[Illustration]

IV.

THE ARABS--Henda, Wife of Abu Sofian, an Arab Chief--Forka,

an Arabian Lady--Women of Yemaumah--Arab and Greek heroines

at the Siege of Damascus--Khaullah--Prefect of Tripoli's

Daughter--Ayesha, Widow of the Prophet--Cahina the Sorceress,

Queen of the Berbers--Saidet, Queen of Persia--Turkhan-Khatun,

Sultana of Kharezmé--Hadee'yah a Maiden who precedes the Bedouin

Arabs in Battle.

THE ARABS, even in "the days of their ignorance," were always a brave,

warlike people. Their liberty, almost the only wealth they possessed,

was jealously guarded with such courage and determination, that

the greatest nations of antiquity were unable to subdue them. With

the preaching of Mohammed began the glorious days of Arabia. Their

semi-obscurity as a nation, hitherto, had been due solely to the want

of some common bond of union, some link to bind together the princes

of the various tribes. But when there was one leader to rally round,

one faith to propagate, one Paradise for those who fell in conquering

the heathen, the wild children of the Desert proved that they could

conquer foreign countries as well as defend their native sands. During

the early days of Islamism, a vast number of women, many belonging to

the highest rank, followed their relatives to battle, and fought for or

against the Koran as bravely as the men--nay, more than once it was the

valour of the Arab women that retrieved the fortunes of the day.

The Prophet had many obstacles to overcome before converting the

great majority of his countrymen to the new faith. Scarcely had he

promulgated his new doctrines, and gathered round him a few faithful

adherents, when the neighbouring chiefs rose up, sword in hand, to

stifle the new movement, ere it attained more dangerous dimensions.

His principal opponent during the first few years of the Hegira was

Abu Sofian, chief of the Koreishites, who were, to a man, idolators.

The first military exploit of the Islamites was despoiling a wealthy

caravan, led by that great chieftain, in the valley of Bedar. Abu

Sofian, with three thousand soldiers, avenged this insult on Mount

Ohud, where the Prophet, who had only nine hundred and fifty men,

was defeated and wounded; barely escaping with his life. In this

action, fought in the third year of the Hegira (A.D. 611), Henda, the

wife of Abu Sofian, commanded the reserve of the Koreishites. She was

accompanied by fifteen other women, of high rank. By exhortation and

singing they animated the men to fight well. Indeed, the ultimate

success of Abu Sofian was due, in a great measure, to their presence.

Another of Mohammed's early opponents was Forka, an Arab lady

possessing a castle and immense wealth. She was a kind of feudal

peeress, and retained a body of soldiers to defend her domain. For

some years she defied the Islamites; but at last Zeid, one of the

principal Moslem leaders, was despatched to seize her castle. Forka

defended herself for some time with obstinacy and resolution; but,

after a troublesome and lengthy siege, the fortress was taken by storm,

and Forka was slain, together with the best part of the garrison. Her

daughter, with all her wealth, became the prey of the victors.

The rapid success of Mohammed induced many Arabs to take up the

prophetic office on their own account; imitators arose in various parts

of Arabia, sometimes achieving a temporary success almost rivalling

that of Mohammed. The most successful was named Mosseylemah, whose

head-quarters were the city and suburbs of Yemaumah. During the

life-time of Mohammed, little notice was taken of this rival by the

"true believers;" but after the death of _the_ Prophet, A.D. 632, the

Caliph Abubeker despatched Khaled, "the Sword of God," with a large

force to capture Yemaumah. Mosseylemah and nearly all his followers

were slain in a fierce action fought near the city. Mujaia, one of the

impostor's principal officers, who had been made prisoner before the

battle, wishing to save his fellow-citizens from total extermination,

told Khaled that the city was still crowded with brave warriors ready

to shed the last drop of blood in defence of their homes; and he

recommended the Arab general to open negotiations at once. Leaving the

latter to consider his advice, Mujaia found means to communicate with

the inhabitants, whom he sent word to arm all the women and girls in

helmets and mail, and to distribute them, armed with spears and swords,

on the walls.

Khaled perceiving the ramparts bristling with arms, began to fear that

an assault on a stronghold so well defended might become an enterprise

of some magnitude. So--though contrary to his pet war-cry, "No quarter

given, and none received,"--the ruthless Islamite thought it best to

accept a capitulation on comparatively mild terms.

On entering Yemaumah, Khaled soon saw the deception practised upon him.

But, with a generosity of which he was not often guilty, he permitted

the people to enjoy the benefits of the treaty.

During the siege of Damascus by Khaled, A.D. 633, several instances

occurred of female heroism, both on the side of the Arabs and that of

the Greeks. One day the governor of Damascus marched out to dislodge

the besiegers; the latter, pretending to fly, led the Greeks to a

considerable distance from the city. Then turning upon the foe, they

assailed him on every side. Seffwaun the Salmian, a distinguished

Moslem chief, seeing a Greek officer conspicuous for the splendour of

his armour, knocked him down with a blow of his mace. He was about to

strip the fallen chief, when he found himself fiercely attacked by the

widow, who had accompanied her husband into battle, and whose death

she now prepared to avenge. Seffwaun, wishing to avoid the dishonor

of shedding the blood of a woman, contrived by dexterous manipulation

of his sword to frighten his frail antagonist without wounding her or

being himself wounded. She was soon compelled to retire for safety

behind the swords and spears of her friends.

Another day some Arab women were captured by the Greeks during one of

the skirmishes. While the Greeks were carousing in their tents, a girl

named Khaullah, one of the prisoners, urged her sisters in captivity to

arm themselves with tent-poles, and brain anybody who approached them.

She set the example by shattering the skull of a Greek soldier who was

so imprudent as to venture within reach of her arm. A general conflict

ensued; ending by Khaled and several Arab horsemen coming to the rescue

and carrying off the Islamite damsels.

Either this heroine, or another of the same name afterwards turned the

fortunes of the day in the battle of Yermouks, which decided the fate

of Syria. The Arabs, far out-numbered by the Greeks, fled to their

tents, and refused to stir, despite the alternate taunts or encouraging

words of the women. The latter at last, in despair, armed themselves,

and withstood the foe till night closed in to end the combat. Next day,

led by Khaullah, sister of one of their principal commanders, the women

again marched to the attack. In leading the van, Khaullah was struck

down by a Greek; but Wafeira, her principal female friend, ran to her

aid and cut off the soldier's head. The Arabs, shamed into their former

courage by the noble conduct of the women, attacked the Christians with

such fury that the latter were speedily routed, with a loss, it is

said, of one hundred and fifty thousand slain and about fifty thousand

made prisoners.

Khaullah, the leading heroine of this fight, was afterwards married to

the ill-starred Caliph Ali.

In the year 647, Abdallah, the Moslem governor of Alexandria, crossed

the Libyan Desert and appeared before the walls of Tripoli, at that

time the most important city on the Coast of Barbary. After surprising

and cutting to pieces several thousand Greeks who were marching to

reinforce the garrison, the Arabs, frustrated in an attempt to storm

the massive fortifications, prepared to lay formal siege. The city was

strengthened very soon by Gregorius, the Greek prefect, who arrived

at the head of one hundred and twenty thousand men. He rejected

indignantly the option of the Koran or tribute. For several days both

armies engaged in deadly combat, from dawn till the hour of noon, when,

from fatigue and thirst caused by the blazing sun, they were compelled

to seek shelter and refreshment.

The daughter of Gregorius, a young girl of great beauty, fought by her

father's side throughout every engagement. She had been trained from

early youth to excel in warlike exercises; and by the splendour of her

arms and apparel she was conspicuous amidst the dust and confusion

of the fight. Gregorius, to excite his soldiers to deeds of bravery,

offered her hand and one hundred thousand pieces of gold to the man who

brought him the head of Abdallah, the Moslem general. When the Arabs

heard this they compelled their leader to withdraw from the field.

The Moslems, discouraged by the absence of their chief, were rapidly

giving way; but the counsels of Zobeir, a brave Arab warrior, turned

the fortunes of the day.

"Retort on the infidels," cried he, "their ungenerous attempts.

Proclaim throughout the ranks that the head of Gregorius will be repaid

with his captive daughter, and the equal sum of one hundred thousand

pieces of gold."

This was accordingly proclaimed. At the same time Zobeir resorted to

a stratagem which took the Greeks completely by surprise, and gained

an easy victory for the Arabs. The contending armies having, as usual,

separated after the engagement, were retiring to their respective

camps overcome by fatigue, when the two Moslem chiefs, who had placed

themselves in ambush with fresh troops, rushed out upon the exhausted

Greeks and routed them with fearful slaughter. The prefect himself was

slain by the hand of Zobeir; his daughter, while seeking revenge or

death in the thick of the fight, was surrounded and captured.

* * * * *

Ayesha, daughter of Caliph Abubeker, was the favourite wife of the

Prophet. After the death of her husband she lived in retirement, for

twenty years, at Medina. But she possessed a restless, ambitious

spirit, and had no inclination for a life of repose and obscurity.

After the sudden murder of Caliph Othman, in 654, when Ali was

elected, she refused to acknowledge the latter, and declared her belief

that he had a share in the murder of his predecessor. The nation,

divided into opposing factions, was soon plunged into civil war. The

malcontents, headed by Ayesha, assembled in thousands at Mecca, and

marched thence to Bassorah, where they expected to find warm support.

Arrived before Bassorah they were astounded to find the gates shut

against them. Ayesha, mounted on a camel, advanced to the walls and

harangued those assembled on the battlements. But she was old and

crabbed, with sharp features and a shrill voice--rendered even more

shrill by the rapidity with which she spoke,--so the people only

laughed at her. The louder they laughed, the shriller her accents grew.

They reproached her for riding forth, bare-faced, to foment dissension

among the Faithful; and they jeered at her followers for bringing their

old grandmother in place of their young and handsome wives.

However, a number of the citizens were secretly in favour of the

malcontents; and the friends of Ayesha seized the palace one dark

night, bastinadoed the governor, plucked out his beard, and sent him

back to his master. Great, however, was the dismay of Ayesha when the

Caliph encamped one morning before Bassorah; but, resolved not to give

way, she rejected the proposals of Ali, and plunged both armies into

a fierce engagement before very well knowing what she was about. But

terrified at the horrors of war, to which until this day she was almost

a stranger, the old woman besought Kaub, who led her camel, to throw

himself between the combatants. In trying to obey her command he was

slain.

The large white camel of Ayesha soon became the rallying-point of the

insurgents, around which the fury of the battle concentrated. The

reins were held alternately by the Modian Arabs, who chanted pieces of

poetry; and it is said that out of the tribe of Benni Beiauziah alone

not less than _two hundred and eighty_ lost a hand on this occasion.

The howdah, pierced all over with arrows, had something the appearance

of a porcupine or a giant pincushion.

After the battle had raged for several hours, the Caliph, seeing

plainly that it would go on so long as the camel remained alive,

ordered his chiefs to direct all their efforts towards cutting down the

beast. First one leg was cut off; but the camel maintained its erect

position. Another leg was cut off; yet the animal remained immovable.

For a moment the soldiers of Ali thought the camel was a sorcerer or a

genie. But a third leg was cut off, and the camel sank to the ground.

The battle soon ended; all resistance ceased when the insurgents knew

that their leader was taken. Ali treated his prisoner with that true

chivalry which had already sprung up amongst the Arabs. He sent her

home to Medina, escorted by female attendants disguised as soldiers,

and while he lived she was not permitted to meddle in politics. After

the murder of Ali she resumed her former position. Many years after,

when Moawyah wished to make the Caliphate hereditary in his family, he

purchased the influence of Ayesha by the gift of a pair of bracelets

valued at one hundred and fifty thousand dinars, or nearly seventy

thousand pounds.

The "Battle of the Camel," as it is generally styled by Oriental

historians, was fought in December, A.D. 656, (A.H. 36.)

* * * * *

During the reign of Caliph Abdul-Malek the Islamites in northern Africa

found a most formidable opponent in Cahina the sorceress, Queen of the

Berbers. Under the lead of this pseudo-prophetess, the original natives

of Barbary made a determined stand for many years against the Koran.

Cahina directed her followers to lay waste the lands that lay between

Egypt and her dominions, telling them that it was the fruitfulness of

those districts which caused the Arab invasions. Her commands were only

too faithfully executed. Cities, towns, and villages were destroyed;

fields desolated, trees cut down, and the entire face of the land

changed from a beautiful garden planted with waving palms and lovely

flowers, into an arid waste with scarcely a tree or blade of grass to

be seen.

But this scheme ultimately proved the ruin of Cahina. The natives

of the ruined districts joyfully welcomed the Moslems on their next

invasion. Cahina again took the field with all her forces; but her

ranks this time were thinned by desertion. She was speedily defeated

and made prisoner with her principal advisers. Rejecting the proposals

of the Arab general--the Koran or tribute--her head was cut off, put in

a camphor-scented casket of great price, and sent to the Caliph.

* * * * *

Although Persia was one of the earliest conquests effected by the

followers of Islam, scarcely two centuries had elapsed before it was

divided into a number of independent states, ruled by Arab, Turkish,

or Persian princes. Towards the close of the tenth century, Queen

Seidet, widow of one of these independent monarchs, governed the state

as regent for her son, who was a minor. She ruled with so much wisdom,

and under her guidance the kingdom flourished so greatly, that she had

every reason to be offended when her son, grown old enough to take the

reins of government, appointed Avicenna, the family physician, to be

his Grand Vizier, and committed everything into his hands. Avicenna

treated the queen with so little respect that the latter retired from

court, raised troops, and marched against her son, whose forces she

easily routed. Not wishing, however, to deprive him of the throne, she

merely acted as his chief adviser, and aided him with salutary counsels

so long as she lived.

Sultan Mahmoud, founder of the Gaznevide dynasty, held Seidet in the

deepest respect. While she lived he refrained from attacking her son's

dominions; but after her death he annexed them without scruple.

* * * * *

In these days few persons, save students of Oriental history, have

even so much as heard of Kharezmé, in Tartary; yet in the eleventh

and twelfth centuries it was considered by surrounding nations as the

most powerful state in Asia, and its court the most magnificent. At

the beginning of the thirteenth century, it was actually, although not

nominally, governed by Turkhan Khatun, mother of the reigning Sultan.

In those days the Mongols, under the irresistible Jenghiz Khan, were

advancing with rapid strides towards Europe. It was not long before

they besieged the capital of Kharezmé. The city held out for twelve

months against the Mongol hordes commanded by the three sons of

Jenghiz Khan. The inhabitants, male and female, made a defence worthy

of their ancient fame. Even the women aided in the numberless sorties

made from the city. But at last, despite their bravery, the place

was taken by storm. Men and women alike fought hand to hand with the

Mongols, and retired from street to street, till scarcely any remained

alive.

According to the lowest computation more than one hundred thousand

Kharezmians were slain during the siege. The valour displayed by the

women became so famous throughout Asia, that many Oriental historians,

by way of accounting for it, gravely assert that the people of Kharezmé

were descended from the Amazons.

* * * * *

Mr. Palgrave, who travelled through Arabia in 1862-3, says that it is

customary amongst the Bedouin Arabs, when they go into battle, to have

their army preceded by a maiden of good family, styled a Hadee'yah,

who rides on a camel into the midst of the fight, encouraging the men

to fight bravely by reciting pieces of extempore poetry, satirical or

heroic, as best suits the occasion. Very frequently the Hadee'yah is

slain. Such was the fate of a brave girl, noted for her eloquence and

gigantic stature, who led on the Amjan Bedouins at Koweyt rather more

than twenty years ago, against Abd-Allah, heir to the throne of Nejed.

This "Arabian Bellona" was slain by the lance of a Nejdean warrior, and

her death is said to have been the principal cause of the final rout of

the Amjan army.

[Illustration]

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V.

Libyssa and Valasca, Queens of Bohemia--Wanda, Queen of

Poland--Moors in Spain--Women of Tudmir--Female Knights

of Tortosa--Alleged Origin of the word "Infantry"--Queen

Carcas--Elfrida, Daughter of Alfred the Great--Igor, Grand Duchess

of Russia--Richilda, Countess of Hainault.

EUROPE, during the two or three centuries after the downfall of the

Roman Empire, bears a strong resemblance to Greece during the heroic

age. In the Nibelungen, the Iliad of those days, we read of godlike

heroes, Herculean warriors, giant princes, and Amazon queens. That was

an age when might constituted right, when rulers led their own armies

in the field, where the lead was given to the strongest or the most

daring.

The Salique law seems in those days to have been very generally

disregarded--if indeed it had been introduced as yet; for we read of

more than one queen who ruled alone over the more or less barbarous

kingdoms of Europe. Æneas Sylvius narrates how a warlike queen named

Libyssa ascended the throne of Bohemia on the death of her father,

King Crocus. Her husband, Przemislas, whom she espoused in 632,

being originally only a peasant, was probably a humble, weak-minded

individual, ruled by his wife; for the queen proceeded to enrol the

greater number of her female subjects into a species of militia. They

were trained, like the Amazons, to the use of arms and to ride on

horseback. After the death of Libyssa, the narrator further says that

the principal favourite of the queen, Valasca, with the assistance of

the female troops, seized the throne, and held it until her death,

which occurred seven years later. Resolved to form a nation of Amazons,

Valasca passed a law that all male children should have their right

eyes put out and their thumbs cut off, to keep them from using bow and

arrows. And this barbarous order was rigorously enforced while Valasca

lived, the men not daring to raise any complaint. The demise of this

Amazon-queen soon restored everything to its natural order.

* * * * *

Wanda, the first Queen-Regnant of Poland, was unanimously elected by

the people on the death of her father, Cracus, about the year 700. She

was a talented woman, and esteemed herself fully capable of conducting

the government without the assistance of a husband. To the numerous

offers of marriage she received, a refusal was the invariable answer.

At last Rudiger, a German prince, hoping to bring about a happy union

by force of arms, invaded Poland with a great army.

Wanda raised troops, and advanced to meet the invaders. When the

opposing armies came in sight, Rudiger, believing that his warlike

preparations must needs have terrified the queen, besought her to

accept him, and thus save the lives of their soldiers. Wanda answered

that no man should ever share her throne, because he would love her

kingdom better than herself. When this spirited answer was spread

amongst Rudiger's officers, they refused to fight against so heroic a

queen. Surrounding the prince, they endeavoured to dissuade him from

risking a battle; but finding their remonstrances vain, they refused to

second his efforts, and Rudiger, in despair, flung himself on his sword.

Wanda returned in triumph to Cracow. She never received another

proposal of marriage.

* * * * *

In the year 711 the Moors, commanded by Tarik, crossed the Straits of

Gibraltar and invaded Spain. Even after the defeat and death of their

king, the Goths disputed every foot of ground before giving way to the

Infidels. The latter, impeded at every step, were glad to grant peace

on almost any terms. One of the principal Gothic leaders was Theodomir,

or Tudmir Ben Gobdas, a Spanish noble belonging to one of the most

honourable families in the land. He possessed large estates in the

South, and his authority over them was so great that not only was the

district named after him, the Land of Tudmir, but he was styled King.

Having been totally routed in a battle, when the greater number of his

soldiers were slain, he escaped to the fortified citadel of Tudmir,

where he was soon besieged by the Moors.

Finding his position grow daily more and more untenable, Theodomir

resorted to an expedient, already practised by the people of Yemaumah

when besieged by Khaled. He commanded all the women to put on male

attire, to tie their hair under their chin (to imitate long beards),

and to appear, armed with bows and arrows, lances, swords, and shields,

on the towers and battlements, in sight of the Moors. He himself, with

his few remaining soldiers, stood in front, to conceal as much as

possible these feminine guards.

The Moors, overrating the strength of the garrison, offered Theodomir

advantageous terms, which he accepted. Although they afterwards

discovered the fraud, the Infidels scrupulously observed the treaty.

The women of Tortosa distinguished themselves so highly in some

skirmishes with the Moors, that a military Order of Knighthood was

conferred upon them.

The word "Infantry" is said to owe its origin to one of the Spanish

Infantas, who, hearing that her father had been defeated by the Moors,

raised a body of foot-soldiers, and placing herself at their head,

defeated the infidels. In memory of her bravery, foot-soldiers were

henceforth styled Infantry.

* * * * *

The Moors never could obtain a footing north of the Pyrenees; yet,

despite the invariable want of success attending their attempts,

they made constant incursions into France, besieging towns, burning

villages, and ravaging the open country. Amongst other cities besieged

by them was Carcassonne, situated on the banks of the river Aude,

governed in those days by queen Carcas, famous for her military

prowess. When Charlemagne, a few years previously, besieged the city,

it was defended so courageously that he permitted the queen to retain

the sovereignty.

The Saracens, ridiculing the notion of a female warrior, declared that,

in place of fighting, she ought to be spinning. This contemptuous

speech, spoken immediately under the city walls, was overheard by queen

Carcas. Arming herself with a lance, to which, as if it had been a

distaff, she attached a quantity of hemp, she set the hemp on fire,

and rushed into the midst of the Saracens, who fled, terrified, in all

directions.

The shield and lance of queen Carcas may yet be seen at Carcassonne.

Over the city gate there is an effigy of the royal heroine, with the

inscription "Carcas sum."

* * * * *

While the South of Europe was overrun by the Saracens, England,

Ireland, and Scotland were harassed by the terrible Danes, who for

several centuries kept these islands in constant terror. The most

powerful opponent of the Danes in England was, as everyone knows, King

Alfred the Great. During the latter years of his reign, the land was

tolerably secure from invasion; but after his death the Vikings and

their wild followers came swarming over the country again, burning,

plundering, massacring, just as they had done before Alfred drove

them away. Elfrida, the eldest daughter of King Alfred, inherited all

her father's courage and warlike spirit, and, like him, proved an

implacable foe to the Danes. She was married early to Ethelred, Earl

of Mercia; and on his death the government of the province devolved

upon the widow. And nobly did she fulfil her trust. Mercia was greatly

harassed by the Danes--as, indeed, was the entire country in those

days. The Welsh joined in alliance with the invaders, and would have

marched to their aid but for the promptitude of Elfrida, who entered

Wales, 916, at the head of an army, and took Brecknock by storm,

capturing therein Queen Anghared and many of her attendants. The "Lady

of Mercia" had another motive in this invasion, which rendered Wales

tributary to the Saxons; and this motive was the desire to avenge the

death of the good Abbot Egbert, whom the Welsh had slain.

King Owen fled to Derby, where he was kindly received by the Danes.

When Elfrida learned this she marched thither, and captured the city

"before Lammas," 918. So reckless was she of her own safety on this

memorable day, that it had almost proved to be her last. Pressing

at the head of her troops through the narrow gateway where a vast

multitude of Danes barred the way, many of her principal officers were

struck down, and four of her guards were slain by the hand of the Welsh

king. Gwynne, lord of Ely, and steward of Elfrida, perceiving the

danger of the princess, set the gates on fire, and rushed furiously

upon the Welsh and Danes, who gave way before his onslaught.

Owen, unable to escape, preferred to fall by his own hand than yield

himself prisoner to a woman.

Two years later, in 920, Elfrida recaptured Leicester and York from the

Danes; and besides repairing the fortifications of the former city,

encompassed it with a massive wall of such strength that Matthew Paris

styles it _indissoluble_.

Shortly after this, and before the war was over, Elfrida died at

Tamworth, in Staffordshire, leaving an unmarried daughter named

Elswina. She was buried at Gloucester, in the porch of St. Peter's

monastery, a building erected at her own expense.

This heroine has been praised by all the old historians for her

prudence, courage, and talent for governing. Ingulphus says that

considering the great actions of her life, the cities she built, the

castles she fortified, and the armies she raised, Elfrida "might have

been thought a man." She was generally styled queen by the Mercians,

who regarded themselves as her subjects.

* * * * *

According to tradition it was the same wild Vikings, the terror of our

land, who founded the mighty Russian empire; and their successors,

the Grand Dukes and Czars, have ever since retained that thirst for

conquest which distinguished the roving Normans. The Grand Duke Igor

was one of the first among the successors of Rurik who caused the

Russian standard to be feared by surrounding states. After subduing

most of the neighbouring towns, his victorious career was suddenly

brought to a close in 945, during an expedition against the Drevlians,

by whom he was surrounded, and put to the sword with all his troops.

Igor was succeeded by his son Sviatoslaf, the first Christian sovereign

of Russia. The prince being too young to conduct the government, his

mother, Olga, undertook the regency. The Drevlians, fancying the royal

widow would be easily intimidated, sent to demand her in marriage for

their prince. But Olga, after causing their ambassadors to be slain

(by various quaint stratagems which Nestor has preserved) called out

her troops, placed herself at their head, and marched against the

Drevlians, taking her son with her to teach him the art of war. After

destroying all the towns and villages of the enemy, she laid siege

to Karosten, their capital, which was built entirely of wood--the

very name signifying "wall of bark." Finding the city too strong and

too well defended, she made proposals of peace to the inhabitants,

declaring that she would be satisfied with three sparrows and a pigeon

from each house, as tribute. The people joyfully complied, and sent

the birds to the Russian camp. Olga caused the birds to be let loose,

with lighted torches tied to their tails; they, of course, flew back

to their nests in the house-eaves of Karosten. The town was soon in

a blaze from end to end. The terrified inhabitants, flying to escape

the flames, were met by the swords and lances of the Russians. The

Drevlian prince and his court perished in the massacre, as indeed, did

nearly every one in the city, save the dregs of the population.

Having glutted her thirst for revenge, Olga made a progress through

Russia, taking Sviatoslaf with her. Towns and villages arose at her

command, taxation was regulated on a better footing; and by various

measures highly beneficial to the prosperity of the country, the

Grand Duchess proved herself a most able ruler. In 955 she went to

Constantinople to be baptised a Christian, and in the course of a

few years the Greek faith spread through the land, and paganism was

abolished.

When Sviatoslaf grew old enough to rule his own dominions, Olga

resigned the reins of government. She lived in retirement for several

years, and died in 968 at an advanced age.

* * * * *

In the Middle Ages, chemistry and mathematics were things known to few

people except the monks; any man who studied the sciences was styled

an alchemist, and suspected of being in league with the Evil One. When

it was a woman who gave herself up to learned studies, the people

could scarcely be withheld from tearing "the sorceress" to pieces.

Occasionally, however, despite what the world said, noble ladies,

especially on the Continent, did apply their minds to what in those

days went by the name of the Black Art. Amongst these was Richilda,

Countess of Hainault, who married Baldwin the Good, eldest son of

Baldwin, Marquis of Flanders, one of whose daughters, Matilda, became

the wife of William the Conqueror, and another of Tosti Godwinsson, son

of the powerful Earl Godwin. The fame of Richilda as a wicked sorceress

caused her to be anything but a favourite in the country; and when her

husband died, Robert le Frison, Count of Friesland, and brother of the

deceased, endeavoured to wrest Flanders from her young son Arnulf, or

Arnoul, who was little more than a boy. William the Conqueror espoused

the cause of Richilda, and sent over Fitz-Osbern, Earl of Hereford,

the tyrant of the Welsh, to her aid. The Countess also implored the

assistance of her liege lord, the king of France.

A battle took place on St. Peter's Day, 1071, at Bavinchorum, near

Cassel; Richilda and Fitz-Osbern commanded their troops in person. The

left wing of the foe was routed, and Robert le Frison made prisoner and

sent to St. Omer. But this success was counterbalanced by the death of

Fitz-Osbern and young Arnoul. Richilda's forces fled in confusion, and

the heroine was made prisoner.

An exchange was effected, by which Richilda and the Frison regained

their liberty. The countess immediately set about raising fresh troops

to avenge the death of her boy. The contending armies met again;

this time at Broqueroi, near Mons, where the troops of Richilda were

routed with so terrible a slaughter that the scene of the conflict was

afterwards known under the name of "the Hedges of Death." All hope now

fled the breast of Richilda. Escaping from the field, she took refuge

in a convent, where the rest of her days were passed under the severest

penances--to atone, as folks said, for her past dealings with the

Prince of Darkness.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

VI.

The Crusades--French, German, and Genoese Amazons--Eleonora of

Aquitaine--Matilda of Boulogne--Empress Maud--Aldrude, Countess

of Bertinoro--Empress Constantia--Nichola de Camville (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 Belleville, Lady of

Clisson--Marzia--Margaret, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and

Sweden, the Semiramis of the North--Fair Maiden Lilliard (Chevy

Chase)--Lady Pelham--Philippa, Queen of Denmark.

IT would be difficult at the present day to appreciate the wild

enthusiasm spread throughout Europe by the preaching of Peter the

Hermit. Thousands from all classes--kings, princes, nobles, 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 up arms against the Infidel. The

enthusiasm was not, as it would probably in our days, confined to one,

nor even to three or four nations. "There were men," says Robert of

Gloucester:--

"Of Normandy, of Denmark, of Norway, of Bretagne,

Of Wales, and of Ireland, of Gascony, of Spain,

Of Provence, of Saxony, and of Allemayne,

Of Scotland, and of Greece, of Rome and Aquitaine."

Ay, and women too. The first Crusading armies which set out in the

spring of 1096, commanded by Peter the Hermit, Gaultier-sans-Avoir, and

other leaders of less reputation, comprised nearly as many women as

men. Even where they did not contend hand to hand with the Saracens,

these heroines cheered the warriors by marching with 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 bravery that the Templars owed the capture

of Antioch. William of Tyre, speaking of the grand review held before

Nice in 1099, says that exclusive of the cavalry, who, to the number of

one hundred thousand were well armed in helmets and mail, there were

found six hundred thousand Crusaders of both sexes, many of them little

children.

When the second Crusade was preached, many ladies, especially in France

and Germany, formed themselves into squadrons and regiments of Amazons,

and assumed the arms and armour of the Templars. The commander of the

German Amazons, who, says Michaud, was more admired for her dress

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

commanded by their queen, Eleonora of Aquitaine (afterwards wife of

Henry II. of England). Forming themselves into a squadron of light

cavalry, they went through a regular course of military training, and,

by constant exercise, they acquired tolerable proficiency in the use of

arms.

Mezerai, speaking of these "squadrons of females," declares that by

their valour they "rendered credible all that has been said of the

prowess of the Amazons;" but, certes, those who followed King Louis

to the Holy Land rendered themselves more notable for rashness and

folly than manly courage. They set out in the year 1147, with the bold

determination to share all the fatigues and brave all the dangers

incident to 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 sun was setting, and the black, dreary rocks appeared to the

romantic, but inexperienced eye of Eleonora, an exceedingly uninviting

situation for a resting place. With the haughty imperiousness of her

nature, she insisted on turning aside to a beautiful valley watered

by cool streams, and overshadowed by lofty palms, where, despite the

warnings and expostulations of the brave captain who led her escort,

she encamped.

In this charming but unprotected dale they were soon attacked by a

party of Saracens. King Louis arrived barely in time to save the corps

of Amazons from capture. Compelled to hazard an engagement 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 tree. The Christians were

victorious, but it was with heavy losses. Eleonora and her followers

retired to the court of her cousin Raymond, Prince of Antioch, and

there passed the rest of the season.

While the Crusades lasted, ladies continued to accompany husbands

and lovers to the East. In the arsenal of the palace at Genoa there

are, or were some few years 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 the Turks. However, by the

entreaties of Pope Boniface VIII., who wrote an autograph letter for

the purpose, they were persuaded to relinquish their design.

Pierre Gentien, an old French poet, who flourished at the latter end of

the thirteenth century, has left a species of epic in rhyme, wherein

he describes a tournament held by certain noble dames who were about

departing 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 those days, takes the opportunity to name forty or

fifty, the most beautiful ladies of their time. His poem has been

therefore admired rather as being a memoir of the old French families

than for the excellence of the poetry.

* * * * *

The somewhat ridiculous termination to her first essay in presence of

the foe did not entirely quench the military ardour of Eleonora of

Aquitaine. After she had been for some years the wife of king Henry

II., she stirred up her sons, Richard and John, to rebellion against

their father; and went so far as to appear in masculine attire, at the

head of their forces in Aquitaine. And thus clad, she was made prisoner.

When Prince Arthur was prosecuting his claims on the English crown,

Philip Augustus, the French king, sent him with a military retinue into

Normandy, then in the hands of the English. The French barons laid

siege to Mirebeau, a fortified town near Poitiers. It 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, the veteran Amazon threw herself into a

strong tower which served as a sort of citadel; and here she held out

bravely till the arrival of John with reinforcements, on the night

between July 31st and August 1, 1202; when the besiegers were compelled

to surrender.

* * * * *

During the wars between the Empress Maud and Stephen, the latter was

ably seconded by his queen, Matilda of Boulogne. For the first five

years of his usurpation, the king was 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 June, 1137, she laid siege to Dover Castle, which had been seized by

the rebels, and, at the same time, sent orders to her Boulogne subjects

to blockade the fortress by sea.

In July, 1139, the empress, escorted by her brother Robert, Earl of

Gloucester, landed in England. After several battles, of which little

is known, she defeated and captured King Stephen near Lincoln, 1141.

The empress was at once proclaimed queen of 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 surrendering her inheritance of Boulogne. The queen refused;

and with the assistance of William of Ypres, Stephen's talented but

unpopular minister, she raised the standard of the king in Surrey and

Kent, where a large party were in favour of the royal captive.

"In the pages of superficially-written histories," remarks Miss

Strickland, "much is said of the prowess and military skill displayed

by Prince Eustace at this period; 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 reflect on the evidence

of dates, that it was the high-minded and prudent queen, his mother,

who avoided all Amazonian display by acting under the name of her son."

The empress, being warned that the Londoners, weary of her insolence,

had a mind to serve her as she had served Stephen, fled from the city

by night, and laid siege to Winchester Castle. The 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 a city in flames, the empress

feigned herself dead, and her body was conveyed to Gloucester. Robert,

her brother, was made prisoner, and his liberty was purchased by the

release of Stephen.

From this time the fortunes of the empress rapidly declined. She was so

closely invested in Oxford during the inclement weather of 1142, that

she was compelled 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 town. The war continued to rage with the

utmost fury for the next five years; but Maud, weary at last of the

miserable struggle, returned to Normandy in 1147.

Queen Matilda died at Henningham Castle, in Essex, on May 3rd, 1151, a

little more than three years before her husband. The empress outlived

both her rivals, and died abroad, September 10th, 1167.

* * * * *

The famous contest between the Guelfs and the Ghibelines, which for

nearly three hundred years devastated Italy, broke out early in the

twelfth century. The struggle was at first hardly more than a feud

between two powerful families; but it soon developed into an obstinate

war between two political parties--the Guelfs, who formed the papal and

Italian party, and the Ghibelines, who favoured the German Emperors.

One of the leading events of this war was the siege of Ancona, in 1172,

by the Archbishop of Mentz, Frederic Barbarossa's deputy in Italy,

backed by all the power of Ghibeline Tuscany. The citizens, reduced

to the direst extremities, applied for aid 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 account of her personal beauty, her generosity, and the

magnificence of her court, which was the favourite resort of Italian

chivalry, poetry, and art. She was married young to the Count de

Bertinoro, who died, and left her a widow in the bloom of youth.

The Countess and Adelardi, with their combined forces, hastened to

the relief of the beleaguered city, near which they arrived at sunset.

Having pitched their camp on a hill overlooking the Ghibeline tents,

the soldiers were assembled, and harangued with exciting speeches,

which they received with loud applause, mingled with the clashing of

arms. However, they gained a bloodless victory. The besiegers, alarmed

at the strength of the foe, struck their tents, and retired under cover

of night.

The famished Anconians, relieved from the presence of the imperial

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

countess and her ally, and offered them magnificent presents.

On her homeward march, the countess fell in with a party of retreating

Ghibelines. Numerous skirmishes took place, in which the troops of

Aldrude were uniformly victorious.

The date of this heroine's death is unknown.

* * * * *

The designs of the Hohenstaufen on the throne of Sicily drew their

attention for a time from Lombardy. Henry VI., who ascended the

imperial throne of Germany on the death of his father, Frederick

Barbarossa, established 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 by Tancred, her natural brother. Henry

invaded the Neapolitan states in 1191; but though successful at first,

a terrible mortality in his camp compelled him to raise the siege of

Naples and retire from the country.

After the death of Tancred, his widow resigned all claim to the crown;

stipulating that her infant son, William, should be left in possession

of 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 the boy into prison, after putting out his eyes, imprisoned the

queen and the princesses in a convent, and carried the royal treasures

to Germany.

When the emperor returned to his own land, Naples and Sicily rose

against his tyranny. Hastening back with a mighty army, Henry defeated

the rebels, and commanded that the leaders should suffer the most

excruciating 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

empress, at this time fifty years old, led them against the German

troops. Henry, who had sent away most of his soldiers to the Holy

Land, was defeated, and compelled to submit to the terms dictated by

Constantia.

The emperor died at Messina in 1197, shortly after the conclusion of

the treaty, and his wife has been accused of administering poison,

to rid her people of a cruel and vindictive tyrant. After his death,

Constantia lived peacefully in Sicily as regent of the island and

guardian of her infant son, the Emperor Frederick II. She died three

years later, in the year 1200.

* * * * *

Returning to England, we find Dame Nichola de Camville, a noted heroine

of those days, personally engaged on the royal side during the Barons'

wars. Nichola de Hara, widow of Gerard, Lord Camville was co-sheriff

for the county of Lincolnshire. She held the Castle of Lincoln for King

John 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 and twenty thousand soldiers, and besieged the castle. It was

defended by Dame Nichola till the arrival of the Earl of Pembroke in

May, 1217, when the battle, afterwards known as "Lincoln Fair," quelled

for a time the rebellion of the English barons, and established Henry

III. on the throne.

Turn which way we will, we see nothing but civil wars and struggles

for supremacy between crowned heads and nobles. Crossing to France,

some nine or ten years later, we find the 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 went with the young king (her son) to Brittany, the seat of

the conspiracy. The malcontent nobles, not being prepared to meet the

royal forces in the field, submitted for a time.

In the following year, 1227, the royal troops defeated and captured

Raymond, Count of Toulouse, leader of the Albigeois, and the queen

treated her noble captive so harshly that the French lords again took

up arms, led by the Duke of Brittany. Despite the severity of the

winter, the queen-regent and her son marched into Brittany; and after

surmounting terrible obstacles from the cold, and from the snow and

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 when she had

once resolved on anything. To preserve her soldiers, hundreds of

whom perished from the bitter cold, she caused immense fires to be

kept constantly blazing, and offered high rewards to all who brought

wood into camp. To encourage the men she slept in the open air by the

bivouac fires, conversed with the troops, and encouraged officers and

privates alike by her affability and condescension.

Queen Blanche pressed the siege with unyielding determination. After

two assaults had been made the great tower was dismantled, and the

garrison surrendered. The Duke of Brittany was made prisoner, though,

through motives of policy, he was speedily set at liberty. The queen

next took Nantes and Acenis; and the revolt was brought to a close in

1230 by the surrender of the Count de Marche.

From the courage and military tact displayed by the queen during the

siege of Bellesmes, she received the complimentary title of "the Great

Captain."

The regency of Blanche ended in 1235, and Louis IX. took the government

into his own hands; but she again took up the regency in 1248, when her

son set forth on his crusade. She died in 1252, before St. Louis came

home from his ill-starred expedition.

So deep was the respect entertained for the memory of Blanche of

Castille, that many of the queen-dowagers of France assumed the surname

of Blanche, as the Roman emperors took the title of Augustus.

Until the thirteenth century, Prussia was inhabited by heathen

barbarians. In 1226, Conrad of Masovia gave the Teutonic Knights a

strip of land on the Vistula, that they might protect Poland from the

Prussian savages. For more than half a century the knights carried on

a war of extermination against the natives; again and again were the

Prussian tribes 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 a stratagem to come out, when they fell into an

ambuscade, and were all slain. The city would have fallen had not the

women closed the gates, clad themselves in mail, and mounted the walls

with spears in their hands. The Prussians, deceived by this stratagem,

withdrew their forces, believing that Culm was still strongly

garrisoned by sturdy knights.

Prussia was at last converted to Christianity, and adopted the manners

and customs of Germany, of which it is now the leading State.

The contests between the Guelfs and Ghibelines proved fatal to Italian

liberty. Might became right, tyrants arose on every side, and either

by open force or by fraud, possessed themselves of the sovereign power

in some one of the Lombardian cities 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 these mercenaries was Acciolin, who was not a brutal and

rapacious robber, but a man of refined cruelty. His favourite mode of

torture was to fasten his prisoners to half-putrified corpses, and

leave the living and the dead to rot away together.

In 1253, this fiend in human shape captured Bassano by storm, after a

tiresome siege. The garrison was commanded by John Baptista de Porta,

who was either governor or lord of the place. Blanche de Rossi, his

wife, a native of Padua, put on armour, mounted the ramparts, and

fought by the side of her husband. When the town fell the governor

was slain, and 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 she recovered from her swoon the tyrant sent for

her again, and finding his renewed protestations were repulsed with

loathing, he obtained by force what was denied to his prayers. Blanche

then withdrew to the place where her husband's body had been thrown,

and flinging herself into the open grave, was crushed to death by the

falling earth and stones.

In the year 1333, King Edward III., espousing the cause of Edward

Baliol, invaded Scotland. The battle of Hallidon Hill, July 29th, in

which the Regent Douglas was defeated, placed Baliol on the throne;

and Edward, carried away by his ambitious designs upon the French

throne, left his army in charge of the Earls of Arundel and Salisbury,

and returned to England. Montague, Earl of Salisbury, laid 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, intrepid spirit.

During the five months' siege she performed all the duties of a bold

and skilful commander, and the garrison had the utmost confidence in

her abilities. Constantly on the ramparts, she derided the English with

biting sarcasms. When the battering-engines hurled stones against the

walls, she scornfully told one of her female attendants to wipe off the

dust with her handkerchief.

The Earl of Salisbury knew well the kind of foe he had to deal with.

One day he was superintending the siege operations, when an arrow from

the castle whizzed past and struck a knight who stood by, piercing

through his chain-mail haubergeon, and killing him on the spot.

"There comes one of my lady's tire-pins," exclaimed the Earl. "Agnes's

love-shafts go straight to the heart!"

A monster called the "sow," a huge engine covered with hides, somewhat

resembling the testudo of the Romans, was at last rolled to the foot

of the walls. When the countess saw this ponderous machine coming, she

cried in a loud, mocking voice:--

"Montague, beware! your sow shall soon cast her pigs!"

She quickly verified her words by hurling an immense piece of rock upon

the "sow," crushing both it and its occupants to pieces.

Salisbury finding he could not succeed by fair means, bribed the

gate-keeper to leave the gates open on the following night. The porter

disclosed this to the countess, who directed him to keep to his bargain

and say nothing about it. 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 front of him.

The portcullis was suddenly dropped; Copeland, mistaken for his master,

remained a prisoner. The Earl was saved by his men, who dragged him

back just in time. Agnes, from a high turret, saw that the general had

escaped.

"Farewell, Montague!" she cried. "I intended that you should have

supped with us to-night, and assisted in defending the fortress against

the English."

Salisbury, despairing of being able to take the place, either by

treachery or by storm, turned the siege into a blockade, closely

investing the castle by sea and land, and tried to starve the garrison

out into a surrender. 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 next the sea. Sallying out again, they

attacked and dispersed the advanced guard of the besiegers. Salisbury,

disheartened by so many reverses, withdrew his forces, after having

remained before Dunbar for nineteen weeks.

About this time the duchy of Brittany was the subject of contention

between two rivals, John, Count de Montfort, son of the late duke, and

Charles of Blois, who had married 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. Edward III.,

of England, at once declared for the Count de Montfort, as an enemy to

the house of Valois, which he--King Edward--wished to drive from the

throne of France.

The count was betrayed into the hands of his rival by some malcontent

nobles. But Jane, the brave countess, sustained his sinking fortunes

"with the courage of a man and the heart 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 to desert the last male heir of their ancient dukes.

Her eloquence, beauty, and courage produced a magical effect. The

people swore to defend her and her son to the last extremity.

The countess next visited all the strongholds throughout Brittany, and

excited the people to resist the French, and to adopt the requisite

measures of defence. Then, sending her boy to England, she shut herself

up in Hennebonne, and there awaited the reinforcements promised by King

Edward.

Charles of Blois entered Brittany, captured Rennes, and despatched

a force, commanded by Prince Louis of Spain, to besiege Hennebonne.

The garrison, animated by the 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 the breach,

sustaining every attack of the foe with the utmost _sang froid_, or ran

from post to post, according as the troops required encouragement or

reinforcement.

One day the besiegers, engaged in an attack on the town, left their

camp totally unprotected. The countess, perceiving their neglect,

sallied forth by a postern-gate at the head of five hundred picked

men, set fire to the enemy's baggage and magazines, and created such

universal alarm that the besiegers gave over their assault on the town

to intercept 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,

despite the entreaties, the prayers of Jane, resolved to capitulate,

and opened negotiations with the enemy. Jane mounted the highest turret

and turned her eyes towards the sea, with a last hope of seeing her

deliverers. She descried some small specks far away in the distance.

Rushing down into the street, she cried, with transports of joy:--

"Succours! Succours! The English succours! No capitulation!"

The English fleet soon entered the harbour, and a small but valiant

body of English, headed by the chivalrous Sir Walter Manny, cast

themselves into the town. The negotiations were at once broken off,

and the besiegers, balked of their prey, renewed the attack with more

determined vigour than ever.

Sir Walter and his companions were at dinner with the countess when

a huge mass of stone crashed through the roof of an adjoining house,

terrifying the ladies assembled in the castle hall. Starting from his

seat, Sir Walter vowed to destroy the terrible engine which had thrown

this missile. In a few moments the English 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. Then driving back their assailants they crossed the draw-bridge,

and were received with acclamations by the townspeople, while the

countess herself "came down from the castle to meet them, and with a

most cheerful countenance kissed Sir Walter and all his companions, one

after another, like a noble and valiant dame."

Prince Louis abandoned his camp the same evening, and retired to that

of Prince Charles before the Castle of Arrai.

Charles, though unsuccessful in his attack on Hennebonne, soon became

master of nearly the whole of Brittany. During the truce between

England and France, the Countess de Montfort came to London, and asked

King Edward to grant her further 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 contending fleets

were at last separated by a storm, and the English sailed to Brittany,

took Vannes by storm, and massacred, not only the garrison, but even

the townspeople. The French soon recaptured the town, when Robert of

Artois was slain.

Edward III. landed in Brittany in 1345, with twelve thousand men, but

was not at first very successful. In June he was obliged to conclude

a short truce with France, 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, the English invaded

Normandy. The Countess de Montfort, assisted by an English force under

Sir Thomas Dagworth, defeated Charles of Blois, who was made prisoner.

Charles was set free in May, 1360, when peace was concluded between

France and England. The treaty, though it did not interfere with

Brittany, brought about an arrangement some months later, by which the

duchy was divided between the rival claimants.

But Charles broke faith, and renewed hostilities with the assistance

of France. The struggle was at last decided in favour of the Count de

Montfort, by the death of Charles and his son John, both of whom were

slain in the battle of Arrai, gained by the English, September 20th,

1364, the same day of the month on which his rival died.

The French heroine of this war was Julia du Guesclin, sister of the

great Constable. When the English invaded Brittany to support the Count

de Montfort, Julia, who was living with her sisters in a convent, was

obliged to take refuge in the fortress of Pontsorel, which was soon

besieged by the English. The garrison was small and the 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 compelled to retire,

discomfited. Julia then commanded the garrison to throw open the gates

and pursue the foe. The retreating army, confronted unexpectedly by a

strong force commanded by the Constable himself, who was returning to

Pontsorel, and surrounded on all sides, were nearly all slain, while

their commander was made prisoner.

When the war was over, Julia returned to her convent, where she passed

the rest of her days.

* * * * *

Another heroine of this war was Jane de Belleville. Her husband,

Oliver, Lord of Clisson, was accused of holding secret intelligence

with the English; and in 1343 Philip de Valois, without waiting

till the evidence should be well substantiated, caused him to be

decapitated. The widow, burning 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 or so inland. This female corsair was

frequently seen, with a sword in one hand and a torch in the other,

amidst the smoking ruins of a castle, or the smouldering heaps of a

destroyed village, directing with inhuman exultation the ferocious

cruelties suggested by her thirst for vengeance.

* * * * *

While King Edward and Philip de Valois were devastating France in their

contests for the crown, the Romagna was the scene of a fierce struggle

between the Pope, the Visconti, and the various nobles and cities of

Italy. After having lost a great part of his territories, Innocent II.

reconquered the States of the Church by means of the Cardinal Legate

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 Forli he entrusted the town of Cesena to his wife; and in

the beginning of 1357 the husband and wife separated. Marzia took up

her station in Cesena, with a garrison of two hundred knights and an

equal number of common soldiers. She was accompanied by her son and

daughter, and by Sgariglino de Petragudula, the wise counsellor of the

Ordelaffi family.

The town was soon invested by a force ten times as numerous as the

garrison. At the end of April some terrified burgesses opened the gates

of the lower town. But Marzia, recollecting the words of her husband,

who declared that unless the Pope 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 his rights,

retreated to the upper town with those soldiers and townspeople who

remained faithful. Sgariglino having proved to be a traitor, she caused

him to be executed; his reeking head was flung from the battlements

amongst the besiegers.

Marzia took upon herself all the duties of governor and military

commander. She wore her helmet and cuirass day and night, and scarcely

closed her eyes at all. At last she was compelled 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. Marzia's father, permitted by the legate,

entered Cesena and besought her to surrender. Her answer was firm and

simple. Her husband gave her a duty to perform, and she must obey

implicitly.

At last the people began to murmur. Marzia was compelled to surrender.

She conducted the negotiations herself; and so skilfully did she

manage, that the Legate, afraid of driving her to despair, consented

that her soldiers should return home unmolested, with their arms and

accoutrements. On the 21st of June she opened the gate of the citadel.

She had disdained to make terms for herself, so the legate cast Marzia

and her children into prison.

It is curious to note that there are now no remains of Cesena to

commemorate the heroic valour of Marzia.

* * * * *

The illustrious northern heroine, Margaret, whose military achievements

gained for her the title of "Semiramis of the North," was daughter of

Waldemar, King of Denmark, and was born at Copenhagen in 1353. On the

death of 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 female sovereign was not yet authorised by custom;

but Margaret's superior talents, her beauty, and her profuse liberality

prevailed, and she was chosen Queen of Denmark, and, soon after, she

was elected Queen of Norway.

By taking advantage of the internal dissensions in the kingdom of

Sweden, Margaret gained over a faction of the nobility, who offered her

the crown. She marched into Sweden with a large army, and after a war

of seven years defeated and captured King Albert at Falkœping. She

kept him a prisoner seven years longer, at the expiration of which he

resigned all claim to the Swedish crown.

To effect a permanent union of the three Scandinavian crowns, Queen

Margaret concluded the famous Union of Calmar, 1397. She restored

tranquillity at home, and was successful against all her enemies

abroad; but her latter years were disturbed by the ingratitude of Eric,

whom she had chosen as her successor. She died in 1412.

* * * * *

According to Border tradition, a Scottish maiden named Lilliard

fought at the battle of Otterburn ("Chevy Chase") on the 19th of

August, 1388, and displayed the same style of valour attributed to the

gallant Witherington, who fell in the same battle. It is said that the

following inscription was, till within a few years ago, to be seen on

her tombstone:--

"Fair Maiden Lilliard lies under this stane,

Little was her stature, but great was her fame,

On the English lads she laid many thumps,

And when her legs were off, she fought upon her stumps."

One of the most faithful adherents of Henry Bolingbroke in his days of

adversity was Sir John de Pelham, who had been squire to old John of

Gaunt. When Lancaster was banished by king Richard, Pelham followed

him abroad, leaving Pevensey castle in charge 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 partizans of Richard II. laid siege to Pevensey castle.

Lady Joan, a noble and spirited woman, took upon herself the conduct

of the defence, and directed all the efforts of the garrison with such

prudence and decision that the besiegers were forced to retire.

When the Duke of Lancaster ascended the throne as Henry IV., he

remembered the services of his faithful adherents. Sir John de Pelham

was created 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 Sir John by sending James I. of Scotland

as a prisoner to Pevensey castle. The courage of Lady Joan was also

publicly recognised and applauded.

* * * * *

Eric, Margaret's successor on the Scandinavian throne, proved to be a

very inferior ruler to his illustrious aunt. Nearly all his reign was

taken up with an inglorious war for the Duchy of Schleswig. The quarrel

was decided in favour of Denmark by the Emperor Sigismund; but the

Count of Holstein 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 have fallen but for the courage of Eric's

queen, Philippa, who was the daughter of Henry IV. of England. Throwing

herself into the city, the queen, by her exhortations and example,

inspired the garrison with such enthusiasm and patriotic fervour, that

the foe were compelled to retire discomfited.

Elated by her success, Philippa now resolved to carry the war into

the enemy's country. So, while Eric was endeavouring to gather

reinforcements of men and money in Sweden, the queen, with a fleet

of seventy-five sail, 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 into a rage when he heard of this disaster;

and carried away by his blind fury, he even struck the queen. The

high-spirited Philippa, unable to forgive this brutality, retired to a

convent, where she died shortly after.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

VII.

Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of Orleans--Margaret de Attendoli, Sister

of the great Sforza--Bona Lombardi and Onerata Rodiana, Female

Condottieri--Marulla (Turks in Europe)--Margaret of Anjou--Jeanne

Hachette--Doña Aldonza de Castillo, and Doña Maria Sarmiento

(Civil Wars in Castile)--Isabel the Catholic--Caterina Sforza.

AT the beginning of the fifteenth century there dwelt in the little

village of Domremy, on the banks of the Meuse, Jacques d'Arc, or Darc,

a peasant, and Isabeau Romie, his wife. Though comparatively poor, they

had the respect of their neighbours as being a hard-working, honest

couple. They had three sons and two daughters, all of whom were bred,

like their parents, to humble occupations. Joan, Jeanne, or Jehanne was

born, according to different writers, in 1402, 1410, or 1412. She was

exceedingly beautiful, with fine expressive features, and jet black

hair. She was about the middle height, with a delicately moulded frame.

Her education was the same as that of most peasant-girls, French or

English, in those days--spinning, sewing, and repeating her Paternoster

and Ave Maria. From her infancy Jeanne was employed in various duties,

the chief of which was driving the cattle to and from pasture. She was

of a religious, imaginative disposition, and as early as her thirteenth

year began to indulge those superstitious reveries which afterwards

made her famous. Although her gentleness caused her to be universally

beloved, she shunned girls of her own age, and took but little interest

in the amusements of others. While her young friends were playing under

the "Fairies' Tree" near the fountain of Domremy, Jeanne was dancing

and singing by herself in pious fervour, or weaving garlands for the

Holy Virgin in the small chapel of Notre Dame de Bellemont.

The villagers of Domremy were, without exception, staunch Royalists,

while those of the neighbouring hamlet were zealous Burgundians. A very

bitter hostility prevailed between the rival parties. On one occasion

a band of troopers invaded Domremy and drove all the people from their

homes. The family of Jeanne found shelter for a few days at an inn;

whence arose the mistake of the English chroniclers, who state that

the maiden was in early life an innkeeper's servant.

For a quarter of a century, France had been torn by civil war, and

the death of Charles VI. in 1422 plunged the country into hopeless

confusion and anarchy. According to the Treaty of Troyes (concluded in

1420), Henry VI. of England was proclaimed King of France, which his

uncle, the Duke of Bedford, governed as regent. Queen Isabella and the

Duke of Burgundy joined England; and the Dauphin, abandoned by his own

mother, had a very small party indeed. The English army was commanded

by several brave and talented warriors--the Earls of Salisbury,

Somerset, Warwick, Suffolk, Shrewsbury, Arundel, and many gallant

knights.

The Dauphin, at the age of nineteen, was crowned at Poitiers, as

Charles VII. On the 12th of October, 1428, the Earl of Salisbury laid

siege to Orleans, the last stronghold of any importance held by the

Royalists. It was bravely defended by Glaucour, Lahyre, and Dunois.

Repeated messages were sent to the king imploring assistance. The city

was naturally strong, and well-garrisoned, but the English commenced an

elaborate system of counter-fortification, and cut off the supplies of

the besieged.

Jeanne d'Arc watched with eager anxiety the siege of Orleans. Even

as a child she had learned to detest the English; and now she felt

herself commanded, by frequent visions and supernatural admonitions,

to undertake the deliverance of her king and country. Believing

firmly that Heaven destined her to save France, she refused more

than one advantageous offer of marriage. In February, 1429, being

then, according to the most reliable authorities, barely eighteen,

she was commanded by a vision of Our Lady to raise the siege of

Orleans, and afterwards conduct Charles to Rheims to be crowned in

state. She presented herself before Robert de Baudricourt, governor

of Vaucoulour, a town situated a few miles from Domremy, and related

her mission. Believing her to be insane, the governor twice sent

her away, threatening the second time to box her ears; but when she

returned a third time he thought it best to send her with letters of

recommendation to the Dauphin, at Chinon, in Touraine.

The fame of Jeanne d'Arc preceded her; and the king awaited with

impatience the arrival of his extraordinary visitor. Although Charles

disguised himself and mixed with his courtiers, Jeanne singled him out

at once, and addressed him as king of France.

After being subjected to the most severe examination during three

weeks, by divines, counsellors of parliament and learned men, the

king was satisfied that her story was true, and consented to accept

her aid. She was furnished with a suit of armour, and armed with a

sword marked on the blade with five crosses, taken by her directions

from the tomb of an old warrior in the church of St. Catherine at

Fierbois. In company with several nobles she was sent to the camp at

Blois, thirty-five miles from Orleans. Her presence produced the most

miraculous effect upon the drooping spirits of the soldiers. The French

generals resolved now to make some great effort for the relief of

Orleans; and ten thousand men, commanded by St. Severre, Lahyre, and

the veteran Dunois were despatched to its aid. Most of the soldiers

retreated in dismay when they saw the strong towers of the besiegers,

but La Pucelle, followed by a small party, forced her way through the

English camp, and entered Orleans on the 29th of April, 1429. She was

clad in armour and mounted on a snow-white horse; her head was bare,

and the long raven tresses, parted across her forehead, were tied at

the back with ribbon. In her right hand she grasped a lance; by her

side hung the consecrated sword and a small battle-axe.

On the 4th of May a sortie was made against the English bastille

of St. Loup, but the French were driven back with great slaughter.

Jeanne, hearing the noise of the fight, mounted her horse and galloped

to the spot, when she rode into the midst of the battle. The French,

re-animated by her presence, again charged the English, drove them

back, and captured the bastille.

After this first success the rest was comparatively easy. On the 6th

and 7th the remaining bastilles on the south bank of the Loire were

carried by storm. The most important, that at the head of the bridge,

defended by Sir William Gladsdale with five thousand picked men,

yielded after an attack of fourteen hours. During the attack on this

tower, Jeanne, having placed a ladder against the walls, was attempting

to scale the battlements, when she was struck in the neck by an arrow.

She plucked out the weapon immediately, but the loss of blood compelled

her to leave the field. However, when she heard that her absence

dispirited the soldiers, she insisted upon returning to the scene of

action.

The Earl of Salisbury died during the siege; and the Earl of Suffolk,

who succeeded to the command, raised the siege on the 8th of May, and

beat a hasty retreat.

Jeanne d'Arc, the "Heaven-sent Maid," had now fully entered upon her

extraordinary career of victory. The universal belief in her elevated

mission--as much amongst the English as the French--produced marvellous

results. Resolute and chivalrous, pious and gentle, she won the hearts

of all,--even the roughest and most sceptical veterans. However, it was

only in matters of moral discipline that she was implicitly obeyed;

oaths or foul language were severely censured when they reached her

ears. She compelled the entire army, generals and soldiers alike,

to attend regularly at confession; and at every halt she ordered an

altar to be established and the Holy Sacrament administered. But the

generals, while they skilfully employed her to animate the soldiers,

did not implicitly follow her counsels in military matters.

Her tactics were very simple. "I used," she said, "to say to them 'go

boldly in among the English,' and then I used to go boldly in myself."

Her duties were chiefly confined to bearing at the head of the army

the consecrated sword and the sacred banner--the latter made of white

satin, semée with fleurs-de-lis, with the words "Jesus Maria," and a

representation of Our Saviour in his glory embroidered on its surface.

Her conduct was never stained by unfeminine cruelty. It appears from

the documents relative to her trial, that, although she was herself

wounded many a time, she never shed the blood of anyone. Some French

historians, however, aver that she did sometimes, when hard pressed,

use the consecrated sword as a weapon of offence.

When the Earl of Suffolk retired from before Orleans he established

his head-quarters at Méhun-sur-Loire, and afterwards at Jargeau.

Jeanne hastened to Tours, where Charles was residing with his court,

and urged him at once to go to Rheims to be crowned. The royal

advisers, however, were afraid to venture on such a step when Rheims

itself, together with all the intermediate towns, was still held by

the English. The French next attacked the towns in possession of the

English on the banks of the Loire. During the assault on Jargeau, which

was taken by storm, La Pucelle, leading on the French, was seen on the

highest step of one of the scaling-ladders, waving her banner over her

head. A stone from the English engines struck her so violent a blow on

the head, that her helmet was shattered, and she fell heavily to the

foot of the wall. Rising on the instant, she cried:--

"Amis, amis! sus, sus! Notre Seigneur a condamné les Anglais. Ils sont

à nous. Bon courage!"

The Earl of Suffolk was made prisoner during the assault.

Beaugency and Méhun capitulated shortly after the fall of Jargeau; and

the English, commanded by Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, the "English

Achilles," retreated towards Paris. They were pursued and overtaken in

April, 1429, at Patai, by the Maid of Orleans. Sir John Fastolfe, one

of the bravest knights of his day (whatever Shakespeare may declare to

the contrary), advised Talbot to continue his retreat with all speed;

but the Earl scorned to fly before his enemies, even though, as on this

occasion, they were twice as numerous as his own men. The English,

struck with a superstitious dread of La Pucelle, fled, after making

little resistance; and Talbot, after losing twelve hundred men, was

captured. Eight hundred English were slain in the pursuit. Sir John

Fastolfe, with a prudence long stigmatised as rank cowardice, continued

his retreat to Paris, where he arrived safely without the loss of a man.

Jeanne now insisted that the royal coronation should be no longer

delayed. Every obstacle vanished at her approach. Troyes, Chalons, and

other cities in rapid succession opened their gates; the people of

Rheims expelled the English garrison, and Charles entered in triumph,

July 16th, 1429. The consecration took place next day in the cathedral.

The Maid stood by the side of Charles, clad in armour; and, taking the

office of High Constable, held the sword over the king's head.

Her mission being now concluded, Jeanne d'Arc entreated the king's

permission to "return to her father and mother, to keep her flocks

and herds as before, and do all things as she was wont to do;" but

her presence was considered so necessary to animate the troops, that

she was prevailed upon to stay. In September, Jeanne was wounded in

an unsuccessful attack on Paris, when she requested, a second time,

to be allowed to retire from the war. But she was again overruled.

In December, a patent of nobility was conferred upon her; she was

first styled Dalis, then Dulis, and finally Dy Lys. Her coat of arms

contained two golden lilies and a sword, pointing upwards, bearing a

crown. She obtained for the villages of Domremy and Greux an exemption

from taxation, which they enjoyed until the equalisation of public

imposts in 1789.

In the spring of 1429, the Duke of Burgundy besieged Compiégne. Jeanne

d'Arc threw herself into the town on the 21st of May. Believing that

her presence now would work the same miracles as of old, she insisted,

the evening of her arrival, that the garrison should make a sortie.

After some hard fighting the French took to flight. Jeanne took the

command of the rear-guard, and tried to rally her countrymen. A

Burgundian archer pulled her from her horse; and while lying on the

ground she was obliged to surrender to Lyonnel, the Bastard of Vendôme.

There is good reason for supposing that Guillaume de Flavy, governor of

the fortress, envious of her military renown, betrayed Jeanne into the

hands of her enemies.

The English purchased Jeanne from the Duke of Burgundy for ten thousand

livres; and Henry VI. also settled an annuity of three hundred francs

upon her captor. Through many weary months the Maid of Orleans dragged

out a miserable existence in a dungeon. In place of being treated as

a prisoner of war, she was handed over to ecclesiastical justice,

charged with heresy and blasphemy. At the instigation of several

Frenchmen a process was instituted by the Bishop of Beauvais, in whose

diocese she had been captured. The process lasted three months and had

sixteen sittings. Jeanne denied resolutely the accusations of sorcery

and witchcraft, and named St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine

as the bearers of the heavenly messages.

The Bishop's Court, representing the Church and the University of

Paris, condemned Jeanne d'Arc as a sorceress and a heretic. Charles

VII. made little or no efforts to save her; and after four months'

imprisonment, the innocent enthusiast was sentenced to be burned alive

at Rouen. She was cut off from the Church, and delivered to the secular

judges.

On the 24th of May, 1431, she was carried to the stake, which had

been erected in the Vieux Marché of Rouen. At sight of the pile her

courage deserted her. She submitted to the Church, and confessed that

her visions were the work of Satan. Her punishment was commuted to

imprisonment for life, but it was not considered expedient to let her

live; so she was condemned as a relapsed heretic, and dragged to the

stake, May 30th. She was dressed in female attire; and on her head was

a mitre, covered with the words "Apostate," "Relapse," "Idolâtre,"

"Hérétique."

She met her fate this time with terrible calmness. While they were

putting the cap on her head, she said to one of the Dominican friars

who stood by her side:--

"Maître, par la grâce de Dieu, je serai ce soir en paradis."

Falling on her knees, she prayed fervently for a few moments, not for

herself only, but for the ungrateful king who had so cruelly deserted

her. The judges, even the stern Bishop of Beauvais, were moved to

tears. She was burned by a slow fire, and the pile was so high that her

agony lasted for a considerable time. Her ashes were gathered together

and flung into the Seine.

There is a legend that, as she expired, a white dove rose from the

flames. Another tradition says that after her ashes were removed, the

heart was found entire.

The Rouen theatre now occupies that part of the public square on which

the stake was erected. It was remarked as a curious coincidence that

when Soumet's tragedy of "Jeanne d'Arc" was performed at Rouen, in

the autumn of 1865, the last act, which represents the death of the

Maid, was played on the identical spot where the real tragedy had been

enacted in 1431.

Jeanne's father died of grief at her cruel fate; her mother survived

for many years, supported by a pension from the city of Orleans. In

1436 an impostor started up, who pretended to be the Maid of Orleans,

giving a plausible account of her escape. She was for sometime

successful, being acknowledged, even by the brothers, as the heroine

herself. Within the last few years this idea of Jeanne's escape

has been revived. Many French writers assert that there is ample

documentary evidence to prove that the Maid of Orleans lived to be

comfortably married, while another girl took her place at the stake.

This notion is gaining ground, both in France and England.

Among all the divines who condemned Jeanne, there was only one

Englishman--the Bishop of Winchester, Cardinal Beaufort.

In 1450 and 1451 measures were taken to revise the process of

condemnation. In 1456 a court, presided over by the Archbishop of

Rheims and the Bishops of Paris and Coutance, decided that Jeanne d'Arc

was entirely innocent, and declared her to have been falsely condemned.

The citizens of Orleans celebrate the annual Festival of Jeanne d'Arc

on the 8th of May; the villagers of Domremy hold an annual fête on the

6th of January, the birth-day of the heroine. It is said that the girls

of the village have so much military _esprit_ that they will hardly

deign to look upon a lover who has not served some years in the wars.

The memory of Jeanne d'Arc has been preserved in France by several

monuments. Louis XI. erected a figure of the heroine in front of her

father's house; and in September, 1820, another memorial was raised

in Domremy, with Jeanne's bust carved in marble. In the market-place

of Rouen stands another figure of the Maid. In front of the Marie

of Orleans is a statue, modelled by the Princess Marie, daughter

of the Citizen King. In April, 1855, a colossal equestrian figure

was uncovered in one of the public squares of Orleans, on the exact

spot where she animated the French soldiers to attack the foe. It

was remarked as a sign of the times that not only the English flag,

but also the Turkish crescent stood out prominently from amongst the

numberless standards which surrounded the monument.

It has lately been proposed by the Bishop of Orleans, the Cardinal

Archbishop of Rouen, and others, to add Jeanne d'Arc to the calendar of

French saints. Shakespeare may thus prove once more a prophet; he has

put into the mouth of King Charles, the words:--

"No longer on Saint Denis will we cry,

But Joan la Pucelle shall be France's saint."

During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Italy was terribly

harassed by bands of mercenary soldiers, who sought service in every

war, and fought neither through patriotism nor for the love of glory,

but merely for pay and the opportunity of plunder. These bands, who

counted their numbers by hundreds or thousands, according to the

reputation of the Condottiere (leader) under whom they fought, offered

their services to the prince or city that paid them best, without

regard to law or justice. Many of the Condottieri, such as the Count

of Werner, Montreal, Bracchia de Montone, and Francesco Sforza, became

famous throughout Italy, not only as able generals, but sometimes even

as skilful statesmen; yet, mostly they were ignorant, brutal men, with

nothing to recommend them beyond reckless bravery.

Sforza had a sister named Margaret de Attendoli, who shared his warlike

spirit and enterprising courage. The family was of humble origin, but

through the military genius of Francesco it rose, by rapid strides,

to the highest rank and eminence. Before he assumed the sovereignty

of Milan, Sforza was grand-constable of Naples; and in this capacity

he was sent to meet the Count de la Marche, the betrothed husband of

the Neapolitan queen. The count, dreading the power of Sforza, caused

him to be cast into prison, with many of his relations. Sforza's

sister was at Tricario with her husband, Michael de Cotignola, when

the intelligence of Francesco's arrest reached her. The relatives

speedily assembled an army, Margaret took the command, and a revolt

began. According as the Count de la Marche grew more brutal towards

his queen and more despotic to her subjects, the insurrection became

more general; and at last Count Jaques was besieged in his castle. The

besiegers demanded that Sforza should be set at liberty, and that the

count should be content with the title of lieutenant-general of the

kingdom; but he, knowing the value of his prisoner as a hostage, sent

threatening messages to Margaret, demanding that Tricario should be

given up, unless she would wish to be the cause of her brother's death.

Margaret, indignant at the proposal, took the bold step of imprisoning

the deputies, whose families, alarmed for their safety, importuned the

count night and day, till he consented to set Sforza at liberty, and

reinstate him in all his honours.

* * * * *

Female Condottieri were by no means uncommon in those days; and some

of the women acquired celebrity, even beyond the Italian borders, for

their prowess and military skill. The story of one of these female

soldiers is interesting.

About the year 1432, Captain Brunoro, a Parmesan gentleman by birth,

and a Condottiere by profession, was appointed by Piccinio, the

Milanese general (who had just driven the Venetians from Vatellina),

to maintain a camp in Morbego, as a central position whence he could

command the conquered territory. While thus employed, he occupied his

leisure time with hunting, and various open air amusements. One day,

being tired, he stopped to rest in a sylvan grove, where some peasants

were celebrating a rustic festival. Doubtless there were many pretty

faces there; but one amongst them struck him more than all the rest.

He entered into conversation with this pretty girl, who charmed and

surprised him by her lively, spirited answers.

On his return home he learned that the pretty peasant was quite a

celebrity in the neighbourhood. Her name was Bona Lombardi (or, as some

give it, Longobarba), and she was born in 1417, in the little village

of Sacco, in Vatellina. She was the only daughter of humble people, of

whom little is known except that her father, Gabriel Lombardi, was a

private soldier in one of the Italian armies, and died while Bona was

a child. Her mother did not long survive; and the little girl was left

to the care of her uncle, a poor priest, and her aunt, an industrious

countrywoman.

Captain Brunoro remained in Morbego during the summer, and had thus

frequent opportunities for meeting with Bona Lombardi. At last he

decided that she was the woman of all others to make him happy, and

they were married. The marriage was kept secret for some time; but to

avoid even a temporary separation, Bona dressed herself in the costume

of a Condottiere, and accompanied her husband in all his expeditions.

Like all Condottieri Brunoro was obliged to adopt various masters;

and thus he very often found himself opposed to one of his former

employers. Once he made an enemy of Alexander, King of Naples, who

took him prisoner by means of an ambuscade, and cast him into prison.

He would probably have ended his days in a Neapolitan dungeon, but for

the untiring efforts of his wife. Money, entreaties, threats, all were

employed; till at last she procured his release.

Bona learned the art of war to perfection. Her courage and military

skill were so highly esteemed by the Venetians that they confided to

her and her husband the defence of Negropont, against the Turks, who

in those days were dreaded by the Christians as much as the Goths and

Vandals were in ancient times. More than once she displayed valour and

prudence of a superior order. During the Milanese war, the Venetians

having been repulsed in an attack upon the Castle of Provoze, in

Brescia, Brunoro was captured. Bona arrived soon after with a small

body of fresh troops. Rallying the discomfited Venetians, she led

them in person to a second assault on the castle. This time they were

successful, and Bona had the pleasure of releasing her husband with the

rest of the prisoners.

Brunoro died in 1468, and Bona Lombardi, declaring that she could not

survive her husband, built a tomb for the reception of their mutual

remains. When it was finished, she sank into a state of languor, from

which she never recovered.

* * * * *

Onerata Rodiana, another female Condottieri, was, in addition, a

celebrated painter. She was born, in the early part of the fifteenth

century, at Castelleone, and while yet a girl her reputation as a

painter became so great that the Marquis Gabrinio, tyrant of Cremona,

engaged her to decorate his palace.

One day, while thus occupied, a dissipated courtier, who happened to

see her painting the walls of a room, attempted to take liberties. A

struggle ensued, which was terminated by Onerata drawing a stiletto

and stabbing her antagonist. She then fled from the palace, disguised

herself in male attire, and quitted the city. Meeting with the band of

Oldrado Sampuynano, the Condottiere, she enlisted under his banner.

The marquis was furious when he discovered the flight of his

court-painter, and he despatched soldiers in pursuit. Soon relenting,

however, he issued a proclamation, in which he promised full pardon

on condition that Onerata would return to her professional labours.

But she preferred the life of a soldier, so she remained with her new

comrades. By her courage she soon rose to the post of captain; and for

thirty years she led the roving life of a free-lance, painting and

fighting alternately. When Castelleone, her native town, was besieged

by the Venetians in 1472, she hastened with her band to its assistance.

She was victorious; but during the action she fell, mortally wounded.