Kenau Simonsdaughter Hasselaer

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Kenau Simonsdaughter Hasselaer

Kenau Simonsdaughter Hasselaer (* 1526 in Haarlem ; † 1588 , place of death unknown) was a shipbuilder who led the defense of the city by 300 women during the siege of the Dutch city of Haarlem in the Eighty Years' War .

When she was born, her father, actually a brewer, was mayor of Haarlem . In 1554 she married the shipbuilder Nanning Gerbrantsz, with whom she had three children. After the death of her husband in 1562 she took over the management of his shipyard.

When Haarlem was besieged by Spanish troops in 1572–1573, she is said to have led 300 women in defense of the city's walls. This made her famous not only in Haarlem, but throughout the Netherlands .

After the city was finally conquered by the Spaniards, they first fled to Arnemuiden ( Zeeland ), but returned to Haarlem in 1578. She was lost on a trade trip to Norway in 1588 and allegedly died in the hands of pirates.

The moral judgment of this woman's life was rather negative in the 19th century. In the Dutch language, the noun “kenau” is still used to denote a man-woman.

The Dutch film Kenau (2014) tells the story of the siege, with Monic Hendrickx playing the heroine.

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