Traditional views of women in history see them as peaceful and non-militant. Eleanor, Urraca, Matilda and Sibylla were anything but.
Women are seen in history as peacemakers, as noncombatants. In a highly militarized culture like medieval Europe, one might think that women would therefore play no large role in that society. One would be wrong.
The romanticized view of the 19th century obscures a reality where female rulers sometimes participated fully (if not equally) in military medieval culture. Eleanor of Aquitaine went on the Second Crusade. Though the Papacy tried to ban women from crusading after Eleanor's flamboyant example, it failed to prevent local queens like Sibylla of Jerusalem (this week's article subject) from going on the Third Crusade three decades later.
Eleanor also instigated a civil war against her second husband, Henry II of England. She turned her five sons against him, forcing him to fight them for the rest of his life and keeping her domain-Aquitaine-out of his hands until she willed it to her sons Richard and John directly.
Similarly, Urraca of Castille fought her second husband, Alfonso I of Aragon. He prevailed on the battlefield, though her diplomacy prevailed in the end. That diplomacy, however, was strengthened by her willingness to place herself in danger to preserve her kingdom-both for herself and for her son.
Matilda of England fought many times during her civil wars with the usurper Stephen. She even captured Stephen at one point. When she suffered a reversal of fortune and was besieged, she escaped out a window in the night. Again, she strengthened her position by having a male heir, but her willingness to fight her own battles was what kept her cause alive.
In addition to going on crusade, Sibylla helped organize the defense of Jerusalem against Saladin following the Battle of Hattin. After negotiating a surrender, she and her daughters were permitted to leave the city. Even though her husband, Guy, was incompetent on the battlefield (most notably, losing the Battle of Hattin and putting his wife in the terrible position of defending Jerusalem), Sibylla's popularity remained high.
