Valasca

Valasca is a woman mentioned in the History of Bohemia by Aeneas Silvius (Pope Pius II). She was also called Vlasta and was supporter of the mythical Bohemian Princess Libuše.

Life

On the death of Libuše ca. 738, Valasca seized power and created a state ruled by women.[1]

She decreed that only women were to receive military training and that boys were to be maimed to render them unable to fight by removal of the right eye and thumb. She supposedly distributed a potion to the women of Bohemia which protected them from men.[2] She was slain by Primislaus in battle[3] after seven years of rule, at which point men regained power.

Her headquarters were traditionally believed to have been located in Dívčí Hrad ("The Virgin’s Castle") on Mount Vidovole.[4]

A character called Velasca in popular TV series Xena: Warrior Princess was loosey based on Valasca.

Sources
  1. Rothery, Guy Cadogan, The Amazons, Francis Griffiths, London 1910, p. 102
  2. Watanabe-O’Kelly, Helen, Beauty or Beast: the woman warrior in the German imagination from the Renaissance to the present, Oxford university Press 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-955823-0, p. 79
  3. Spangenberg, C; AdelSpiegel: Historicher Ausfuhrlicher Bericht, Michel Schmuck 1591
  4. Rothery, G. C., The Amazons in Antiquity and Modern Times, Forgotten Books, ISBN 978-1-4510-0454-0, p. 102
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.