|
|
Article: Warrior woman: the legend of Madeleine de Vercheres.
- Article from:
- The Beaver: Exploring Canada's History
- Article date:
- April 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Canada's National History Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
When Iroquois attacked the family fort in 1692, Madeleine de Vercheres dressed as a man and took command.
Or so she said.
Fact or fancy, the story of the teenaged heroine has turned out to be one of Canada's more mutable myths.
On October 22, 1692, fourteen-year-old Madeleine de Vercheres, the child heroine of New France, transformed herself into a cross-dressing woman warrior. At least that is what she told the wife of the king's minister when she asked for her help in obtaining a pension. How else was she effectively to justify her actions? After all, in seventeenth-century France and New France, military matters were largely the province of ...