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The legendary female Czech ruler Libuše died, and after her successful tenure the circumstances for women became dire. It is in these circumstances, reportedly set in approximately 736-744 CE, that The Maidens' War takes place. Some have read in this legend the deeper metaphor of a matriarchal pagan society in transition to a patriarchal one.
The Maidens' War
Once upon a time, Prince Přemysl, of the Premyslid dynasty, took power in the Czech lands and instituted a change to a patriarchal and feudal society. Many of the women felt furious over their disenfranchisement, and so they gathered under the leadership of a fierce female warrior, called Vlasta. They constructed a castle, called Děvín, and planned their next actions against their male foes.
On the other side, the men thought the women's preparations for war were preposterous and openly mocked them. Their leader, Prince Přemysl, also thought it was a farce, until he had a dream wherein a woman offered him a goblet of blood. The prince took this as an omen but his men scoffed and attacked Děvín; Vlasta and her troops beat back the vicious assault and were victorious.
This victory invigorated the female warriors, and they created a strategy to neutralize the men's most powerful warrior - Ctirad. A beautiful woman, called Šárka, was tied to a tree, close to Ctirad and his warband's route of travel, and when he heard the young woman's pleas he ran to her and freed her. To show her grattitude, Šárka offered him and his men mead, which was laced with sleeping powder. When they were all sound asleep she blew on a hunter's horn and the female warriors surged out from their hiding places, killed all of the men, except for Ctirad, whom was taken to Děvín, where he was tortured and ultimately killed.
The men at Vyšehrad, a settlement across the river from Děvín, heard of this event and started to attack and capture any woman they encountered on the roads. Vlasta was furious when she became aware of this. She launched an assault on Vyšehrad, but it was defeated and the female leader was killed in the ensuing chaos. The men transported their troops across the river and attacked the castle of Děvín; many of its defenders had been killed in the unsuccessful assault, thus the fortess fell and it was burned to the ground. The matriarchal system, a form of government that had flourished under a line of female rulers, was destroyed by Prince Přemysl, initiating the rule of the Premyslid dynasty.
Thank you for reading!
The legendary female Czech ruler Libuše died, and after her successful tenure the circumstances for women became dire. It is in these circumstances, reportedly set in approximately 736-744 CE, that The Maidens' War takes place. Some have read in this legend the deeper metaphor of a matriarchal pagan society in transition to a patriarchal one.
The Maidens' War
Once upon a time, Prince Přemysl, of the Premyslid dynasty, took power in the Czech lands and instituted a change to a patriarchal and feudal society. Many of the women felt furious over their disenfranchisement, and so they gathered under the leadership of a fierce female warrior, called Vlasta. They constructed a castle, called Děvín, and planned their next actions against their male foes.
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| Postcard The Maidens' War |
On the other side, the men thought the women's preparations for war were preposterous and openly mocked them. Their leader, Prince Přemysl, also thought it was a farce, until he had a dream wherein a woman offered him a goblet of blood. The prince took this as an omen but his men scoffed and attacked Děvín; Vlasta and her troops beat back the vicious assault and were victorious.
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| Reenactment of Šárka tied to a tree. |
This victory invigorated the female warriors, and they created a strategy to neutralize the men's most powerful warrior - Ctirad. A beautiful woman, called Šárka, was tied to a tree, close to Ctirad and his warband's route of travel, and when he heard the young woman's pleas he ran to her and freed her. To show her grattitude, Šárka offered him and his men mead, which was laced with sleeping powder. When they were all sound asleep she blew on a hunter's horn and the female warriors surged out from their hiding places, killed all of the men, except for Ctirad, whom was taken to Děvín, where he was tortured and ultimately killed.
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| Šárka and Ctirad, Painted by Věnceslav Černý. |
The men at Vyšehrad, a settlement across the river from Děvín, heard of this event and started to attack and capture any woman they encountered on the roads. Vlasta was furious when she became aware of this. She launched an assault on Vyšehrad, but it was defeated and the female leader was killed in the ensuing chaos. The men transported their troops across the river and attacked the castle of Děvín; many of its defenders had been killed in the unsuccessful assault, thus the fortess fell and it was burned to the ground. The matriarchal system, a form of government that had flourished under a line of female rulers, was destroyed by Prince Přemysl, initiating the rule of the Premyslid dynasty.
Thank you for reading!
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| Ctirad and Šárka, sculpture by Josef Václav Myslbek (1881) at Vyšehrad (Photo taken by Ondřej Kořínek). |
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