FReeper Canteen ~ Part VI of Women Warriors: Celts ~ February 25, 2004

Part VI: Celts

Among the ancient Celts women rulers and warriors were so common that when a group of Brigantian captives was brought to Rome in the reign of Claudius they automatically assumed his wife, Agrippina the Younger, was the ruler and ignored the Emperor while making their obeisance to her. In 51 AD the Brigantian Queen, Castimandua, allied herself with Rome as a client state after delivering to the Romans a rebel war-lord she had captured in battle.

Other well-known Celtic warrior queens include Aife of Alba (modern day Scotland) and her contemporaries Mebd of Ireland and Scathach of Skye.

Aife was a female-warrior and a sorceress from Ireland who lived in Scotland with other Druidesses. Their task was to initiate and train young Celtic noblemen in the art of love and war. Queen Aife loved her chariot and horses more than anything else. She met with Cuchulainn and did battle with him. Cuchulainn won the fight by cunning and forced her to give three things in return :

That she became Scathach's vassal
That she agreed to become Cuchulainn's lover
That she gave him a son, Conlaech

Cuchulainn asked her to teach the secrets of war to their son and after the initialisation to send him to Ireland. She trained Conlaech, but when he arrived in Ireland and met his father, Cuchulainn did not recognise him. They fought together and the result was that Cuchulainn killed by his own son.

Scathach had a school of martial arts in the Isle of Skye. All the famous warriors of Ireland were said to have been trained by her. Her most famous pupil was Cuchulain. In return for her instruction, Cuchulain helped Scatach with her own battles, in particular against Aife.

In 61 AD Queen Boudicca of the Iceni of Norfolk led a major rebellion against the Romans during which she sacked and burned modern day London and St. Albans. Boudica or Boadicea's husband, king Prasutagus of the Iceni willed half of his kingdom to the Roman empire and half to Boudica and their two daughters, Camorra and Tasca or, according to legend, Voada and Voadicia. The Roman administrator ignored the will and proceeded to take over the entire kingdom. Boudica joined Iceni forces with another tribe, the Trinobantes, and together they fought back and conquered the Roman colony Camulodunum (Colchester) and burned the temple dedicated to Claudius. The Romans retaliated against the insurgents by sending a whole division of soldiers, but they were defeated. The insurgents then marched on London, which they sacked, and killed its Roman population, as well as their sympathizers. They did the same at Verulamium (St. Albans) and other settlements. In the end the Romans were victorious, and slaughtered the rebel troops. Boudica and her daughters escaped but then poisoned themselves rather than allow capture. She lived (15-61)

The first recorded effort to bar women from military participation was a law passed in 590 A.D. at the synod of Druim Ceat. It proved to be unenforceable when the women warriors refused to lay down their arms and comply with it.

Aethelflaed, oldest daughter of Alfred the Great, was considered the chief tactician of her time. She united Mercia, conquered Wales and subdued the Danes becoming the de facto ruler of the Mercians and Danes. She was killed in battle in June 918 AD at Tammorth in Staffordshire. She rebuilt the Roman walls, and devised a street plan that still survives today. Aethelflaed built several churches in her new stronghold, but was most fond of St. Oswald's priory. She gave them the bones of Saint Oswald, important Christian relics captured from the Danes, and enough treasure for it to be called "The Golden Minster".

In 1100 Maude de Valerie, a Welsh revolutionary, raised an army to rebel against the oppressive regime of King John. She was captured on the battlefield and died as his prisoner. Died: 1210 in Windsor castle.

Maud (Matilda) de Braose was also known as the Lady of la Haie and to the Welsh as Moll Walbee. Married to William de Braose, the "Ogre of Abergavenny", she was a significant warrior in her own right. Her long defence of Pain's Castle when it was besieged by the Welsh earned it the name "Matilda's Castle". The local people saw her as a supernatural character. She was said to have built Hay Castle single handed in one night, carrying the stones in her apron. When one fell out and lodged in her slipper she picked it out and flung it to land in St Meilig's churchyard, three miles away across the River Wye at Llowes. The nine foot high standing stone (left) can still be seen inside the church.

The final fall of her husband may owe a lot to her hasty reply to King John when he requested her son William as a hostage in 1208. She refused on the grounds that John had murdered his nephew Arthur whom he should have protected. The dispute between John and the de Braoses led to Maud dying of starvation in the King's castle at Windsor along with her son, while her husband, stripped of all his lands, died the following year in exile in France. In the 15th century Maire o Ciaragain led Irish clans against the English and was known for her ferocity in battle.

In 1545, Lilliard led the Scots at the Battle of Ancrum in one of their last victories over the English forces. She killed the English commander but lost her own life later in the battle.

Ireland's contribution to female heroines includes the 16th-century Grainne Ni Mhaille who was known as the 'Queen of the Irish Seas'. She was called Mhaol (meaning 'cropped hair'), but was called Grace O'Malley by the English. Born in the Province of Connacht, Grainne married and had 3 children before she commenced her famous career on the high seas, marshaling 3 pirate ships and up to 200 men as she opposed the English attempts to remove her. Her husband was an O'Flaherty who was executed by Queen Elizabeths colonists who attempted to completely subjugate the Irish way of life. In 1556 she married again, this time to Iron Richard Burke and had a son named Tibbot. Captured and jailed for 2 years she returned to her homeland in Connaught to continue her defiance. In 1558 Elizabeth I pardoned her in an attempt to bring peace to the region but his attempt failed as the local English administrators continued to goad the woman who had been a thorn in their side for years. They even interned her son and brother despite Elizabeth I instructing that they be released. Fighting was her only means of survival and this she did until the Irish defeat at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601 checked her dominance. She died in 1603 and has since been, to a large degree, overlooked as a genuine heroine of Irish history.

Next Tuesday Part VII of Women Warriors:

South America

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on February 25:
1635 Walraad the Elder, Dutch field marshall/earl of Nassau-Usingen
1643 Ahmed II 21st sultan of Turkey (1691-95)
1725 Armand-Louis Couperin Paris France, composer/organist (Notre Dame)
1735 Ernst William Wolf composer
1778 José Francisco de San Martín liberated Argentina, Chile & Perú
1807 George Alfred Trenholm Secretary Treasurer (Confederacy), died in 1876
1808 James Bowen Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
1809 George Washington Cullom Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1892
1814 Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian national poet/painter
1815 Robert Hall Chilton Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1879
1833 Clement Anselm Evans Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1911
1841 Pierre Auguste Renoir Limoges France, Impressionist painter/sculptor
1873 Enrico Caruso Naples Italy, operatic tenor (Faust)
1881 William Foster Massachusetts, Communist Presidential candidate (1924,28,32)
1888 John Foster Dulles US Secretary of State (1953-59)
1896 John J McClellan (Senator-D-AR)
1901 [Herbert] Zeppo Marx New York NY, comedian/actor (Marx Brothers)
1906 Howard Zahniser Father of the Wilderness Act
1909 Edgar Pangborn US, sci-fi author (Judgment of Eve, Davy)
1910 Millicent Fenwick New York NY, (Representative-R-NJ 1975-82) (Doonesbury)
1913 Jim Backus Cleveland OH, actor (Mr Magoo, Thurston Howell III-Gilligan's Island)
1917 Anthony Burgess essayist/novelist (A Clockwork Orange)
1918 Robert Lorimer "Bobby" Riggs US tennis star (US Open 1939, 41)
1927 Dick Jones Snyder TX, actor (Buffalo Bill Jr)
1927 Ralph Stanley country singer
1929 Christopher George Royal Oak MN, actor (Rat Patrol)
1929 Tommy Newsom Virginia, musician/bandleader/saxophonist (Tonight Show)
1932 Faron Young country singer/actor (Hidden Guns, Daniel Boone)
1937 Bob Schieffer Austin TX, newscaster (CBS Weekend News)
1940 Ron Santo Chicago Cub shortstop (1st baseball player to veto his trade)
1943 George Harrison Liverpool England, rocker (My Sweet Lord, Beatles-Something, Traveling Wilburys-End of the Line)
1950 Rick Flair [Richard Fliehr], wrestling champion (NWA/WWF/WCW/AWA)

Deaths which occurred on February 25:
0779 Walburgis Anglo-Saxon abbess/saint (Walpurgis Night), dies
1495 Djem Sultan son of Turkish sultan Mehmed II, dies at 35
1601 Earl of Essex executed for treason in revolt against Queen Elizabeth
1601 Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, executed for treason against Elizabeth
1713 Frederik I King of Prussia (1701-13), dies at 55
1723 Sir Christopher Wren England, astronomer/architect, dies at 90
1899 Paul Julius von Reuter founder of the news agency (Reuters), dies
1922 Henri-Désiré Landru French sex murderer, guillotined at 52
1962 Wilhelm Pessler German sociologist, dies at 81
1975 Elijah Muhammad leader of the Nation of Islam, dies in Chicago at 77
1978 Daniel "Chappie" James Jr retired Air Force General, dies at 58
1987 James Coco actor (Joe-Dumplings), dies at 58
1994 Baruch Goldstein physician/murderer (53 in mosque), lynched at 42
1994 Jersey Joe Walcott boxer, dies at 80
1994 Wladyslaw Sila Lawyer Adviser to Solidarity-Nowicki dies at 80
1996 Haing S Ngor doctor/actor (Killing Fields), dies at 45
1997 Tony Williams jazz drummer (Miles Davis), dies at 51
1998 Luigi Veronesi Italian abstract artist (Campo Grafico), dies at 90

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 CAUSEY JOHN BERNARD---GRANITE CITY IL.
1967 HART JOSEPH L.---AFTON WY
1968 BRELLENTHIN MICHAEL---DUNEDIN FL.
[NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST]
1968 RIDGEWAY RONALD L.---HOUSTON TX.
[03/16/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1972 MORGAN WILLIAM J.---BATON ROUGE LA.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
1095 Council of Rockingham bishop Anselmus vs King William II Rufus
1540 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado searches for 7 cities of Cibola México
1570 Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth, absolves her subjects from allegiance
1746 Cumberlands troops occupy Aberdeen
1751 1st performing monkey exhibited in America, NYC (admission 1¢)
1791 1st Bank of US chartered
1793 1st cabinet meeting (At George Washington's home)
1799 1st federal forestry legislation authorizes purchase of timber land
1799 Congress passes 1st federal quarantine legislation
1803 1,800 sovereign German states unite into 60 states
1804 Jefferson nominated for President at Democratic-Republican caucus
1836 Samuel Colt patents 1st revolving barrel multishot firearm
1837 1st US electric printing press patented by Thomas Davenport
1838 London pedestrian walks 20 miles backward then forward in 8 hours
1839 Seminoles & black allies shipped from Tampa Bay FL, to the West
1847 State University of Iowa is approved
1859 First use of "insanity plea" to prove innocence
1862 Congress establishes the US Bureau of Engraving & Printing
1862 Paper currency (greenbacks) introduced in US by President Abraham Lincoln
1863 Congress creates national banking system, comptroller of currency
1868 Andrew Johnson impeached for violation of the Tenure of Office act
1870 Hiram Revels, Mississippi, is sworn in as 1st black member of Congress (Senator)
1875 Kiowa Indians under Lone Wolf (Guipago) surrender at Ft Sill
1879 Congress passed 1st Timberland Protection Act
1885 US Congress condemns barbed wire around government grounds
1896 Italian government decides to attack governor Baratieri of Eritrea
1901 US Steel Corp organizes under directorship of J P Morgan
1904 J M Synge's "Riders to the Sea" opens at Irish National Theatre Society
1907 US proclaims protectorate over Dominican Republic
1908 1st tunnel under the Hudson River (railway tunnel) opens

1913 16th Amendment ratified, authorizing income tax(boooo!)

1919 Oregon is 1st state to tax gasoline (1¢ per gallon)
1919 League of Nations set up by Paris Treaty
1921 Georgian SSR proclaimed
1923 Bread in Berlin rises to 2,000 mark
1926 Francisco Franco becomes General of Spain
1927 Gdansk & Polish accord concerning traffic through Polish corridor
1930 Check photographing device patented
1932 Immigrant Adolf Hitler gets German citizenship
1933 Major NFL rule changes (hash mark 10 yards in, posts on goal line)
1933 1st genuine aircraft carrier christened, USS Ranger
1940 1st televised (W2XBS, NYC) hockey game (Rangers vs Canadiens)
1941 February strike against persecution of Jews, in Amsterdam
1943 Vietminh forms Indo Chinese Democratic Front
1945 US aircraft carriers attack Tokyo
1948 Communists seize Czechoslovakia/C Gottwald becomes premier
1949 WAC Corporal rocket achieves height of 400k (record)
1950 "Your Show of Shows" with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premieres on NBC Writers include Mel Brooks, Neil Simon & Woody Allen
1954 Abdul Nasser appointed Egyptian premier
1956 Khrushchev denounces Stalin at 20th Soviet Party Conference
1957 Buddy Holly & the Crickets record "That'll Be the Day"
1957 Supreme Court decides 6-3, baseball is only antitrust exempt pro sport
1961 Paul Bikle in glider climbs from 1208 meter at release to record 14,10
1963 Beatles release their 1st single in US "Please Please Me"
1964 Cassius Clay, a 7-1 underdog, TKOs champion Sonny Liston in the 7th round to win the world heavyweight championship(I AM the greatest)
1966 Syrian military coup under Hafiz al-Assad
1968 430 Unification Church couples wed in Korea
1968 Makarios re-elected President of Cyprus
1969 Beatles begin recording for the Abbey Road album
1971 "Oh! Calcutta!" opens at Belasco Theater NYC for 1,316 performances
1972 Lopsided trade, Cards trade Steve Carlton to Phillies for Rick Wise
1973 Juan Corona sentenced to 25 life sentences for 25 murders
1974 Veronica & Colin Scargill (England) begin tandem bicycle ride a record 18,020 miles around the world, completed on August 27, 1975
1981 NHL most penalized game; Bruins vs Northstars, 84 penalties (392 minutes)
1981 Executive Board of Baseball Players' Association votes unanimously to strike on May 29 if the issue of free-agent compensation remains unresolved
1982 Final episode of "The Lawrence Welk Show" airs
1982 Record speed for a snowmobile (239 kph)
1986 Corazon Aquino becomes President of Philippines; Former Philippines President Ferdinand E Marcos flees in defeat
1986 Thousands of Egyptian military police riot, destroy 2 luxury hotel
1987 US Supreme Court upholds (5-4) affirmative action
1987 LaMarr Hoyt is banned from baseball for 1987, due to drug abuse
1989 1st independent blue-collar labor union in Communist Hungary forms
1989 Dallas Cowboys fire coach Tom Landry after a 29-year career
1991 US, barracks in Dhahran Saudi Arabia, hit by SCUD missile, kills 28
1994 Israeli extremist Baruch Goldstein massacres 30 Palestinians in Hebron
1994 Phil Rizzuto elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1995 Bomb attack on train in Assam India (27 soldiers killed)
1995 Moslem fundamentalists shoot 20 Shiite mosque goers dead

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Kuwait : National Day
México : Coronado Day (1540)
Suriname : Revolution day
US : I Am the Greatest Day
US : Wine Appreciation Week (Day 4)
National Meat Month

Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of St Avertanus & Bl Romeo
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Matthias the Apostle (leap years)
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Walburga, abbess
Orthodox : Commemoration of St Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople
Lutheran : Commemoration of Elizabeth Fedde, deaconess,
Christian : Ash Wednesday
Jewish : Fast of Esther (Adar 13, 5762 AM)

Religious History
1570 Elizabeth I of England was excommunicated by Pope Pius V for her severe persecution of Roman Catholics in England. (It was the last such judgment made against a reigning monarch by any pope.)
1738 English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'God, I find, has a people everywhere; Christ has a flock, though but a little flock, in all places.'
1824 The Baptist General Tract Society was organized in Washington, D.C. In 1826 the society was moved to Philadelphia, and by 1840, the organization had issued over 3.5 million copies of 162 different tracts.
1902 Birth of Oscar Cullmann, German New Testament scholar. Best known for pioneering a "salvation history" view of the NT, Cullmann's two best-known publications were "Christ and Time" (1946) and "Christology of the New Testament" (1959).
1913 Pioneer missionary Eduard L. Arndt first arrived in Shanghai, China, 10 months after having founded the Evangelical Lutheran Missions for China. He afterward established missions and schools in the Hankow territory, and translated hymns and sermons into Chinese. (In 1917 the Missouri Synod took over the ELMS mission.)

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried."

Question of the day...
Are part-time band leaders semi-conductors?

For Those Who Take Life Too Seriously...
Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how popular it remains?

Astouding Fact #.0047...
Camel's milk does not curdle.

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