Jeanne Maillotte - 1581, French Wars of Religion

Ordinary women who rose to battle had been recorded in France and Low counties since the middle ages and figure such as Jeanne Maillotte was no exception. The Hurlus rebellion itself was connected to the uprising in the low counties, just like the Geuzen that fought and assisted the liberation of their home, resulting on the formation of independent united dutch provinces, better known as Netherlands. As such, finding the historical material as to what they wore and the equipments should be fairly straightforward.

In the case of Jeanne Maillotte, her chronicles are mostly written in French or available in French/Dutch language which noted her little popularity outside the local community. But, several depiction of her, which includes her statue at Lille, gave some helpful references when it comes to producing this drawing.

Here, she is depicted in the typical commoner dress of the region, with the addition of dagger held along the belt. I have included the Poleaxe because contemporary image of her included the weapon on her arm. Perhaps, there's some symbolism in the image because the weapon poleaxe is often associated with "defense and forfitude".