The Nine Female Worthies

A century after the appearance of the famous (male) Nine Worthies in literature, a famous balladeer named Eustache Deschamps created the Nine Female Worthies. He chose nine women noted for their military virtues, often at the expense of his own contemporary feminine virtues. In doing this he sacrifi ced the neat symmetry present in the Nine Worthies. His reasons for doing so are still the cause of much debate; although his original list was occasionally altered, the martial nature of its members was unchanged.

All of these women are noted not only for their fi ghting skills, but also for leadership. Thus Deschamps, and the male writers who followed him, equated worthiness with masculine virtues at the expense of the feminine.

Even Christine de Pisan, a spokesperson for women in the Middle Ages, included them (though without calling them the Nine Worthies) in her Citie des Dames. She stressed their virtues and defended their vices as foreign custom and political necessity. Her book does not view the virtues as necessarily manly, and stresses the potential of women in her own age to transcend such categories in a manner that would not become acceptable until our own modern time.

Queen Semiramis of Assyria:Famous for her military conquests and infamous for her sexual victories, including the seduction of her own son.43

Queen Teuta of Illyria:Noted for her struggle against the Romans and for her chastity.

Queen Thamyris of Scythia:Famous because she slew King Cyrus of Persia, the most powerful ruler of his time.

Deipyle:A heroine from Greek legend, wife of the savage hero Tydeus. She helped the hero Theseus destroy the city where her husband died.

Hippolyta:Queen of the Amazons, perhaps the most famous of her tribe. She resisted Herakles in his efforts to obtain her girdle, and later wed Theseus after he was able to best her in combat.

Penthesilea:An Amazon who fought with the Trojans against the Greeks until she was slain by Achilles, who mourned her death greatly.

Menalippe and Antiope:Both Amazons noted for their fi ghting prowess.

Marpesia or Lampedo:Amazon co-rulers; only one or the other normally appears in the list because they worked in conjunction. One would stay home to rule while the other went to war.

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