Margaret, the Sturdy Wimman

In the Middle Ages there was so much going on that we may miss some very important issues. The usual thing is to talk about the Crusades, the Church or the little advance of sciences. However, there are events not so well known that equally carry as much impact as any of the commonplaces mentioned above. Such is the case with Margaret Ainsworth.

For most of us, life begins immediately after our mothers give birth to us, but for Margaret life began at about age 12. Living with a widowed mother and servant, her childhood in the north of England was little more than helping out with the things in the cottage and feeling that playing was wrong after so many tough punishments.

Her bland life led to so many internal wars that shortly after her 12th birthday, she escaped. Without knowing exactly how she managed to survive, she went to the southwest of the island, near Bristol. The next thing to be known was that she was part of a group of minstrel slaves in the service of a master who cared little for her well-being. This master recruited people with eccentric skills in order to give unparalleled surprises to different feudal lords and thus obtain juicy earnings. Within the group of freaks, Margaret was called "God's hair". With her long hair she not only juggled impressively, but also had heavy objects tied to her, such as a bread basket or even a throne, and could lift them without much trouble.

Like when she lived with her mother, Margaret soon grew tired of the forced life she was being subjected to. However, she could not escape so easily because of the chains on her. Then, her crying and constant complaints made her master order her release but without any food to satisfy her hunger nor any shield to defend herself in the surroundings of the far and dangerous Wistman's Wood.

Probably evicted on the forest floor, she was found by the advisors of a feudal lord of those lands. It could be said that our little Margaret was fortunate because while many would be left to die there, she found salvation and well-being with no more chains in between. The feudal lord Wilson I, it is said, always wanted a daughter and Margaret seemed to fit that desire quickly.

Her youth was filled with all sorts of fortunes and then her personal growth was accelerated. Margaret enjoyed having whatever she wanted, as she had become the favorite and most spoiled of Wilson I's siblings. This was largely due to her various talents, including musical and literary ones. Important visitors would arrive during the hunting season and when they were in the castle, they would be surprised when Margaret would stop playing the lute or reciting a beautiful poem and would lift heavy things with her kilometric hair. In fact, it is because of these talents that we can, in part, have a little information about them, spread by those astonished visitors.

Wilson I was jealous of his beloved daughter, but he preferred to see her happy rather than bored, so she often had the freedom to walk the fields of Exeter. She practiced archery some days; others she only collected fruits of her preference. So much freedom and approval for her from Wilson I was frowned upon by his other two sons. They distrusted her because of her origin and because she was a woman. They believed that more than an orphan, she was one sent by some rival feudal lord in search of information. The intentions of these other two sons were so harmful to miss Ainsworth that they even sought to set a fatal trap for her.

In one of these many outings, they invited her to show off her amazing hair skills. They told her that they were outsiders approaching lands so far away, attracted by the rumors that had spread about her. Margaret, always proud of feeling important among people, especially among men, accepted the invitation. On a path adorned with several huts, there was a group of lords gathered and waiting for them. These gentlemen were immediately surprised to see the length of her hair. Then, they themselves placed a small anvil in front of her. Margaret's siblings took her to her greatest and most dangerous challenge: to prove her "heresy" to Catholic agents so that she could be hanged or at least imprisoned.

Although it was difficult at first, Margaret, probably a 17 or 18 years old woman by then, raised the small anvil with her unbreakable hair, releasing an expression of joy as never before.

Next day, the poor girl was disappeared, according to the envious siblings . They feigned despair and bewilderment as they spoke to Wilson I about Margaret's loss. The feudal lord would rather lose his land than lose his beloved daughter. He knew that there was not enough gold in the world to be worth as much as she. So he arranged for all his workers to find Margaret. The feudal lord's tears were soothed by one of his advisors who warned him that his beloved daughter was on her way to a port to sail to continental Europe to be judged for heresy by some Catholics. Wilson I did not make such a fuss about this, but when he learned who planned such an attack on his beloved daughter. Upon learning of this, Wilson I's indignation became so great that he immediately profiled Margaret as his heir, instead of any of his sons, after having her back in the castle safe and sound.

Not long after the older siblings were expelled from their father's lands because of previous event, his father died. The exiles soon knew of this and sought to return to Exeter with the aim of occupying the throne. To Margaret's misfortune, her late father's advisors supported her eldest siblings' claims. But, other several advisors, in order to find themselves out of trouble by contradicting the will of Wilson I, resolved to give his possible heirs three types of tests: one of strength, one of cunning and another of morality.

In the test of strength none of the two brothers could match neither Margaret's famous hair nor her muscles that raised iron balls. Knowing for the first time the power of Margaret, perhaps some of the spectators could have fainted or been terrified by the ease of a woman to be five times stronger than a man, according to the information available.

Since whoever won two of the three trials would get the throne, the evil brothers made sure that the test of cunning was familiar to them. So instead of answering a riddle, chess was played. This game, although known to Margaret, was not very interesting for her. Actually, no board game was. Her skills, therefore, were not as high as those of the brothers.

Thus, the final test was reached. Again, the brothers sought to bribe the advisors with future lands so that they would be the victorious ones. The question that corresponded to brothers was first asked of Margaret. But the result was not bad, since thanks to her answer she was posthumously remembered.

—With no money, what would you do for the kingdom?

—I would cast you out as incompetent advisors.

Given the records that come down to us from that time, Margaret not only defeated her ill-intentioned siblings, but she also revealed that certain advisors were always in favor of the male children of Wilson I and not in favor of him and his entire will. Therefore, he probably did not die in a natural way. In any case, Margaret of Exeter, continued the legacy of Wilson I positively, having even better ties than her father with landowners and scalpers alike.

Margaret projected for posterity, perhaps for the first time there in our time, that woman is a being not made for minute or superficial standards as we have been led to believe historically. Her mettle to survive, her intelligence to learn, and her courage to be remembered when no woman was even mentioned, is surely the heaviest victory she has ever lifted.

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