Read on Twitter
So over on Instagram I accidentally started compiling a list of really cool historical women that I thought I'd share with you. You've probably heard of some of these, maybe not all of them, and at least one of them is possibly fictional but fuck it, let's
gooooo!
gooooo!
Starting off with Julie d'Aubigny, a French opera singer who took after her father in being a scoundrel, wearing men's clothes and duelling. She got herself into a nunnery then burned it down to elope with a girl, and duelled three men for a girl she kissed at a royal ball.
Emperor Elagabalus - a Roman emperor who dressed in female clothing, slept with both male and female subjects (including a Vestal Virgin), prostituted themselves around the palace, and is the first person in the historical record to seek sex reassignment surgery.
Anne Lister. A 19th century Yorkshire lesbian who owned land in her own right, dressed in masc clothing, traveled independently through Europe, kept secret diaries in cypher, and had several long-term same sex relationships, including with Ann Walker, who she married.
Empress Matilda. The first rightful Queen of England. Inherited her throne from her father after her brother died in an "accident" engineered by her cousin Stephen, who then usurped the throne. Fought a 20-year war called the Anarchy to get it back.
Scáthach. Save her for your next DnD adventure - she's a Scottish warrior who ran a sword school on the Isle of Skye in a castle on a cliff called "THE FORTRESS OF SHADOWS!!!". Her most famous pupil was Cu Chulainn, who carried her spear into battle. Also sadly likely fictional.
Anne Bonny - Irish pirate who left her husband to join with Calico Jack Rackham, with whom she led a crew of scallywags through the Bahamas. Eventually captured but escaped by getting pregnant to exploit a legal loophole called "pleading the belly" and disappeared into the night.
The Mino - an all-female elite bodyguard regiment from what is now Benin. Fought with spears, swords, and rifles and specifically recruited violent women, some of whom were nominated by their husbands because they were too scared of their wives to actually live with them.
Madame Ching. Chinese prostitute who managed through savvy marriages to assemble 80,000 pirates on 1500 ship. Terrorised the East India Company, and the navies of Portugal and China. Eventually sold the fleet to the Chinese government and retired to a life as a brothel owner.
Running Eagle. Native American woman who grew up a tomboy, wore mens clothes, and led raids against rival tribes. She was honoured in songs and dances, took scalps, saved her father from Assiniboine warriors, and later led her tribe in battle carrying her father's rifle.
