mulan that a certain Disney movie was (loosely) based off of. Her story is told in the Ballad of Mulan from the 6th century Tang dynasty. In it, it describes a woman who takes her sick fathers place in the army. She served in the army for ten years and was then apparently offered a rather prominent post, which she turns down. She returns to her family, who are glad to have her back and then she reveals her secret to the men that she fought alongside for so long. They are rather surprised. There was later a longer, more romanticized adaptation called Sui Tang Yanyi. It is a very interesting read and I recommend it.
Joanna of Flanders
This woman, you have probably not heard of, unless you are British. She was a made the Duchess of Brittany by marriage and she had two children. Her husband was taken prisoner in France, so she raised an army, dressed as a man, and fought to get her lands and husband back. She encouraged other women to do the same and was very successful. Her husband ended up dying soon after he was released and she started fighting for the rights of her son. Unfortunately, towards the end of her life, she became mentally ill and had to spend the rest of her life inside, fighting no more.
Honorata Rodiani
This woman is definitely an odd one. I like her, though. She is a spitfire. She appears mostly in Conrado Flameno's Storia di Castelleone. Basically, she was a painter, who was employed by a prominent courtier to paint a fresco. While she was doing this, some guy tried to be inappropriate towards her (keyword: tried) so she stabbed him to death, dressed herself as a man and fled. She was later pardoned and joined the army as a cavalryman when she was 20 years old. She fought in various battles and wars for 29 years, all dressed as a man. She was mortally wounded at a battle in her hometown, was recognized as a woman to the amazement of all around her, and died.
Catalina de Erauso
Catalina was actually supposed to be a nun, but she was beaten in a nunnery when she was 15 years old, so she ran away dressed as a man. She called herself Francisco de Loyola and joined the army. She actually, at one point served under her own brother, but he didn't recognize her. She fought in a skirmish in Catalina and revealed her gender during a confession when she thought that she was going to die. She actually ended up living, so she left after 4 months, told her story to a bishop in Guamanga and joined a convent. The story of the "Lieutenant nun" was told all over the continent and she later was granted special dispensation from Pope Urban VIII to continue to wear men's clothes. There is actually an (alleged) autobiography that you can still find around today.
Deborah Sampson
Deborah Sampson dressed as a man to join the infantry in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. She was actually my favorite historical figure in elementary school. When she was young, her family was incredibly poor, so she had to be an indentured servant until she was 18 years old. When she was 22, she disguised herself as a man and joined the army. It was apparently pretty easy because she was fairly tall. In the first battle that she ever fought in, she was shot twice in the thigh. You can see the potential problem here. She ended up removing one of the bullets with a penknife and a sewing needle, but was never able to get the other one out. She was involved in several other battles, but became sick with fever and her secret was discovered. However, the doctor did not reveal her to the other soldiers, but instead took her in. She returned from the army for a short while and received an honorable discharge.
Hannah Snell
Hannah was a chubby, jolly, middle aged woman who was just trying to find her husband. He became lost somehow shortly after their daughter died. She dressed as a man named James Gray and joined the army to go look for him. This next part of the story may just be a myth, but I like it. She fought against Bonnie Prince Charlie (who had his own cross-dressing escapade), but deserted after her commanding officer gave her 500 lashes across the back. I can't say that I blame her. She later found out that her husband had been executed for murder. Anyhow, she continued to fight disguised as a man, and even had a contraption that allowed her to pee standing up. In a battle in India, she was shot eleven times in the leg and once in the groin, but somehow, her secret was not revealed. Eventually, she revealed her sex to everybody, became very famous, had a book written about her called The Female Soldier, and opened a pub of the same name.
There are many other stories that are similar. Too many to mention here, but if you really want me to include someone special, just shoot me a comment and I will add him/her right away. Don't you worry all you Joan of Arc fans. I am giving The Maid of Orleans an article all her own.
No comments:
Post a Comment