Murasaki Shikibu was a writer during the Heian era of Japan, born in 973. She is most famous for writing the epic classic Tale of Genji, which is considered to be the first novel ever written. Murasaki was from an aristocratic family. She disliked men and mostly kept to herself, spending much of her time at Imperial court writing new chapters for the Tale of Genji. She passed them on to friends, who in turn copied them out and passed them on to their friends to read and copy, and it quickly became popular. Women were thought to be too stupid to learn the traditional written Chinese kanji characters and were taught phonetic kana instead. But Murasaki learned Kanji easily and taught it to the princess Shoshi in secret, causing outrage when she became empress and used it publicly. Murasaki is largely credited for developing Japanese into a written language. She earned herself the nickname “Our Lady of the Chronicles”.
Coco Chanel is one of the most famous Fashion Designers in history, and founder of the still popular Chanel brand. She was raised in an orphanage and taught how to sew by the nuns there. She had a brief career as a singer, which is where she earned the name “Coco”. At age 27, she opened her first shop in Paris in 1910 selling hats before moving on to clothes, and many of her styles remain iconic to this day. Although her story is controversial, it’s thanks to her that corsets went out of fashion as women began wearing her more casual, liberating style.
“Miyagino the filial”, (1847/1848 ?), Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
Print from the series “Stories of dutifulness and loyalty in revenge”.
Depicts one of the two sisters who avenged their father during the 17th century. Their story inspired the kabuki play “Go Taiheiki shiraishi banashi” for instance.
Here the older sister, Miyagino, is represented carrying both a naginata and a sake cup.
Print from the series “Thirty-six Good and Evil Beauties”
The princess Kiyoshi Hikariin draws her sword in order to avenge herself. The folding screen behind her is decorated with the mon (crest) of the powerful Tokugawa family, who ruled the shogunate during the Edo period.
This armor is attributed to Ohori Tsuruhime (1526 (?)-1543 (?)) a miko (priestess) of the Oyamazumi shrine on Omishima island. As the daughter of the head-priest, she took command when he died of illness. In 1541 she led troops during two naval battles in order to repel invaders.
And it is nice to see some realistic female-armor. Of course, no boob-plate.
May 17th 1198. A 4 years-old Federico II Hohenstaufen is crowned King of Sicily
Soon after the death of the Emperor Henry, Constance had the child fetched from Foligno by an Apulian count and brought to Sicily. Dressed in widow’s weeds she awaited her son in Palermo. There were grave accusatory rumours against the Empress current at the time: some said she had poisoned her husband, and it was a matter of common knowledge that she had no love for Germans. The suspicion of murder was unjust, but the hatred for Germans ascribed to her was genuine enough; she shared it with her Sicilian fellow-countrymen and with the Italians oppressed by the Roman Curia. The foundations of this hate were the same then as they have always been: the arrogance “allied with unwisdom” of the Germans alienated the Mediterranean peoples, as did their “obstinacy and self-assertiveness.”
Their physical strength and their savagery moreover terrified the Southerners, the discords prevailing amongst themselves brought them scorn and contempt. For rulers of the world they appeared “crude, coarse and uncivilised,” while their yet unpolished language seemed to the Romans "like the barking of dogs and the croaking of frogs.” But the main factor in this hate was fear; fear of the inrush “of the winter and the storm into the rose-gardens of Sicily.” This fear was not allayed by the savagely cruel treatment meted out to the Sicilians by Henry VI. Perhaps Innocent with his biblical phraseology hit on the right description of the German visitation of those days when he wrote: “Because the people of Sicily and the other inhabitants of this kingdom have grown effeminate in sloth, and undisciplined through too much peace, and, boasting themselves of their wealth, have given themselves over to the unbridled lusts of the body, their stink has gone up to heaven and the multitude of their sins has delivered them into the hands of the oppressor.”
Innocent spoke thus out of no friendliness to the Germans. The hate of Germans that flamed up throughout Italy on the death of the Emperor had been carefully nurtured beforehand by the Curia, had been given the air of a national pan-Italian movement and utilised as a means to shake off the imperial yoke in the south in favour of a papal Italy. In resonant periods Innocent III had taken pains to stir up and foster this hate: “The wrath of the North wind whistles through the mountains with a new quaking of the earth, it drives through the level plains of Apulia, whirling dust into the eyes of wanderers and country-dwellers.” Thus he wrote about the German,Henry VI, whom Dante also designated “that loud blast which blew the second over Swabia’s realm.” A reaction of this sort against the tyranny of Henry VI was of course inevitable. The importance of the movement in Sicily was enhanced by the fact that the Empress Constance took part in it. Her motives were probably personal, for Henry had made a terrific clearance amongst all related to the old Norman royal house and had banished the survivors to Germany. On his death Constance immediately resumed the sovereignty of her hereditary domain, in accordance both with the Emperor’s instructions and with the right she herself possessed as Norman Queen. But the new ruler of Sicily was Norman Queen only: not widowed Empress; and the first act of her reign was to banish from her kingdom the Emperor’s interpreter, Markward of Anweiler, and with him all other German notables, a considerable number of whom held fief and office in the Norman territory. The pretext was that they might prove dangerous to the peace and quiet of the kingdom,especially Markward, who had not been slow to propose himself as vicegerent. Her next step was to imprison the Sicilian Chancellor, Walter of Palear, Bishop of Troia, who had been from of old an opponent of the Norman dynasty and a willing tool of the German Emperor. The intervention of the Pope was necessary to effect the liberation of the Bishop Chancellor and his re-instatement in his former offices. AntiGerman feeling in the south was so acute that the first German crusaders who were returning, all unsuspecting, from the Holy Land were surprised and plundered by the excited Sicilians, and after that the home-coming pilgrims had to avoid the har bours of this dangerously inhospitable kingdom. Curiously, the German princes who were on the Crusade, when they received in Acre the news of their Emperor’s death, reconfirmed the choice of Frederick as King of the Romans.
Constance, however, deliberately shut her eyes to all this. Her hate of Germany reinforced the maternal anxiety which heroes’ mothers are wont to suffer from: in the German crown she saw a never-ending series of future perils and struggles for her son. She would as far as possible ward off such a danger from him. Frederick should be king of the wealthy Sicily, and in the southern Land of Dreams he would quietly forget the imperial dignity of his fathers. A few months after the boy’s arrival in Palermo she had him crowned King of Sicily. The solemn rite was celebrated on Whit Sunday 1198, with a pomp and ceremony borrowed from the Byzantine court, while in accordance with ancient custom the people greeted their newly crowned king with the cry which may still be read on every crucifix in southern Italy “Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat.” It is significant to note that this is also the motto engraved on Frederick’s early seals. From that day Constance omitted from all official documents of the young king the title that had previously figured there: Rex Romanorum. From henceforth Frederick of Hohenstaufen was to content himself with the many titles borne by the reges felices of Norman stock. He was to be, body and soul, the son of the Sicilian Constance only, and to be kept aloof from all the fatal, unknown consequences in which the dangerous Hohenstaufen blood of his father might involve him. One is reminded of the childhood of Achilles or of Parzival.
Kantorowicz Ernst,Frederick II. 1198-1250, p. 13-16
And yet Heaven’s providential intervention stepped in; since the still free mind of Prince Don Cesare couldn’t grasp a greater gift was yet to come. And this bird-catcher fooled by hope, instead of an escaped dove, managed to catch a Phoenyx. This was indeed Donna Luisa di Luna e Vega, daughter of Pietro Duke of Bivona, who by marrying Don Cesare, not only brought to her husband’s House her father’s Duchy, and the lands of the House of Peralta, already englobed by those of de Luna’s, but then with the marriages of her son and grandson, poured in the Moncada’s possessions, the titles and riches of two other illustrious lineages, that of Aragona and Cardona, with the Duchy of Montalto and the County of Collesano.
Hence, like that Arabian bird, which it is obsequiously followed by other birds wherever it flies, likewise she brought with her a magnificent procession of many estates in the House where she nested.
Giovanni Agostino della Lengueglia, Ritratti della prosapia et heroi Moncadi nella Sicilia: opera historica-encomiastica,p.559-560 [my translation]
Aloisia (or Luisa) was born in Bivona (nearby Agrigento) around 1553. She was the firstborn of Pietro Giulio de Luna Salviati, Duke of Bivona, Earl of Caltabellotta and of Sclafani, and his first wife, the Spanish Doña Isabel de Vega y Osório. The baby girl was named after her paternal grandmother, Luisa Salviati de’ Medici. In fact, through her father, Aloisia descended from Lorenzo il Magnifico de’ Medici, who was her great-great-grandfather. On her mother’s side, on the other hand, she was the granddaughter of Juan de Vega y Enriquez, who had been Viceroy of Navarre and later of Sicily (also the one who brought Jesuits in Sicily). Aloisia had two younger sisters, Bianca and Eleonora, and a half-brother, Giovanni, born in 1563, out of Pietro’s second marriage to Ángela de la Cerda y Manuel, daughter of Juan de la Cerda, IV Duke of Medinaceli and Viceroy of Sicily from 1557 to 1564.
In 1568, Aloisia married Cesare Moncada Pignatelli, Prince of Paternò, Earl of Adernò and of Caltanissetta, a decade older than her, in Caltabellotta. The union between the two had been planned by Juan de la Cerda, the bride’s step-grandfather. Cesare was indeed supposed to marry his cousin, Giovanna de Marinis (daughter of his aunt Stefania), but marriages between noble families were delicate matters and needed the Viceroy’s approval as well as (sometimes) the Papal dispensation in case of seventh grade parentage. The Moncadas were an incredibly wealthy and noble family. They owed their fortune mainly to Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada Earl of Agosta who, in 1379, had kidnapped Queen Maria I of Sicily and brought her to Spain where she married her cousin Martino. To thank him for his support, King Pedro IV of Aragon (the Queen’s maternal grandfather) had named Guglielmo Raimondo Royal Counselor and Justiciar of the Kingdom of Sicily. From 1565, the Moncadas were able to add to their titles that of Princes of Paternò, plus managed to exchange Augusta for Caltanissetta, thus saving tons of money since Augusta, differently from Caltanissetta, was a maritime city, which was often the victim of pirates’ raidings and needed to be constantly defenced (which entailed great expenses). De la Cerda used his influence to mess up the Moncadas’ original wedding plans (angering thus the groom’s family) and proposed the union with the de Luna, with whom the Moncadas were distantly related and therefore had needed the Pope’s blessing.
Aloisia would give birth to two children: Isabella (who would die an infant) and Francesco (ca. 1569-1592). Her marital life would be cut short as Cesare would suddenly die in Paternò on July 30th 1571, after only three years of marriage.
Little Francesco, now Francesco II, would be officially appointed of his late father’s titles the following year and placed under the guardianship of his maternal grandfather, Pietro de Luna, and his paternal uncle, Fabrizio Moncada (first husband of famous portrait painter Sofonisba Anguissola). Seven years later, Fabrizio would die in a pirate attack off the coast near Capri and some would talk about it not being an accident and about rumours of Fabrizio being headed to Spain to denounce his sister-in-law’s meddlings in the management of the Moncada’s patrimony.
Gossipers aside, it’s documented Aloisia took personal care in the education of her son and short-lived daughter. She began Francesco to study law, philosophy, literature and maths, as well as more artistic subjects like painting and sculpting.
Aloisia was the one who actively ruled over her son’s lands, showing a great deal of resourcefulness and managerial skills. Holding steady in her mind the idea of strengthening her (and by result her son’s) position, on September 17th, 1577, in Monreale, she married Antonio d’Aragona Cardona, Duke of Montalto and himself a widower. By concession of the Viceroy Marcantonio II Colonna, Aloisia obtained to keep acting as her son’s guardian without having to cede the role to her new husband or someone else.
Antonio d’Aragona too belonged to a prominent family, being a grandson of Ferrante d’Aragona Guardato, founder of the Line of the Dukes of Montalto and illegitimate child of Ferdinando I of Naples. Antonio’s first wife had been María de la Cerda y Manuel de Portugal, daughter of Juan de la Cerda y Silva, 4th Duke of Medinaceli as well as a Grandee of Spain, Viceroy of Sicily and Viceroy of Navarre during his long political career. From his first marriage, only his daughter Maria had reached adulthood as little Ferdinando died as an infant.
Aloisia bore Antonio a daughter, Bianca Antonia, who would later marry Giuseppe Ventimiglia Ventimiglia, II Prince of Castelbuono and IX Marquis of Geraci, and be the mother of Francesco III Ventimiglia d’Aragona, who would be offered (but not accept) the Crown of the Kingdom of Sicily during the anti-Spanish revolt of 1647.
The Duke of Montalto died in Naples on February 8th, 1584, on the route to quell a riot in the Flanders (the so called Dutch War of Independence) by virtue of his role of Captain General of the Spanish Cavalry in the Flanders. Leaving no male heir, all his titles and possessions passed to his eldest daughter, Maria.
Aloisia didn’t lose time to grieve for her husband as she swiftly arranged the marriage between her son Francesco and her step-daughter, the new Duchess of Montalto. The wedding took place on March 12th 1585 and the following year Francesco received maritali nomine the endowment of the Duchy of Montalto the Earldom of Collesano and all the lands owned by his wife’s family, bringing the total to thirteen of the fiefs owned by the Moncada.
On August 1592, Aloisia’s half-brother, Giovanni died childless, so as his eldest sister and heir, on September 30th she was endowed of the baronies of Scillato and Regaleali. She also inherited many fiefs in the area of Caltavuturo and Sclafani. From her court in Caltanissetta, she kept cleverly administering her possessions as well as the lands acquired through both of her late husbands (she generally rented her lands to foreigners, mostly Genoese and Pisans). She invited the Jesuits in Caltanissetta, had many churches and religious centre of the area built, she restored the city’s Cathedral. Aloisia took particular interest in having the Moncada’s libri di famiglia (books used to register one family’s commercial activity as well as key events in the lives of its family members, particularly common from XIII to XVI century) perfectly catalogued and maintained. She introduced and commissioned many artists and was perhaps the one who called back her sister-in-law Sofonisba Anguissola who, at that time, lived in Genova with her second husband, and who starting 1615 returned in Sicily where she would die.
Those who visited her, were rendered almost speechless about the magnificence of her court. During a visit in 1598 of the Viceroy and Vicereine, Bernardino de Cárdenas y Portugal and his wife Luisa Manrique de Lara, the Duchess had, in that occasion, surpassed herself. Aloisia had, in fact, arranged the area where she would receive her guests (at her own expenses), the forest of Mimiani, so perfectly and with so many tents, one would have thought you were in an actual city. Her guests were so pleased, the Vicereine gifted her of a splint of the Holy Cross kept in a display case ornated by precious stones.
Aloisia was also particularly generous. She did a lot of charity (and passed on the same generous disposition to her son and grandson), but made it through the nuns, ordering them to keep quiet about her being the one who sent the money, so that people would rather thank the Heaven for the celestial gift. She must have thought that public displays of charity didn’t have as an aim to help people, but rather that some benefactors did it for themselves since they took pleasure to hear their names be acclaimed for their generosity. During a terrible famine, when poor people were so hungry they ate grass and pasture, she used her personal income to provide for her people, so that at that time in her lands mortality rate was very low. She was also particularly mindful to guarantee that poor girls wouldn’t find themselves forced by misery to undertake a dishonourable life, granting them means to do honourable marriages. On the other hand, the Duchess didn’t skirt from regularly sending generous gifts to ministers and potentates, so that when at the right time, she could count on their support.
On May 23rd, 1592, a 23 year-old Francesco II Moncada died of malaria in Adernò (nearby Catania). Although it must have been extremely heartbreaking to lose her beloved son, Aloisia braced herself and took on the task of properly raising, together with her daughter-in-law, her 4 years-old grandson, Antonio. Since the child was also Donna Maria’s heir, in accordance with his parents’ marriage settlements, it had been stipulated he would take as first his mother’s surname and be styled as Antonio II d’Aragona Moncada de Luna.
The little Prince grew up together with his younger brother Cesare (the other brother, Giovanni, had died a child) in his family’s palace in Caltanissetta, closely watched over by their grandmother and mother (although, at ten, he seriously risked drowning in a cistern, while playing with his brother, and was saved thanks to Cesare’s cries for help which alerted Aloisia and Maria). From a young age, Antonio had been betrothed to Juana de la Cerda y de la Cueva, daughter of Juan de la Cerda, VI Duke of Medinaceli and his first wife Ana de la Cueva and at that time her father’s only heir.
The Duke of Medinaceli was in particular eager to have this marriage celebrated and already thought of Antonio as a son of his own. Since the young Moncada kept delaying his journey to Spain in order to marry, the Duke of Medinaceli somewhat grew tired and got married a second time (although he hadn’t thought of remarrying previously). Unfortunately for Juana, her step-mother, Antonia de Toledo Dávila y Colonna, would in 1607 give birth to a son, Antonio Juan Luis, who would surpass his sister and would one day inherit their father’s titles and possessions.
Although, understandably, organising a quasi-royal marriage all the way to Spain, complete with a long voyage to reach it, was indeed a big and long deal, that missed chance was perhaps Aloisia’s only mistake. If only they had moved faster, and Juana had succeeded her father, Moncada’s riches might have reached legendary status.
The delay was due to the fact that the old Duchess had also insisted to travel to Spain, accompanied by her daughter-in-law, Maria, and her two young granddaughters, Isabella and Luisa, with the hope of finding suitable matches for the girls among the Spanish aristocracy, and for that every aspect of the journey had to be perfect (Isabella would die young, while Louisa would marry in 1612 Eugenio de Padilla Manrique, III Count of Gadea). The Moncadas had to arrive in Spain with the pomp and grandeur (Aloisia must have thought) they deserved. Worryngly, as they reached Naples and stopped for a break, the groom grew sick and had to be treated by the best doctors before he could resume the voyage.
The marriage between Antonio Moncada and Juana de la Cerda took place in 1607 and it seems like it was a successful union, with the couple living harmoniously together in Spain for the first years, then settling in Collesano, near Palermo and part of Antonio’s possessions. While in Spain, the new Duchess gave birth to a son, Francesco, in 1613, who would be followed by Sicilian born Luigi Guglielmo (1614), Marianna (1616), and Ignazio (1619).
In 1610, Maria d’Aragona de la Cerda, Dowager Princess of Paternò died, leaving her mother-in-law Aloisia as the sole matriarch of the family.
In 1626, the young Francesco, Antonio II’s heir, would feel ill and die (and his siblings almost followed him) while both of his parents were in Spain to attend their courtly duties. Full of pain and regrets, Antonio and Juana would obtain the dissolution of their marriage and they both would take the cloth, becoming one a Jesuit and the other an Augustinian nun. Following his father’s resignation, 13 years-old Luigi Guglielmo became the new Prince and head of the Moncada family.
But Donna Aloisia would be spared of these sorrows as she died in Palermo in 1620, at 67. She would be buried in her Caltanissetta, in the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, which would be turned into a hospital in the XIX century, and which already housed the grave of her son Francesco II.
“They say she had been ridden off because she had little regard for chastity, or because of Vespasiano’s suspicion of it, least it would be considered a disgrace for his own house since he often quoted Caesar, that the wife of a great man out to be free of mere guilt, but also suspicion of crime.”
Dianawas born in Palermo around 1531 as the daughter of Antonio de Cardona y Peralta, Marquis of Giuliana, Earl of Chiusa and Baron of Burgio (belonging to the Sicilian branch of the ancient and noble Catalan house of Folc de Cardona) and Beatrice de Luna e Aragona.
Nothing is known in particular about her early life except she had been at some point betrothed to Cesare Gonzaga, son of Ferrante I Gonzaga (who had been Viceroy of Sicily from 1535 to 1546) Earl of Guastalla.
As a trusted man of Emperor Carlos V, Don Ferrante had been appointed in 1546 as Governor of the Duchy of Milan and it is in this moment that he led his (supposed to be) future daughter-in-law with him to Milan.
But independent and free-spirited Diana wasn’t happy in Milan. It’s unclear what was the cause of it (contemporary sources affirm they don’t know or can’t remember), but at some point Diana got in a huge fight with Don Ferrante and fled from the city.
According to some gossipers, the real cause was Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna, Earl of Sabbioneta, member of a cadet branch of the Gonzaga and thus a relative of Ferrante and Cesare. During a visit of the Earl in Milan, Diana had fallen in love with him.
Vespasiano was about her same age, and was described as charming and charismatic. He was the only child of Luigi “Rodomonte” Gonzaga (eldest son of Ludovico Gonzaga of Sabbioneta), and Isabella Colonna. Luigi died in 1532, leaving a one year-old child, who then became his grandfather’s heir. Because of some disagreements between Isabella and her father-in-law, and especially following her remarriage to Filippo di Lannoy Prince of Sulmona, little Vespasiano was entrusted to his paternal aunt, Giulia Gonzaga.
Aunt Giulia loved tenderly her nephew and did her best to ensure him a bright future, like sending him to the Habsburg court in Madrid, where he refined his education and strengthened his bonds with the Royal House, especially with the Infante Don Felipe.
Once returned to Italy, a 19 years-old Vespasiano could now take full possession of his domains (his grandfather had died in 1540 and, also thanks to Giulia Gonzaga’s appeals, the Emperor had recognized Vespasiano’s inherited titles) and settled in Sabbioneta, which he would later shape into his ideal city.
Again aunt Giulia was the one who had previously, before her nephew had left for Spain, shunned a betrothal between Vespasiano and Vittoria Farnese, granddaughter of Pope Paul III. Giulia didn’t look kindly on the Farnese and to ensure that that union never took place, she demanded an outrageously high dowry from Vittoria’s father to allow the marriage.
On the other hand, the Gonzaga matriarch appreciated Diana Cardona and, perhaps, the young Sicilian’s wealth might have been one of the reasons. The two families, Gonzaga and Cardona, were also closely related as Giulia’s aunt, Susanna Gonzaga, had married Pietro II Cardona Ventimiglia (curiously enough, these two had had a daughter called Diana).
During her flee from Milano, apparently in the desperate attempt to go back to her family, Diana had stopped (or was stopped) in Piacenza, where Vespasiano was currently staying. Now, if Vespasiano too had fallen in law with the spirited and beautiful Sicilian lady, if he was prompted by his aunt to get a hold on Diana’s wealth or if he offered himself as a mean to avoid much more scandal by offering Diana a shotgun wedding, we won’t never know. Fact is, the two of them secretly married in Piacenza in 1549 and, because of the secrecy (even her mother would be informed much later), the union wouldn’t be announced until 1550 when the couple triumphantly entered in Sabbioneta.
As a trusted military man, Vespasian was often away from home, busy fighting in various parts of the great Habsburg Empire. During his absence, his wife personally ruled and managed the earldom of Sabbioneta. In the many letters sent to Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga and Dowager Duchess Margherita Paleologa, regents of the Duchy of Mantova on behalf of little Duke Francesco III Gonzaga, Diana presented herself “come superiore et padrona” (as superior and mistress) and her sometimes strong tones reveal a matched strong character. The countess of Sabbioneta (who had the full support of her aunt-in-law, Giulia Gonzaga) had truly taken at heart the privileges and rights of newly acquired dominions and didn’t appreciate any meddling of the main branch of Gonzaga of Mantova.
Surely the thrill and satisfaction derived from being a mistress of herself, perfectly capable of ruling a (tiny) earldom must not have been enough for Diana. She must have thought something was missing on the personal and intimate level and her husband’s long absence must have made her feel lonely, especially since she was still childless (we only know of a stillborn son in 1550, right after the couple arrived in Sabbioneta).
Around 1558-1559 she started a secret relationship with a Giovanni Annibale Ranieri, a dashing secretary. It was rumoured she had even became pregnant by her lover. Unfortunately for her, her husband found out (we don’t know if he received letters or someone told him). It looks like, though, he reacted quite quickly as the mere suspicion (aggravated by the rumours of the pregnancy) horrified him greatly.
The betrayed earl ordered one of his trusted men, Antonio Messirotto, to kill Ranieri. The secretary was abducted, taken to a secret room and killed. Then, according to the tradition, Vespasiano led his wife into that same room, gave her a cup of poison and locked her in with her dead lover. Diana resisted for three long days, after which, worn out, she drank the poison. As she was agonizing because of that horrible death, she was taken to her chamber where she finally died. It was November 9th, 1559.
Vespasiano laconically sent words of her death to both her and his family, claiming a stroke had ended her life, leaving Diana speechless just right before her death.
Vespasiano would remarry two more times, to Anna d'Aragona y Folch de Cardona and to Margherita Gonzaga, daughter of the same Cesare who had been Diana’s first betrothed.
Anna d’Aragona was too related to Diana (and to Felipe II), and like her kinswoman, her death would be sudden and tainted with the suspect of murder. Vespasiano and Anna would get married in 1564 in Spain. The following year, Anna would give birth to twin Giulia (who would die shortly after) and Isabella. The following year, the long-awaited male heir, Luigi was born. Married life would be cut short for the new Countess of Sabbioneta as she would die in the fortress of Rivarolo Mantovano on summer 1567. The official cause of death was postpartum complication (coupled with depression), but some evil tongues once again blamed poison and a jealous husband.
Unfortunately for Vespasiano Gonzaga, if he could be cleared of all the charges of his first two wives’ deaths, the same cannot be said about his only son’s tragic end.
Luigi had grown up pampered and spoiled, which combined with a proud character, made the teen a rebellious young lord. One day, while he’s riding with his friends, he purposefully didn’t acknowledge his father’s greeting. Angered by his son’s irreverence, Vespasiano ordered him to dismount from his horse. Luigi obeyed, but some defiant words from the kid, led Vespasiano to react and kick his son in the stomach. The hit was so strong, Luigi fell and fainted, blood dripping from his mouth. After three days of agony, on January 21st, 1580 Luigi Gonzaga died, leaving a distraught and full of guilt father. He was 13.
Without a male heir (the union with Margherita Gonzaga would remain childless), Vespasiano’s titles and possessions would be inherited at his death in 1591 by his daughter Isabella, and with her ended the line of the Gonzaga of Sabbioneta, with the land becoming a possession of the Carafa della Stadera, the family she would marry into.
Anna Maria was born in Messina in 1672 to Paolo Arduino (or Ardoino) Patti, Prince of Polizzi and Marquis of Floresta as well as Grandee of Spain, and Giovanna Furnari (daughter of Duke Antonio of Furnari and belonging to a junior branch of the illustrious Sicilian House of Notarbartolo). She had two younger sibling, Margherita (who would marry Giuseppe Antonio Transo, Prince of Casalito) and Michele (who would inherit his father’s titles).
From a young age, she showed a particular interest and skill in music, dance, poetry and painting. Don Paolo, acknowledging his daughter’s talent, had her educated in literature and liberal arts. Growing up, she was admired both because her beautiful looks and her artistic skills. She was especially considered an accomplished embroiderer and writer (both in Italian and Latin, with Petrarca and Vergil’s styles as her inspiration).
In 1687, at 15 years old, she wrote and dedicated some Latin poems to Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and his wife, Empress ElonoreMagdalene(“Rosa Parnassi plaudens triumpho imperiali S.M.C. invictissimi Leopoldi de Austria Romanorum Imperatoris etc., eiusque dignissimae uxoris Eleonorae Magdalenae Palatini Rheni”), which were later printed in Naples and even reported by Giovanni Mario Crescimbeni (one of the founder and leader of the Accademia dell’Arcadia) in his work Istoria della volgarpoesia (1698, p. 228).
It’s reported Anna Maria could speak Latin, Greek, French and Spanish. She was also versed in philosophy and would perform in argumentations for which she would get praised by her erudite public. Finally, she appeared to have been a skilled amazon and very good at handling weapons, and this appeared to be the reason (or so essayist, politician and fellow Messinese Giuseppe La Farina reported in his Messina ed i suoi monumenti)Giovan Battista Ludovisi, widower (his first wife – who died in 1694- had been María Moncada de Silva, daughter of Guillén Ramón de Moncada y Castro, IV Marquis of Aytona) and Prince of Piombino, fell in love with her.
Giovan Battista was born in 1647 as the eldest child of Niccolò I Ludovisi and his third wife, Costanza Pamphili, niece of Pope Innocent X and daughter of the infamous Donna Olimpia Maidalchini (by many called la papessa, because of her great influence over her Papal brother-in-law, during whose pontificate she actively ruled over the Papal court and the whole Rome, amassing enormous wealth and many privileges).
Nicolò himself was related to a Pope, being the nephew of Pope Gregory XV (Bologna native born Alessandro Ludovisi), although he had received the title of Prince of Piombino through his second wife (ex uxor), Polissena de Mendoza-Appiani d’Aragona, hereditary Princess of Piombino and of the Isle of Elba. Since his son by Polissena, Filippo Gregorio, had died an infant, (his first wife Isabella Gesualdo had bore him a daughter, Lavinia, who would die in 1634), Nicolò had inherited the title and, when he died in 1664, he passed it to his eldest son Giovan Battista.
Anna Maria and Giovan Battista married in 1697 and moved to Rome. The new Princess of Piombino had been so well-liked by her fellow countrymen, that many Messinese poets dedicated her auspicious verses, wishing her a safe journey and a successful life in Rome.
Finally settled in her new home, she was soon to be noticed and appreciated by the Roman society. That same year, she received the honour of becoming a member of the Accademia dell’Arcadia, assuming the pastoral name of Getilde Faresia, and writing many sonnets and poems both in Latin and Italian.
Her husband had one of her musical dramas, I rivali gelosi, performed in the magnificent garden of his Roman family mansion. Giovan Battista Ludovisi might have been a dedicated partner, but he was mostly known by his contemporaries for being a womanizer and a squanderer, having been forced to sell many of his lands due to his prodigality and incompetence in the management of his family’s property.
One year after the wedding, Anna Maria gave birth to a baby boy Niccolò. Unfortunately (or luckily, given Giovan Battista’s history in administering the Ludovisi’s belongings) marriage life would be cut short as the Prince of Piombino died on August 29th 1699, leaving a young widow and an even more younger heir.
Baby Niccolò became the new Prince of Piombino and his mother assumed the regency of the Principality, although for a very short period. The child died on January 17th, 1700 and Anna Maria (who must have been heartbroken) followed him shortly, dying in Naples on December 29th of the same year. She was 28.
Mother and son were buried in the Church of San Diego all’Ospedaletto. Their graves are ornated with two marbled bas-reliefs sculpted by Giacomo Colombo, with Anna Maria portrayed in half-bust, while Niccolò in full-length.
The Principality of Piombino was then inherited by the child’s aunt, Olimpia Ludovisi, Niccolò I’s eldest daughter. Unlike her younger sisters, she had chosen to become a nun (taking the name of Suor Anna) and so she ruled her lands from her Roman nunnery of Tor de’ Specchi. The religious Princess wouldn’t govern for long as she outlived her nephew for less than a year (she died on November 27th 1700). She was succeeded by her younger living sister, Ippolita (Lavinia, Niccolò I’s second daughter, had died in 1682). With Ippolita I the Ludovisi branch of the Principality of Piombino became extinct. With her daughter and heir, Maria Eleonora, started the line of the Boncompagni Ludovisi who would rule over Piombino (with only the short Napoleonic interval) until the Congress of Vienna after which the Principality would be annexed to the Gran Duchy of Tuscany.
Elpide(also known as ElpisorElphe) was a Christian Latin poetess born in the V century AD. Her whole life is somehow shrouded in mystery and her whole existence is by some denied. According to tradition, she was the first wife of Roman politician and philosopher Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius and mother of his sons, Patricius and Hypatius. Nonetheless, according to other academics (if she really existed) she might have married a namesake of the famous philosopher.
Those who context Elpide’s marriage to Severinus Boethius, point out contemporary sources and the fact that same philosopher only talks about his wife Rusticiana, daughter of Roman historian and politician Q. Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, who would give him at least two sons, Flavius BoethiusandFlavius Symmachus. Yet, this doesn’t necessarily disconfirm the existence of another wife. Plus in The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius writes about fathers-in-law(“Quis non te felicissimum cum tanto splendore socerorum[…]”), fact that would again support the theory of more marriages from his part.
From the first line of her epitaph we learn that she was born, or at least she grew up in Sicily (“Siculae Regionis alumna”). Two cities have since long competing (in heated terms, to the point of almost physically fighting over it in 1819) about the honour of being her birthplace: Messina and Palermo.
The Strait city has a long literary tradition (which goes back to XV century) concerning Elpide’s origins. According to its scholars, Elpide was the daughter of Messinese patrician Titus Annius Placidus and the sister of Faustina, mother of Saint Placidus (one of Saint Benedict of Nursia’s disciples).
Palermo’s academics, on the other hand, dispute the Messinese theory and argue that Elpide was born in Palermo, where she met her future husband who had stayed for a while in that city and, if he took a wife there and then, it would have been more plausible she was a Palermo’s native born. In 1643 a bas-relief portraying Elpide was recovered in Palermo. Since its finder was Messinese Mario Caridi, he managed to have it transferred to Messina, where it was displayed with an annexed plaque which indicated said city as Elpide’s birthplace.
Aside from these geographical controversies, Elpide was described by sources (which, it’s important to point out, are all posthumous) by many as an educated and virtuous woman. An anonymous scholar from Palermo goes as far as suggesting she was the authoress of philosophical works whose authorship was later stolen by her husband.
Two sacred hymns, dedicated to the Saints Peter and Paul and featured in ancient breviaries, are traditionally attributed to her: Felix per Omnes andAurea Lux. Following this attribution, Spanish poet Lopez de Vega considers Elpide the creator of the heptasyllabus verse. These hymns were sung on January 18th and 23rd, February 22nd, June 29th and August 1st.
Elpide died around 504 in Rome, where she had transferred after marrying. She was probably buried in the first St. Peter Basilica, given that her epitaph was said to have been originally placed on the porch of said Basilica.
Boethius would then remarry to the more famous Rusticiana and lead his life as a trusted official at the court of the Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Great, who at that time ruled over a large part of Italy. Later on, he would fall from power and accused of treason, together with his father-in-law, Symmachus. Condemned to death by Theodoric, he would be executed in 524 (or 525) in Pavia (followed by Symmachus the year later). Boethius was then interred in the same city, in the Church of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro, where Elpide’s epitaph was said to have been transferred, facing her husband’s sepulchre. Nowadays, there’s no trace of such inscription, still many trustworthy antiquaries saw it and wrote down its text, which has arrived to us.
“Si vous dirons d'une damoisiele qui en Puille estoit, qui fille avoit esté le roi Tangré. Elle par le consel l'apostoile et le consel d'aucun preudome, ala en Campaigne, al conte Gautier de Braine et fist tant qu'il l'espousa. Et quant il l’ot espousée, elle l'enmena en Puille, et alerent par Rome.”
Elvira (also known as Albinia,Alberia,Maria,AlbidinaandBianca) was born around 1180 most certainly in Lecce (Apulia), at that time part of the Kingdom of Sicily, ruled by the Norman House of Hauteville as the daughter of Tancredi of Lecce and his wife Sibilla of Acerra. Elvira was the eldest of four daughters, the others being Medania (or Madania), Costanza and Valdrada, the latter two would both marry two Venetian Doges. Sibilla had also given birth to two sons, RuggeroandGuglielmo.
Tancredi was the bastard son of Ruggero Duke of Apulia, eldest son of King Ruggero II of SicilyandElvira of Castile. Given his status as an illegitimate child, when Duke Ruggero died in 1148, Tancredi couldn’t inherit the duchy (though he succeeded his father as Count of Lecce) nor was deemed fit to take his father’s place as future King, and the throne would eventually pass in 1154 to his uncle, Guglielmo I, the only surviving son of Ruggero II (nobody between the King’s elder sons, Ruggero of Apulia, Tancredi of Bari or Alfonso of Capua had, in fact, produced legitimate heirs).
Relationship between Tancredi and Guglielmo I had been turbulent, to say the least. In 1155, the Count of Lecce rebelled against his uncle and master, and because of this was imprisoned (alongside his brother, another Guglielmo). Again in 1161, Tancredi rose against Guglielmo I. The plot led to a bloody tumult that broke out in Palermo, with the Royal Palace raided by the rioters, the King and the Royal family imprisoned, important documents destroyed and the massacre of many Palace eunuchs, considered power usurpers. At some point, though, the revolt started to lose its strike, the King had to be released and, in order to be pardoned, Tancredi agreed to self-exile in Constantinople. In 1166, following Guglielmo I’s death and the accession to the throne of his son, Guglielmo II, Tancredi returned in Sicily. During the reign of his cousin Guglielmo, he proved to be a faithful subject and was awarded with the leadership of the Sicilian fleet. It is at this particular moment that Elvira was born. We do not know anything about her early years, and we can only imagine she spent her time with her mother and siblings, living in Apulia and later moving to Sicily.
The death of Guglielmo II in 1189 threw the Kingdom into a succession crisis. The King left, in fact, no direct living heir as his marriage to Joan of England hadn’t been blessed with children. Perhaps, at some point, Tancredi might have thought his childless cousin would designate him as his heir. Unfortunately for him, Guglielmo had already appointed their common aunt Costanza as his successor. In addition to being a woman, Costanza was married to Heinrich VI of Germany, son of Friedrich Barbarossa. Taking advantage of the malcontent of the Sicilians (who feared they would eventually see their country absorbed into the Hohenstaufen’s estates), and the fact that both Costanza and her husband couldn’t leave Germany at that moment (Heinrich was acting as regent since his father was at that moment busy crusading in the Holy Land) Tancredi rushed to Palermo, where he was crowned in January 18th 1190.
Roughly two months later, Richard I of England arrived in the Sicilian city of Messina. Although the official reason was to sail from there to the Holy Land, he had more pressing familiar issues to take care of. Joan, widowed Queen of Sicily as well as sister to King Richard, had been taken prisoner by Tancredi in the harem of the Castello della Zisa (Palermo) after being denied the return of her dowry. After having obtained the release of his sister, the payment of the dowry and of a compensation for himself, Richard accepted to join an alliance with Tancredi and support his rulership against Costanza’s (rightful) claim. To seal the partnership, the two Kings planned the betrothal between Arthur of Brittany (Richard’s nephew and heir) and one of Tancredi’s daughters (we do not know which one, although it could have been Elvira since she was the eldest). After the deal, and after a brief occupation of Messina, Richard of England finally sailed towards the Holy Land. Tancredi’s reign would be cut short. He died of a non specified illness on February 20th 1194. His eldest son, Ruggero, had died the year prior, while his younger son, Guglielmo, was 9-years old. Guglielmo III was King for less than a year, despite his mother’s desperate attempts to salvage her son’s throne in the capacity of Regent. Their subjects turned their back on them and welcomed the German rivals. Taking into account the hopelessness of their situation and the favourable terms of surrender that were offered them, Sibilla surrendered Palermo to Heinrich on December 4th. On Christmas Eve, Heinrich got crowned King of Sicily in Palermo’s Cathedral. The following day, Costanza gave birth to Federico, future Stupor Mundi, in the distant Jesi (in the Marche region).
If losing their Kingdom must have seemed to them a nasty blow, it was only the beginning. Right after the new King’s coronation, Guglielmo, Sibilla and the rest of the family were accused of having conspired against Heinrich. If it was true or it was just a pretext of getting rid of the last Hauteville’s direct male heir, the family was nonetheless deported to Germany. Guglielmo was incarcerated in the castle of Hohenems (currently in Austria), where he must have been mutilated (probably blinded) in order to make him unfit to pose as a threat and where he died at some point after 1198. Sibilla and her daughters were put under arrest in Hohenburg Abbey, in Alsace (France), being able to leave their gilded prison only in 1198, following the death of Heinrich Hohenstaufen (1197) and the election of Innocent III as Pope, who successfully petitioned for their release.
The former queen and her daughters then sought refuge in France, at the court of Philippe Auguste. Now, finally safe, Sibilla started looking for an eligible husband for her eldest daughter as well as Tancredi’s heir, Elvira. Since the current King of Sicily was just a child (Federico was just 4-years old and already orphan of both parents), Sibilla intended to propose Elvira (now around 18 years old) as an alternative to the little sovereign and for that the young princess needed the backup of a man (as Costanza did too).
After a meeting in Melun with the French King, a fit spouse was found for Elvira: Gautier III Earl of Brienne. Between 1199 and 1200 Elvira and Gautier married. Of course the marriage to the pretender to the Sicilian throne meant a qualitative leap for both her husband and the House of Brienne (Gautier’s younger brother, Jean, would later become King of Jerusalem and Emperor of the Latin Empire), and it shouldn’t surprise Philippe of France encouraged the married couple to leave France in order to pursue their destiny.
In 1200 Elvira, Gautier and Sibilla arrived in Rome to peruse their cause before the Pope. Unfortunately for them and despite his antipathy towards the older Hohenstaufen (who, unlike the Hauteville, had a penchant for opposing the Papacy’s power), Innocent III was Federico’s guardian. The Pope refused to support Elvira’s claims and simply recognized her rights to be styled as Princess of Taranto and Countess of Lecce. These titles had, of course, once belonged to her father and Heinrich had promised to give them back to Sibilla and her family as compensation for giving up her son’s rights and surrender peacefully. The Hohenstaufen hadn’t really kept his promise since, as we have seen, he would swiftly incarcerate his rivals and take back those lands once again. Now, Elvira was able to get back part of her father’s inheritance, but in exchange she (and her husband) had to recognize Federico as her King, thus giving up her claims to the throne once and for all.
The problem was that those promised lands had already a lord (although not the legitimate one), Roberto di Biccari, who had received the fiefs from Heinrich VI. Elvira and Gautier had to practically take them back and, for that, they needed an army. This is where we can spot Innocent’s ambivalence. He was still protecting his pupil and his rightful claims, but at the same time he planned to undermine Markward von Annweiler’s (who had reclaimed the title of Regent, with the support of Philipp of Swabia, Federico’s uncle, and represented and obstacle for the Papacy’s plans to actively rule the Kingdom during Federico’s minority) powers and for that he had planned to use the Earl of Brienne and his warfare ability. In spring 1201 Gautier and Elvira, supported by an army, entered the continental part of the Kingdom of Sicily. The skilled Frenchman defeated the Sicilian army in many occasions, occupying Teano, Presenzano, Aquino, Melfi, Montepeloso, Matera, Otranto, Brindisi, Barletta and Lecce. By the second part of 1201 Elvira is referred to as Countess of Lecce, while her rival Roberto di Biccari retained only Ostuni and the nominal title of Prince of Taranto.
Gautier kept achieving many important victories, while in Sicily Markward had managed to get his hands on the young King. Innocent then urged the Earl of Brienne and Giacomo di Andria (Innocent’s kinsman) to invade Sicily, after rewarding them with the title of Chief Justiciar of Apulia and Terra di Lavoro. Despite Markward’s death in 1202, the invasion would never take place since Gautier must have realised Innocent’s ambiguity. The Pope was, in fact, negotiating for the betrothal of Federico and the princess Costanza of Aragon and an alliance with Aragon would eventually limit the Frenchman’s influence.
Innocent III died in Anagni in 1203 and Gautier was at his deathbed when Brindisi, Otranto, Gallipoli, Matera, Barletta and many other cities revolted against him and his oppressive rulership. The Earl of Brienne died two years later, in 1205, while besieging Sarno. On June 11th he was captured in his own tent and died three days later of the wounds he had sustained during his seizing.
At that time Elvira was already pregnant and would soon give birth to posthumous son, called Gautier after his late father. According to some historians, Elvira had previously given birth to a daughter, Marguerite, who would later marry Balian Granier, Lord of Sidon. But Balian appears to have married Ide de Reyne, Gautier’s niece.
Elvira married for a second time, perhaps just a couple of months after Gautier’s death. Her second husband was Giacomo I (also known as Giovanni) Sanseverino, earl of Tricarico (according to an unknown source, this Giacomo is to be identified with Giacomo of Tricarico, married to one Mabilia, daughter of Landulfo Earl of Ceccano). Since her first husband had died in captivity, the County of Lecce and the Principate of Taranto (although hers by right) reverted back to the Hohenstaufen. Her marriage to a member of the powerful House of Sanseverino had been then a matter of necessity, a way to keep her anchored to her native land and a protection for her child and herself. Nonetheless, by marrying an Italian nobleman she stated then her intention to not return in France thus preventing her infant son, the new Earl of Brienne, to grow up in his inherited dominions, plus losing her rights to act as Regent during her son’s minority (as well as all of her ties with the House of Brienne), that role played by his uncle Jean.
TheThomas Tusci Gesta Imperatorum et Pontificumrecords that Giacomo and Elvira had two children, Simone and Adalita (“comitem Symonem et dominam Adalitam”), although it doesn’t specify their date of birth, nor we possess further details about their lives, except Simone might be identified with the “filium comitis Tricaricensis ” cited in the Ryccardus de Sancti Germano Chronica, who (together with other Southern Italian aristocrats like Ruggero de Aquila and Tommaso the Elder Sanseverino Earl of Caserta) rebelled against Federico II in 1223 and got incarcerated. Giacomo II of Tricarico, Lord of Serino, Solofra and Abriola, sometimes counted among Giacomo I’s children, might actually be Simone’s son and thus Giacomo I and Elvira’s grandson.
Around 1220, once again widowed, Elvira would marry for a third and last time. Her third husband (chosen by Federico II) was another Italian nobleman, Tegrimo (also known as Teugrimo or Teudegrimo) Guidi, younger son of Guido Guerra III Guidi and his second wife, Gualdrada Berti, and founder of the line of Modigliana and Porciano.
It was a lavish ceremony, with Tegrimo spending 10 thousandlire on it (a subtsantial amount which in the future, when the family would find itself in a precarious economical situation, his brothers would blame him). Federico granted Elvira the County of Lecce and Principality of Taranto as part of her dowry, although she got them back in name only. Actually, 30 years later (in 1252), Pope Innocent IV would take these lands from the Guidi (pro-imperial) to ostentatiously give them to Doge Marco Ziani, pro-papal as well as Elvira’s brother-in-law.
Elvira moved to Modigliana, where her presence is documented through the bill of sale of the villages of Larciano, Cecina, Casi and Collecchio, sold to the town of Pistoia for 6000 lire in 1226. Two years later, together with her husband, she donated two plots of land to the Church of Santa Maria di Pietrafitta. On 1231 she gifted the Abbot of San Gaudenzio of her feudal rights over a baron and his children and, on 1254, she gave her consent for the sale of Montemurlo to Firenze for 5000 lire.
Elvira and Tegrimo’s son and only child, Guido, was born shortly after 1220. A skilled man of war, he would follow his father and fight in Federico II’s Italian military campaigns. As podestà of Arezzo, he would manage to conciliate the pro imperial and pro papal factions. Following the Hohenstaufen king’s death and the resulting political change, Guido’s (as well as his family) fortunes declined and he would be forced to sell many of his castles. He would die in 1293.
As for Elvira’s firstborn, Gautier IV, as a teen, he would be sent to Outremer, at the court of his uncle Jean, King of Jerusalem since 1210. In 1221 Gautier received the title of Earl of Jaffa and Ascalon and around 1233 he married Marie of Lusignan, eldest daughter of Hugues I King of CyprusandAlix of Champagne.
He retained his status of one of the Kingdom of Jerusalem’s most important vassals even when Federico II snatched the kingdom from Jean of Brienne. He was taken prisoner by the Muslim forces after the disastrous battle of La Forbie in 1244. Ceded to the Sultan of Egypt and taken to Cairo, he would die the same year, strangled by the guards after he had killed an emir guilty of having hit him on the face during a chess match. He would be succeeded by his firstborn Jean, and after he died childless, by his second son Hugues who, loyal partisan of Charles I of Anjou, received for his services the County of Lecce in 1266 (which, of course, was his by right). From later on until 1356, the County would be owned by the House of Brienne.
Finally, we don’t know in which exact year Elvira died, although we can suppose it happened after 1261. We only know the day, May 23th, a date recorded in the obituaries of the Monastery of Camaldoli, one of her beneficiaries, whose clergy commemorated her through annual masses in remembrance. Her husband would outlive her and die before 1270.
Sources
Bicchierai Marco,GUIDI, Guido, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 61
Women Who Are Playing a Part in the Political Game - Women in history(41/?)
This page of the New York Tribune was published on the April the 4th, 1920. The paper was published in the run to the 1920’s presidential election; the first presidential election in which women could vote. However, it would take many more years before all citizens could vote; women of colour had to fight many more years to cast their vote.
The Mysterious Lady Aelfgyva-women in history(42/?)
The Tapestry of Bayeux (Tapisserie de Bayeux) is an impressive embroidered cloth (70 meters long, 50 centimeters tall – 230ft x 20in) and tells the story of the Norman conquest of England by William, duke of Normandy, culminating in the Battle of Hastings (1066). It is thought to be made quite shortly after the conquest, somewhere in the 11th century.
This fragment is the only fragment putting a woman at the center stage. It is one of the most intriguing parts of the tapestry. It portrays a woman confronted by a tonsured cleric, who is touching her face; it is not clear if it is out of anger or affection. Above the scene, the inscription reads: Ubi unus clericus et Aelfgyva - Here a certain clerk and Aelfgyva. Since it is the only part of the tapestry that shows a woman on the center stage, and one of the few women on the tapestry, her role in the episode must have been viewed by the artist as significant.
Historians are unsure about who this woman is. Often it is thought she is queen Aelfgifu-Emma, the mother of King Edward the Confessor. Other historians, like Freeman, state that Harold might have had a sister, who accompanied him in his ill-fated mission. More recently, it has been argued she is Aelfgifu of Northampton, mistress of Canute the Great and mother of his sons.
The story of Aelfgyva is an example of how women are often forgotten and lost in history: overlooked in stories of men, their agency taken away. As Gloria Steinman said: Women have always been an equal part of the past. We just haven’t been a part of history.
McNulty, J. Bard. “The Lady Aelfgyva in the Bayeux Tapestry.” Speculum, vol. 55, no. 4, 1980, pp. 659–668.
We’re proud to share the stories of strong, powerful women - most who are remembered for challenging the social norms of their respective time periods, and for making real changes in history. May their stories live on!
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