Original Post: 27 Apr 2014

Louise Labé: A rope maker’s daughter, she was the leading figure in the literary culture of mid-sixteenth century Lyon, a prolific writer and early feminist.

Although her father was himself illiterate, he had Louise educated like her brothers in Classical and modern languages, and in fencing and equitation.

Her half-brother François was a fencing master, and Louise was an accomplished fencer in her own right, as amply documented by contemporary writers. Indeed a number of poems praise her brilliant performances in the lavish tournament of 1542, in honour of the Dauphin Henri’s passage through Lyon.

Read Original: http://esfinges1.wix.com/e/apps/blog/women-fighters-from-history-louise-labe