The hero is always the “alpha male”. The military man whose character and behavior have passed by far all the norms of humanity. For the ancients, their heroes were people like Hector from the Iliad and Aneas from the Anead.
In the Middle Ages, the word “hero” automatically brings up the idea of the chivalric knight: the image of the man clad in shining armor on a spirited stallion, who is able to defeat all the evil crossroad knights. Some examples of these types of knights are William Marshall, and of course, in literature, King Arthur, Sir Gawain, and Sir Lancelot. We also call some rebels heroic who go against the norm: for instance Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give the poor, and working to fight tyranny.
Well, can women in the Middle Ages be heroic as well? Are they heroic in their own right, or only as accessories to men- mothers of children and wives?
Only the fifteenth century Joan of Arc fits the traditional model of heroism. She went into battle at extreme personal risk to herself. She loved her country, and helped the Dauphin to be crowned. Her heroism was tested again in an overwhelming trial conducted by men who were her nation’s enemies. There she displayed not only clarity and courage, but extraordinary wit. And of course, we almost reflexatively presume that she was heroic when she was burned at the stake.
However, women like the French Abbess Heloise, the mystic German seer Hildegard of Bingen, and Eleanor of Aquitaine of the twelfth century should be considered heroic as well. Hildegard’s encyclopedic genius, and Heloise’s passion for study, her dedication and obsession with philosophy and thought, were most definitely heroic. Eleanor of Aquitaine’s epic daring-do and sheer grandeur made her a subject of many legends and stories. The wife of two kings, mother of Richard the Lionhearted, ruler of the Aquitaine , and crusader, she is definitely heroic.
Little about these four women is “normal’, both by their time’s standards, and today’s standards. Even if they may not be the “alpha male”, they were still known and recognized by their contemporaries. They excelled in their situations. They were certainly heroic.
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