This is Margaret, the last Countess of Tyrol.
She was, by all accounts, a formidable woman.
What Margaret teaches us is where power really lies.
In 1334 she led her army into battle
which led to a siege of Hochosterwitz Castle in Austria.
The Countess’s was successful and in the castle they had almost run out of food.
They felt powerless and felt like giving up
In what seems like a crazy move the Commander asked his troops to slay their last Oxen,
cut it open and stuff it with their only remaining corn.
Then he instructed them to throw this over the wall onto the forces below.
They thought he was mad – but what he did was a stroke of genius
When the Countess’s troops, who were also hungry and growing unruly saw the Ox, they gave up.
Would you carry on when your enemy has resources to throw away?
The Commander’s victory over the Countess shows us
is not to focus on our power as we see it
but rather to appreciate our power as it is seen by others
That is where power really lies.