One of the famous members of the illustrious Babenberg house was also Ida of Formbach-Ratelnberg who led her own army on the Crusade of 1101 where she and her army were ambushed by Turks. Ekkerhard of Aura reported she was killed in the fighting but rumors persisted she survived.
She was described as a woman of unusual beauty and married the margrave of Austria Leopold II of Babenberg. Her participation in crusades leads to speculations that she was very pious, but there could have been other reasons such as family ties. Her family origin is uncertain.
Her fate after the ambush by the Seljuks is just as mysterious as her origin and was an inspiration for legends. Albert von Aachen wrote that she survived and was taken to a harem. There were also ridiculous legends that she was the mother of Zengi, the famous atabeg of Mosul.
The version of her story by Ekkehard of Aura that she died in the fighting after the Seljuk ambush is the most plausible, as he directly spoke to witnesses of that battle who had survived, but it's understandable that this mysterious Austrian crusader woman inspired many myths.

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4 Jul
The story of Aleksander Józef Lisowski and his brutal ferocious band of mercenaries Lisowczyks (active 1607-1636)! They were an irregular unit of Polish cavalry that received no wages and was instead allowed to loot and plunder as they pleased. People were terrified of them! Image
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