encyclopedia-amazonica:Maria of Pozzuoli - “The knight of Naples”Maria ( active c.1340) was an Itali

encyclopedia-amazonica:Maria of Pozzuoli - “The knight of Naples”Maria ( active c.1340) was an Italian warrior woman from Pozzuoli, a town in Naples’ vicinity. She is known through a letter written by Italian scholar and poet Petrarch, who met her during his travels. Petrarch gives a detailed account of Maria’s character in his letter to Cardinal Giovanni Colonna (23 November 1343). A young woman from the town of Pozzuoli, Maria was engaged in an “hereditary local war” that had already made many victims on both sides. Though Maria spent her life among soldiers, no one dared to assault her. She bore the harsh military life without complaints: “she spends her nights under the sky and travels fully armed” and withstood hunger, thirst, cold and heat. She had the hardened body of a soldier and was a fierce warrior:“Her primary concern is with arms, and her mind disdains the sword and death (…) She is quick to engage in war, slow to disengage, she attacks her enemy boldly, and she waves ambushes carefully”. Petrarch and his men challenged Maria to a contest of strength and were defeated:“She was walking in front of the doors of the church in deep meditation, which caused her not to notice our approach. We approached her to ask her to supply us with some kind of proof of her strength. At first excusing herself for some time because of pain in her arm, she finally ordered that a heavy stone and an iron beam were brought to her. After she had thrown it into the center of the group, she urged them to try lifting and competing. To be brief, a long contest ensued among equals, and everyone tried his hand as if in great rivalry while she acted as observer, judging the strength of each of the men. Finally, with an easy try, she showed herself much superior to all, causing stupefaction in others and shame in myself.” Petrarch also states that tales of Maria’s prowesses had circulated and made people come to Pozzuoli to meet her. This is the only available contemporary mention of Maria. Later reports claim that she fought against Aragonese pirates and chronicler Sabadino degli Arienti, writing around 1483, states that she died from a wound. Bibliography:Allaire Gloria, “Maria of Pozzuoli”, in: Hingham Robin, Pennington Reina (ed.), Amazons to fighter pilots, biographical dictionary of military women, vol.1Legassie Shayne, The medieval invention of travelMilligan Gerry, Moral Combat: Women, Gender, and War in Italian Renaissance Literature -- source link

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