Margaretha (soldier)

Margaretha (born in Groningen, died after 1611) was a soldier in the Dutch States Army. She fought disguised as a man in the Dutch Revolt against Spain. This made her one of the first female soldiers in Dutch history.

Biography
Margaretha is described by historian Emanuel van Meteren, who writes that she had served as a soldier, dressed as a man, for seven years. She fought first as a pikeman, later using a musket. Her fellow soldiers praised her heroism in taking many entrenchments near Steenwijk and Groningen. Van Meteren describes her as "a stout and dauntless warrior, yea among the officers [was] reckoned".

Margaretha married a drummer she met in the army. Together they went to live in Groningen sometime between 1599 and 1611, where they ran a shop in "fatty goods". Margaretha is said to have written a song where she called on other women to also defend the fatherland as soldiers, "exhorting the young daughters to the love of war to protect the fatherland by her example".