Back in the days when I was a wee teenager, one of my favorite movies was Drew Barrymore's "Ever After". I loved how they portrayed Cinderella - in that story, Danielle - as a strong witted and independent young woman (even though there's that typical love story that nowadays makes me go "blergh, so cliche"), who adored books as much as I did - and still do -, and didn't rely only in her shoes to get a Prince.
Anyway, there's a special scene in the movie (pictured above) where she cleverly tricks the gypsies to rescue Prince Henry. Little did I know that it was based on a folk story, which might be real, and that took place in Weinsberg, Germany, in the year 1140, according to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
When King Conrad III defeated the Duke of Welf and placed Weinsberg under siege, the wives of the besieged castle negotiated a surrender which granted them the right to leave with whatever they could carry on their shoulders. The king allowed them that much. Leaving everything else aside, each woman took her own husband on her shoulders and carried him out. When the king's people saw what was happening, many of them said that that was not what had been meant and wanted to put a stop to it. But the king laughed and accepted the women's clever trick. "A king" he said, "should always stand by his word."
To read about how Middle Age women showed their intelligence - and how badasses they could be - amuses me very much indeed.
Anyway, there's a special scene in the movie (pictured above) where she cleverly tricks the gypsies to rescue Prince Henry. Little did I know that it was based on a folk story, which might be real, and that took place in Weinsberg, Germany, in the year 1140, according to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
When King Conrad III defeated the Duke of Welf and placed Weinsberg under siege, the wives of the besieged castle negotiated a surrender which granted them the right to leave with whatever they could carry on their shoulders. The king allowed them that much. Leaving everything else aside, each woman took her own husband on her shoulders and carried him out. When the king's people saw what was happening, many of them said that that was not what had been meant and wanted to put a stop to it. But the king laughed and accepted the women's clever trick. "A king" he said, "should always stand by his word."
To read about how Middle Age women showed their intelligence - and how badasses they could be - amuses me very much indeed.
~Ally
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