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Penelope
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Topic: Warrior Queens Posted: 16-Aug-2008 at 10:15 |
Contrary to popular belief, there were many Queens, who personally led armies into battle. Many who presided over some of the most important battles in human history.
Here we will pay homage to these overlooked figures, by simply discussing the battles they may have won or lost.
The first Queen that i would like to mention, is a Chinese Queen. Her name is Fù Hǎo. In the inscriptions on the Shang Dynasty bone artifacts unearthed at Yinxu(which make this unquestionable), she is shown to have marched at the head of numerous military campaigns. She was the wife of Wu Ding, the King of China(Shang Dynasty), at this time, there were no "emperors". It was the King who sent his Queen, to confront a gigantic Tu tribe army,whom had threatened the Shang for generations. Fu Hao marched at the head of the army, and defeated the Tu once and for all. She then marched on to conquer the Yi, Qiang, and Ba. The battle against the Ba is recorded as being the earliest recorded large scale ambush in history. Fu Hao had close to 15,000 troops at her command, as well as many important generals. She was the most powerful military leader on earth during her time and this highly unusual status is confirmed by the many weapons, including great battle-axes, unearthed from her magnificent tomb.
At her death, King Wu Ding constructed her tomb on the edge of the royal cemetary at his capital Yin. He later made sacrifices here in hope for her spiritual assistance in defeating the attacking Gong, who threatened to completely wipe out the Shang Dynasty. The tomb is open to the public.
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The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.
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Paul
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Posted: 16-Aug-2008 at 22:36 |
I believe there were an awful lot in chinese history.
In the UK the most famous perhaps is Bodica, though perhaps the reality is somewhat less glamourous than the Arthurian style myth that surrounds her.
Another is Aethelflaed of Mercia who lead an army against the Vikings.
Isabelle of England, not remotely like she was portrayed in Braveheart.
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Reginmund
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Posted: 16-Aug-2008 at 23:42 |
The chick who defeated Cyrus, Tomyris of the Massagetae.
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Bernard Woolley
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Posted: 02-Sep-2008 at 04:59 |
Kahina was a Berber queen who held back the Ummayyad conquest of North Africa, soundly defeating their first invasion of her territory. After retreating to Libya, the Ummayyads launched a second invasion and managed to defeat and kill her.
There is also the Empress Jingu of Japan, who is supposed to have led an invasion of Korea in the third century. She was traditionally considered the 15th emperor of Japan, although in the 19th century she was demoted to regent for her son, who became the 15th emperor.
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Penelope
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Posted: 03-Sep-2008 at 01:00 |
Originally posted by Bernard Woolley
Kahina was a Berber queen who held back the Ummayyad conquest of North Africa, soundly defeating their first invasion of her territory. After retreating to Libya, the Ummayyads launched a second invasion and managed to defeat and kill her.
There is also the Empress Jingu of Japan, who is supposed to have led an invasion of Korea in the third century. She was traditionally considered the 15th emperor of Japan, although in the 19th century she was demoted to regent for her son, who became the 15th emperor. |
Yes, i remember watching something on tv about Queen Kahina. After achieving victory over the Ummayyads, she made the terrible mistake of destroying her own cities, thinking that this would cause the Ummayyads to lose interest in returning. This however, obviously turned her own people against her, and caused disunity, since they were the ones who lived in these cities. Kahina failed to realize that the Ummayyad's main objective was to simply spread islam across the world, not to loot or destroy cities. Had she been able to keep her people united, she probably wouldve been able to hold off the Ummayyads.
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The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.
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Maharbbal
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Posted: 03-Sep-2008 at 01:38 |
The widow Ching was a pirate captain, but can arguably be considered as the ruler of a quasi state.
Margareth Thatcher...
My own favorite is Marozia who led an army that took Rome in the early 10th century.
Then you have all these noble women who defended the castle of their husband who was dead, at the crusades or whatever else.
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I am a free donkey!
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Posted: 03-Sep-2008 at 06:05 |
Slim pickings then if we have to pick losers as well; like Bodicca! Another Briton; Margret of Anjou in the War of the Roses.
I am surprised that Zenobia who took over half the Roman Empire in the east for the better part of two decades is not mentioned. Despite being a loserl quite an accomplishment.
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Count Belisarius
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Posted: 03-Sep-2008 at 17:36 |
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Defenders of Ulthuan, Cult of Asuryan (57 Kills and counting)
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Posted: 03-Sep-2008 at 19:18 |
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Temujin
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Posted: 03-Sep-2008 at 20:06 |
Chand Bibi, Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi and Queen Mandukhai from Mongolia.
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Penelope
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Posted: 06-Sep-2008 at 08:55 |
This Queen goes by many names, but the one name that most of us know her by, is Gudit, Queen of Ethiopia, Damot, and Sidam. Also being recognised as the undisputed Queen of Nubia.
Gudit, marching at the head of her army, laid waste to Axum, and its country side. She destroyed churches, and monuments, and attempted to exterminate the remaining members of the royal Axumite Dynasty. She is said to have slain the Emperor, and ascended the throne and reigned for 40 years. Accounts of her violent misdeeds are still to this very day, related among peasants in the countryside of northern Ethiopia. The rock church of Abrea and Atsbeha in eastern Tigray has an intricately carved ceiling which is blackened by soot. Queen Gudit had piled the church full of hay and set it ablaze nine centuries ago. She also sacked and burned the treasury and prison for the male relatives of the Emperor of Ethiopia at Debra Damo. Some Scholars claim that she was a black Jew, of the Agaw people who historically have been numerous in Lasta and converted to Judism centuries earlier. It was during the office of the Patriarch Philotheos of Alexandria when Gudit started her revolt, near the end of the reign of the ruler who had deposed the Abuna Petros. As Taddesse Tamrat explains, at the time "his own death in the conflict, and the military reverses of the kingdom were taken as divine retribution for the sufferings of Abuna Petros." This chronological synchronicity with the tenure of Patriarch Philotheos, and the intervention of king Georgios II of Makuria provides us a date of c.960 for Queen Gudit.
"The country of the Habasha has been ruled by a woman for many years now: she has killed the ruler of the Habasha, who was called Hadani. Until today she rules with complete independence in her own country and the frontier areas of the country of the Hadani, in the southern part of the Habashi." - Ibn Hawqal - contemporary Arab historian.
It is also speculated that one of the effects of her reign were the pockets of various languages related to Amharic scattered across southwestern Ethiopia which could have been Axumite military settlements isolated by her conquests and later Sidamo migrations.
She has to be on the list.
Edited by Penelope - 06-Sep-2008 at 09:06
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The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.
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Melisende
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Posted: 18-Oct-2008 at 07:23 |
Matilda of Canossa - not a queen but she lead her army in defence of a pope!
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"For my part, I adhere to the maxim of antiquity: The throne is a glorious sepulchre."
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IamJoseph
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Posted: 03-Dec-2008 at 09:13 |
Rebecca, wife of Isaac, who saw further ahead`into the future than her husband, and switched Jacob for Esau. Had she not done so, then there would be no Jews or Christian religions today. esau represented Rome. This was akin to an act of war in that Patriachal space time, but ultimately, Rebecca was acknowledged as being right by her husband Isaac and her son Esau. The rest is history.
Women made all the pivotal turns in history, and are accounted as the supreme and final act of creation. A woman is future oriented, while a man is past inclined - it had to be that way because life is vested in the bosom of a woman, who must make decisions best on the future security of the off-spring. The greatest wars are conducted on the battlefield of words.
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Moses - the First Zionist.
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IamJoseph
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Posted: 03-Dec-2008 at 09:16 |
Originally posted by Reginmund
The chick who defeated Cyrus. |
Esther.
Edited by IamJoseph - 03-Dec-2008 at 09:16
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Moses - the First Zionist.
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Knights
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Posted: 03-Dec-2008 at 09:46 |
I think Reginmund was right in saying Tomyris, Queen of the Massegatae, actually.
Edited by Knights - 03-Dec-2008 at 19:30
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Count Belisarius
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Posted: 03-Dec-2008 at 17:15 |
There was some kushite queen (can't remember her name, dang it!) anyway she led an army and sacked a roman city in egypt and took the head off a statue of the Emperor Augustus and buried it under a temple doorway
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Defenders of Ulthuan, Cult of Asuryan (57 Kills and counting)
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Count Belisarius
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Posted: 03-Dec-2008 at 17:27 |
Originally posted by IamJoseph
Originally posted by Reginmund
The chick who defeated Cyrus. |
Esther. |
Esther? she never lead an army. She was also born about a hundred years after Cyrus the great died
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Defenders of Ulthuan, Cult of Asuryan (57 Kills and counting)
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Temujin
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Posted: 03-Dec-2008 at 18:07 |
i think he's refering to that Assyrian king who went with all the loot of jerusalem. there's also a famous painting about her assassinating him.
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Posted: 03-Dec-2008 at 18:20 |
In Chile we have Ines de Suarez, the woman of the conquistador. She was a very couragious soldier that lead the defense of a fort.
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Dolphin
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Posted: 03-Dec-2008 at 18:39 |
Queen Maeve.
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