Illustrations: Stepan Gilev
If you think about it, there is nothing surprising in this. Women often become the cause of fights, and war differs from a yard brawl only in the scale of hostilities and the amount of destruction. Where two people clashed, two armies may well fight. And no matter what excuses the victors invent later, no matter how the historians distort the facts, they still cannot hide the ugly truth: military conflicts over women have occurred on this planet since ancient times and with enviable regularity. And not always their participants and winners were noble knights who stood up for the lady of the heart ...
Abduction and punishment (XIII century BC)
This legend is probably familiar to you (if you have ever read Homer or at least watched Brad Pitt). After the Trojan Paris kidnapped Princess Helen from Sparta, the Greeks set out to take revenge on the unreasonable Trojans. It happened in the XIII century BC. e., and in those distant times, as you know, women were considered military booty, along with livestock and precious metals. That is, beauties were stolen often and without consequences (except for a horde of noisy children). However, Elena had too many fans, or, as Homer would say, her face called a thousand ships to go. At the same time, no one took an interest in the opinion of Elena herself, although she fled, in general, voluntarily and as a beloved man. As a result, Troy, a flourishing city in Asia Minor, was razed to the ground. According to legend, after the capture of the city, the Greeks wanted to stone Elena, but when they saw her (there is a version that she was naked), they fell into ecstasy and dropped the cobblestones from their hands. It is a pity that at least a black and white photograph of Elena has not been preserved since those times. We would print it in our magazine and maybe even put it on the cover.
Once Stolen (8th century BC)
In the first years after its founding (VIII century BC), Ancient Rome was a city inhabited by all and sundry, including all sorts of rabble and guest workers from distant provinces. But there was a catastrophic lack of women there. The first king of Rome, Romulus, again according to legend, decided to look for brides for the Romans in neighboring tribes. And he received a firm refusal: Rome at that time was not even a city, some kind of geographical misunderstanding. Then the Romans went to the trick - they announced the games in honor of Neptune and widely advertised them. Crowds of neighbors came to the feast. The Sabines were the most numerous guests. When everyone was distracted by the games, the Roman youths rushed to kidnap the girls. Having grabbed brides for themselves and driven their relatives out of sight, the kidnappers managed to quickly console the girls. In addition, the Romans honestly married the kidnapped. That's just complicated relations with neighbors who declared war on Rome. The Romans managed to repel almost all attacks, but numerous Sabines still managed to break into the city. And then the Sabine women themselves intervened, who stopped the bloodshed. They just didn’t want to lose either relatives or suddenly found husbands. It all ended in a complete idyll: the Sabines and the Romans reconciled, becoming one people. Just then, the Romans began to call themselves the Isabine word "quirites".
Lord of the Ring (5th century)
In 417, Justa Grata Honoria was born in the Western Roman Empire, the culprit of another bloody war. Her father, Emperor Constantius III, died quite early, and therefore Honoria's brother Valentinian III became the new ruler of Rome. When the girl was 16 years old, she received the title "August". This meant that in the future her husband, whoever he was, could well claim the imperial throne. Soon Honoria looked after herself a groom. As soon as this became known to Valentinian, the unfortunate girl was sent to Constantinople and put under house arrest. Beloved Honoria, as usual, was executed. In Constantinople, Justa Grata lived a monastic life for more than ten years, dreaming of simple female happiness. The prospect of marriage to some noble pensioner did not please her. And then she committed a terrible act in its consequences - with the help of a faithful person, she sent her ring with a letter to Attila himself, the formidable leader of the Huns. In a letter, she offered herself (as a wife) and half of the Western Roman Empire (as a dowry) to the Hun. Attila did not have to be persuaded for a long time. Having received the ring, he demanded from Rome to give him his lawful bride. In the blink of an eye, the long-suffering Justa Grata was married to almost the first person she met (an old senator turned out to be the lucky one). However, this did not stop Attila, and he started a war. So in 451, two huge armies converged on the Catalaunian fields - the Hun, led by Attila, and the Roman-barbarian, led by Flavius Aetius. Chroniclers claim that there were about half a million people on each side, and the total losses amounted to 165 thousand killed. And all these people died because Honoria did not want to marry the old man ...
Trip to Rome (5th century)
Valentinian III (the one who did not let his sister Honoria get married) due to his stupidity became a participant in another bloody drama. He suddenly and very strongly desired the wife of his entourage, Petronius Maximus. Having lured a gullible woman into his palace, he abused her. The unfortunate woman soon died. Petronius was offended and took revenge: two people devoted to him became the bodyguards of Valentinian III, after which they slaughtered him with daggers without hindrance in 455. Having thus made the Empress Eudoxia Licinia a widow, Petronius forced her into a joint family life and began to rule Rome (now such things are commonly called swing). But he lasted only a couple of months: Eudoxia called the vandals to Rome, led by Gaiseric. Why exactly them? Because the son of Gaiseric, Huneric, was engaged to the daughter of Eudoxia, Eudoxia the Younger, and Petronius was going to marry her son Palladius, which the Vandals could not tolerate. In addition, as you know, in the era of the Great Migration of Nations, Rome was the favorite tourist destination of the barbarians.
Barbarians liked to visit Rome, but behaved there worse than Russian tourists
Whenever possible, they tried to walk along the streets of the Eternal City, but behaved worse than modern Russian tourists, which did not please the Roman citizens. And as soon as it became known about the approach of the vandals, the townspeople stoned Petronius Maxim (if he had the MAXIM magazine with Elena the Beautiful on the cover, they would not have touched him). As a result, the Vandals captured Rome, plundered it and, leaving the city, took Eudoxia and her daughters with them.
Bath for the queen (VI century)
At the end of the 5th century, the Ostrogoths settled in Italy and formed their own kingdom. Let them live and be happy! But it did not work out: Amalasunta, the daughter of King Theodoric, in 526 began to rule the country as a regent with her eight-year-old son Athalaric. A smart, energetic and beautiful woman dreamed of making her people civilized. She established diplomatic relations with Justinian, emperor of Byzantium, and brought up her son in the Roman spirit, which caused discontent among many of her subjects. In the end, the Goths turned their own son against her and taught him to typically barbaric entertainment. Atalaric got a taste and exhausted his body with drunken orgies. Soon he died "from excesses," as the chroniclers sparingly report. Wishing to retain power, in 534 Amalasunta agreed with her cousin Theodagad on joint rule. However, having become king, this same bastard immediately sent her to prison. The Byzantine ambassador negotiated the release of Amalasunta, but Theodogad ordered her to be killed. Amalasuntha was locked in a bath filled with hot steam, which is why she died. Justinian did not tolerate this and in 535 declared war on the Ostrogoths. The country was plunged into bloody chaos for 19 years!
Two sisters (VI century)
In the 6th century in Europe, a war broke out between the kingdoms of Austrasia (the so-called state, which included part of modern France and Germany, Holland and Belgium) and Neustria (located a little to the west). The chroniclers unanimously consider Brunnhilde, Queen of Austrasia, to be the culprit, although in fact two more ladies were involved. Brunnhilde was married to the Austrasian king Sigibert I, and her own sister Galsvinta also did not waste time and married Chilperic, king of Neustria. It was this same Halsvinta Chilperic who killed, because his mistress wanted to become queen. Brunnhilde asked her husband to punish her sister's offender and demand back the cities that Chilperic had received as a dowry. The proud and greedy Chilperic did not accept the ultimatum, and the war began. In 575, Sigibert died (they say that the same mistress of Chilperic organized a successful attempt on his life). Brunnhilde was captured by the enemies, from where she managed to escape. She ruled Austrasia for a long time, until she was captured by the son of Chilperic ChlotharII. He accused Brunnhilde of inciting civil strife (this is cynicism!) and in 613 ordered the aged queen to be torn apart by horses.
War, Emir! (VIII century)
The kingdom of the Visigoths, which existed for 300 years (from 418 to 718) on the territory of modern Spain, also fell because of a woman. In Spanish folk romances, her name is still heard - La Cava. The king of the Visigoths, Rodrigo, passionately desired her. Not having achieved reciprocity, he took the proud beauty by force. If the king had known what would come of this, he would have cut off his instrument of crime in advance, because La Cava was the daughter of the commandant of Ceuta, Count Julian. And the fortress of Ceuta at that time just blocked the Moors' way to the Iberian Peninsula through Gibraltar. Don Julian decided to take revenge on the king and in 711 he agreed to let the seven thousandth army of Arabs into the country. Rodrigo was killed in the first battle. Seven years later, the Visigothic refugees who arrived in Rome informed the Pope that there was no longer a Christian kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula: the Arabs founded the Emirate of Cordoba on the occupied lands.
Okay, sunshine? (X century)
In the X century in Russia, the sons of Svyatoslav were at enmity with each other. Yaropolk at that time ruled in Kyiv, and Vladimir, the future Baptist, also known as the Red (according to some sources, Clear) Sun, was sitting in Novgorod. The third force was Prince Rogvolod of Polotsk. His daughter Rogneda was famous for her beauty. An associate of Vladimir Dobrynya Nikitich (by the way, the real prototype of the epic Russian hero) advised Vladimir to woo Rogneda in order to enlist the support of Rogvolod. And the girl managed to answer “no”! In addition, Rogneda arrogantly added that she did not want to be the wife of a prince of servile origin (Vladimir's mother, Malusha, was a housekeeper, that is, a slave). Dobrynya, also a relative of Malusha, was very offended by this. The prince was even more offended and in 978 went to war against Polotsk. The city was captured, after which Vladimir made Rogneda his wife in the presence of all her relatives (Dobrynya insisted on this monstrous act of violence).
Prince Vladimir made Rogneda his wife in front of a dozen witnesses
Immediately after the outrage, Rogneda's father and brothers were killed. In the future, Vladimir kept her locked up, occasionally visiting to fulfill marital duties (although the prince already had a whole harem at that time). Rogneda soon gave birth to a son, Izyaslav. Once she tried to stab Vladimir in his sleep, but he woke up in time. And he almost killed Rogneda herself, who was saved from death by the young Izyaslav, who stood up for her mother. As a result, Rogneda reconciled with her husband, gave birth to five children to Vladimir (including Yaroslav, who will be called the Wise), and after the baptism of Russia she went to the monastery.
Marry a prince (XII century)
As you probably forgot (although they talked about it in school), the Hundred Years War is considered the longest in the history of mankind, and it was fought from 1337 to 1453. The unwitting culprit of these events - Eleanor, the beautiful red-haired daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, was born long before the start of the war, in 1122. At the age of 15, after the death of her father and brother, the girl inherited the vast Duchy of Aquitaine and the County of Poitou. According to the will, Eleanor's husband became the sovereign owner of these lands. Of course, Eleanor's guardian, King Louis VI of France the Fat, made sure that the rich heiress married his son. He, after the death of his father, became the French king, also Louis, but the Seventh. Aquitaine went to France, and Eleanor, in between acts of adultery, began to manipulate her husband, inclining him in favor of certain political exploits, and bore him two daughters. Apotom, the royal couple quarreled to the ground. The Pope tried to reconcile them, but was nevertheless forced to announce a divorce in 1152. The daughters remained with Louis, while Eleanor retained Aquitaine. A couple of months after the divorce, the 30-year-old beauty Eleanor seduced the 18-year-old English Prince Henry of Anjou and married him. He soon became King Henry II Plantagenet. Having become Queen of England, Eleanor gave birth to eight children (two of her sons, Richard the Lionheart and Prince John, are known to you from the legends of Robin Hood). And now, finally, about the war. It just so happened that Aquitaine (aka Guyenne, aka Gascony) because of Eleanor's second marriage went to England. The French monarchs did not like this very much, but they fastened for a long time and did not show it. However, at the beginning of the XIII century, when the Duchy of Gascony remained the last possession of the English crown on the continent, the patience of the French ran out. They set out to finally take over this territory, and unleashed the Hundred Years War.
In that deaf steppe ... (XII century)
If you look, even the Tatar-Mongol invasion also happened because of a woman. Her name was Borte, and she was the wife of Temujin (Genghis Khan). Around 1180 (the exact date is unknown), Borte was kidnapped by the Merkits, guys from a small tribe with whom Temujin was at enmity. In response, he gathered 30,000 horsemen and freed Borte, defeating the Merkits. Everyone liked it so much that Temujin was soon named Genghis Khan and many warriors wanted to join him. Genghis Khan managed to put together a strong army and win the steppe war that unfolded between the tribes. In 1206 he was proclaimed great khan over all the Mongols. Then you know: under his leadership, the Mongols captured China and conquered Central Asia. Dying, Genghis Khan ordered his descendants to conquer the whole world, and they tried to fulfill his will.
Defeat of the Invincible (XVI century)
The Anglo-Spanish War (1587–1604) started over two women. One of them, Queen Elizabeth I of England, refused to marry the Spanish King Philip II. After all, he was already married to the previous Queen of England - Mary the Bloody (yes, she gave the name to the cocktail), but she died without giving birth to an heir. Elizabeth I did not want to indulge Philip's habit of marrying English queens. And then there's the second woman, Mary Stuart. This lady was the Queen of Scots, and she also claimed the English throne. She ruled in a country torn by civil war (where the Scottish Catholics fought the Protestants). In 1567, the Protestants defeated Mary's army, she was forced to abdicate and flee to England. The former Queen of Scots was placed in Sheffield Castle, where she was kept under strict supervision, because Mary was still a contender for the English crown. But when she was caught in correspondence with conspirators who wanted to kill Elizabeth I, the queen ordered the execution of Mary Stuart, which was done in 1587. The death of the last queen, whom one could marry, prompted Philip II to declare war on England and send the Invincible Armada, the Spanish navy, which, alas, was destroyed by storms and English sailors under the command of the pirate Drake.
Bride for the emperor (19th century)
Napoleon in his letters more than once stuttered that a woman was to blame for his confrontation with Russia, which had always been an ally of Prussia. Or rather, the Prussian Queen Louise, wife of Friedrich Wilhelm III. Bonaparte had no doubt that it was because of her affair with Tsar Alexander I that the Russian army fought the French at Austerlitz (1805) and Preussisch-Eylau (1807). But there is another reason why the relationship between Napoleon and Alexander was very strained: the emperor of France twice asked the tsar for consent to marry the Russian princess and was refused both times. At first, Napoleon wanted to marry Catherine, the sister of Alexander I, but she was quickly married off to another. Then he looked after the young princess Anna as his bride.
Princess Anna was already fourteen, but for some reason she was not allowed to marry Napoleon
He was refused again, explaining that Anna was still too young, although she was already 14 years old - by the standards of that time, it was quite enough for marriage. Of course, he later found himself an Austrian wife, Marie-Louise, but he did not forget that the Russians constantly interfered with him both on the battlefield and in his personal life. In 1812, Napoleon's troops crossed the Neman, attacking Russia. Further you know.
Illustrations: Stepan Gilev
If you think about it, there is nothing surprising in this. Women often become the cause of fights, and war differs from a yard brawl only in the scale of hostilities and the amount of destruction. Where two people clashed, two armies may well fight. And no matter what excuses the victors invent later, no matter how the historians distort the facts, they still cannot hide the ugly truth: military conflicts over women have occurred on this planet since ancient times and with enviable regularity. And not always their participants and winners were noble knights who stood up for the lady of the heart ...
Abduction and punishment (XIII century BC)
This legend is probably familiar to you (if you have ever read Homer or at least watched Brad Pitt). After the Trojan Paris kidnapped Princess Helen from Sparta, the Greeks set out to take revenge on the unreasonable Trojans. It happened in the XIII century BC. e., and in those distant times, as you know, women were considered military booty, along with livestock and precious metals. That is, beauties were stolen often and without consequences (except for a horde of noisy children). However, Elena had too many fans, or, as Homer would say, her face called a thousand ships to go. At the same time, no one took an interest in the opinion of Elena herself, although she fled, in general, voluntarily and as a beloved man. As a result, Troy, a flourishing city in Asia Minor, was razed to the ground. According to legend, after the capture of the city, the Greeks wanted to stone Elena, but when they saw her (there is a version that she was naked), they fell into ecstasy and dropped the cobblestones from their hands. It is a pity that at least a black and white photograph of Elena has not been preserved since those times. We would print it in our magazine and maybe even put it on the cover.
Once Stolen (8th century BC)
In the first years after its founding (VIII century BC), Ancient Rome was a city inhabited by all and sundry, including all sorts of rabble and guest workers from distant provinces. But there was a catastrophic lack of women there. The first king of Rome, Romulus, again according to legend, decided to look for brides for the Romans in neighboring tribes. And he received a firm refusal: Rome at that time was not even a city, some kind of geographical misunderstanding. Then the Romans went to the trick - they announced the games in honor of Neptune and widely advertised them. Crowds of neighbors came to the feast. The Sabines were the most numerous guests. When everyone was distracted by the games, the Roman youths rushed to kidnap the girls. Having grabbed brides for themselves and driven their relatives out of sight, the kidnappers managed to quickly console the girls. In addition, the Romans honestly married the kidnapped. That's just complicated relations with neighbors who declared war on Rome. The Romans managed to repel almost all attacks, but numerous Sabines still managed to break into the city. And then the Sabine women themselves intervened, who stopped the bloodshed. They just didn’t want to lose either relatives or suddenly found husbands. It all ended in a complete idyll: the Sabines and the Romans reconciled, becoming one people. Just then, the Romans began to call themselves the Isabine word "quirites".
Lord of the Ring (5th century)
In 417, Justa Grata Honoria was born in the Western Roman Empire, the culprit of another bloody war. Her father, Emperor Constantius III, died quite early, and therefore Honoria's brother Valentinian III became the new ruler of Rome. When the girl was 16 years old, she received the title "August". This meant that in the future her husband, whoever he was, could well claim the imperial throne. Soon Honoria looked after herself a groom. As soon as this became known to Valentinian, the unfortunate girl was sent to Constantinople and put under house arrest. Beloved Honoria, as usual, was executed. In Constantinople, Justa Grata lived a monastic life for more than ten years, dreaming of simple female happiness. The prospect of marriage to some noble pensioner did not please her. And then she committed a terrible act in its consequences - with the help of a faithful person, she sent her ring with a letter to Attila himself, the formidable leader of the Huns. In a letter, she offered herself (as a wife) and half of the Western Roman Empire (as a dowry) to the Hun. Attila did not have to be persuaded for a long time. Having received the ring, he demanded from Rome to give him his lawful bride. In the blink of an eye, the long-suffering Justa Grata was married to almost the first person she met (an old senator turned out to be the lucky one). However, this did not stop Attila, and he started a war. So in 451, two huge armies converged on the Catalaunian fields - the Hun, led by Attila, and the Roman-barbarian, led by Flavius Aetius. Chroniclers claim that there were about half a million people on each side, and the total losses amounted to 165 thousand killed. And all these people died because Honoria did not want to marry the old man ...
Trip to Rome (5th century)
Valentinian III (the one who did not let his sister Honoria get married) due to his stupidity became a participant in another bloody drama. He suddenly and very strongly desired the wife of his entourage, Petronius Maximus. Having lured a gullible woman into his palace, he abused her. The unfortunate woman soon died. Petronius was offended and took revenge: two people devoted to him became the bodyguards of Valentinian III, after which they slaughtered him with daggers without hindrance in 455. Having thus made the Empress Eudoxia Licinia a widow, Petronius forced her into a joint family life and began to rule Rome (now such things are commonly called swing). But he lasted only a couple of months: Eudoxia called the vandals to Rome, led by Gaiseric. Why exactly them? Because the son of Gaiseric, Huneric, was engaged to the daughter of Eudoxia, Eudoxia the Younger, and Petronius was going to marry her son Palladius, which the Vandals could not tolerate. In addition, as you know, in the era of the Great Migration of Nations, Rome was the favorite tourist destination of the barbarians.
Barbarians liked to visit Rome, but behaved there worse than Russian tourists
Whenever possible, they tried to walk along the streets of the Eternal City, but behaved worse than modern Russian tourists, which did not please the Roman citizens. And as soon as it became known about the approach of the vandals, the townspeople stoned Petronius Maxim (if he had the MAXIM magazine with Elena the Beautiful on the cover, they would not have touched him). As a result, the Vandals captured Rome, plundered it and, leaving the city, took Eudoxia and her daughters with them.
Bath for the queen (VI century)
At the end of the 5th century, the Ostrogoths settled in Italy and formed their own kingdom. Let them live and be happy! But it did not work out: Amalasunta, the daughter of King Theodoric, in 526 began to rule the country as a regent with her eight-year-old son Athalaric. A smart, energetic and beautiful woman dreamed of making her people civilized. She established diplomatic relations with Justinian, emperor of Byzantium, and brought up her son in the Roman spirit, which caused discontent among many of her subjects. In the end, the Goths turned their own son against her and taught him to typically barbaric entertainment. Atalaric got a taste and exhausted his body with drunken orgies. Soon he died "from excesses," as the chroniclers sparingly report. Wishing to retain power, in 534 Amalasunta agreed with her cousin Theodagad on joint rule. However, having become king, this same bastard immediately sent her to prison. The Byzantine ambassador negotiated the release of Amalasunta, but Theodogad ordered her to be killed. Amalasuntha was locked in a bath filled with hot steam, which is why she died. Justinian did not tolerate this and in 535 declared war on the Ostrogoths. The country was plunged into bloody chaos for 19 years!
Two sisters (VI century)
In the 6th century in Europe, a war broke out between the kingdoms of Austrasia (the so-called state, which included part of modern France and Germany, Holland and Belgium) and Neustria (located a little to the west). The chroniclers unanimously consider Brunnhilde, Queen of Austrasia, to be the culprit, although in fact two more ladies were involved. Brunnhilde was married to the Austrasian king Sigibert I, and her own sister Galsvinta also did not waste time and married Chilperic, king of Neustria. It was this same Halsvinta Chilperic who killed, because his mistress wanted to become queen. Brunnhilde asked her husband to punish her sister's offender and demand back the cities that Chilperic had received as a dowry. The proud and greedy Chilperic did not accept the ultimatum, and the war began. In 575, Sigibert died (they say that the same mistress of Chilperic organized a successful attempt on his life). Brunnhilde was captured by the enemies, from where she managed to escape. She ruled Austrasia for a long time, until she was captured by the son of Chilperic ChlotharII. He accused Brunnhilde of inciting civil strife (this is cynicism!) and in 613 ordered the aged queen to be torn apart by horses.
War, Emir! (VIII century)
The kingdom of the Visigoths, which existed for 300 years (from 418 to 718) on the territory of modern Spain, also fell because of a woman. In Spanish folk romances, her name is still heard - La Cava. The king of the Visigoths, Rodrigo, passionately desired her. Not having achieved reciprocity, he took the proud beauty by force. If the king had known what would come of this, he would have cut off his instrument of crime in advance, because La Cava was the daughter of the commandant of Ceuta, Count Julian. And the fortress of Ceuta at that time just blocked the Moors' way to the Iberian Peninsula through Gibraltar. Don Julian decided to take revenge on the king and in 711 he agreed to let the seven thousandth army of Arabs into the country. Rodrigo was killed in the first battle. Seven years later, the Visigothic refugees who arrived in Rome informed the Pope that there was no longer a Christian kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula: the Arabs founded the Emirate of Cordoba on the occupied lands.
Okay, sunshine? (X century)
In the X century in Russia, the sons of Svyatoslav were at enmity with each other. Yaropolk at that time ruled in Kyiv, and Vladimir, the future Baptist, also known as the Red (according to some sources, Clear) Sun, was sitting in Novgorod. The third force was Prince Rogvolod of Polotsk. His daughter Rogneda was famous for her beauty. An associate of Vladimir Dobrynya Nikitich (by the way, the real prototype of the epic Russian hero) advised Vladimir to woo Rogneda in order to enlist the support of Rogvolod. And the girl managed to answer “no”! In addition, Rogneda arrogantly added that she did not want to be the wife of a prince of servile origin (Vladimir's mother, Malusha, was a housekeeper, that is, a slave). Dobrynya, also a relative of Malusha, was very offended by this. The prince was even more offended and in 978 went to war against Polotsk. The city was captured, after which Vladimir made Rogneda his wife in the presence of all her relatives (Dobrynya insisted on this monstrous act of violence).
Prince Vladimir made Rogneda his wife in front of a dozen witnesses
Immediately after the outrage, Rogneda's father and brothers were killed. In the future, Vladimir kept her locked up, occasionally visiting to fulfill marital duties (although the prince already had a whole harem at that time). Rogneda soon gave birth to a son, Izyaslav. Once she tried to stab Vladimir in his sleep, but he woke up in time. And he almost killed Rogneda herself, who was saved from death by the young Izyaslav, who stood up for her mother. As a result, Rogneda reconciled with her husband, gave birth to five children to Vladimir (including Yaroslav, who will be called the Wise), and after the baptism of Russia she went to the monastery.
Marry a prince (XII century)
As you probably forgot (although they talked about it in school), the Hundred Years War is considered the longest in the history of mankind, and it was fought from 1337 to 1453. The unwitting culprit of these events - Eleanor, the beautiful red-haired daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, was born long before the start of the war, in 1122. At the age of 15, after the death of her father and brother, the girl inherited the vast Duchy of Aquitaine and the County of Poitou. According to the will, Eleanor's husband became the sovereign owner of these lands. Of course, Eleanor's guardian, King Louis VI of France the Fat, made sure that the rich heiress married his son. He, after the death of his father, became the French king, also Louis, but the Seventh. Aquitaine went to France, and Eleanor, in between acts of adultery, began to manipulate her husband, inclining him in favor of certain political exploits, and bore him two daughters. Apotom, the royal couple quarreled to the ground. The Pope tried to reconcile them, but was nevertheless forced to announce a divorce in 1152. The daughters remained with Louis, while Eleanor retained Aquitaine. A couple of months after the divorce, the 30-year-old beauty Eleanor seduced the 18-year-old English Prince Henry of Anjou and married him. He soon became King Henry II Plantagenet. Having become Queen of England, Eleanor gave birth to eight children (two of her sons, Richard the Lionheart and Prince John, are known to you from the legends of Robin Hood). And now, finally, about the war. It just so happened that Aquitaine (aka Guyenne, aka Gascony) because of Eleanor's second marriage went to England. The French monarchs did not like this very much, but they fastened for a long time and did not show it. However, at the beginning of the XIII century, when the Duchy of Gascony remained the last possession of the English crown on the continent, the patience of the French ran out. They set out to finally take over this territory, and unleashed the Hundred Years War.
In that deaf steppe ... (XII century)
If you look, even the Tatar-Mongol invasion also happened because of a woman. Her name was Borte, and she was the wife of Temujin (Genghis Khan). Around 1180 (the exact date is unknown), Borte was kidnapped by the Merkits, guys from a small tribe with whom Temujin was at enmity. In response, he gathered 30,000 horsemen and freed Borte, defeating the Merkits. Everyone liked it so much that Temujin was soon named Genghis Khan and many warriors wanted to join him. Genghis Khan managed to put together a strong army and win the steppe war that unfolded between the tribes. In 1206 he was proclaimed great khan over all the Mongols. Then you know: under his leadership, the Mongols captured China and conquered Central Asia. Dying, Genghis Khan ordered his descendants to conquer the whole world, and they tried to fulfill his will.
Defeat of the Invincible (XVI century)
The Anglo-Spanish War (1587–1604) started over two women. One of them, Queen Elizabeth I of England, refused to marry the Spanish King Philip II. After all, he was already married to the previous Queen of England - Mary the Bloody (yes, she gave the name to the cocktail), but she died without giving birth to an heir. Elizabeth I did not want to indulge Philip's habit of marrying English queens. And then there's the second woman, Mary Stuart. This lady was the Queen of Scots, and she also claimed the English throne. She ruled in a country torn by civil war (where the Scottish Catholics fought the Protestants). In 1567, the Protestants defeated Mary's army, she was forced to abdicate and flee to England. The former Queen of Scots was placed in Sheffield Castle, where she was kept under strict supervision, because Mary was still a contender for the English crown. But when she was caught in correspondence with conspirators who wanted to kill Elizabeth I, the queen ordered the execution of Mary Stuart, which was done in 1587. The death of the last queen, whom one could marry, prompted Philip II to declare war on England and send the Invincible Armada, the Spanish navy, which, alas, was destroyed by storms and English sailors under the command of the pirate Drake.
Bride for the emperor (19th century)
Napoleon in his letters more than once stuttered that a woman was to blame for his confrontation with Russia, which had always been an ally of Prussia. Or rather, the Prussian Queen Louise, wife of Friedrich Wilhelm III. Bonaparte had no doubt that it was because of her affair with Tsar Alexander I that the Russian army fought the French at Austerlitz (1805) and Preussisch-Eylau (1807). But there is another reason why the relationship between Napoleon and Alexander was very strained: the emperor of France twice asked the tsar for consent to marry the Russian princess and was refused both times. At first, Napoleon wanted to marry Catherine, the sister of Alexander I, but she was quickly married off to another. Then he looked after the young princess Anna as his bride.
Princess Anna was already fourteen, but for some reason she was not allowed to marry Napoleon
He was refused again, explaining that Anna was still too young, although she was already 14 years old - by the standards of that time, it was quite enough for marriage. Of course, he later found himself an Austrian wife, Marie-Louise, but he did not forget that the Russians constantly interfered with him both on the battlefield and in his personal life. In 1812, Napoleon's troops crossed the Neman, attacking Russia. Further you know.
Someone considers these women to be the culprits of the bloodiest events in the history of mankind, someone believes that they themselves became victims of sophisticated intrigues.
Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to determine the degree of their participation in the troubles that have fallen on the head of the people of a particular country. But the shadow of guilt (great or small) constantly follows these women.
Queen Brunnhilde
Kristanna Loken as Brunnhilde
Photo: frame from the film "Ring of the Nibelungen"
It was she who was accused of unleashing a war between Austrasia and Neustiria. Although two women were involved in this dark matter. Queen Brunnhilde was married to the Austrasian king Sigibert when the sad news came from neighboring Neustria. Her sister Galsvinta was killed by her husband, the local ruler Khilperik. The king, instigated by his mistress, committed a cruel crime. Angry Brunnhilde, burning with a thirst for revenge, turned to her husband Sigibert for help, so that he would return by force her sister's dowry - several rich cities. During the war, Sigibert was killed: there were rumors that the assassination attempt on him was organized by the same bloodthirsty mistress of Chilperic. Brunnhilde herself was captured by the enemies, but she managed to escape and return to the throne. Already in 613, the son of Chilperic, King Chlothar II, accused the aged queen completely out of nowhere of unleashing an internecine war between states. And he dealt with her in the spirit of a tough time: he ordered to break her, tying her arms and legs to horses.
Amalasuntha
Honor Backman as Amalasuntha
Only one thing can be said about her fate: she wanted the best, but it turned out as always. In 526, the daughter of King Theodoric had a special honor - to rule the Ostrogothic kingdom, settled in Italy, as regent for her eight-year-old son Athalaric. Amalasuntha was not only very beautiful, but intelligent and perspicacious. She prophesied her son a future far from barbarian customs and tried to educate him in the spirit of the enlightened Romans. True respect for her was experienced by the Byzantine emperor Justinian himself. He admired the wisdom of this woman, her diplomatic skills. But here it should be said that science did not go to the benefit of Athalarich, who preferred to remain such Mitrofanushka and spent almost all his time in wild orgies of the Ostrogoths. The excesses did not end well: one night the heart of the young prince could not stand it, and he died. In 534 Amalusunta takes a desperate step. To maintain power, she enters into an alliance with her cousin Theodagad, deep in her heart suspecting its undesirable consequences for herself. Soon the suspicions were justified: her brother imprisoned her and became the sovereign ruler. Justinian, through his ambassador, asked Theodagad for the release of Amalasunta. However, her cousin acted extremely cruelly with her sister. Amalasunta was locked up in a bath filled with hot steam, where the poor woman died in great agony. The enraged Justinian could not stand such a barbaric act and in 535 went to war against the Ostrogoths, which lasted 19 years and brought only suffering to the country.
Queen Margo
Isabelle Adjani as Queen Margo
Photo: frame from the movie "Queen Margot"
Queen Margarita of Navara went down in history as one of the most sensual persons of her time, because of which dozens of lovers died, there were continuous wars. Even in her youth, she was distinguished by her rare beauty, extraordinary intelligence and independent character. The heiress of the Valois family received an excellent education, once she even woke up writing talent. But everything was spoiled by the sensuality of the girl, who at the age of 16 had a stormy romance with the Duke of Guise, a mature and experienced man. However, the leader of the Huguenots (Protestants), the King of Navarre, Henry of Bourbon, became the groom, and later the husband. This was the command of the family, who was going to establish peace in France. But the wedding of the young ended in a terrible massacre of Protestants - the St. Bartholomew night, when more than 30 thousand Huguenots died. Margarita saved her husband from death, she helped him escape from Paris. Bartholomew's night became an eternal curse for the young queen. Wherever she went, disaster struck. They say that the too sensual Margo kept the embalmed hearts of her dead lovers in special boxes that she always carried with her. Even in her old age, the queen surprised with her intimate relationships. When dozens of lovers gathered around her, it seemed that her beloved grandchildren surrounded her grandmother ...
Cleopatra
Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra
This femme fatale eclipsed with her glory a whole galaxy of Egyptian pharaohs. She had a rare charm and the ability to bewitch the interlocutor. The Roman historian Plutarch enthusiastically wrote about her: “The very sounds of her voice caressed and delighted the ear, and the language was like a multi-stringed instrument, easily tuned to any tune, to any dialect.” The Egyptian queen knew a dozen languages, studied philosophy, mathematics, rhetoric and was known as one of the educated and enlightened women of her time. However, this did not prevent her from unleashing civil wars, in which Cleopatra's cold political calculation could be traced. And in the struggle for power, in her opinion, all means were good. She ruthlessly destroys her brothers and sisters when they try to seize the royal throne. And when Cleopatra felt that she was in mortal danger, she tricked her way to the famous commander Julius Caesar. He was struck by the courage and special beauty of a woman who quickly won his heart. Julius Caesar helped Cleopatra return to the throne, surrounded her with unprecedented luxury, love and attention. This attitude angered the Roman senators, and Julius Caesar ended up dying at the hands of the conspirators. The death of a high patron greatly upset Cleopatra. She rushes to Egypt to find a safe haven there. And Mark Antony, by the will of fate, became her last lover, who, for the sake of Cleopatra, would throw himself on the sword of enemies. Already in Egypt, the queen will have time to sow confusion, participate in conspiracies and leave a mountain of corpses behind the fragile female shoulders. After the collapse of hopes for the return of the royal throne, in order to avoid disgrace, she will poison herself with the venom of a cobra.
Elena Troyanskaya
Diane Kruger as Helen of Troy
According to the great Homer, a long and bloody war between the Greeks and the Trojans began because of the frivolous but charming Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus. Carried away by the handsome shepherd Paris, who, oddly enough, was adored not only by nymphs, but also by goddesses (Aphrodite also promised him the love of the most beautiful woman), Elena forgot about the rules and decorum of the court. The friendly relations between the queen and the shepherd quickly turned into a fiery passion, which forced the couple to flee Sparta. A ship loaded with the stolen treasures of Menelaus rushed Helen and Paris to Troy at full sail. Here they, according to Homer, were engaged in love pleasures, not suspecting that a huge trouble was approaching, the cause of which they became. The enraged Menelaus did not know his place: not only was he horned, now he was forced to start a war with Troy. The thirst to get the hated singer and musician Paris, who, it turns out, knew how to not only herd goats and sheep, forced the king to look for allies. And Hera herself, the avenger for adultery, called on the heroes of Greece to stand up for the deeply offended Menelaus and punish the guilty. As a result, the long-term war between the Greeks and the Trojans claimed thousands of lives. The great warriors Hector and Achilles fell on the battlefield, whose exploits Homer sang.
Justa Grata Honoria
A girl of high and noble blood was kept in a black body and, in order to preserve her maiden honor, was surrounded by a hundred eunuchs. Such was the will of her brother, Emperor Valentine. The princess languished in girlhood until she was thirty years old, and, feeling that time was slipping away inexorably, and there was still no groom and freedom, she decided to take a desperate step. Honoria, spitting on her monastic vow, sends one of the eunuchs with a letter and a ring to Attila, the leader of the Huns, famous for his cruelty and eternally fiery passion for women. The great barbarian was overjoyed at the dispatch. In a letter, the princess tearfully asked him to come to Rome, marry her and take her to her. After a crushing defeat at the hands of the Romans in the Catalaunian fields, he yearned for revenge. And here luck simply floated into his hands: due to his marriage to Honoria, Attila hoped to receive peacefully as a bride's dowry half of the Western Roman Empire.
However, the Roman emperor was in no hurry to deliver the virgin to the chambers of the barbarian. This extremely angered Attila: after all, he loved to marry so much! In almost every campaign, even in a remote village, he chose the most beautiful girl to play a magnificent and noisy wedding. Wounded by the refusal, Attila gathers a huge army of the Huns and with fire and sword passes almost all of Italy, destroying the cities encountered on the way. The Romans were horrified and were ready to hand over Honoria with giblets, which caused a devastating invasion of wild and unbridled barbarians. But the kind brother Valentine made an unforgivable mistake for a statesman: he sent her to Constantinople and married the first man he came across. They say it turned out to be an old senator. Attila's rage knew no bounds! Rome trembled with fear: at any moment, terrible Huns could appear at the walls of the Great City. However, Attila managed to convince the negotiations to abandon this undertaking. And now he threw all his anger on Constantinople, eager to return Honoria, who so wanted to once have power and freedom. But Attila managed to get a bride: at one of the weddings, he died, having gone over with wine and love pleasures ...
La Cava
The sultry beauty so captured the heart of the Visigoth king Rodrigo that he knew neither sleep nor peace. The image of the lovely La Cava haunted him at every turn. And she proudly rejected the courtship of the king: he was too importunate and did not like her at all. Inflamed with fiery passion, Rodrigo completely lost his head. Once, having lured the beauty to him by cunning, he took her by force. La Cava, weeping bitterly, told her father, the powerful Count Juliano, what had happened. The commandant of Ceuta, an important fortress that blocked the way for the militant Arabs to the Iberian Peninsula, was beside himself with a noble rage. He swore cruel revenge on the lustful king. And soon such an opportunity presented itself. When the seven thousandth Arab army invaded the country, Count Juliano, waving his hand at his patriotic feelings, opened the gates of the fortress. And the kingdom of the Visigoths, which existed on the territory of present-day Spain for 300 years, ordered a long life. The daughter of La Cava was avenged in full. Moreover, in the very first battle, King Rodrigo was hacked to death with a sword. And on the site of his former possessions, the Arabs created the Emirate of Cordoba. Note that at one time Rodrigo had prophetic dreams about the invasion of enemy forces. But he did not attach any importance to them, pursuing the proud beauty and forgetting about public affairs. For which he paid.
Eleanor - Duchess of Aquitaine
The damned Hundred Years War, during which armor rusted and swords dulled when everyone was tired, became a dark page in the history of Europe. And its cause was considered the behavior of the red-haired beauty Eleanor - the daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine William X, who at the age of 15 inherited a huge fortune - Aquitaine and the County of Poitou. The latter, most likely, served as the forerunner of a future war. According to the will, which was once made by the father and brother (they reposed in the Bose), Eleanor's husband became the owner of rich lands. Therefore, her guardian, the old king of France, Louis VI Tolstoy, hastened to marry his son to the young duchess in order to chop off a tidbit with the existing poverty. Needless to say, he did a great job of it. And after the death of his father, Louis VII could easily increase his wife's dowry. However, the new king did not possess an outstanding statesman, he was very devout and spent most of his time with Catholic priests.
Eleanor is different! The bright beauty, the stormy temperament of the queen and a sharp mind excited the most noble men, who, for one glance of green eyes, were ready to throw their well-being at her feet and even sacrifice their lives. The king obviously did not like this: constant quarrels and scandals eventually led to a divorce. In 1152, the marriage broke up, despite all the attempts of the Pope to reconcile the spouses. 30-year-old Eleanor did not grieve for long: her mature, dazzling beauty attracted the English prince Henry of Anjou. The eighteen-year-old boy fell head over heels in love with her. And Eleanor, having a mutual feeling for him, married the future King Henry II Plantagenet. And at the same time she took away Aquitaine and other lands from under the nose of France, which accounted for almost half of the country. The offended French could not stand Eleanor's such antics and silently began to prepare for the Hundred Years' War...
Men have been fighting for and over women since time immemorial. Disputes related to women were especially frequent in primitive societies, where the main reason for war was the kidnapping of women from another tribe. Within the tribe, cases of abduction of women are rare, since such a practice led to the destruction of the unity of the group and weakened it in clashes with other groups. Consequently, such kidnappings were forbidden at an early stage of development, and tribes that were accustomed to such practices were forced to adapt to the struggle for life, as evidenced by the fact that only a very small number of isolated tribes continue to this day to practice the capture of women within the tribe. . Nevertheless, stealing a woman from another tribe was considered normal practice and even revered. In a primitive society, any man could at any time capture and keep a woman for himself, if he had such an opportunity. He did so by his superior power, which was his own supreme justice. The offended tribe could declare revenge, and the two tribes would be at war. The theft of women was not always an individual event - entire tribes could wage wars for just such a purpose. The custom of obtaining wives through kidnapping is widespread. Lubbock found that he dominated Australia and the Malays, Hindustan, Central Asia, Siberia and Kamchatka; among the Eskimos, the Indians of North America and the native population of Brazil; in Chile and Tierra del Fuego (Lake Tierra del Fuego. – Ed.); in the Philippines, among Arabs and Negroes, among the Circassians (Northern Caucasus) and, until recently, in most of Europe. Westermarck cites a number of examples from which it follows that forced marriage took place when it was "either an accidental consequence of war or a way to acquire a wife when it is difficult or inconvenient to marry in the usual way." In many cases, this was more a preparation for marriage than one of the forms of marriage. It does not claim that kidnapping was a normal way to get married, but it is a common phenomenon in cultural history and one of the causes of intergroup conflict.
Lethorneau believes that the main interest behind the kidnapping of women from other tribes is the satisfaction of sexual desire. But this is nevertheless secondary to the economic motive. Primitive man desired a woman primarily as a worker or slave. The more women worked for a man, the better his position in the struggle for survival. They are an economic value because of the work they do and the children they give birth to and care for. Marriage for primitive man was primarily an economic enterprise. Women were often considered property acquired through marriage, and various conditions influenced marriage. But given factors such as children and sexual customs, marriage can also be seen as a means of self-sustaining family and tribe. The economic aspect of marriage is seen in the division of labor along gender lines. The wife had to perform all humiliating activities, and wherever an element of coercion was needed, it was easier to implement with a captured woman. Moreover, stealing a wife was cheaper than buying one. The abduction of a woman developed not so much due to a rational or conscious assessment of the benefits of this action, but due to automatic and unconscious adaptation to morality and customs. Men have almost always followed their impulses to satisfy their needs without thinking of anything other than immediate pleasure. “Due to periodically arising necessity, individual habits and group customs appear, but this never happened consciously and never originally such intentions arose. These customs are not noticed until they have been around for a long enough time, and it takes even longer for them to be generally recognized.”
When wife kidnapping becomes part of the customs of primitive peoples, it becomes one of the main causes of war. It causes aggression, which meets with resistance and resistance. Another source of controversy is adultery, which was perceived by primitive peoples as an attack on the husband's property. Within the group, it could be compensated by a fine, but if the offender belonged to another tribe, this often led to war. Inter-tribal conflict could similarly arise from the departure of a wife from her husband. Warfare over women, caused by kidnapping, desertion, or adultery, was nevertheless a special form of warfare over property, as will be shown in the examples below. Among the African Dinka, “women were acquired by trading in livestock or stolen from hostile clans or tribes. Conquered or stolen wives occupied a lower position in relation to those bought. They did more work. The Baganda also acquired their wives in these two ways; stealing was a form of marriage in Ukambani, and raids are made throughout Nyasaland for the acquisition of female slaves, whom the victors marry. Among the Ba Guan, women are one of the main causes of war, and Ba Yaka wars often began with accusations of adultery. The Boloks say that 90 percent of their quarrels were about women, because every man who had one or more wives was very offended by any attempt to encroach on his power over them. Virtually all Nigerian tribal wars are about women, and one of the main causes of war is the kidnapping of women. Among the Fang, “quarrels over women were the main causes of war, and these feuds could go on for years. Due to the strong hostility between the tribes, it was often impossible for women to work in gardens or fish in the river, as a result of which there was a significant shortage of food. This situation developed because during the strife, the Fangs did not distinguish between men and women and killed women on an equal basis with the stronger sex. Bennett, who has described the facts above, says that in Fulabifong, where he lived, “a dispute over women lasted for almost ten months, and three neighboring towns were starving all this time,” an example that clearly demonstrates the economic importance of women.
In the independent tribes of East India, women were captured and sold from master to master. "The origin of this custom was the desire to possess a woman." On the island of Borneo (Kalimantan), women were perceived as the cause of the war, and in New Guinea this is even more true. The Elema tribe, who lived in southeastern New Guinea, stole women whenever they could. In Dutch administration, adultery and rape often led to wars between villages; a man could turn his revenge against any inhabitant of the village where the seducer or rapist was from, and war was immediately declared. In British New Guinea (southern part of modern Pakua - New Guinea), most of the strife was associated with quarrels over women, and in the former Kaiser Wilhelm Land (northern part of Pakua - New Guinea, in 1919 Germany lost this colony. - Ed.) the kidnapping of women usually led to hostility.
The indigenous inhabitants of Shortland Island (Alu) and the coast of Bougainville Island (Solomon Islands) were constantly at war over women. Among the people of Fiji, women were the second leading cause of war. "Quarrels over women" was one of the main causes of wars in New Zealand, another equally important cause was land. This is where the Maori proverb comes from: "Land and women are the sources of war." In other parts of Polynesia, wars were often started over adultery, breaches of marriage promises, and over marriages between men and women of hostile tribes.
Almost all the battles among the indigenous people of Australia were over women. Among the most common reasons were the kidnapping of women, rape, the departure of a wife from her husband, and the refusal to give up a girl promised for marriage. In Central Australia inter-tribal quarrels occurred mainly because of the theft of wives, although it was not very rare for women to leave for men from another group, which became the cause of serious disagreements between the two tribes. Theft of women was a common cause of war among the Cape River tribes, and peace was established after the weaker tribe gave their nets and women to the victor. In the Cape York Peninsula, "the source of strife is usually disputes concerning women, which is a natural consequence of polygamy." In Victoria (southern Australia), "women are almost always the cause of quarrels and fights." Cases of kidnapping of women and girls, even among whites, were frequent; the poor performance of their duties by women could also lead to clashes between the natives. Between the tribes of South East Australia, "nearly all the fighting resulted from the capture of women", and raids were often undertaken for this purpose. The same is true of the Kurnai tribe, who stole women from kindred clans or captured them from outsiders.
Marriage by capture of women used to dominate in Central Asia, and until recently the tarns who lived at the foot of the Himalayas obtained their brides by kidnapping from other tribes. The Yakuts once stole their wives from others. In their legends and traditions, theft of wives was the main cause of war. The Yakut wife, captured during the war, was regarded as booty, and the wedding marked the conclusion of a peace treaty. Even today, when they acquire wives for themselves, the wedding ceremony contains many elements of the pre-existing practice of theft.
The Greenlanders, although they did not know war, sometimes quarreled among themselves, and "love and women were among the most frequent causes of bloodshed." The Chinook Indians were also quite peaceful, but often got involved in quarrels that were the result of "kidnapping women more often than for any other reason." Bancroft also speaks of the population of Northern California: “The cause of the war was usually the same that brought the king of Sparta to the walls of Ilion, and Titus Tatius to nascent Rome - women. In fact, the Northern Californians were less of a classic wife kidnapper, not like the defiler of the Sabine women, but their wars ended the same way - the kidnapped woman remained as a reward to her warrior lover. Similarly, among the people of Central California, kidnapping was a common casus belli. Women leaving their husbands often led to wars between the Omaha Indians. Virginian Indians, the Algonquians and Choctaws, fought wars to acquire female slaves. In South America, the Zaparos, like other tribes, hunted the women and children of their enemies in order to turn them into servants or sell them, and the bloodthirsty Mbaya fought with other tribes to get themselves wives.
Among more advanced peoples, the Trojan War and the kidnapping of the Sabines are classic examples of women causing wars. Marriage by capturing a wife and wars for female slaves were common in Antiquity. For the Greeks of the era of Homer, as we have already seen, people as prey were one of the main causes of war. Such prey consisted mainly of women and children, since the organization of society was not sufficiently developed to keep adult men in subjection. Captive women were forced to do women's work. Usually they were illegitimate cohabitants and were completely subordinate to their conquerors, who could marry them only if they themselves wanted it. Most of the wars of the ancient Arabs were fought with the immediate aim of capturing women: "Sometimes during the absence of men, they would suddenly attack the women of the settlement, and many stories prove that the key point of their war strategy was to keep the women and children alive." Often captured women were brought to the slave market in Mecca and sold outside the country; nevertheless, quite often they became the wives or mistresses of their captors. Marriage by capture dominated even in the time of Muhammad, who recognized this tradition, although he toned down some of its most cruel and offensive features.
Sometimes the ancient Jews captured women. "The husband is the master," says Hastings, "of his slave wives, obtained in war or by acquisition." It was considered normal for their wars to take away all the women and children of the enemy, along with everything that could be carried away, and sometimes sell them to others. After performing a certain ritual, the captured girl could be taken as a wife. In ancient Egypt, women and children were valuable war booty; they were captured and given into service.
The ancient Aryan (Indo-European) peoples also obtained wives by capture. Even in our time in high-altitude Albania, where marriage by acquiring a wife is common, there are cases of girls being kidnapped and sold to other Muslim countries; Yezidi women, widely known for their beauty, were often taken by force into Muslim harems. In the United States, among Italian emigrants, it is not uncommon for a man to get a girl "by force, either by taking her away on his own, or by instructing friends to kidnap her and bring her to some secret place." The dominance of kidnapping as an ancient method of acquiring wives is proved by the wedding traditions of many peoples. They are known as fake theft, which is done instead of a real kidnapping; the man imitates the abduction of his future wife, although all activities are agreed upon by both parties in advance. False kidnapping is a peaceful form of marriage that evolved, at least in many instances, from forced kidnapping, which usually became a casus belli. Perhaps this is one example of a historical movement towards peace.
Women could be the cause of war not only as a passive object of theft, kidnapping, etc., but also as active instigators. When war was considered part of public morality, when military qualities were valued and respected in men, women reinforced the significance of customs, glorifying these qualities. By ridiculing and humiliating the weak, they performed the function of social control in a primitive community. Westermark is of the opinion that women "instinctively prefer strong and brave men to weak-willed and cowardly ones." In discussing this statement of his, we can accept this fact and the examples he gives. Of course, women have always encouraged a warlike spirit in men. It is said of the women of Borneo (Kalimantan) that they consciously prefer men whose bravery and military exploits are well known, and this is largely indicative of the attachment of people to war; women provoke men to military exploits. Among the Kiwai Papuans, women also accompany men on military campaigns, stimulating them to great efforts. The same is said about Apache women. In Australia, women inspired their men to fight by mocking them and often being the first to fight. Among the Ba Guan (Congo) “the main instigators of war are women; if men are peaceful and ready to swallow the insult, women ridicule them: “You are afraid, you are not men, we don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore. woma! woma! (Cowards!) Whoo! Hu! Hu!" Then the men come forward and fight."
The war had a significant impact on the institution of marriage and relations between the sexes. Through the kidnapping of his wife, the man acquired a higher position and gradually reduced the role of the "mother of the family", displacing her as the "father of the family" - this change, according to Sumner, is one of the most important and revolutionary in the history of civilization. The practice of wife kidnapping appears to have encouraged exogamy, or marriage to members of other groups, which helped to reduce the impact of endogamy. The social benefits of exogamy were to increase the ability to survive. It affects both social and biological development through unrelated ties; thanks to such marriages, not only new blood was brought to the tribe, but also new customs; they led to a "mixing of cultures". The abducted women brought with them the customs of their groups, facilitated the exchange of ideas and methods, and provided greater opportunities for genetic diversity. All this is more than significant, if we remember that most of the crafts were in the hands of women, in particular among the Egyptians, and also that many men died during the wars. This influenced the forms of marriage. It seems that in this way the war especially favored the development of polygamy.
