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Portuguese female fighters
Antonia de Aveiro, Portuguese heroine
Sketch from the resource Dubleu Dans Mes Nuages
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If you don't mind, I have a bit more info for you. This information is presented mostly in Portuguese, so I hope, it will be interesting for you.
There are many stories about female fighters in Iberia, which I guess is partially due to our Celtic blood. In Northern Portugal, where their presence was stronger and wasn't so diluted by the later presence of Romans and Moors, their spirit survived till today. Northern women are known for being larger than life, ready to fight for what they believe or want, not very inclined to take crap from men and are even known for setting their men in the right track if they feel like going astray, sometimes even by force if need be. If you hear the expression "E uma mulher do Norte" (She's a woman from the North) you can be sure they're talking about a strong willed and eventually even strong physically Portuguese woman.
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In the section about female fighters during the XV to XVII, it is only mentioned that c. 1580 a Portuguese woman disguised as a man fought in Angola. Her real name was Antonia Rodrigues and she was indeed born c. 1580 in the fishing village of Aveiro, because of that she's commonly known as Antonia de Aveiro (Antonia of Aveiro). Her father was a fisherman and like most quite poor, so when she was about 12 she was sent to the capital to live with her older sister who was already married there and had a somewhat better life. Antonia never liked doing typically female house shores and because of that (some say it was in fact because she refused the advancements of her brother in law) was often punished. She used to run to the docks and dream about sailing away. And one day, when she was 15, she finally decided to leave. She traded her clothes for those of a boy, cut her hair and begged the master of a ship to accept "him", she'd do no matter what and would work just for food. The ship sailed to Mazagao (which is in Morocco, not Angola, and was at the time under Portuguese rule). There she continued to live as a man, enlisted in the army and due to her skill and bravery in fighting the Moors she rose in rank and was even made an officer. So well did she play the role of a male that several women feel in love with "him". One of them, D. Beatriz de Meneses was the daughter of a prominent nobleman who lived there. And so deeply did she fall in love that she fell sick when Antonio refused her, claiming that he was just a man of lowly birth and not suitable for her. However, her father thought that the health of his daughter was more important than that. Without any other alternative, Antonio confessed to being in fact Antonia. Apparently the story had a happy ending, nothing bad happened to her and she was indeed much sought by men wanting to marry her. She finally chose an officer and at the age of 35 returned to Portugal with her husband and son. The king then wanted to meet her and praised her bravery and beauty, giving her a pension for the good services to the nation. She died c. 1520.
Antonia Rodrigues: Fresco in Aveiro
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So, for now I'll just add two more noteworthy Portuguese women. The first, Ines Negra (Black Ines) was probably real but with time she became more of a legend and her story was filled in. To put it simply, in 1388 Portugal and Castela were yet again fighting, mostly because Portugal wanted to remain independent and Castela wanted to conquer us. But there were some Portuguese nobles who took the side of Castela, the alcaide (lord) of Melgaco was one of them. Disagreeing with him, Ines fled the city. Later on the city was sieged by the Portuguese king, D. Joao I. From the top of the walls, the Arrenegada (the outcast), a long time enemy of Ines, challenged her for a single duel to decide the fate of the city. Oddly enough, both the lord of the city and the king agreed. And so the two women fought, first with swords, then with whatever they had at hand, finally bare handed. Ines won and the city surrendered to king Joao.
Statue in Melgaco: Duel Ines and Arrenegada
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The next lady I'm not sure if there's anything real about her story, the legend probably came from a small event that eventually grew out of proportion and became one of the most famous and well known Portuguese stories. The year is 1385, D. Fernando has died leaving as the single heir to the throne D. Beatriz, who happens to be married to the king of Castela, thus leading to the union of both kingdoms. But, as usual, the Portuguese people don't want this union and choose another king, D. Joao (the same from the previous story), D. Fernando's bastard son. After several fights and skirmishes, both armies meet at Aljubarrota, a small village in central Portugal. The Portuguese victory is so overwhelming that Aljubarrota is considered the battle that once and for all took the desire to conquer Portugal out of Castillian minds (even though some lesser skirmishes kept on happening). After the battle many Castillians fled and tried to hide wherever they could. Brites de Almeida was a baker in Aljubarrota who found 7 of them hiding in her bakery. She took a shovel and killed all 7 of them. I think in the end this is simply a personification of the Portuguese will to be independent, a will that was so strong even a commoner, a lowly baker and a woman at that, fought with whatever was at hand for that independence.
Brites de Almeida: 600 years of her feat
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I love history and mostly the role of women through it, so I'm afraid I get a bit carried away. :)
I do hope you like these stories.
Best regards,
Sofia Esperanca
July 2010
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