Maria's political and warlike identity

brief historical notes on the military face of the Virgin Mary

Abstract

Catholic religious modernity usually presents the figure of Mary, mother of Jesus, with imagery and thematic appeals of docility and serenity. However, the figure of Mary was also, in the past, presented, in its symbolic form, in a different way. Maria had, in the history of Catholicism, symbolic representations that linked her to warmongering, violence, militarism, national policies and disputes over geographic territories. The article presents, in a brief and introductory way, some historical and symbolic representations of Mary in her relationship with civil and political societies based on her bellicose and military characteristics. The article is based, in general, on the theoretical framework of the history of mentalities, with the specific contribution of ecclesiastical history, mariology and theology, which constitute its main (secondary) bibliographical sources. The methodology, therefore, is qualitative based on bibliographic consultation of such works.