Season 1
Warrior Women is a series of five historical docu-drama's that reconstructs the stories of notable real-life women warriors who've become legends through the ages.
Brought to life by Lucy Lawless, best known as TV's warrior princess Xena, each story details the life and times of the women, revealing who they were and how their heroism created their popularity and mythology.
Shot on location in China, Britain, Ireland, New Mexico and France the five films are:
The Real Mulan
Household heroine
The name of Hua Mulan has been synonymous with the term ‘heroine’ for hundreds of years in Chinese society and culture. Although it may have depicted a less authentic, westernised version of the original woman warrior, Disney's 1998 animated film brought Mulan's name to a wider audience.
The Mulan legend is the story of a young Chinese woman, who joined the army in place of her old, ailing father during the Sui dynasty, over a thousand years ago.
Although there is some confusion as to where she originated from and in which era she lived, the general consensus is that Hua Mulan came from the area of China known as the Central Plains, during the Sui dynasty (AD 581-618).
Super-Hua-man
Despite this confusion, differing versions of the legend all agree on her accomplishments. It is said that Hua Mulan's father received an order to serve in the army and fight against the barbarians from the north.
His age and infirmity made Hua Mulan feel that his participation was impossible. An accomplished martial artist herself, she decided to disguise herself as a man and take her father's place.
Hua Mulan went on to distinguish herself in battle and was promoted up the ranks. Eventually she became a General, known for brilliant military strategy. When the war was over the emperor asked General Hua what reward "he" would like. Hua asked for nothing except a speedy horse to take her home to her parents.
The real Mulan
Arguably ‘the real Mulan’, Wang Cong’er (1777–1798) led the uprising of the White Lotus sect against the corrupt Qing regime. Expert at Kung Fu, she brandished a sword in each hand and instilled fear in her enemies.
Intent on avenging the death of her beloved husband at the hands of the Qing, Wang led over 20,000 men into battle against the army of the greatest empire in Asia. Despite the obvious disadvantages of Wang’s peasant troops, they overcame and surprised the mighty Qing army again and again, with the use of guerrilla war tactics.
Sadly, the emperor’s army wised up to Wang’s tactics and, with an increased number of warriors, prepared to ambush the warrior queen and her men in the mountains and treat them to some of their own medicine.
After thousands of her men were massacred, Wang was forced to retreat. With no escape route left to her, she jumped to her death. Wang Cong’er may have been defeated, but she had set a precedent for revolts against Chinese imperial rule. These continued until the mid-20th century, when Mao Tse-Tung and his peasant army eradicated the monarchy once and for all.
Boudica
Redheaded rebel
“…In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore a tunic of various colours over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch…"
So Cassius Dio describes Boudica, in Roman History.
Born in about 30 AD, Boudica married King Prasutagus to become Queen of the Iceni people - a tribe of Celtic origin that lived in present-day Norfolk/Suffolk.
Some believe that she was actually named Boudiga after the Celtic goddess of victory, but the Romans called her Boudica. After Emperor Claudius’ invasion in 43AD, most of England was under Roman rule.
The Roman procedure at the time was that, if a vassal king died, the Romans should claim his property, but Prasutagus tried to avoid this, by leaving instructions that on his death, his lands and wealth should be equally divided between his family (his wife Boudica and his two daughters) and Rome.
Revolt against Rome When Prasutagus died in 60AD, the Romans moved in to take possession of his family’s wealth and territory. Boudica was flogged, her daughters raped and the Iceni hierarchy treated like slaves.
This was too much for the feisty Queen of the Iceni and she determined to take on Nero and his legions. With the help of neighbouring tribes, Boudica built a formidable army.
When the Roman Governor, General Suetonius Paulinus, and his troops were stationed in Anglesey and North Wales, Boudica seized on the opportunity to burn St Albans and Colchester to the ground. The warrior queen and her troops eventually marched on London, where they killed 10,000 inhabitants.
The fires have even left their mark today: almost four metres below London there is a layer of scorched earth known to archaeologists as, The Boudica Destruction Layer.
Boudica’s Last Stand On their way back from Anglesey, Suetonius and his troops lay in wait for Boudica. With dense woodland protecting his rear and a narrow defile in front, Suetonius was in a position where his troops (outnumbered by 10 to 1) had the advantage.
By the end of the day, 80,000 Iceni lay dead; the Romans lost only 400 men. Faced with this humiliating defeat, the proud queen ended her life by drinking from a poisoned chalice.
Today, there are differences of opinion as to where Boudica lies buried - Stonehenge, under Platform 8 in London's King's Cross, or at the top of Parliament Hill.
Grace O'Malley
The Pirate Queen
Nowhere in the annals of seafaring history has a woman succeeded in the art of seamanship like Ireland’s Grace O’Malley. Pirate, chieftain, gambler, noblewoman, traitor and mercenary are all terms that have been applied to one of the greatest warriors that Ireland has ever known.
Queen of the Irish Seas
Granuaile (Grace O'Malley) is thought to have been born in 1530, with one illegitimate stepbrother, Donal-na-Piopa (of the pipes), to the chieftain of the O’Malleys, Owen 'Dubhdarra' (Black Oak). The O'Malley clan was well known for its sailing prowess and traded regularly with Scotland and Spain in their galleys and three-masted caravels.
Grace lived in a violent age, with the English becoming increasingly dominant in Ireland and the local lords vying with each other over land and cattle.
Her first real initiation in seafaring came at the age of twelve or thirteen when, disinterested in men and marriage but intent on adventure, she hid aboard her father’s ship.
‘Chief Commander and Director of Thieves and Murderers at Sea’
So dedicated to her career on the high seas was the Irish warrior woman, that, years on, she would give birth to one of her sons in the middle of a sea battle with some North Africans.
After marrying her first husband – heir to the O’Flaherty clan with whom she had three children – Grace was marshalling three ships and commanding 200 men. In order to strengthen the position of her clan and oppose English attempts to remove her, Grace’s only means of survival was by fighting.
Grace is believed to have fallen in love with a shipwrecked man called Hugh de Lacy. However, only months into their love affair, the young man was killed by the rival MacMahon clan. Grace was not a woman to be crossed: she retaliated by burning their boats, killing those responsible with her own sword and capturing their castle for herself.
A meeting of minds Grace’s life reached a dramatic climax when, besieged on all fronts by Sir Richard Bingham and the English who had murdered her son, she travelled to England for an audience with Elizabeth I.
After this controversial meeting with ‘the enemy’, Grace was granted protection from the English. Had Elizabeth recognised a kindred spirit, a woman who had achieved with fire and sword what she had achieved with politics and cunning?
Lozen, The Apache Warrior
Strong as a man, braver than most, and cunning in strategy, Lozen was a shield to her people.”
Scalp hunters Lozen was born into the Warm Springs Apache band during the late 1840s - times of great uncertainty and bloodshed. For decades, the resourceful Apache warriors had frustrated and defied the entire might of the US army.
The threat to Apache survival also came from the Mexican cavalry and bounty hunters who were intent on obliterating the Apache tribes. These bounty hunters were paid handsomely for every Apache scalp they brought to the Mexican government - man, woman, or child. Any black hair and scalp was accepted as proof, so profiteering ‘backyard barbers’ wiped out entire villages of peaceful Indians.
Guerrilla tactics The Apache were born warriors - the fiercest of all the tribes. No other tribe could match them for their tracking and fighting skills. They used speed, stealth, surprise, and even the land itself as weapons. They also had one distinct advantage over the ‘White Eyes’ (white settlers) - knowing where water was.
In the knowledge that good water existed underground in even the most inhospitable locations, they could pollute the obvious water sources if pursued. In this way, the Apache killed many of their enemies.
Lozen was the younger sister of the famous Victorio – a fearless warrior and leader, who often sought peace, despite the provocation and deception of the US army. Victorio’s fighting prestige was due in part to his ability to know from which direction the Mexican and US armies were approaching.
His ambushes were so well planned; it was as though he had eyes everywhere but, according to accounts left by the Warm Springs Apache, his secret weapon was his sister, Lozen. In fact, he is quoted as saying: “Lozen is my right hand”.
Sixth sense Victorio was elected Chief of the Warm Springs Apache and went to war against the US cavalry. Legend has it that Lozen was able to use her powers in battle to predict the movements of the enemy and that she helped each band she accompanied to successfully avoid capture. Lozen was a multi-talented woman: not only was she a prophet and a skilful warrior, but a healer and midwife too.
In 1872, the US government began its policy of detaining all Apache tribes together at San Carlos. Time and time again, Victorio and his sister Lozen sought peace in return for their right to go back and live undisturbed at Ojo Caliente.
Finally, they made their escape. With the US Cavalry determined to hunt them down, Lozen insisted on stopping to help one of the Apache women who had gone into labour. Meanwhile, Victorio was killed, along with the 400 men in his tribe.
Apache POWs After Victorio's death, Lozen continued to ride with Chief Nana and eventually joined forces with Geronimo's band, eluding capture until she finally surrendered with the last free group of Apaches in 1886. At the age of 50, Lozen died of tuberculosis in the Mount Vernon Barracks in Mobile, Alabama.
Joan Of Arc
At the age of 13, she heard voices and, by the time she was 19, she was burnt at the stake. Only 500 years later would she be recognised as a saint.
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) was born in the village of Domrémy, on the border of Champagne and Lorraine in 1412. Her upbringing was simple and religious. At about 13 years old, Joan began to hear the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret, whom she believed had been sent by God.
These voices told her it was her divine mission to free her country from the English and help the dauphin gain the French throne. They told her to cut her hair, dress in a man's uniform and take up arms.
Angel-in-arms At this time, the English - with the help of their Burgundian allies - occupied Paris and all of France north of the Loire. Henry VI of England was making claims to the throne of France. Jeanne’s conviction was so strong, however, that she managed to win over the captain of the Dauphin's forces and then the Dauphin himself.
After passing an examination by a board of theologians, the simple peasant girl was given troops to command, the rank of Captain and a suit of angelic white armour.
At the battle of Orleans in May 1429, Jeanne led the troops to a miraculous victory over the English. She continued fighting the enemy in other locations along the Loire. By July of the same year, Charles VII was crowned king of France in Reims Cathedral, where Joan was given a place of honour next to the king.
The perils of cross-dressing After so much notoriety, things went disastrously wrong for Joan when, in 1430, she was captured by the Burgundians while defending Compiegne, near Paris. She was then sold to the English and handed over to the ecclesiastical court at Rouen, led by Pierre Cauchon, a pro-English Bishop, to be tried for witchcraft and heresy.
Much was made of Joan’s insistence on wearing male clothing at the trial, which she was told was a crime against God. After a gruelling 14 months of relentless interrogation, Joan was burned at the stake in the Rouen marketplace in 1431. Her last word, as the smoke and flames leapt around her was "Jesus".
Even though he owed his position to her endeavours, the French king made no attempt to come to her rescue. Justice at last twenty-five years after her death, a second trial was held and Joan was pronounced innocent of the charges against her.
After being virtually forgotten by the French for 400 years, Joan of Arc was finally beatified in 1909 and declared a saint in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.