10 strong-willed women rulers who left a significant mark on world history

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

There is a widespread belief that well-mannered and sophisticated women from good families rarely find themselves in politics or at the helm of the state. But history knows many cases when ladies challenged traditional rules and behavior, while forever changing the course of history.

1. Queen Ranavaluna I

MadagascarMadagascar's queen Ranavaluna I was not in vain known by the nickname "rabid monarch". She was suspected of poisoning her husband (in order to single-handedly take the throne), and she also began to severely persecute Christians during her 33-year reign. People who disagreed with her policy of freeing Madagascar from European colonialism were tortured and killed. However, as a result of Ranavaluna's death, her weak-willed successors could do little, and Christian missionaries returned to the country. Three decades later, the last monarch was exiled and Madagascar became a French colony.

2. Irina Afinskaya

ByzantiumThe Byzantine Empress Irina of Athens did not just love power, she went to any lengths to keep power in her hands. In the 8th century, Irina took the Byzantine throne as regent after the death of her husband. But when her son grew up and received the right to the throne, Irina … gouged out his eyes to rule alone. Although the Empress was overthrown five years later and died in exile, she is remembered for restoring icon veneration in the Eastern Roman Empire. In the Greek Orthodox Church, Irina is considered a saint.

3. Queen Nefertiti

EgyptIn ancient Egypt, the legendary Queen Nefertiti and her husband, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, caused a real cultural upheaval, completely changing the religious structure of the empire. Nefertiti gained equal status with the pharaoh when they abandoned the worship of all Egyptian gods and introduced the worship of the sun god, Aton.

They built a new city, Achenaton, to which they moved their residence. Although Egypt returned to veneration of the old gods after the end of her reign, Nefertiti went down in history forever as the pioneer of one of the most notable religious revolutions in ancient Egyptian history.

4. Queen Didda

KashmirKashmiri Queen Didda did away with her own grandchildren to secure the country's sovereignty. Alternating between kindness and cruelty, Didda ruled Kashmir for much of the 10th century. An insidious and talented queen seized complete control over the country, getting rid of competitors: on the orders of Didda, her son and three grandchildren were tortured to death.

Although she was ambitious and brutal, Didda effectively ensured the longevity of her dynasty. In Kashmir, she is still considered one of the greatest rulers in history.

5. Queen Nandi

ZuluFor those who have ever wondered what women of "easy virtue" can achieve, it will be interesting to know the story of Queen Nandi. When Nandi of the Langeni tribe became pregnant by the Zulu chieftain Senzangakhon in 1700, the tribal elders rebelled. After giving birth to a child named Shaka, Nandi gained the rather infamous status of the third wife of Senzangakhon and faced bullying and ridicule.

Despite humiliation, Nandi raised Shaka to be a fierce warrior. He became chieftain of the Zulu in 1815, and Nandi became the queen mother, receiving the name Ndlorukazi ("Great Elephant"). After that, she brutally retaliated against everyone who mistreated her and her son.

6. Julia Agrippina

RomeWhen the wife of the emperor Claudius Messalina decided to excommunicate Claudius from power and make her lover the emperor of Rome, she was executed. After that, the "vacancy" of the Roman empress was free. The insidious Agrippina masterfully seduced her uncle Claudius, becoming his fourth wife. After that, Agrippina upset the engagement of the daughter of Claudius (Claudia Octavia) to Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus in order to marry her to her son from a previous marriage, Nero. After Claudius died of poisoning (this is also supposed to be Agrippina's fault), Nero became the Roman emperor, forever changing the face of the Roman Empire.

However, Agrippina was so in control of her son that she even (rumored) thought to remove him from the throne after Nero began to make decisions independently of her. As a result, Nero killed his own mother. In history, Agrippina became known as one of the most influential women of the Julian-Claudian empire.

7. Empress Theodora

ByzantiumThe beginning of the career of Empress Theodora was, to put it mildly, far from the image of decency and aristocratic behavior. Performing on stage from an early age, the young Theodora became infamous for her lewd interpretation of Leda and the Swan, where she stripped on stage. Also, her contemporaries argued that Theodora was a heterosexual and "sold her youthful beauty, serving the craft with all parts of her body."

However, Theodora's fate changed when she married Justinian I, heir to the throne of Byzantium. The Empress soon cleverly ended those who threatened her position. She was also remembered for building housing for prostitutes, giving women additional rights and expelling brothel owners from Byzantium. Today Theodora is considered a saint in the Orthodox Church.

8. Isabella French

EnglandEdward II's wife, Queen Isabella of England, was hated by the king's favorites Pierce Gaveston and Hugh Dispenser the Younger. In conditions of constant humiliation, Isabella gave birth to four children to Edward II, among whom was the future King Edward III. After accumulating dissatisfaction with her husband for many years, Isabella eventually, together with her lover Roger Mortimer, led the baronial rebellion against Edward II and overthrew him from the throne.

Thus, she carried out the first constitutional parliamentary coup. After usurping the throne, she became Edward III's queen regent, but when her son came of age, he overthrew his mother. As a result, Edward III continued to rule England for 50 years.

9. Queen Fredegond

Merovingian Frankish EmpireThrough a string of assassinations, Queen Fredegond brought about a dramatic change in the Merovingian empire in the 5th century. The wife of the king Chilperic 1 led to the fact that the first wife of the king was exiled to the monastery, and after that she organized the death of the second wife of Chilperic, Galeswinta. When Galeswinta's sister Brunhilde vowed revenge, Fredegonda mercilessly killed her husband and sisters. This led to half a century of dynastic wars, which are called the "Wars of Fredegonda and Brunhilde."

10. Princess Olga

Kievan RusWhen the spouse of Princess Olga, the Grand Duke of Kiev Igor Rurikovich, was killed by a tribe of Drevlyans, Olga took cruel revenge, and several times. First, she ordered to bury the matchmakers alive, whom the Drevlyans sent to her. Then the official ambassadors of the Drevlyans were burned in the bathhouse. After that, during a funeral feast for her husband, about 5 thousand Drevlyans were drunk and killed. As a result, the princess went on a campaign against the rebellious tribe and burned down its capital cleanly.

It was this revenge that went down in history, but when Olga returned, she continued to reform the structure of the government and returned the lost lands to Kiev. Subsequently, Olga went to Constantinople, adopted the Christian name Elena and became the first Christian ruler of Kiev, bringing religion to the previously pagan city. Today the former princess is considered a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church.

The list of these strong-willed and strong women could well be replenished the first ever female gladiator, on account of which there were 200 victories and who died in battle with two dwarfs.