Mercadera (1245-1300), was a Spanish war heroine of the

Aragonese Crusade The Aragonese Crusade or Crusade of Aragon, a part of the larger War of the Sicilian Vespers, was declared by Pope Martin IV against King Peter III of Aragon in 1284 and 1285. Because of the recent conquest of Sicily by Peter, Martin declared ...

. In 1285, France invaded

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

ese Empordà and

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the reg ...

and placed the city of Peralada under siege. Mercadera was a manufacturer of ornaments for clothing such as bands and ribbons. Similar to other citizens, she had a garden outside the city walls which provided an important food supply, but did not dare to tend to it during the siege for fear of sexual assault from the enemy soldiers. Instead, she dressed herself as a man to tend to her garden outside the walls. When doing so, she wounded and took a French knight prisoner before returning to the city, herself wounded, and handed him over to the Aragonese authorities. King

Peter III of Aragon Peter III of Aragon ( November 1285) was King of Aragon, King of Valencia (as ), and Count of Barcelona (as ) from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered the Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282, pres ...

had her repeat her tale to him several times and awarded her the armor and weapons of the French knight, which was customary for a warrior capturing an enemy: the incident attracted great attention and she was hailed as a patriotic Aragonese heroine of the war.

References

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Diccionari Biogràfic de Dones: Mercadera, na
� * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercadera 13th-century people from the Kingdom of Aragon Women in medieval European warfare Women in 13th-century warfare 1245 births 1300 deaths Female wartime cross-dressers