Pins and appliqués
If it was a military establishment… whose was this?
Pins and appliqués
Society in the Late Middle Ages was patriarchal and exalted the masculine values associated to war. With the exception of queens and noble ladies – instruments for the social reproduction of lineage (dowries, inheritances) – women hardly appear in documents and material remnants.
In a military settlement like Rocha Forte it might be expected that there were almost no women. But obviously things were otherwise. The area between the second and third enclosure of the castle is described by written sources as a fair, like a town with houses and households. Peasant families ensured the sustenance of the inhabitants in the castle. Daily chores and service corresponded to women.
We also have data of the existence of an activity closely associated to the presence of soldiers, i.e. prostitution. Besides, among the bad practices of the garrison of Rocha and which sparked the Irmandiño Wars, there is evidence of kidnappings and rapes of local girls. This pin that was unearthed by archaeologists must have been of some maid, some prostitute or of Inés García, the wife of the last castellan of Rocha Forte?
