#Malcalda Scaletta

[city-of-ladies]

Women at war in the Catalan grand Chronicles

“Not all women close to the front lines of battle are of royal blood. Noblewomen, the wives and daughters of knights, are often called to active duty. During the French invasion of 1285, Dona Alicsèn de Montesquiu is credited with saving her town on the plains of Roussillon. She «did not allow the French to enter there but resisted them with much courage». No details are given as to her specific actions in battle, though she is clearly in command; the town is said to «belong» to her. Her military acumen is no doubt sharp as she defends her town from four full French assaults and inflicts heavy casualties.  

The account of Malcalda Scaletta's role in the defense of Messina during the War of the Sicilian Vespers is a little more expansive. The wife of a captain in Peter III's army, Malcalda is described as being: 

 «... of high spirits and strong in courage and body; she was in truth as valiant as any knight and went about daily with thirty armed horsemen and kept guard over the city and stationed her soldiers wherever they were needed to do battle, whether on the walls or in any other place in the city.»  

Malcalda's case is striking for a number of reasons. She takes on an active role  in the absence of a man to defend her, but in the presence and with the apparent approval of her husband. As commander of thirty horsemen she must be well versed in military strategy and the use of arms. Her leadership is not exercised at a distance; rather, she rides with her knigths and seemingly at their side. It is no wonder when Peter III visits Messina that Malcalda participates in every council between king and captain. She is always at the king's side «when he walked forth or rode through the city or was hunting.» That Malcalda has won the respect of her male peers is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that Desclot deems her story worthy of inclusion in his chronicle in the first place. 

While one might assume that Macalda Scaletta donned armor when riding about with her horsemen, it is certain that Mercadera, a woman who kept a shop in Perelada, did precisely this during the French invasion of 1285. With her town besieged by the French army, this woman puts on a man's gown, takes a lance, girds on a sword, carries a shield, and sallies forth to pick cabbages in the hort just outside the city walls. When she comes upon a French knight hopelessly lost in the hort's maze of irrigation ditches, quickly attacks. She wounds the man in the leg with her lance, subdues his horse by a blow to the head with her sword, grabs the reins, and cries, «Knight, you are a dead man if you do not surrender!». Wisely, the Frenchman complies. The woman is rewarded for her valor with the French knight's armor and 200 gold florins in rams on money that he raises. In addition, she is given an audience with the king and is asked to «relate many times how she had captured» the knight.  

The chronicler Muntaner clearly sees this woman's actions as extraordinary, «a marvelous thing». His purpose in including her story is to ridicule the invaders and to show that «the anger of God» was upon the French. Yet this should not discount the story's veracity. Muntaner was a native of Peralada, was present during the French siege, and testifies to knowing the woman personally. Once again a woman is presented who acts independendy, without any intervention from a husband or male relative. She ventures outside the walls alone. She does not flee from but initiates the confrontation with the knight. She alone reaps the benefits ofher actions. While it is clear women did not often singlehandedly capture enemy soldiers, questions remain as to whether all of this woman's actions were so uncommon. How often did women go outside the walls of a besieged city to gather food? Did they do so alone or in groups? Guarded or unguarded? Armed or unarmed? Muntaner's ton suggests that the food-gathering expedition itself was not so odd; he does not comment on the novelty of the other circumstances.  

The bravery of this love woman of Peralada is matched and perhaps exceeded by a whole «army» of women who defend the Catalan camp at Gallipoli. This incident is recorded by Muntaner and is again taken from his personal experience. While the greater portion of the army is away on a raid, Muntaner is left in command of seven knights, 135 footsoldiers, 2000 women, and an unrecorded number of children. In this vunerable state, they are attacked by the Genoese fleet. Because he lacks sufficient numbers to «man» the defense, Muntaner is forced to utilize women. «I made all the women who were there put on armour and ordered them to the walls». These irregular recruits fight well enough to earn a few lines of praise: 

 «The battle was very hard, and our women defended (the walls) with stones and pieces of rock in so masterly a manner it was marvelous; indeed, a woman was found there who had five wounds from flying stones on her face, who still continued the defense as if she was not hurt.»  

(...)

The women in the Catalan Chronicles, however, raise issues that go beyond their individual «desperate times». When called up on, several of these women have skill with arms and knowledge of military strategy. Where was this training acquired and how widespread was it? In a society whose inheritance laws claimed that  armor was passed to male heirs only, how did Mercadera of Peralada have access to sword, lance, and shield? The women at Gallipoli are not camp-following prostitutes; this raises questions about the participation of women in offensive armies.”

McMillin, Linda A. "Women on the Walls: Women and Warfare in the Catalan Grand Chronicles." Catalan Review 3:1 (July, 1989) pp. 123-136.