Catherine Ségurane
Catherine Ségurane ( Catarina Segurana in Nissart , Caterina Segurana in Italian ) is a folk heroine of the southern French city of Nice . It is said to have played a decisive role in the defense against the siege of Nice in 1543 by the Turks allied with the French King Francis I. At that time Nice was independent from France and part of the Principality of Savoy , which had no standing army to defend it. Legend has it that Catherine Ségurane, a simple washerwoman, led the town's population into battle after knocking an enemy standard bearer unconscious with a shovel and taking his flag. It is said that at the head of the city's defenders, she stretched her bare bottom towards the siege armies, which offended the Muslim shame of the Turkish infantrymen so much that they were driven to flight.
Catherine's existence has never been proven and her heroic act is very likely fiction, or at least grossly exaggerated. Jean Badat , a historian and contemporary witness of the siege, does not mention it in his account of the defense of Nice. Historically, as part of the defensive measures, however, is the destruction of a key bridge and the arrival of a bridge by the Savoy Count Karl III. raised army. Despite this, the legend of Catherine Ségurane caught people's imagination. Louis Andrioli wrote an epic poem about her in 1808 and a play by Jean-Baptiste Toselli appeared in 1878 . In 1923 a bas-relief in honor of Catherine Ségurane was erected near the alleged location of her great deed. Catherine Ségurane Day is celebrated in Nice every year on November 25th.
