Women Military Leaders of the Baroque
Lettice, Baroness of Ophaly, died in 1648
We include the Baroness of Ophaly and her defense of the castle of Geashill
in Ireland in part as an illustration of the courtly manners which sometimes
accompanied Renaissance battle.
Lettice was of the famous house of Kildare and was living in peace, managing
her estate in Ireland after the death of her husband, Sir Robert Digby. The civil
wars of 1641 brought this tranquility to an end as a band of rebels viewed the castle
defended by only women and children as an easy opportunity for plunder. The
motley mob, standing before the castle, sent in the following ultimatum.
We, his Majesty’s loyal subjects, at the present employed in his
Highness’s service, for the sacking of your castle; you are therefore to deliver
unto us the free possession of your said castle, promising faithfully that your
ladyship, together with the rest within your said castle shall have reasonable
composition; otherwise, upon the non-yielding of the castle, we do assure you
that we shall burn the whole town, kill all the Protestants, and spare neither
women nor child, upon taking the castle by compulsion. Consider, madam,
of this our offer; impute not the blame of your folly unto us. Think not that
here we brag. Your ladyship, upon submission, shall have safe convoy to
secure you from the hands of your enemies, and to lead you whither you
please. A speedy reply is desired with all expedition, and then we surcease.
To this rather polite demand, the baroness returned a dignified refusal.
I received your letter wherein you threaten to sack this my castle by
his Majesty’s authority. I have ever been a loyal subject and a good neighbor
among you, and therefore cannot but wonder at such an assault. I thank you
for your offer of a convoy, wherein I hold little safety; and therefore my
resolution is that, being free from offending his Majesty, or doing wrong to
any of you, I will live and die innocently. I will do the best to defend my own,
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leaving the issue to God; and though I have been, I am still desirous to avoid
shedding blood, yet, being provoked, your threats shall no way dismay me.
After two additional months of siege, the rebels had a local ironworker make
a great canon out of pots and pans collected in nearby villages. As the home-made
canon was aimed at the castle, it blew up at the first attempt to fire it. This had a
discouraging effect on the rebels and in due course the baroness was rescued by Sir
Richard Greville.
Anne Marie d’Orléans, “Le Grande Mademoiselle,” 1627 – 1693
Anne Marie in a minor way replayed the role of Joan of Arc saving the town
of Orléans. Her father, Gaston, brother to Louis XIII, and known as “Monsieur,”
had been exiled by Richelieu. Anne Marie, officially known as “Mademoiselle,” was
called “La Grande Mademoiselle” because she had grown tall and strong.
When Louis XIV assumed power from his mother, the regent, in 1650,
Gaston d’Orléans hesitated giving his support to the new king. The citizens of
Orléans communicated to him that unless he or his daughter came to inspire further
resistance, they would deliver the city to the king. When Gaston still hesitated,
Anne Marie obtained his permission to go in his place. Putting on armor and
helmet she led a small force to Orléans, enthused the citizens with her speech and
kept the town loyal to her father.
Later, Anne Marie, for her efforts, was banished from Paris by Louis XIV.
At age 40 she fell in love with the Comte de Lauzin, but the king refused to permit
them to be married. When they proposed to be married in any case, the king had de
Lauzin imprisoned for 10 years. Anne Marie waited and when he was released they
were married.
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The Countess of Derby, 17th Century
The Countess of Derby’s defense of Latham House, her castle in England, in
1643, is a story of remarkable determination. She was ordered to either yield up her
home and to subscribe to certain acts of Parliament or face a siege. Having chosen
the latter, she soon found herself confined within her castle walls. The officer in
charge, Sir Thomas Fairfax, not wishing to harm the lady, made numerous attempts
at negotiation, all of which she answered with clever responses. In one instance, for
example, Fairfax proposed, as a trick, that they meet for a conference in a house a
quarter of a mile away. She responded that it would be more honorable that he wait
upon her, than she upon him. She sent further instructions that she preferred to
risk her life, rather than compromise, “trusting to God for deliverance and
protection.”
After the siege dragged on for 6 more weeks, Fairfax, wearily resigned his
post to a Colonel Rigby. Having some 3,000 men outside the castle, and knowing the
countess had only 300 soldiers inside, Rigby attacked. He lost 500, while only 6
soldiers were killed inside. Next Rigby had constructed some fire bombs and sent
an ultimatum threatening their use if the countess did not surrender. She tore up
the ultimatum and informed him that he should have neither her person, goods or
house. As for his fire bombs, she announced that she was prepared to set fire
herself, burning herself, her children, soldiers and goods in the name of religion and
loyalty.
The next morning the countess had her troops make a sudden dash from the
castle to capture a powerful mortar which had been used to bombard them. Rigby
now wrote to his superiors saying that due to the length of the siege and the
hardships it entailed, his soldiers had wearied and that he himself was completely
worn out. The countess was soon rescued by the arrival of Royalist forces.
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Queen Esther, War Chief of the Senecas, 18th Century
Esther was apparently the half-breed daughter of one Catherine Montour
who had been captured by the Seneca Indians in her youth. In 1744, now in middle
age and having completely adopted the ways of the Indians, Catherine represented
them in a meeting of the Six Nations held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. One who
attended, described her at this time.
Although so young when made a prisoner, she had nevertheless
preserved her language; and being in youth and middle age very handsome
and of good address, she had been greatly caressed by the gentlewomen of
Philadelphia during her occasional visits to that city with her people on
business. Indeed, she was always held in great esteem by the white people,
invited to their houses, and entertained with marked civility.
Her daughter, Esther, became a war chief of the Senecas and led the attack,
“fighting like a fiend,” against Major John Butler in the 1778 massacre in
Wyoming. She took only 16 prisoners, who were placed in a circle around a large
stone. To the music of a chant, she passed around the circle bashing out the brains
of the victims.
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