62nd Thread: Words can win battles

My grandmother left her entire estate to her daughter and descendants on the condition that she bear the name of her family and stay on the land when married. She willed the male offspring to inherit only gold and movables. What do your plain looks matter if you command your own estate? Naturally, your father conspires to revoke the testament, he intends your brothers to succeed in your place. They will get bigoted support from the clergy, the jurists, the princes and other men of nobility. All we have are words. You love them, but I can handle neither speech, nor iron. I have appointed a woman poet from abroad to teach you her art. She will be find refuge here to write.

She is said to be wise and sagacious, and her poems have been celebrated around the world. You are already wise and sagacious, despite your young years, and now you will form your mind with the best there is. Literature will impress our rivals and consolidate our position. Your poems will complement those of your great great great grandmother descended directly, according to our chronicles, from emperor Hadrian. Our nobility is of the blood and of the mind. You will sing the great deeds of my grandmother the warrior, the nobility of the women of our family, whom you will compare to Persephone and Zenobia. We will ask the choirmaster to set your poems to music, and troubadours will spread our cause wide and far. Your pen will give us our best chance to win this battle.

This is the 63rd of 100 women who talk to their daughters over 2500 years.

Before the Crusades:
The 56th woman was a powerful preacher, as was common in medieval times. The 55th woman was upset at her father’s trade. The 54th woman tells a fairy tale about aging. The 53rd woman, having climbed up socially, rejects her own mother. The 52nd woman‘s sister, a smart and lucky business woman, improves the fate of the daughter.  The 51st woman leads the hard life of a hunchback.  The 50th woman’s  mind is as feeble as her back. The 49th mother explains why women should not fish. The 48th woman finds refuge in a fishing village. The 47th mother lulls her baby with an optimistic song. The 46th mother rebells against the wealthy.

Earlier times (Roman Empire):

The 29th woman preferred her life as a captive of the Barbarians.  The 28th woman gives sexual advice to her daughter (explicit).  The 27th woman resents her mother using her for her ambitions. The 26th girl feels powerless to stop her father’s violence. The 25th girl is an orphan, or is she?  The 24th woman falls for an indigenous rebel.

It all starts here: first thread, and the last stories will take place in … present day America.