by Koren Whipp Æbbe the Younger (d. 870) Abbess of Coldingham, Ireland. The Abby was founded as a double separate monastery for men and women by S. Æbbe the Elder in 642; in 660 he also founded Ebchester, in County Durham. At the time both were in the Kingdom of Northumbria, united by Æbbe…
Tag Archive for Medieval
Basine
by Koren Whipp Basine, or Basina (c. 438 -77 CE) Childeric I , King of the Salian Franks, was driven from his kingdom and sought refuge with the king of Thuringia, King Bisinus . While in exile, Basine, the wife of King Bisinus, either “conceived a passion for” or was “seduced” by Childeric.[1] When Childeric…
Sultan Raziyya bint Iltutmish
by Lotte Houwinkten Cate Sultan Raziyya bint Iltutmish (1205–1240) (Razia Sultana or Razia al-Din or Jalâlat ud-Dîn Raziyâwas) was the first woman to ascend to the throne and lead the army of the Delhi sultanate in Northern India. She ruled from 1236 to 1240. Raziyya dressed as a man in a tunic and turban. Raziyya had…
Wallada bint al-Mustakfi
Wallada bint al-Mustakfi (b. 1001 – d. 1080) The beautiful, free-spirited daughter of a caliph in Cordoba, Spain, Walladah wrote and inspired some of the greatest poetry of eleventh-century Andalusia. She was liberated and literary, hosting mixed-sex gatherings where she read her own bold work. Financially independent, Walladah had lovers but never married. She was…
al-Khansa
Tumadir bint Amru al-Harith bint al-Sharid (b. 575–d. 646), better known as ‘al-Khansa,’ was one of the major poets of pre-Islamic Arabia. Born into a powerful family in west Central Arabia, near Mecca and Medina, much of al-Khansa’s work was inspired by her two brothers, who died in tribal battles. Women poets of the…
Rabi’ah Al-Adadawiyyah
By Juliet Gentile Rabi’ah Al-Adadawiyyah (Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya or Rābiʿah al-Baṣrī) (d. 801) was as early Islamic saint, hailing from Basra, in today’s Iraq, an area known for its mystic women. She has been called “first among Sufis,” a “second spotless Mary,” and the “Crown of Men.”[1] Her life is seen as the apotheosis of…
Hypatia
by Gina Luria Walker Hypatia 370–415 was a Greek scholar, daughter of a master teacher at the academy at the Great Library at Alexandria, Egypt. During her lifetime, Hypatia was renowned as a philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, and teacher, as well as a great beauty. She defied popular assumptions about women by wearing the black philosopher’s…
