The Maid of Saragossa, a Spanish Woman Warrior in Anglo-American Catalogues of Celebrated Women

Abstract

During the Peninsular War numerous women became involved in the conflict and participated actively in it. When episodes from the War began to be recorded, the heroines who fought courageously in the Sieges of Zaragoza captured the attention of both writers and artists. One such woman, Agustina or the Maid of Saragossa, was of particular interest, in that she was young and beautiful and had operated a heavy cannon against the French army. Most importantly in the nineteenth century Agustina’s deeds were narrated in various Anglo-American galleries or catalogues of notable women. Focusing on gender issues and patriotism, this study will explore how these compendia contributed to the construction of Agustina’s myth as emblematic of the woman warrior, a hybrid figure with both feminine and masculine attributes.