Medieval Europe
Daughters of Chivalry
In Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Princesses of King Edward Longshanks, historian Kelcey Wilson-Lee tells the stories of the five daughters of Edward I of England and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, who survived into adulthood: Eleanora, Joanna, Margaret, Mary, and Elizabeth. I’ve got to say the book has a shaky start. Wilson-Lee sets…
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And speaking of Slavic women warriors
In my last blog post, I mentioned the medieval tradition of Slavic women warriors known as polianitsy: horse-riding, sword wielding female warriors from the steppes. I was frustrated that I didn’t know more. After all, women warriors from across the globe have dominated my intellectual life for the last few years. So I went digging.…
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New Discoveries, Or At Least New Questions, and Women Warriors
Last week a news report from Livescience.com popped up in my Google alerts. (1) Archaeologist Leszek Gardeła has concluded that the remains of a woman buried with an axe on the Danish island of Langeland was not “a Viking”. (2) Both the form of the burial and the style of the axe suggest that she…
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