“…My husbands have been very unlucky.” 182: Lucrezia Borgia Sometimes You Get Saddled Into Your Family’s Personal Affairs, Even When You Wanted Nothing to do With Them Born: 18 April 1480, Subiaco, Italy Died: 24 June 1519, Ferrara, Italy She was the illegitimate daughter of a Pope and his mistress (yes you read that right,…
181: Isabella I of Castile Queen of Castile; Though Her Rise to Power was Remarkable to Say the Least Born: 22 April 1451, Madrigal, Castile (Present-day Spain) Died: 26 November 1504, Medina del Campo, Spain Upon her birth she was the second child of the king—and it was her twenty-six-year-old half-brother who was expected to…
“I have learned by experience that imprisonment is distasteful to mankind and it is a most delightful refreshment to the spirits to be liberated therefrom.” 180) Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen of France and England Born: c.1122, France Died: c.1204, Poitiers, France She was one of the most powerful figures of the Middle Ages. When Eleanor…
179) Olga of Kiev Regent of Kievan Rus’ and the first recorded female ruler in Russia Born: 890, AD, Most Likely Present-day Russia Died: 11 July 969 AD, Most Likely Present-day Ukraine She was also the first ruler of Kiev to adopt Christianity. Olga was the widow of the ruler of Kiev who was murdered…
178) Wu Zetian The Only Woman in Chinese History to Rule as Empress Regnant Born: 17 February 624, China Died: 16 December 705, China She was the most influential ruler of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang were semi-okay towards women; the girls were not required to bind their feet or lead submissive lives which was…
177) Theodora I Byzantine Empress who Ruled Alongside her Husband Justinian I Born: c.497, Possible birth locations include Crete, Syria, and Cyprus but the exact location is unknown Died: 548, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire (Modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) Before marrying the emperor, she worked as an actress and street performer (in Layman’s Terms: a stripper, dancer, and…
175) Ranavalona I Queen of Madagascar who has Been Vilified as the “Female Caligula” in the West Born: 1778, Madagascar Died: 16 August 1861, Madagascar She supposedly killed anywhere from thirty to fifty percent of her people but also kept Madagascar independent, beat back the British and the French, and began one of the first…
174) Cleopatra Selene II The Daughter of Cleopatra VII Born: c.40 BC, Alexandria, Egypt Died: c. 5 BC, Present-day Algeria Also Known As: Cleopatra VIII Cleopatra Selene was a Mauritanian Queen and the daughter of Marc Antony and Cleopatra VII. As a toddler, Cleopatra Selene’s father named her Queen of Cyrenaica and Libya and she…
173) Arsinoë IV Egyptian Queen and Cleopatra VII’s Younger Sister Born: c.68 BC, Alexandria, Ancient Egypt Died: c.41 BC The Temple of Artemis, Ephesus, Ancient Roman Empire (Present-day Ephesus, Turkey) Arsinoë may have been Ptolemy XIII’s twin sister. In 48 BC, Arsinoë’s siblings Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII started a civil war over who would be…
172) Cleopatra VII Philopater Yes, That Cleopatra Born: 69 BC, Alexandria, Egypt Died: 30 BC, Alexandria, Egypt Cleopatra was an Egyptian Pharaoh who first ruled as co-regent with her two younger brothers (Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV respectively) and then her oldest son Caesarion (Ptolemy Caesar/ Ptolemy XV). Cleopatra is widely seen as the last…