“WE WILL BE MEN AND BEASTS”. MODELS, ROLES AND THE ATTITUDE OF WOMEN DURING THE AUSTRACISTS BLOCKADE AND SIEGE OF PENÍSCOLA (1706-1707)

Abstract

This paper analyses the meaning of women’s attitudes and the propagandistic use of female symbolic references in the rural Valencian community of Penisco- la whose fortress was blocked during the Spanish Succession war. To that end we follow the contributions of historiography and use the only two local sources available: a pro-Bourbon comedy and the personal diary of the defence com- mander. Finally, the paper analyses the extent to which women could influence the maintenance of local resistance.