Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index
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Title:
Woman Kills a Would-Be Rapist and is Presented with his Belongings
Creator:
Description:
According to the text of the Madrid manuscript of the "Synopsis historion," a Byzantine chronicle written by John Skylitzes, "There were some Varangians dispersed in the Thrakesion theme for the winter. One of them coming across a woman of the region in the wilderness put the quality of her virtue to the test. When persuasion failed he resorted to violence, but she seized his Persian-type sword, struck him in the heart and promptly killed him. When the deed became known in the surrounding area, the Varangians held an assembly and crowned the woman, presenting her with all the possessions of her violator, whom they threw aside, unburied, according to the law concerning assassins." In the image depicting these occurrences, the woman uses a spear to kill her attacker, and the other Varangian men approach her with armfuls of clothing.
Source:
WikiMedia Commons
Rights:
Public domain
Subject
(See Also)
:
Byzantium
Clothing
Murder
Rape
Warfare and Warriors
Geographic Area:
Eastern Mediterranean
Century:
12
Date:
Related Work:
Synopsis historion
Current Location:
Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, MS Graecus Vitr. 26-2, fol. 208r.
Original Location:
Artistic Type (Category):
Digital images; Manuscript illuminations
Artistic Type (Material/Technique):
Vellum (parchment)
Donor:
Layman; Roger II, King of Sicily
Height/Width/Length(cm):
//
Inscription:
Related Resources:
For translation cited here: Skylitzes, John. A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811–1057: Translation and Notes. Translated by John Wortley. Cambridge University Press, 2010. Page 372.