Maidens' War
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The Maidens' War () is a tale in
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
n tradition about an uprising of women against men. According to legend, it occurred sometime in the
8th century The 8th century is the period from 701 (represented by the Roman numerals DCCI) through 800 (DCCC) in accordance with the Julian Calendar. In the historiography of Europe the phrase the long 8th century is sometimes used to refer to the peri ...
. It first appeared in the twelfth-century ''
Chronica Boemorum The ''Chronica Boemorum'' (Chronicle of the Czechs, or Bohemians) is the first Latin chronicle in which the history of the Czech lands has been consistently and relatively fully described. It was written in 1119–1125 by Cosmas of Prague. The ...
'' of
Cosmas of Prague Cosmas of Prague (; ; – 21 October 1125) was a Czech priest, writer and historian. Life Between 1075 and 1081, he studied in Liège. After his return to Bohemia, he married Božetěcha with whom he had a son, named Jindřich Zdík, and remai ...
, and later in the fourteenth-century ''
Chronicle of Dalimil The ''Chronicle of Dalimil'' () is the first chronicle written in the Old Czech language. It was composed in verse by an unknown author at the beginning of the 14th century. The Chronicle compiles information from older Czech chronicles writt ...
''.


Tale

Following the death of
Libuše , Libussa, Libushe or, historically ''Lubossa'', is a legendary ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty and the Czechs, Czech people as a whole. According to legend, she was the youngest but wisest of three sisters, who became queen after their father ...
, Vlasta led a band of women against the (male) forces of Libuše's widower Přemysl and founded the castle Děvín. The men, however, despite the warnings of Duke Přemysl, laughed at their preparations. Vlasta then sent the most beautiful girls to enchant the men with their charms, and led an attack against the men who came to Děvín, which the women won. Šárka, Vlasta's lieutenant, entrapped a band of armed men led by Ctirad by tying herself to a tree, claiming that the rebel maidens had tied her there and put a horn and a jug of mead out of reach to mock her. Ctirad believed her story and untied her from the tree, whereupon she poured
mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...
for the men to show her thanks. Little did the men know that Šárka and the maidens had put a sleeping
potion A potion is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers." It derives from the Latin word ''potio'' which refers to a drink or the act of drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifica ...
into the mead. When all the men had fallen asleep, Šárka blew the horn as a signal for the rebel maidens to come out of their hiding places and join her in slaughtering the men. Ctirad was captured and then tortured to death in Děvín. The valley where it happened is today called
Divoká Šárka Divoká Šárka (; wild Šárka) is a nature reserve on the northwestern outskirts of Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. Around the 6th century, the Slavs came to this area. Between the 7th and 9th centuries, there was a Slavic ...
(Wild Šárka). When the men at
Vyšehrad Vyšehrad (German: ''Wyschehrad,'' ''Prager Hochburg'', English: "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 1 ...
learned of this, they became angry and began to beat and capture women on the road. Vlasta responded with an attack at Vyšehrad, but she was killed and her army defeated. Děvín Castle was burned, and the women's rule ended.


In popular culture

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( ; ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival". He has been regarded ...
depicted the Maiden's War in ''Šárka'' (1875), which is also part of his collection of
symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...
s, ''
Má vlast (), also known as ''My Fatherland'', is a set of six symphonic poems composed between 1874 and 1879 by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. The six pieces, conceived as individual works, are often presented and recorded as a single work in si ...
''. The legend is included in
Jiří Trnka Jiří Trnka (; 24 February 1912 – 30 December 1969) was a Czechoslovak puppet-maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director. In addition to his extensive career as an illustrator, especially of children's books, he is be ...
animated film "
Old Czech Legends ''Old Czech Legends'' () is a 1953 Czechoslovak stop motion puppet animation film directed by Jiří Trnka. It is based on the 1894 book '' Ancient Bohemian Legends'' by Alois Jirásek. Production After the completion of '' Prince Bayaya'' in 1 ...
" (1953). The legend inspired the composition of multiple operas, including
Zdeněk Fibich Zdeněk Fibich (, 21 December 1850 in Všebořice – 15 October 1900 in Prague) was a Czech composer of classical music. Among his compositions are chamber works (including two string quartets, a piano trio, piano quartet and a quintet for pia ...
's '' Šárka'' (1897) and
Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...
's
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
(1925) by the same name.
František Ringo Čech František Ringo Čech (born 9 July 1943) is a Czech musician, politician, and writer. Life and career Early musical career: 1959–1965 František Čech was born in Prague in 1943 to František Čech Pražský, a musician of Viennese origin. F ...
wrote a play entitled '' Maidens' War'' in 1985. The story is also depicted in the 2009 film ''
The Pagan Queen ''The Pagan Queen'' is a 2009 fantasy drama film directed by German director Constantin Werner. The film combines realism with fantasy elements and is based on the legend of Libuše, the Czech tribal queen of 8th century Bohemia who envisioned ...
'' by
Constantin Werner Constantin Werner (born January 3, 1969, Erlangen) is a German artist, writer, director and producer of film, TV, theater and music videos. Constantin Werner's first feature film '' Dead Leaves'' had its premiere at the 1998 AFI International F ...
. ' (2013), a manga series by , is titled after the legend and the protagonist, a young girl who joins the
Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, a ...
, is named Šárka as well. The fifth volume of the manga featured child pornography (although somehow historically accurate, due to inclusion of Adamite sect) Nakladatelství Argo
/ref> The story is featured in books in the 2018 game Kingdom Come Deliverance, set in 1403 Bohemia. In the series
A Discovery of Witches ''A Discovery of Witches'' is a 2011 historical-fantasy novel and the debut novel by American scholar Deborah Harkness. It follows Diana Bishop, a history of science professor at Yale University, as she embraces her magical blood after finding ...
the emperor of Bohemia,
Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...
has a hunting bird named Sarka. Matthew de Clairmont remarks that she is named after the warrior from the Maiden’s War who is rumored to have killed a battalion single-handedly.


See also

* Woman warrior *
List of women warriors in folklore This is a list of women who engaged in war, found throughout mythology and folklore, studied in fields such as literature, sociology, psychology, anthropology, film studies, cultural studies, and women's studies. A ''mythological'' figure d ...
*''
Ancient Bohemian Legends ''Ancient Bohemian legends'' () is a book by Alois Jirásek written in 1894. It describes events from Czech Republic, Czech history based on folk literature and some historical facts. The model was based on Chronicle of Hájek, Cosmas of Prague, ...
''


References


External links


English translation of ''The Maidens' War'' (1894)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maidens' War Culture of the Czech Republic Czech mythology Women in medieval European warfare