Ancient Gaelic women – A legacy full of independence and strength – "knives in their thighs"
Gain a new insight into ancient women and how modern women reflect and project old strengths and virtues
Because most people learn their history at the end of a sociology class, or from a malicious comment in a political seminar, many people understand the world like this:
“The Greeks were hostile men, who loved each other’s company more than their wives. The Roman Catholics were “puftas” who despised women. And before that, women were subservient throughout human history to that girls right now can feel brave, angry and free?
the gaelic woman
First of all, the women’s story is much more fascinating than the previous characterization. But the point of this article is that ancient European Gaelic culture has been found to be much more interesting. First of all, it has been customary to “barbarize” Gaelic culture. This is the habit of the Victor in History: the victor is Romanism and Hellenistic superiority. A study of art, weaponry and lore and archeology is revealing a very sophisticated and interconnected advanced culture that simply had an emphasis on ORAL rather than WRITTEN lore.
Gaelic woman could:
sue for divorce,
own land,
Purchase and sale of portions of real estate.
Gaelic woman could be:
Priestesses, Seers, Healers and Prophetesses.
And if they wanted to, and had the skill and leadership, they could qualify to be WARRIORS.
Boudicca
Boudicca was the wife of Prasutagus, who was the chief of the Iceni tribe in eastern England, in what is now Norfolk and Suffolk.
In 43 CE, the Romans invaded Britain and most of the Celtic (Gaelic) tribes were forced to submit. However, the Romans allowed two Celtic kings to retain some of their traditional power; one was Prasutagus.
The Roman occupation brought with it an increase in Roman settlements, military presence, and attempts to suppress Celtic religious culture. There were big economic changes, including heavy taxes and money lending.
In 47 AD C., the Romans forced the Irenians to disarm, which generated resentment. Prasutagus had received a grant from the Romans, but the Romans later redefined this as a loan. When Prasutagus died in 60 CE, he left half of his kingdom to Emperor Nero to pay off this debt.
The Romans came to collect, but instead of settling for half the kingdom, they took control of it. To humiliate the former rulers, the Romans publicly beat Boudicca, raped her two daughters, seized the wealth of many Iceni, and sold much of the royal family into slavery. The Celtic tribes gathered in that region planned to revolt and expel the Romans.
Led by Boudicca, some 100,000 British attacked Camulodunum (now Colchester), where the Romans had their main center of government. Boudicca’s army burned Camulodunum to the ground; only the Roman temple remained. Boudicca’s army immediately headed for the largest city in the British Isles, Londinium (London). Suetonius strategically abandoned the city, and Boudicca’s army burned Londinium and massacred the 25,000 inhabitants who had not fled. Archaeological evidence of a burnt ash layer shows the extent of the destruction.
Boudicca and her army then marched on Verulamium (St. Albans), a city largely populated by British who had cooperated with the Romans, and were killed when the city was destroyed. Boudicca fought one more battle, although his precise location is not certain. Boudicca’s army attacked uphill and, exhausted, hungry, it was easy for the Romans to defeat them. Roman troops of 1,200 defeated Boudicca’s army of 100,000, killing 80,000 for his own loss of 400.
What happened to Boudicca is uncertain. It is said that he returned to his home territory and took poison to avoid Roman capture.
Boudicca’s story was almost forgotten until Tacitus’ Annals was rediscovered in 1360. Her story became popular during the reign of another English queen who led an army against foreign invasion, Queen Elizabeth I.
A sharp dagger strapped to her inner thigh
The classically educated grandmother was chatting on a crisp spring morning with her 3 granddaughters. “Now, my dears, I want you to see how the old Irish girls protected themselves.” She propped her leg up on a chair and pulled her dress up above her knee. She took a sharp knife from the kitchen drawer. “To protect her virtue, old Irish maidens strapped a knife like this to their inner thighs.”
One of the “correct” moms corrected the cranky old grandmother. Her daughter stood up to protect her grandmother from her. “Mother, we know we can’t do that today, but you know what, this makes me feel differently about my former Irish cousins. They were well prepared to face all the challenges that life threw at them.”
Same season enjoyed by their women
When the ancient Romans encountered the Celtic tribes that inhabited northern Europe, in an area north of the Alps, and stretching from Turkey in the east to Ireland in the west, they were impressed with the equal status they enjoyed. their women.
Celtic women enjoyed an unusual degree of freedom by known standards in the ancient and medieval worlds.
They were recognized for their individuality and courage, and were especially praised for their qualities of self-respect and independence.
Celtic women could inherit land and titles, just like their male brothers.
A woman could serve as head of the clan and go into battle, just as men did, in time of war.
The ferocity of Celtic women warriors is the stuff of legend.
The Romans were amazed at the sexual freedom enjoyed by Celtic women, who extended what the Celts euphemistically called “the friendship of the thighs.”
The true Roman matrons, with the false standards of “respectability” imposed on them by their men, found lovers among those who were willing to indulge in secret relationships.
matrilineal
Due, perhaps, to the sexual freedom of the Celts, succession within their tribes and clans was matrilineal because, in the midst of such general promiscuity, it could be difficult to determine who had fathered a particular child.
A Celtic woman could divorce her husband if he did not support her or treat her with respect, if he was impotent, homosexual, sterile or gossipy about her sex life.
I could quit if I was fat, snoring, or just plain creepy.” from A Toast to the Lassie by Carson C. Smith.
When you reflect on the challenges faced by modern women, there is a similarity to the broad and challenging world of Gaelic or Celtic women (labels vary depending on cultural and historical nomenclature and the point of view of historians) in their world in their epoch. Her villages were often seasonal and had to be very flexible, as well as having the ability to function in society, in love, in leadership, in hunting, and in war.
The limiting way in which women have been studied for the exemplars of the Roman and Greek worlds tells women that those societies may or may not fairly represent women’s roles, but it is definitely wise to work on understanding those old worlds. with a new breadth and a new perspective. new desire to look again at the previous copies. There are cases that must be presented on the path that women have followed and how the great cultural and religious influences have impeded the development of women. However, if we allow this most recent “politically infused” commentary to lose us thousands of years of history in Europe’s wilderness, we are all missing something. When women do the heroic things they have done, perhaps we should look further back, to the hills of Europe, where fearless women forged their lives for hundreds of generations.