Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index
Home
What is Feminae?
What's Indexed?
Subjects
Broad Topics
Journals
Essays
All Image Records
Contact Feminae
SMFS
Other Resources
Admin (staff only)
There are 45,225 records currently in Feminae
Quick Search
Advanced Search
Article of the Month
Translation of the Month
Image of the Month
Special Features
Record Number:
9526
Author(s)/Creator(s):
Nicholson , Helen
Contributor(s):
Title:
Women on the Third Crusade [discusses the evidence of women warriors in the Christian chronicles and the accounts of Muslim historians, Imad al-Din and Baha al-Din].
Source:
Journal of Medieval History 23, 4 (December 1997): Pages 335 - 349.
Description:
Article Type:
Journal Article
Subject
(See Also)
:
Baha Al-Din, Historian
Chronicles
Crusades
Historians
Imad Al-Din, Historian
Itinerarium Peregrinorium, Chonicle of the Third Crusade
Latin Literature
Muslims
Warfare and Warriors
Award Note:
Geographic Area:
Eastern Mediterranean
Century:
12
Primary Evidence:
Illustrations:
Table:
Abstract:
Historians remain undecided over whether or not women actually took up arms during crusading expeditions. Opinions vary widely, from denying that women could ever be true "crucesignati" to concluding that they took an active role in the fighting. This study focuses on the Third Crusade, for which the chronicle evidence is particularly full. Some of the narrative accounts of the crusade never mention women or even deny that they took part, while others describe their assisting crusaders in constructing seige works or performing menial tasks. The Muslim sources for the Third Crusade, however, depict Christian women taking part in the fighting, armed as knights. The study discusses the reasons behind these divergent depictions of women in the Third Crusade. It examines the evidence for women taking an active part in military activity in Europe, and concludes that women could certainly have taken an active military role in the Third Crusade. Yet, as the European sources are silent on the subject, it is unlikely that women did play a significant military role, although it is possible that some fought in particularly desperate battles. [Reprinted from the Journal of Medieval History 23, Nicholson, "Women on the Third Crusade," 335, 1997 with permission from Elsevier Science.]
Related Resources:
Author's Affiliation:
University of Wales, Cardiff
Conference Info:
- , -
Year of Publication:
1997.
Language:
English
ISSN/ISBN:
03044181