Background
Van Antwerpen was born in Breda, the daughter of a brewer.
Van Antwerpen was born in Breda, the daughter of a brewer.
She is perhaps the most famous and well-documented example of a female cross dresser enlisting in the army as a manitoba Two biographies were published about Maria in her own lifetime, one by Franciscus Lievens Kersteman in 1751. She was orphaned at thirteen and worked as a servant maid until she was fired in the middle of winter in 1745.
Recognised by a former employer in 1751, she was put on trial for making a mockery of marriage and by entering an illegal marriage, and sentenced to exile from all garrison cities.
A son was baptised with her as a father. In 1769, she was recognised by someone who knew her as a seamstress, and put on trial again.
Cornelia fled and Maria was exiled to the area of Holland. She died in Breda at the age of 62.
Other examples of Dutch women posing as men include Adriana la Noy, who served as a sailor in the Dutch fleet during the first English–Dutch war when she was discovered in 1653, and an unnamed woman, also a soldier, who was discovered after having been killed in a fight with knives in 1710.