Bare Bones: About the Database
This database features work on historical women warriors. We are starting with only about 30 entries but are adding more. You can search for books, articles, Masters and PhD theses, websites, and documentaries. Many resources are based in academic research but media by and for the general public is included.
Currently we do not provide abstracts or descriptions but that may change in the future. Some media includes links and more will be added. We have tried to link to academic articles which are open access, but this is not always possible.
The terms “historical” “women” and “warrior” can be interpreted and contested in various ways.
- Historical
My primary interest is in pre-modern people who used swords (and other melee or ranged weapons), so I have arbitrarily decided not to feature work on figures born after 1900, at least for now. However, some resources may discuss warriors up to the present day. The database includes some figures whose historical existence has not been confirmed (for example, the Amazon Penthesilea mentioned in ancient Greek texts) but generally steers clear of goddesses and other supernatural beings, unless the work directly connects with historical people or practices. - Women
Biological sex and gender are not the same thing, although they are often used interchangeably: “female warrior” is not an appropriate term unless it specifically refers to biological sex, as with excavated human remains. The database is largely made up of work in which people were identified as women by authors, historians, etc.There are also numerous historical figures who are said to have dressed as men: in many cases we do not know if this was an expression of their actual gender, a protective effort to disguise themselves, a practical decision for ease of movement, or simply a description of a someone wearing warrior garb that was considered men’s clothing. - Warrior
For the purposes of the database, a warrior is anyone who took part in physical combat and/or was on the field of battle as a strategist or commander.
I struggle with issues of categorization, especially with national borders. For practical search functionality, modern countries are listed as the locations of events which took place prior to the existence of that political entity. For example, Boudica can be found with a search for the United Kingdom. I have tried to err on the side of inclusion, so anything listed as United Kingdom can also be found under British Isles. I remain ambivalent: my choices about terminology for technical database navigation cannot be separated from the cultural and political issues embedded in that terminology. These are troubled waters.
On that note, there are often different spellings of the same warrior name, or different names for the same person, which is also fraught with cultural and political issues around language and imperialism.
Inclusion in the database is not an endorsement of the views expressed by the authors. Some work is based in colonialist/imperialist power and may include racist, misogynistic, anti-queer, anti-Semitic, casteist, and other discriminatory attitudes and statements. The excavation of human remains and material objects may be a painful issue for marginalized people and groups. To provide balance, I will endeavor to include resources from myriad perspectives, including those critical of the imperialism that underlies some archeological work.
One last caveat: women warriors are becoming more popular in our cultures and more frequently acknowledged in our views of history. Many people, especially girls and women (myself included), turn to these figures as role models. Not all historic women warriors were noble-minded people fighting for justice. Their battles were not abstract or symbolic. They are not in this database because they should (or shouldn’t) be admired. They are here because they were killers.
The database background image is a sketch of burial chamber Bj. 581 at Birka, Sweden by Hjalmar Stolpe, published 1889 (public domain). This Viking Age site was first excavated in the late 1880s and Bj. 581 was identified as the grave of a high-ranking warrior and battle commander. In 2017, DNA analysis classified the remains as biologically female. This has proved controversial.