Neha Patil (Editor)

Women in warfare (1500 1699)

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Active warfare throughout history has mainly been a matter for men, but women have also played a role, often a leading one. While women rulers conducting warfare was common, women who participated in active warfare were rare. The following list of prominent women in war and their exploits from about 1500 AD up to about 1700 AD.

Contents

Only women active in direct warfare, such as warriors, spies, and women who actively led armies are included in this list.

For women in warfare in what is now the United States during this time period, see Timeline of women in war in the United States, Pre-1945

1500-1550

  • Early 16th: Christopher Columbus reports being fired upon by female archers. Militarists accompanying Francisco de Orellana, Francisco Pizarro and Rodrigo de Bastidas report women fighting alongside men in South America. Maria Candalaria leads a revolt against the European invaders.
  • 16th century: Portuguese explorers report that a group of female warriors existed in the Congo, and that their king assigned regions where only female children were raised. Angola resists the Portuguese under Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba.
  • 16th century: Sikhism founded. One of its tenets is equality for women which extends to allowing them into participate in combat and warfare. See Category:Female Sikh warriors for more information.
  • Early 1500s: Idia, mother of Esigie, the Oba of Benin, is described as a great warrior, and receives much credit for her son's conquest of the Igala.
  • 1501: Christina of Saxony holds the city of Stockholm for the Danish during a Swedish rebellion against the Danish.
  • 1502: Anne Rud defends the Bohus Fortress in the absence of her spouse, commander Henrich Krummedige, during his war with Alv Knutsson.
  • 1505: Ingeborg Tott defends her fief Häme Castle in Finland against the attack from another noble fiefholder.
  • 1511: According to popular legend, Gertruid Bolwater defends Venlo.
  • 1511-1513: Gunilla Bese, widow of the governor of Vyborg Castle, defends it against the Russians.
  • 1513: Catherine of Aragon acts as Regent for Henry VIII and attends the field at the Battle of Flodden Field dressed in armor.
  • 1513-1515: Quilago, queen of the Cochasquí in Ecuador, defense her area against the expansion of the Inca Empire.
  • 1520: Christina Gyllenstierna becomes the leader and commander of the defence of Sweden and Stockholm during the war between Denmark and Sweden.
  • 1520: Swedish noble Anna Eriksdotter (Bielke) commands the city of Kalmar in place of her dead spouse during the war between Denmark and Sweden.
  • 1520: Women participate actively in the defense of the Swedish city of Kalmar against the Danes. In his famous chronicle from 1555, Olaus Magnus briefly note that during the defense of Kalmar, the female inhabitants of the city participated in the defense as bravely as did the men.
  • 1520: Barbro Stigsdotter helps the Swedish rebel and future King Gustav Vasa to escape capture by the Danes and are therefore hailed as a war heroine in Sweden.
  • 1521: Maria Pacheco Padilla defends the city of Toledo, Spain for six months after her husband falls in battle.
  • 1521–1523: Abbess Anna Leuhusen participates in the secret traffic in and out of the city of Stockholm during the Swedish War of Liberation.
  • 1530–1599: Abbakka, a ruler of Tulu Nadu in India fights the Portuguese army.
  • 1534: Hille Feicken and the women of the Anabaptist regime of Münster participate in the defense of the city.
  • 1536–1573: Reign of Amina, ruler of the Hausa empire in Niger. She personally led an army of over 20,000 soldiers.
  • 1539–1540: Gaitana of the Paez leads the indigenous people of Columbia in armed resistance against the Spanish.
  • 1541: Inés de Suárez, who came to the Americas to search her husband, fought with Pedro de Valdivia in Chile.
  • 1541: Gaspar de Carvajal, a Dominican monk, reports being attacked by a band of armed women while travelling in Brazil.
  • 1543: According to legend, Catherine Ségurane defends the city of Nice, France.
  • 1545, February 12: Scottish women fight in the Battle of Ancrum Moor. Among them is Lilliard, after whom Lilliard Edge is named.
  • 1546: Isabel Madeira, Isabel Fernandes, Catarina Lopes and Isabel Dias serve in the defense of the city walls during the siege of Diu in Portuguese India.
  • 1547: Scotland, Mariotta Haliburton defends and negotiates the surrender of Hume Castle.
  • 1548: Thai queen Suriyothai, along with princess Tepastri, went into battle on war elephants with King Maha Chakkraphat against Burmese invaders.
  • 1548-1580: Likely time period for reign of Malaysian queen Siti Wan Kembang, while other accounts state that she ruled in the 14th century. According to legend, she entered into battle on horseback with a sword with an army of female riders.

    • 1550-1599

  • 1558: Scotland, Janet Beaton marches at the head of an armed party consisting of two hundred members of her clan to the Kirk of St. Mary of the Lowes in Yarrow, where she knocked down the doors in an attempt to apprehend Sir Peter Cranstoun.
  • 1559–1560: Scotland, Mary of Guise leads French armies against the Protestant rebellion, and women fight at the Siege of Leith.
  • 1562–1566: Mary, Queen of Scots, leads armies against several rebellions by nobles, including the Chaseabout Raid of 1565.
  • 1564: Indian queen Rani Durgawati leads her forces against the Mughal army, but is defeated.
  • 1569: Marguerite Delaye loses an arm in while fighting Admiral Coligny during his siege of Montélimar. A one-armed statue is erected in her honor.
  • 1569: Jane Howard, Countess of Westmoreland, is instrumental in raising the troops for unsuccessful Rising of the North.
  • 1569: Brita Olofsdotter, widow after soldier Nils Simonsson, serves in the Finnish troup in the Swedish cavalry in Livonia; she is killed in battle, and king John III of Sweden orders for her salary to be paid to her family.
  • 1569: Lady Agnes Campbell, married to Turlough Luineach O'Neill, Chieftain of the O'Neill's in Ulster, leads Her Scottish dowry troops against occupying English forces.
  • 1571: An Italian woman participates as a member of the Marines at the Battle of Lepanto dressed as a male.
  • 1572: In defense of the city during a siege of Haarlem by Spanish troops, which lasted from December 1572 to 1573, Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer (1526–1588) supplied the Dutch forces with wood. She owned a wood company at Haarlem. Myth says she led a force of women defending the city and ever since "kenau" has been a Dutch expression for a harsh woman.
  • 1572: Maria van Schooten participates in the defense during the siege of Haarlem by Spanish troops, dies and are granted a military funeral: she is believed to have been one of the women who was led by Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer
  • 1573: Trijn Rembrands allegedly participates in the defence of Alkmaar.
  • 1576: Portuguese explorer Pedro de Magalhães de Gandavo reports that some Tupinamba Indian women of northeastern Brazil "give up all the duties of women and imitate men, and follow men’s pursuits as if they were not women. They wear the hair cut in the same way as the men, and go to war with bows and arrows and pursue game, always in company with men; each has a woman to serve her, to whom she says she is married, and they treat each other and speak with each other as man and wife."
  • 1577: Dutch woman Trijn van de Leemput allegedly rallies women in Utrecht against the Spanish.
  • 1580s: A woman is reported to have served as a man in the Portuguese army in Angola for a period of five years before she was discovered.
  • 1581: According to legend, Brianda Pereira participate against the Spanish in the Battle of Salga on the Azores.
  • 1584: Mary Ambree participates in the fighting against the Spanish for the city of Ghent. A ballad is eventually written about her.
  • 1587 : Catharina Rose commands a women battalion at the Spanish siege of Sluis in Flanders.
  • 1587 : An unnamed woman served in guise as a man in the Dutch army.
  • 1589 : Maria Pita defends Corunna against the English armada.
  • 1589 : An unnamed woman served in guise as a man in the Dutch army.
  • 1590 : Françoise de Cezelli defeats the Spanish army during the battle of Leucate
  • 1590: According to legend, Kaihime participates in the defence of Oshi Castle.
  • 1595: Indian Queen Chand Bibi fights the Mughals.
  • 1597 : Ebba Stenbock leads the defense of the Turku Castle in Finland after the death of its governor, her spouse.

    • 1600-1650

  • 17th century: Belawadi Mallamma is the first woman to form a women's army to fight against the British and the Marathas in the 17th century.
  • 17th century: Sikh woman Bibi Dalair Kaur fights the Mughals by rallying 100 Sikh women against them. She is killed, and Sikhs consider her to be a martyr.
  • 17th century to 1894: Dahomey Amazons act as an all female regiment (under female command) of the west African Kingdom of Dahomey.
  • 17th century: Antónia Rodrigues serves as man in the Portuguese army and is decorated for bravery in the war against the Moors.
  • 17th century: A woman serve in the Dutch dragoons sometime between 1642 and 1710: she is found dead after a private duel, and her unnamed skeleton is donated to the University of Rotterdam (founded in 1642), where it is first documented in 1710 as "Aal de Dragonder"
  • 17th century: Akiko Yamamoto serve as one of few female samurais of her period.
  • 1600: Inahime, a Japanese princess, participates in the Battle of Sekigahara, Tachibana Ginchiyo the leader of Tachibana clan fight in Siege of Yanagawa, Ikeda Sen,Maeda Matsu and various other women fight in Sekigahara.
  • 1604-1611: Margaretha, a woman from Frisia, serve in the Dutch army dressed as a man for seven years before discovery in 1611
  • 1607-1620: Catalina de Erauso fights as a soldier in Mexico, Peru, and Chile.
  • 1611: Mayken Blomme serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a man.
  • 1612: Swedish Emerentia Krakow defends the Fortress of Gullberg against the Danes in the place of her wounded spouse, the commendant of the fortress.
  • 1612: According to legend, Prillar-Guri participates in the Battle of Kringen.
  • 1613-1648: Qin Liangyu commands armies in China.
  • 1620: Legendary Albanian heroine Nora of Kelmendi.
  • 1624: The settler Maria Ortiz (1603-1646) famously participate in the defense of the Portuguse colony of Espírito Santo against the attempted Dutch invasion.
  • 1625: Trintje Symons (or Trijntje Sijmons) serve in the Dutch army dressed as a man
  • 1625: The mother and sister of the Georgian Nine Brothers Kherkheulidze fight and die in the Battle of Marabda alongside their brothers and sons, and are hailed as heroes.
  • 1625-1629: Anne Jans serve as sailor in the Dutch navy as Jan Janz.
  • 1628: Glasmästare-Kerstin is hanged after it is discovered that she enlisted as a soldier in the Swedish army.
  • 1628-1629: Maritgen Jans serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a man under the name David van Gorkum.
  • 1628-1632: Barbara Pieters Adriaens serve in the Dutch army dressed as a man under the name Wilhelm Adriaens.
  • June 5, 1639: Lady Ann Cunningham leads a mixed-sex cavalry troop in the Battle of Berwick.
  • 1629: Two women is discovered after having served in the Dutch army dressed as men.
  • 1630s-1647: Gao Guiying leads her army as a general in China.
  • 1637: Brazilian indigenous Clara Camarão leads tribal warriors in defense of the Brazilian colony against the invading Dutch.
  • 1641: Elizabeth Dowdall successfully defends Kilfinny Castle during the Irish Rebellion.
  • 1641: Vrouwthe Frans is discovered after having served in the Dutch army dressed as a man.
  • 1641: Hendrickgen Lamberts van der Schuyr served in the Dutch army dressed as a man.
  • 1643-1715: Several soldiers are reportedly discovered to be female in the French army during the reign of Louis XIV of France.
  • 1643-1644: Shen Yunying leads her own army in China.
  • 1643: Lady Mary Bankes defends Corfe Castle from a siege in the English Civil War.
  • 1643: Lady Brilliana Harley defends Brampton Castle during the English Civil War.
  • 1643: Henrietta Maria of France returns to England from France, landing in Yorkshire and joining Royalist troops in the English Civil War.
  • 1643: Lady Blanche Arundell defends Wardour Castle during the English Civil War.
  • 1643: An unnamed woman uses the name Claus Bernsen to enlist in the Dutch navy.
  • 1644: Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby defends Latham House from Parliamentarian Forces.
  • 1645: Françoise-Marie Jacquelin defence the Fort la Tour during the Acadian Civil War.
  • 1644: Hilleke Sell and Jenneke Everts served in the Dutch army dressed as men.
  • 1640s-1650s: Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba fights the Portuguese.

    • 1650-1699

  • Roughly mid to late 1600s: Pashtun poet Nazo Tokhi defends a fortress.
  • 1652: Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, fires the cannons against the army of Turenne during the Fronde.
  • 1652-1653: Anna Jans serve in the Dutch Navy as a man during the war against England.
  • 1652-1653: Johanna/Jannetje Pieters serve in the Dutch Navy as a man, Jan Pietersse, during the war against England.
  • 1652-1653: Adriana La Noy serve as sailor dressed as a man in the Dutch Navy.
  • 1653: Aagt de Tamboer serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a man.
  • 1653: Anna Alders serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a man.
  • 1653: The Princess of Moldavia, Doamna Ecaterina Cercheza, defends the city of Suceava toward the Ottoman siege.
  • 1659: Anne Holck leads the defense of the Danish island of Langeland after the death of her spouse against the Swedes during the Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660).
  • 1659-1665: Willemtge Gerrits serve in the Dutch Marine as a man.
  • 1663: Annetje Barents serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a man under the name Klaas Barents.
  • 1665: Jacoba Jacobs serve in the Dutch Marine as Jacob Jacobs.
  • 1666: Hendrick Albertsz in the Dutch navy is discovered to have been a female dressed as a male.
  • 1667: Engeltje Dirx serve in the Dutch army dressed as a man.
  • 1667: Jacoba Jacobs serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a man.
  • 1670: Alyona, a Russian female ataman rebel, commanded a detachment of about 600 men and participated in the capture of Temnikov.
  • 1672: Annetje Pieters serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a man; the same year, another unnamed female is discovered to have done the same.
  • 1672: Margaretha Sandra, as well as several other women, participare in the defence of the Dutch city of Aardenburg against the French.
  • 1673: Elisabeth Someruell is reputed to have served as Tobias Morello in the Spanish army.
  • 1673: Isabella Clara Gelvinck serve in the Dutch army dressed as a male.
  • 1673: An unnamed female serve in the Dutch army dressed as a male.
  • 1674: An unnamed female serve in the Dutch army dressed as a male.
  • 1674: Francijntje van Lint serve in the Dutch army dressed as a male.
  • 1675: An unnamed female serve in the Dutch army dressed as a male.
  • 1675: An unnamed female serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a male.
  • 1676: Princess Kong Sizhen succeeds her spouse as Chinese Imperial military commander of Guanxi during the rebellion of Wu Sangui.
  • 1676-1691: Geneviève Prémoy serve in the French army dressed as a male.
  • 1677-1689: Reign of Keladi Chennamma. During her reign of 12 years, she repelled the advances of the Mughal Army led by the infamous Aurangzeb from her military base in the kingdom of Keladi located in Sagara, Karnataka India.
  • 1677: An unnamed female serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a male.
  • 1679: Lisbetha Olsdotter is put on trial for having served in the Swedish army under the name Mats Ersson.
  • 1680s: Queen Keladi Chennamma of the Keladi kingdom of India participates in warfare, and achieves renown for her bravery.
  • 1683: The pirate Anne Dieu-Le-Veut becomes known in the Caribbean Sea as a great fighter, one of the first of many female pirates famed for their fighting-skills.
  • 1684: Catharina Rosenbrock serve in the Dutch army as well as the navy dressed as a male.
  • 1685-1688: Ilona Zrínyi defends the Palanok Castle in Munkács against the Habsburg forces.
  • 1688: A coup takes place in Siam. Women drilled in the use of muskets replace the mercenaries and samurai who had served the old government. They are led by a woman named Ma Ying Taphan.
  • 1688: Maria Jacoba de Turenne serve in the Dutch army dressed as a man
  • 1690s: Kit Cavanagh disguises herself as a man in order to fight as a dragoon. She eventually fights openly as a woman.
  • 1690: Anne Chamberlyne, a female tar who disguised herself as man, fights the French at Beachy Head.
  • 1691: Anna Isabella Gonzaga, Duchess of Mantua, defends Mantua against the Spanish as regent during the absence of her spouse.
  • 1691-1696: Marie Magdelaine Mouron serve in the French army dressed as a male.
  • 1694: An unnamed female serve in the Dutch navy dressed as a male.
  • 1696: Joonas Dirckse in the Dutch navy is discovered to be a female dressed as a male.
  • 1696: Mongolian Queen Anu dies saving her husband at the Battle of Zuunmod.
  • Late 17th-century: A Finnish female serve in the French, English and Danish army dressed as a male.

    • References

    Women in warfare (1500-1699) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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