War of the Maidens

The War of the Maidens (French: Guerre des demoiselles) was a rebellion that took place in the French department of Ariège from 1829 to 1832, and continued in a less intense fashion until 1872. It was the most well-known struggle among those that developed in the Pyrenees in the 19th century.

A demoiselle is a young woman. The name guerre des demoiselles comes from the fact that the countrymen disguised themselves as women, with long white shirts or sheep skins, scarves or wigs, and blacked or concealed faces. This disguise was for attacking—mostly at night—large property owners, forest guards and gendarmes, ironmasters, and charcoal burners.