Maria of Pozzuoli

Background

Maria of Pozzuoli was a native of Pozzuoli, a small town to the west of Naples. Her early life remains unknown.

Career

A fourteenth-century example of a true virago, the otherwise unidentified Maria of Pozzuoli was seen by Petrarch on visits to Naples in 1341 and 1343. In his letters, he compares her, quite naturally, to Virgil's amazon heroine Camilla, whose legendary birthplace was in the same region of Italy. She was involved in a long-standing, bloody feud with a neighboring, but otherwise unidentified, enemy. Maria habitually wore armor, had the hardened body of a veteran soldier, and willingly endured the discomforts of military campaigning. Although she lived in the company of military men, none dared to violate her. Her fame was extensive, and men often came to see her and to challenge her to feats of strength. In one such weightlifting contest, she easily defeated a group of male challengers, and that despite an avowed pain in her arm. Sabadino degli Arienti, writing around 1483, mentions her death as the result of a wound. No other written records about Maria's survive.

Achievements

• Maria of Pozzuoli is famous for her aggressively charging into battle. She bore up well under hunger and thirst. She actively engaged in many battles in her home area during territorial conflict near Naples.

Personality

Petrarch described her in detail, praising her strength, dexterity, mental discipline, courage, and unassailable virginity.

Physical Characteristics: Maria was a bodybuilder style of a warrior. Her muscular build was envied by the soldiers around her.

References

• Amazons to Fighter Pilots: A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women
  2003