Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
CLORINDA.
While being on the thread “Fem warriors against the Romans and all”, I remembered a picture I had seen a long time ago, during my childhood. It was in a youth encyclopedia and it showed a combat between a crusader and a woman warrior, in an infernal scenery of a burning Jerusalem. The encyclopedia is since long stowed away somewhere, but the internet provided answers about whom that woman and that story were. The answers became unexpectedly so extensive that it would cover more than a single posting.
The woman was Clorinda. Clorinda was a fictional figure, created by the Italian poet Tarquato Tasso (1544-1595) in his poem Gerusalemme liberata (1575), in which he mangled facts with a lot of fiction, magic and intruige, and in which he showed up the historical leaders of the First Crusade together with an array of fictional characters, among which some female ones : Erminia, Princess of Antioch, Armida, the Saracen’s secret weapon, Sophronia, a young Christian woman, Clorinda, the warrior woman.
“This lusty lady came from Persia late,
She with the Christians had encountered eft,
And in their flesh had opened many a gate,
By which their faithful souls their bodies left”
(Canto 2; XLI)
The crusader she was shown fighting with, was Tancred. Tasso based this character on a historical figure, Tancred of Taranto (1075-1112), one of the leaders of the First Crusade (1095-1099).
Clorinda is a daughter of the black, Christian king of Ethiopia. But she is born an albino, with white skin and blonde hairs. In order to avoid (unjustified) jealousy from the king, the queen exchanges her for a black girl. Given away by her mother to be raised by a eunuch, Clorinda becomes a Muslim warrior. But she is always haunted by doubts about her Christian roots and alliance.
In the first Crusade, she fights on the side of the Saracens. She takes part in many sorties, attacking Crusader patrols and columns. During a combat on horse, she encounters Tancred, who falls in love with her, and once saves her from a deadly assault by one of his own men (Canto 3, XXiX):
“A soldier wild, careless to win or lose,
Saw where her locks about the damsel flew,
And at her back he proffereth as he goes
To strike where her he did disarmed view:
But Tancred cried, "Oh stay thy cursed hand,"
And for to ward the blow lift up his brand.”
During the siege of Jerusalem, Clorinda gets engaged in a hand to hand combat with Tancred. Unaware of the identity of his adversary, Tancred wounds her mortally. During her last moments she demands to get baptized by him. Only then, when he removes her helmet, he recognizes her...
Gerusalemme liberata , today somewhat forgotten, is considered as one of the masterpieces of late Renaissance literature. The story has been enormously popular during 250 years after its creation, judging from the numerous artwork it has inspired, up to the 19th century, spanning the whole Baroque to the Romantic epoch (but also beyond), particularly about the key events involving the female characters.
When overviewing all this artwork, one can only conclude that Clorinda is most likely the number one cult female warrior of the last four centuries.
(to be continued)
While being on the thread “Fem warriors against the Romans and all”, I remembered a picture I had seen a long time ago, during my childhood. It was in a youth encyclopedia and it showed a combat between a crusader and a woman warrior, in an infernal scenery of a burning Jerusalem. The encyclopedia is since long stowed away somewhere, but the internet provided answers about whom that woman and that story were. The answers became unexpectedly so extensive that it would cover more than a single posting.
The woman was Clorinda. Clorinda was a fictional figure, created by the Italian poet Tarquato Tasso (1544-1595) in his poem Gerusalemme liberata (1575), in which he mangled facts with a lot of fiction, magic and intruige, and in which he showed up the historical leaders of the First Crusade together with an array of fictional characters, among which some female ones : Erminia, Princess of Antioch, Armida, the Saracen’s secret weapon, Sophronia, a young Christian woman, Clorinda, the warrior woman.
“This lusty lady came from Persia late,
She with the Christians had encountered eft,
And in their flesh had opened many a gate,
By which their faithful souls their bodies left”
(Canto 2; XLI)
The crusader she was shown fighting with, was Tancred. Tasso based this character on a historical figure, Tancred of Taranto (1075-1112), one of the leaders of the First Crusade (1095-1099).
Clorinda is a daughter of the black, Christian king of Ethiopia. But she is born an albino, with white skin and blonde hairs. In order to avoid (unjustified) jealousy from the king, the queen exchanges her for a black girl. Given away by her mother to be raised by a eunuch, Clorinda becomes a Muslim warrior. But she is always haunted by doubts about her Christian roots and alliance.
In the first Crusade, she fights on the side of the Saracens. She takes part in many sorties, attacking Crusader patrols and columns. During a combat on horse, she encounters Tancred, who falls in love with her, and once saves her from a deadly assault by one of his own men (Canto 3, XXiX):
“A soldier wild, careless to win or lose,
Saw where her locks about the damsel flew,
And at her back he proffereth as he goes
To strike where her he did disarmed view:
But Tancred cried, "Oh stay thy cursed hand,"
And for to ward the blow lift up his brand.”
During the siege of Jerusalem, Clorinda gets engaged in a hand to hand combat with Tancred. Unaware of the identity of his adversary, Tancred wounds her mortally. During her last moments she demands to get baptized by him. Only then, when he removes her helmet, he recognizes her...
Gerusalemme liberata , today somewhat forgotten, is considered as one of the masterpieces of late Renaissance literature. The story has been enormously popular during 250 years after its creation, judging from the numerous artwork it has inspired, up to the 19th century, spanning the whole Baroque to the Romantic epoch (but also beyond), particularly about the key events involving the female characters.
When overviewing all this artwork, one can only conclude that Clorinda is most likely the number one cult female warrior of the last four centuries.
(to be continued)