MARGARET THATCHER: The Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher is the only female and the longest serving British Prime Minister in history.  By the time she was elected Prime Minister in 1979, the Queen of England had little power, and most of that power was funneled through the Prime Minister.  Thus, Margaret Thatcher held much of the power in the United Kingdom.  She was an extraordinary woman who held a lot of power, and this post will look at her life, work, and legacy.

Margaret Thatcher grew up relatively normally.  She had liberal leaning independent parents.  She got a good education that eventually led to her becoming a chemist.  She worked for BX Plastics, and upon getting a base in Conservative politics from reading material at Oxford, joined the local Conservative Association.  She eventually rised through the ranks until she became the chair of the Dartford Conservative Association.  She ran for office in 1950 and 1951, but she lost.  She was supported in this by her parents and her husband.  Her husband, who was wealthy, also funded her studies to pass the bar.  In 1953, she qualified as a barrister.

She won a Conservative seat in Parliament.  From there, she just went up and up in Parliament.  Eventually she became the Education Secretary from 1970-1974.  She then went on to become the leader of the opposition to the Labour Party.  SHe finally beat the Labour Party when she was elected as Prime Minister in 1979.

As Prime Minister, Thatcher pursued Conservative policies.  She lowered direct taxes while increasing indirect taxes.  She also cut government spending in many key areas.  She lowered unemployment.  While all this was true, the recession of the early 1980's caused Thatcher to raise taxes.  Under her, the UK's economy became revitalized.  She curbed trade unions and re-established the UK as a world power.  She was not afraid of argument, and a Russian called her "The Iron Lady" because she always stuck to her resolve.

She was a successful Prime Minister, and she was one of the most popular.  Critics claim that she was divisive, and they claim that she was responsible for ending many programs that people claim were necessary for the UK.  Thatcher has since said that she has no regrets, and these programs were all unnecessary drains on the economy.  Overall, the UK was in an improved position after her time as Prime Minister.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Foundation's Website

Her Biography on Biography.com

This ends our look at European History with 20 Posts.  All these women are vitally important to history.  They should not be forgotten simply because of their sex.

ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE: Queen With Power

Eleanor of Aquitaine would become one of the wealthiest and most powerful women of the high middle ages.  In addition to her birth titles as Duchess of Aquitaine and Countess of Poitiers, Eleanor would also be Queen Consort of both France and England in her lifetime.  She was a remarkable woman, and this post will look at her life.

Eleanor's birthplace and date are pretty much unknown.  From the knowledge that she was 13 in the Spring of 1137 (though it was also stated that she was 14 in 1136) makes her birthdate somewhere around 1122.  Her parents likely married shortly before her birth (in around 1121) because she was the eldest of three children.  Her mother died when she was 6.  Her father died by the time she was fifteen.  This left Eleanor with two titles and a lot of money.  This made her one fo the most eligible women in Europe.

She married the King of France, Louis VII, three months after gaining her titles and money.  Their rule was marked significantly by France's participation (at Eleanor's urging) in the failed Second Crusade.  Soon after the crusade ended, she sought an annulment to her marriage with Louis.  The Pope rejected her request.  She gave birth to a daughter, Alix, and Louis agreed to an annulment to the marriage.  Their marriage was annulled on the grounds of consanguinity, or the belief that they had a common ancestor.  Their daughters were declared legitimate heirs, and Louis was awarded full custody.  Eleanor was given back her lands and her original two titles.

Shortly after her annulment, she got engaged to Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy.  They were married less than eight weeks after her annulment.  In 1154, Henry ascended to the throne of England, and Eleanor became Queen of the English.  Thus, she was Queen again.  She bore Henry eight children.  The marriage was strained, and the two became estranged.  In fact, when their son Henry tried to revolt against his father, Eleanor was imprisoned for supporting him.

She became a widow when Henry died in 1189.  Her son, Richard I, immediately released her from her imprisonment.  She was then Queen Dowager.  After being Queen Dowager, she ruled as regent while Richard I was off fighting the third crusade.

She died in 1204 after outliving all but two of her children.  She was 82 years old at the time.  Her effigy, depicted above, was decorated with jewels and splendor.  In the end, Eleanor was a noble queen and a good ruler.  She was steady in her decisions, and showed herself to be a capable monarch.  Not only that, she was one of the richest and most powerful women of the high middle ages.  That alone makes her significant enough for this post.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Women's History Page

Next Time We Will Discuss...

THEODORA: The Equal Wife and Ruler

Theodora was the wife of the Roman Emperor Justinian I.  She was likely the most powerful woman in the history of the Roman Empire, and she exerted her influence and power over many people (some even say over her husband).  It is generally believed that she was the acting ruler, and her husband did little more than look like he was ruling.  To figure this out, let's look at her reign on the throne of the Byzantine (Roman) Empire a little more closely.

Theodora was of Greek descent.  No place has ever been nailed down as her definitive birthplace, so her early life is largely confusing.  What is known is that she was born in 500.  She traveled much as a child and spent time in North Africa.  However, she renounced her life of leisure and fun in order to become a wool spinner in a house near the palace.  It was here that her beauty and wit enticed the Emperor, Justinian, to ask for her hand in marriage.  At the time, his mother objected because Theodora had been an actress, and an old law forbade the marriage of royalty to actresses.  Thus, he was forced to wait until his mother died.  He then repealed the law and married Theodora.

During their reign, Theodora and Justinian outwardly shared the power of the throne.  They were a true ruling couple.  The Nika riots broke out between two rival political factions.  Everyone was scared of the implications of this, but Theodora calmed them all.  Justinian, who was contemplating running, listened to her speech with enthusiasm.  Theodora declared, "purple makes a fine shroud."  This was meant to imply that an Emperor is better fighting for his title and staying in the palace before dying than if he runs away.  This convinced Justinian to send his loyal troops out to crush the Nika riots.  Thus, Theodora proved herself a worthy and capable leader.

After the Nika riots, the couple gained a huge boost in their popularity.  They had shown resolve and proved that they were the true leaders.  In the wake of the turmoil, Theodora and Justinian went on a campaign of modernization and reformation in the capital, Constantinople.  It became the most splendid city the world had or would see for centuries with fantastic buildings such as the Hagia Sophia.  The couple were hands on managers and led the country as if they were the masters to the slaves.  This didn't effect the common man too much, but it greatly decreased the scope on the power of magistrates and other officials who did whatever they wanted in other places in the world.

In the end, Theodora saved the reign of Justinian.  She was a reformer that made the capital of the Byzantine (Roman) Empire one of the grandest cities in the world.  Not only did she do all this, but she managed to rule the Empire at the side of her husband rather than beneath him.  This led her to become the most powerful woman in Roman History!  That is her significance.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Women's History Page

Next Time We Will Discuss...

ALEXANDRA FEODOROVNA ROMANOVA: Another Tragic Tale

Czarina Alexandra was the last monarch of Russia.  She had virtually no power, but she is important to history, so this post is about her.  After her death, she was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.  Why did the death of a monarch create such a reaction?  Let us examine the Czarina a little further.

The Czarina was the wife of Czar Nicholas II of Russia.  She was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and she carried the hemophiliac disease.  She was married to the Czar late in life considering her status as the granddaughter of the Queen of Britain.  It is said that she was supposed to marry a member of the family, but she did not want to because she was so smitten with Nicholas, the Grand Duke of Russia.  Most people did not support the marriage between Alexandra and Nicholas because there was strong anti-German sentiment (including the present Czar Alexander III).  Another hurdle to the match was that she would need to renounce Lutheranism and become an Eastern Orthodox Catholic.  She was eventually persuaded to do this, and the two were engaged in 1894.  They married later that year after Nicholas became the Czar.

Unlike Marie Antoinette, Alexandra was disliked by her people from the very beginning.  The Czarina seemed cold and unemotionally whenever she appeared in public, and this made her hard to relate to.  She also didn't appear to really embrace any part of Russian culture (from food to dancing).  According to those close to her, she was actually just very shy, and she feared Russian reactions to her statements.  Another thing that fed general dislike of her was the fact that she supported divine right to rule regardless of whether popular support was behind the monarch (or Czar).  The final thing that made her disliked by her people was the fact that she could not bear the Czar a son.  THey had many daughters, but a son was finally born.  Unfortunately, this was not the blessing people hoped for because the young Czarevich, Alexei, was a hemophiliac, and he was sick much of the time.

After a particularly bad bout of disease, a holy man named Rasputin claimed that he could cure the young Czarevich.  He proved unsuccessful at curing Alexei, but he did cure the symptoms of the disease. This was after doctors had already failed.  Alexandra latched onto Rasputin and held him in the highest regard for this.  Rasputin, however, was a known drunk who it was said would expose himself at restaurants.  This led the people to have a serious distrust of Alexandra and the monarchy as a whole.  Rasputin was eventually killed, but Alexandra continued to refer to him as a saint.  This led people to dislike Alexandra even more.

During World War I, the monarchy was blamed for the immense expense in capital and life that Russia lost.  This led the people to hate the monarchy for getting and keeping them in the war.  The economic conditions were correct, and the Bolshevik Revolution came around.  Nicholas II was forced to abdicate his throne.  The royal family was imprisoned in 1917.

During imprisonment, the Czar and his family pleaded with many other nations to help them by giving them asylum.  Not wanting to anger the new Soviet Union, the nations refused.  Thus, the Romanovs were stuck in Russia despite the fact that death could be around any corner.  The new leader, Lenin had already personally ordered the execution of the Royal family.

The Royal family offered an alternative to the Bolshevik government, so they were a threat to the Soviet Union.  Also, they were a rallying point to international discontent with the Soviet Union.  If they wanted to tear down the Soviet Union, it would be easy with people that had a legitimate claim to the throne.  On July 17, 1918, the Romanovs were taken into the basement of their prison palace, and they were all shot and killed.  Their bodies were then mutilated, buried, and dissolved in acid.  Their bodies were found later, but Anastasia and Alexei's corpses would remain missing for quite some time.

In the end, the Czarina was powerless, but she was still killed.  She was really unpopular with the people for her various indiscretions, and she was pretty much unimportant.  However, she was canonized because she died such a terrible, useless death.  It is that reason that she is important.  She is now Saint Alexandra the Passion Bearer.  In all honesty, she just loved her husband and her family more than her country.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Page on Spartacus

Next Time we Will Discuss

MARIE ANTOINETTE: The Headless Queen

Perhaps the saddest downfall in history.  Marie Antoinette was the last Queen of France and the wife of Louis XVI.  She was born Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna and was the fifteenth child of Empress Maria Theresa.  In 1770, at the age of 14, she married Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France.  This made her the Dauphine (female term) of France.  SHe would later become queen, and then be forced from her throne.

She grew up in an imperial family and was never lonely.  Her childhood was relatively carefree, and she was groomed to live a privileged lifestyle of comfort and elegance.  She learned how to play many instruments, and was very good at dancing.  Her education, however, was very poor outside of that.  She was taught rudimentary skills, but they were no where near the extent that she needed once she became queen.  She was, however, being groomed to be a pawn.  Her mother saw her children as alliance making machines that could help her own empire.  Thus, Marie, because of her beauty, would be married off in order to gain an alliance.

In 1767, a smallpox outbreak happened within Marie's home family.  Though her older sister had been promised as a bride for Louis-Auguste, her sister died.  Successive deaths in the family from the disease left only Marie as a viable bride for the French Dauphin.  Thus, it was set that she would marry him.

In 1770, she met and married the Dauphin.  The new Dauphine was popular with the people because of her beauty and personality, but older members of the court disliked and/or distrusted her.  This was because Austria and France had been long-standing enemies before the Seven Years' War, and some older members of the court remembered this.  Even the Dauphin had been influenced by anti-Austrian sentiments at court and had distrust of his wife.

In 1775, Louis was crowned as Louis XVI and became King of France.  Marie, contrary to popular belief, had little influence over her husband because she was Austrian.  Thus, the argument that all his decisions were her decisions were false.  The marriage between the two wasn't consummated for quite some time because the king had an odd condition, but they managed to have children together: 4 to be exact.

All of the scandals that surrounded the royal family caused Marie to go into a deep depression.  Much like some women today, Marie fell into bad habits when she was depressed.  This included the buying of many gowns, and that gambling of funds.  This, along with costly renovations (she was said to plaster the walls of rooms with gold and diamonds), caused her popularity to decline.  Most of the debt that France had accrued both in the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution went unpaid.  Marie, however, still managed to find money to buy things.

During the French Revolution, the people tired of Marie and her husband's expensive reign, so they led an armed revolt against the monarchy.  After a long battle, the French people won.  The monarchy was toppled, and Marie's reputation was in the toilet.  The royal family attempted to escape to the royalist stronghold, but they were caught in Varennes.  The fact that they cowardly tried to abandon their post and move made their popularity fall further.  Louis was executed in January of 1793 for trying to undermine the first French Republic.

Marie was distraught at the death of her husband.  She refused to eat or do much of anything, but it was unclear what her fate would be.  Some called for her death, but others called for her to be exiled with her children.  In the end, a trial was held.  While Marie never flinched at the accusations of treason, the orchestration of orgies at Versailles, sending millions of livres to Austria, orchestrating the massacre of the Swiss Guards, or declaring her son the new king of France after her husband's execution.  The one time that she did respond was when she was accused of incest with her son.  She spoke out harshly against this, and proclaimed innocence.  Because her trial was really a sham, most women who had called for the queen's head actually began to support her after this.  Her emotional outburst caused the women to rally to her defense (for this accusation).

Marie was found guilty of treason.  Below is a picture of her being led to the guillotine.  Her plain white dress and badly cut hair are quite different from the elegant image that she carried throughout most of her life.  Her final words were, "Pardon me sir, I meant not to do it." (She had accidentally stepped on the executioners foot)  This brought an end to a very sad reign.

Marie Antoinette was not a particularly powerful or influential figure in European history.  However, her image and character echo through popular culture right down to the present day.  Some people blame her for all of France's problems at the time because of her lavish lifestyle.  Others feel that she may have been a catalyst to the revolution, but she was not the sole cause of it.  This debate is why she is significant.  People really don't know much about her, but there is so much literature on her.  In the end, she is significant because she was the last queen of France.  The fact that she was the last led other monarchies to reform rather than be disposed of (perhaps this is why the English monarchy still exists).

Her Wikipedia Page

A Website Made in her Name

Next Time we Will Discuss

MARIA THERESA: The Formidable Empress

Maria Theresa is, perhaps, one of the most formidable and forgotten women who ruled in Europe.  However, her place in female history is cemented by certain facts.  Maria Theresa was the only female ruler of the Hapsburg dominions (today parts of Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Ukraine).  As you can, the dominions were far reaching, but let us take a closer look at the reign of this remarkable woman.

Maria Theresa ascended to the throne when her father, Emperor Charles VI died in 1740.  He had originally planned for Maria to take over the throne upon his death, and he created the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to secure her ascension.  When he died, France, Poland, Saxony, and Bavaria repudiated the sanction, and caused the War of Austrian Succession.  This conflict allowed Prussia to invade and take Silesia (an affluent state).  Maria Theresa would later seek Silesia unsuccessfully during the Seven Years' War.  She would hate the Prussian leader for the rest of her reign.  Either way, her reign was established and lasted around 40 years.

She married Francis Stephen of Lorraine.  This meant that in addition to her hereditary Hapsburg titles, she was also Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Empress.  Together, they would have sixteen children that would include Marie Antoinette of France, Queen Maria Carolina of Naples, and two Roman Emperors.  Though she was expected to give much of her power over to her husband, she was an absolute sovereign and disapproved/criticized many actions taken by her significant others.  While doing this, she was also able to inspire confidence and even affection from her subjects because of her vast understanding of the public persona.

During her reign, Maria Theresa supported educational reforms. She also promoted commerce and the development of agriculture.  All of this strengthened Austria's position on the international stage.  By the time of the Seven Years' War, Austria was a formidable foe.  However, when its allies France and Russia pulled out of the war, it was left defenseless against the Prussians and British.  Fortunately, the peace talks soon began, and an invasion of Austria proper was avoided.  The peace following the war extracted harsh penalties from the French, but Austria was given a status quo ante bellum (or it was given the same status as it had before the war).

One criticism of Maria Theresa was that she did not support religious toleration.  Contemporary visitors of her lands often described her reign as being very bigoted and superstitious.  While some may call this criticism an exaggeration, almost all sources agree that she was a bigoted individual.

In the end, Maria Theresa was a successful monarch who inspired the love of her people.  She promoted reforms that kept Austria an active player on the world stage.  She also kept a lot of her power, and she did not yield to any man.  In her early years, she often thought that the way of the world was that her subjects should embrace any cause that she deemed important.  However, towards the end of her reign, she felt that the people's cause should be the causes of the monarch.  Also, her impressive lineage of children are almost all important figures throughout the history of Europe.

Maria Theresa likely never fully recovered from a smallpox illness that she got in 1767, but she did recover enough to resume her reign.  Regardless, she got sick of a chill in 1780, and she died shortly after.  Her son, Joseph (who was already her co-ruler at that time) succeeded her.  She left a revitalized empire that became an example for much of 19th Century Europe.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her King's College Page

Next Time We Will Discuss...

CATHERINE II: The Great Empress of Russia

Catherine II or Catherine the Great is a very intriguing figure when looking at European history.  Most of European history, as stated previously is very male-dominated and sometimes misogynistic.  This is especially true of Russia, so a woman rising the throne of Russia seems very unlikely, and it was not easy for Catherine to gain the power that she eventually had.


Catherine was born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg in 1879 and in Prussia.  She was the daughter of a noble, but she was not a princess.  By any event, her husband started Russia's involvement in the Seven Years War, and that proved to be his political downfall.  He was immensely unpopular after this decision, and Catherine took advantage.  Knowing that she could rule better, she organized a coup of Peter's government and took the throne to herself.


Catherine was a strong-willed leader.  She was diplomatic, but she often got her way.  She was also convinced (rightly so) that Russia needed a warm-water port.  Thus, she waged a campaign to expand Russia south to the Black Sea.  This gave them a port that could be used year round (most other ports were in the north where frozen waters often delayed if not stalled commerce).  She pulled Russia into becoming one of the Great Powers at the time, and Russia has been a major part of world diplomacy since then.  Thus, she was one of the most important figures in European history.


Opinions on Catherine differ greatly.  Some say she was a power-hungry tyrant, and others say she did what was necessary to guide Russia into being a world power.  Either way, it is generally agreed that she presided over a Russian golden age.  The Russian aristocracy, military, and people were pretty much on par with others around the world for the first time in history really.  She was an effective, if a little tyrannical ruler.


Because she presided over such a golden age, she is very important to history.  She is also one of the few Russian rulers to which the epitaph "The Great" was added to their name.  That is an elite pantheon, and Catherine is firmly planted in it.


Her Wikipedia Page


Alexander Palace Time Machine Page: Catherine II

Next Time We Will Discuss...

QUEEN VICTORIA: The Forever Queen

So why are there three pictures on this page as opposed to the one that normally accompanies the posts?  The answer to that is much simpler than most people think.  Queen Victoria's reign of over 63 is the longest of any British monarch and the longest of any female monarch in history.  She presided over an era that had many ups and downs, but a reign so long is expected to have that.  She was an extraordinary woman and an extraordinary leader.

The King of England, William IV, was a very sick man, and Victoria stood as heiress presumptive.  People worried about whether or not she would need a regent because she would not turn eighteen until May of 1837.  Almost by sheer force of will, William IV stayed alive until about 20 days after he eighteenth birthday.  This meant that Victoria was the age of majority, and she could rule without a regent immediately upon taking the throne.

She was a fair ruler, and demonstrated a lot of compromise and virute.  However, this all changed when she married her husband, Albert.  Albert was always trying to butt into her work as queen, and Victoria was always staunchly opposed to him holding power.  Unfortunately, as her pregnancies and number of children (she would have 9 surviving) piled up, Victoria was forced to allocate much of her duties to Albert.  Thus, Albert pretty much became acting king during the earlier part of her reign.

Albert was a ruler who imposed many reforms and did away with the pomp and circumstance of the royals.  Ceremonies were stripped to their most rudimentary forms, and Victoria even refused to wear a crown at certain events.  Albert's many reforms were a reaction, in large part, to the full steam industrial revolution that was going on in the country and certain parts of the world.  Albert's reform-minded monarchy would not last, however.  He died in 1861, only months after Victoria's own mother.  She was devastated at the time.  Also important to her mentality at the time were the numerous scandals that rocked the royal family at this time.  One of her children, it was rumored, had slept with an actress in Ireland.  This was a direct affront to the morally minded monarchy that Victoria and Albert had led.

After a few health problems that left her in chronic pain from rheumatism and a few assassination attempts, Victoria celebrated her Golden Jubilee (50 years on the throne) in 1887.  By this time, the British Empire had stretched to include the colonies we all know by the phrase "The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire."  She continued to rule, and was marginally popular.  In 1896, she surpassed George III as the longest-reigning monarch in British history.  She declared all celebrating must be postponed until 1897 to coincide with her Diamond Jubilee (60 Years on the Throne).  For this celebration of gross excess, Victoria refused to wear a crown.  Instead, she donned a bonnet and veil.  She died in 1901 of old age.  She was the last British monarch from the German House of Hanover.

Her reign being so long saw much social change.  However, it also saw further erosion of monarchical power at the hands of the constitution.  She was not particularly great or terrible as far as rulers go, but she presided over an era of expansion, prosperity, and reform.  She is often listed among the greatest monarchs in British history, and while I agree, I don't feel she had as heavy a hand in policy as most people think she did.  Either way, her significance cannot be ignored.  Because she had so many children and grandchildren, her relatives were peppered throughout almost every throne in Europe.  This would create issues down the road, but that is a discussion for later.

Her Wikipedia Page

An Interesting Webpage About Victoria

Next Time We Will Discuss...

QUEEN ANNE: From England to Britan

Queen Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1702.  The thrones of Scotland and England had been been merged almost a century before when James the VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth I in 1603.  However, these two thrones and countries had been kept relatively separate in terms of country (if not by ruler).  One of the first things Queen Anne did was pass the Act of Union in 1707.  This act merged the two kingdoms together into one and created the Kingdom of Great Britain.  Thus, she was the first monarch to rule over the country as it would be called for quite sometime (Great Britain).  Anne's travel to the throne, however, was not easy.

Her father, who became Supreme Head of the Church of England when he got to the throne, had decided that he was, at heart, a Catholic.  Thus, it was unclear whether or not a Catholic could rule England (where Protestantism was so entrenched in the Church of England).  Thus, her father was deposed and replaced with Anne's sister Mary and Mary's husband William.  They ruled as joint monarchs until they both died by 1702.  Anne then took the throne.

Anne became immediately popular.  While her sister and bother-in-law enjoyed high popularity at the beginning of their reign because they deposed a Catholic, Mary died in 1694.  William continued to rule in her stead despite the fact that he was a Dutch prince.  People in England didn't like a foreigner on their throne, and Anne distanced herself from the Dutchman.  She was an English woman in heart and breeding, so she was popular.

She was also the first monarch to deal heavily with the two-party system that would develop in England.  This was between the Tories (Anglicans) and Whigs (Capitalist Protestants who were not Anglican).  Because the Anne was an Anglican, she tended to favor Tories.  In the end, the two-party system was only furthered developed during her reign and the reigns of those after her.

In the end, Anne suffered many health issues in the early 1710's.  She was almost constantly ill, had gout and strokes.  She was rendered unable to speak in 1714.  She was unable to walk at times and was often feverish.  She died in 1714 and was buried next to her husband in an almost square coffin.

While little of it was actually attributed directly to her (Parliament had take most royal power away by this time), Anne presided over a time of change in England (or Britain).  She was the first monarch to rule over Scotland and England as "Great Britain."  She was also the first monarch to really deal with the two-party system that would develop further in the reigns and centuries after her death.  In the end, she was a a sickly queen whose power had been eroded by Parliament and the constitutional monarchy (she was not the first to deal with Parliament, but she was shackled by it).  However, her reign over such monumental changes is significant in the grand scheme of history.

Her Wikipedia Page

King's College Page about Queen Anne

Next Time We Will Discuss...

ELIZABETH I: England's Royal Man-Queen

"I know I have to body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too."

- Elizabeth I

I have opened this entry with a quote because Elizabeth I's quote is a very interesting justification for female rule.  Much of England feared that women could not rule because they were women, and Mary I's reign did little to comfort these people.  Thus, Elizabeth I had a difficult task of asserting herself as a female ruler.

Elizabeth had been hated and stripped of her title for much of Henry VIII's reign.  When she was reinstated into the succession, there was very little hope that she would ever become queen.  Her brother and sister would both have to die childless (her brother was a young 15) at the time for her to ascend.  Unfortunately, this was precisely the case.  Edward VI, her brother, was frequently ill, and he died at a young age without any children.  Her sister, Mary I, also died without any children.  Thus, Elizabeth I was elevated to queen, but it was not an easy route.

Despite her being a Protestant, she and her sister were not well received by their brother.  He attempted to subvert Mary's claim to the throne by naming Jane Grey his successor.  While Elizabeth wasn't exactly HATED during the reign of Edward VI, that would change with the reign of her sister.  Many Protestants organized rebellions against Mary I in Elizabeth's reign, and Elizabeth took the blame for this.  On top of that, Mary never considered Elizabeth legitimate because she was the result of the immoral marriage between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.  Thus, Elizabeth was frequently accused of treason (without proof) and locked in the Tower of London.  When free, she avoided court and concentrated on her studies.

At the time of her sister's death, Elizabeth was ready to take the throne.  She had survived the cutthroat world of inter-court politics, and she was ready to have the power that she was obviously destined to have.

Elizabeth's reign proved to be a golden age in England's history.  She is frequently cited as being one of the greatest monarchs in English or even world history.  She started the policy of religious tolerance that pervaded English culture from then on.  However, she failed to produce an heir, like her sibling.  Thus she was the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty that began with Henry VII 200 years before.  She died in 1603, and the throne was ascended by the King of Scotland, James VI (he became James I of England).

Overall, Elizabeth was one of the strongest and most effective female (or male) rulers.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Tudor History Page

Next Time We Will Discuss...

MARY I: Bloody Mary

Thus begins out discussion of Queens that actually ruled as opposed to just being married to the King.

Mary I was born of the union between Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.  She was raised to be very Catholic because she was born and educated before Henry's split with the Rome by creating the Church of England.  Thus, she, like her mother, was very strongly tied to the Pope and Catholicism.  She was the only child to survive from Henry's first marriage.  During the reign of her Protestant father and brother, Mary was often disregarded.  Following her brother's death, she embarked on a terrible reign of reinstating Catholicism in England.  It was, however, abortive because she was only on the throne for five years.  In that time, she had roughly 500 protestants burned at the stake, and she garnered the nickname "Bloody Mary."  It is interesting to think someone that got the nickname "Bloody Mary" was the first woman to ascend to the throne of England.

She was married to Philip, the heir to the Spanish throne, and he was strongly in support of her Catholic view.  She intended to have children that would continue the fight to reinstate Catholicism.  Unfortunately, the pregnancy that she had been hoping for turned out to be a cancerous tumor, and her hopes were dashed.  Thus, she was forced to name her sister, Elizabeth, as her successor.  Elizabeth was a Protestant, and Mary died without doing much damage to the hold that Protestantism had on England.

The reign of Mary I is truly one of the most tragic in history.  She had high hopes of reinstating Catholicism, and had the support of much of the country.  However, she failed in her endeavor to do what she saw as religiously right.  Also, she desperately wanted to have a child to continue her religious endeavor, but she was fooled by a cyst that looked much like a pregnancy (but disappeared without a baby).  Thus, she was forced to give the throne to someone that she knew would undo everything that she had done and had set out to do.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Tudor History Page

Next time we will discuss...

CATHERINE PARR: The Survivor

Catherine Parr was Henry's fifth and last wife.  She was originally a Catholic.  Upon the death of her second husband, Catherine was well-off and pretty much had her pick of the men.  She originally went for Sir Thomas Seymour (wife of the previous Queen Jane Seymour), but Henry's courting made her doubt her choice.  While she prayed and claimed God told her to marry Henry, Henry sent Thomas Seymour away to be resident ambassador in Brussels.  Thus, she married Henry on July 12, 1543.  Her reign as queen really had a lot to do with homemaking and nursing.  Because her previous husband had suffered a long, debilitating disease, Catherine was used to the role of nurse, and Catherine and Henry talked late into the night as she cared for the ailing man.  Catherine actually began to think differently about religion.  She was originally a Protestant member of the Church of England, and that was why she was placed on the throne.  Over the course of her time as Queen, she began holding religious meetings, and these meetings generally revealed that she was a lutheran.  After an attempt on her status as queen, Catherine went against her religious ideals and lied to keep her head and her status.  Her husband forgave her, and kept her as his wife for the rest of his life.  After he died, her life did not end.

She married Thomas Seymour, and kept a young Elizabeth I (whom she had grown close to) in her home during the reign of Edward VI.  Eventually she was pregnant by Seymour and had her child.  Shortly afterward, she died.  She was survived by her husband and her daughter.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Tudor History Page


Next time we'll Discuss...

KATHRYN HOWARD: The Young Beauty

Today, we have Katheryn Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII.  After discovering that Anne of Cleves did not look like her portrait (and was somewhat lumpy and large-breasted) Henry VIII lost all interest in her.  Shortly after this, young Katheryn Howard caught Henry's eye.  She was fifteen at the time, and that seems highly inappropriate today because Henry was no less than fifty.  Not only was he fifty, but Henry was a very large man at this point in time.  He had thrombosis in his leg, and the sore needed to be drained daily and smelled awful.  This, Henry was not necessarily a catch at this point regardless of his wealth and power for a young girl from the affluent Howard family.  However, Henry had the fact that he was king, and it could be considered Kathryn Howard's duty to marry him.  He showered her with gifts including: jewels, a house, clothes, and money.  Because Henry was so fat and disgusting, Kathryn never had any real feelings for him.  Thus, she slept around.  While Henry usually demanded his wives be virgins, he didn't question Kathryn's virginity because she was so young.  In the end, he really should have checked it because she was not a virgin.  She had had various affairs with Henry Mannox while she was staying at her grandmother's (The Dowager Duchess of Norfolk) house, Francis Dereham (secretary for the Dowager Duchess), and Thomas Culpepper (a male courtier that was in Henry's favor).  In the end, her secret was revealed to Henry himself.  Originally, she was only accused of not being a virgin (which was not necessarily a crime, but it humiliated Henry).  Then, her affair with Dereham was revealed.  Because Dereham was later made her secretary, this lead to an avenue by which Kathryn could be charged with adultery.  She was tried and convicted of adultery (which was treason when it came from a queen).  She was beheaded on February 13, 1542.

Kathryn is not given a lot of credit.  She is considered relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of Henry's wives.  She was only married to him for two years, and very little happened in two years.  She is sometimes compared with Anne Boleyn because they were both beheaded.  Unfortunately, Anne sparked the English Reformation and Kathryn really appears to have only cheated.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Tudor History Page

And for the next blog...

ANNE OF CLEVES: The King's Sister

Today we have Anne of Cleves.

After the death of Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour, he had no appetite for a new wife.  The reason for this is because he finally had the son and heir he really wanted.  However, Henry was reminded by his advisors that even his own older brother had died before he could take the throne.  The position of the Tudor dynasty was only secure once he had the proverbial "Heir and Spare."  Thus, the search began for Henry's fourth wife.

A little side note that should be noted here is that Henry's wives were alternatively religious from Catholic to Protestant. Catherine of Aragon was a Catholic, Anne Boleyn was a Protestant, and Jane Seymour was, again, a Catholic.  This was because of a power struggle against the church ever since the Protestant Reformation began.  The Catholic's had largely expanded in power and place ever since the heir to the throne was born from a piously Catholic woman.  Thus, Anne of Cleves was the Protestant replacement for his fourth wife.

Anne was a german-born noblewoman who Henry believed to be attractive.  He was convinced to marry her by Protestant advisors.  Upon her arrival in England, Henry played out a fantasy where he dressed as a commoner and delivered a present to Anne.  Anne accepted the gift with gratitude, but she did not recognize her king in his costume (granted she had never seen him).  From that moment, Henry grew to despise her.  He claimed that she was unattractive with her swollen belly and large breasts.  Anne, who was very naive, believed that her marriage was consummated and kissing was enough to satisfy the sexual desires of her husband.

Henry was furious and sought a way out of the marriage.  In the end, Henry had the marriage annulled on the grounds of "non-consummation."  She was never actually crowned Queen Consort.  Anne lived the longest (in terms of the year she died, Catherine of Aragon had the longest life) of Henry's wives.  She got a good pension and was known as the "King's sister" for the rest of her days.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Tudor History Page

Henry moved on to his next wife quickly...

JANE SEYMOUR: The Favorite Queen?

Today we have the third part in a six part series on the Wives of Henry VIII.

Jane Seymour was born 1508.  She was, like Henry's first wife, a Catholic.  After Anne Boleyn also proved unable to give Henry the son he so desperately wanted, he turned his eye to Jane Seymour.  Because Jane was a pious Catholic, she also refused to bed him until they were married.  She paraded her virginity and piety in front of Henry in order to drive him crazy with desire.  Henry, unable to afford the scandal of divorcing Anne, decided to have her beheaded because of high treason (as adultery in a queen was decidedly turned into).  He then married Jane.  Jane, it has been said, was presented to Henry to turn him away from Protestantism and back to Catholicism.  He refused this, but he did marry Jane.

Jane was soon pregnant after their marriage.  Finally, after three wives, Henry had the son he always wanted.  Jane, of all his wives, was secure in her position as queen.  Unfortunately, she died of an infection from the birth.  She was the only wife who was buried next to Henry as his consort.

Most definitely, Jane was Henry's favorite wife.  Not only was she pious, quiet, and neat (as the ideal wife of the time was), but she also gave him the heir he always wanted.  After his marriage to Jane ended in her death, Henry had no appetite for a new wife.  However, as we know because he had six, he was convinced otherwise.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Tudor History Page

Her Page in Luminarium


Next Time we Discuss....

ANNE BOLEYN: Forever the Second Wife

Hello, today we have Anne Boleyn.  Anne Boleyn was Henry VIII's second wife.  Though she was unaware of what this would do, her refusal to become Henry's mistress would become one of the most significant events in the entire history of England.  This could also be construed as one of the major events in American History, too!

Anne Boleyn was born in 1501 or 1507.  Her sister became Henry VIII's mistress, and though she did in fact bear him a son, Mary was thrown out the door soon after the birth of the child.  By this point, Anne had been in school in France for quite some time, and she returned to court.  Catherine of Aragon, the current queen (thus, the only one who could bear Henry VIII a legitimate heir), could no longer bear children and had become fat and less attractive due to many miscarriages and the stress of her status.  Anne, who was more seductive than beautiful (at least by the standards of the day), played Henry like a fiddle.  She paraded her virtue around and refused to give herself to Henry unless she be his lawful wife.  The Pope, who virtually ruled England and many other European nations by proxy, refused to allow Henry to divorce Catherine (mostly because he was under the control of Catherine's cousin, the Holy Roman Emperor).  Thus, Henry plunged England into an upheaval and broke from Catholicism.  He established the Church of England (which was so tyrannical that it lead some religious individuals to leave England for America) where the King of England was also head of the church.  He then granted himself a divorce and married Anne Boleyn.

Anne proved to be no more successful at producing a male heir than her counterpart, but she was not as lucid as Catherine.  Catherine had spent her over twenty years of marriage to Henry being the shy woman who let her husband pretty rage and feel his own power.  Unfortunately, Anne was far more independent, and often screamed at her husband and fought with him.  At the point of her last miscarriage, a son, Henry had grown tired of her temper and seeming inability to bear him a male heir.  Also, he was already interested in a woman named Jane Seymour.  Anne was beheaded on trumped up charges of adultery, incest, and high treason on May 19, 1536.  This was only days away from her third anniversary as queen of England.

In the end, Anne's responsibility for the Church of England will never be forgotten.  Also, her only surviving child with Henry would become Elizabeth I.  Elizabeth I would go very far in the monarchy.  She would become one of the greatest of English monarchs and certainly the mot effective ruler of Henry's children.

Read More:

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Tudor History Page

Henry VIII's Fight For a Divorce from Catherine



The Next post will be about:

CATHERINE OF ARAGON: The Forgotten First Wife

The previous picture was the wax figures of the first three wives of Henry VIII of England.  Thus, this post is the first in a line of six that cover the wives of the now famously multi-wedded king.  His first wife, covered in this post, was Catherine of Aragon.  She was followed by Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr

CATHERINE OF ARAGON

Catherine of Aragon was born December 16, 1485 in Spain.  She was the daughter of Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella (the same monarchs who were the financiers to Christopher Columbus).  The way she came to marry Henry VIII is very awkward.  At the age of three, she was betrothed to the current Prince of Wales, Arthur.  This would have been Henry VIII's brother.  After Arthur's death, some dealings were made that eventually allowed the much older Catherine to marry Henry, now Prince of Wales and future king of England.  As with all wives of the time, Catherine strove to give Henry that which he sorely wanted.  He wanted an heir to the throne.  Through many pregnancies, Catherine only produced one surviving child, a daughter named Mary who will be discussed later in this blog.  After it was revealed that Catherine could no longer bear children, Henry sought to find a replacement for his frumpy first wife.  Staunchly Catholic, Catherine refused to recognize any authority over her marriage except the Pope.  Well, a short time after splitting with the Catholic Church and creating the Church of England (where the Monarch supposedly had more power than God), Henry got his way.  He was divorced to hopefully conceive an heir with his younger second wife, Anne Boleyn.  His current daughter, Mary was disinherited of the throne, and Catherine was cast aside from her queenship.  She never really recognized any of this, and she kept referring to herself as queen even after her marriage was dissolved.  Henry, on the other hand, refused her the title of queen and gave her the title of "Dowager Duchess of Wales" (for being the widow of his older brother).  She confined herself to one room of the house she kept in the Mores, and lived out the rest of her life with little outside contact.

Catherine is a sad story on the role and power of women in Tudor England.  She tried in vain to save her own marriage and livelihood, but in the end, her husband won because the system was so cruel to her.

Her Wikipedia Page

Her Tudor History Page


My Next Post will be about:

ELIZABETH BATHORY: The Blood Countess

Today, we have something a little different.  This woman had remarkably little political power.  She was a Hungarian Countess who was born in 1560.  Her name is Elizabeth or Erzsebet Bathory.  This woman of noble birth eventually lead an utterly despicable life.  She has been labeled as the most prolific female serial killer (meaning she killed the most people).  An interesting aspect to this was that she couldn't be prosecuted by anyone because of her noble birth.

Elizabeth was married to Ferenc Nadasdy, who eventually became high commander of the Hungarian army.  He gave her his home (Castle Csejte in the Little Carpathian Mountains).  Beautiful by birth, Elizabeth was eventually overcome by boredom and vanity.  Legend has it that she was remarkably cruel to the staff of the castle, but it wasn't until she hit a young servant and a small amount of blood got on her skin.  She apparently wiped the blood away to reveal more luscious, youthful, and beautiful skin underneath.  According to the lore, she then had systematic and sadistic torture session with young girls around the area.  She even bathed in their blood.  No matter how much of this legend is true, Elizabeth showed her cruelty in other ways.  Eventually, she decided that simple peasant-girl blood was not enough.  She opened a school for girls in her home.  All of these girls were of noble birth.  Nobles began to cry to the king, a not so distant relative of Elizabeth, for something to be done.  However, because of her noble birth, Elizabeth could not be sentenced to death for her actions, but they knew she was guilty.  She woke up one morning to find herself bricked into her own apartment in her castle with only a little hole for the transportation of meals.  She died in that apartment.


For more information on the crimes and life of Elizabeth Bathory, check out these links.


A TruTV Article about Elizabeth


A Weird Encyclopedia Article

And a Sneak Peak at the next Blog:

EMPRESS MATILDA: The First Queen of England (almost)

This is Empress Matilda of England.  She was born on February 7, 1102 and died on September 10, 1167.  She was the daughter of Henry I of England and came very close to becoming the first queen of England (as it turns out England would not have its first female ruler until the tumultuous reign of Mary  I in 1553).  She was also the granddaughter of William the Conqueror.  She is called Empress Matilda because she was married to Henry V, the Holy Roman Emperor, at the age of 12 (she was betrothed to him at age seven!).  Upon his death in 1125, Matilda was left with no heir to his throne, and she returned to England.  After her brother, William Adelin's, death by drowning, she was the only legitimate child of King Henry I.  Her cousin, Stephen of Blois, survived, but her direct line of inheritance meant that she came before him in the line of succession.  She was officially named by her father as his successor.  Henry I made sure that all nobles and barons doubly signed to support Matilda's claim to the throne in the event of his death.  Henry I died on December 1, 1135, and Matilda was away with her second husband in Anjou.  While she was at a crucial distance, Stephen of Blois moved to steal the crown away from the rightful heir to the throne.  Stephen was actually supported by most of the nobles and barons whom had signed their support to Matilda.  Beginning in Normandy, Geoffrey (her second husband) and Matilda lead a military campaign that won nearly all of Normandy from Stephen.  This lead to Geoffrey and Matilda becoming the Duke and Duchess of Normandy, respectively.  It was not until 1139 that Matilda gained the military strength to challenge Stephen directly in England for her inheritance.  In February 1141, Matilda's army defeated Stephen and took him captive.  She took on the title of Lady of the English, and waited for her coronation.  The people, who had largely been supportive of her, were ready to welcome her into London.  Unfortunately, in a political misstep, Matilda refused to halve the Londoners taxes.  This meant that the people turned their backs on her and closed to city gates.  Stephen was free by November 1141, and was ready to fight Matilda again.  After many more military defeats and the humiliation of having to pretend to be a corpse in order to escape, Matilda ceded the throne to her cousin. The entire Civil War was called "The Anarchy."  The story, however, does not end there.  After the death of Stephen's son, Eustace, Matilda's oldest son was named the rightful heir to the throne of England.  Her son became Henry II.  In fact, her grave reads "Great by Birth, Greater by Marriage, Greatest in her Offspring: Here lies Matilda, the daughter, wife, and mother of Henry."

Matilda was the first woman to have a direct chance of becoming queen of England.  While she did rule for a short time in 1141, most scholars do not place her as a monarch within British history.  She fought for her inheritance, and I think we owe her at least the kindness of a mention in the history books.  Even if she only ruled for a few months, she plunged England into a Civil War for those few months of power.  She was so convinced that she deserved England (rightfully so) that she actually fought for her legitimate claim to the throne.  It is a sad commentary on the sexism at the time that the nobles and barons would not support her like they said they would simply because she was a woman.

Read More
Here is her Wikipedia Page

Here is the Wikipedia Page for The Anarchy (the Civil War)



And a Sneak Peek at the Next Post:

BOUDICA: Queen of the Iceni and Antagonist of Rome

To begin with the picture from last time...

This is Boudica.  She was queen of the Iceni, a British tribe from the area that today roughly corresponds with the county of Norfolk.  In AD 60 or 61, Boudica led an uprising against the Roman Empire.  Boudica's husband, Prasutagus, was king of the Iceni.  The Iceni had actually allied themselves with Rome voluntarily.  At Prasutagus' death, Rome ignored his will that stated Rome was to get some of his kingdom while reserving some for his daughters and Boudica.  While Rome didn't agree to this in the first place (Rome often only allowed allied kingdoms to remain independent during the life of the king they were allied with before leaving the entirety of their kingdoms to Rome in their will), Rome did not recognize female inheritance.  Because Prasutagus had no sons, Rome annexed the entire kingdom as if it had been conquered.  They flogged Boudica and her daughters were raped.  This initiated the alliance between the Iceni and their neighboring tribes.  Boudica led these tribes into a revolt that destroyed three cities.  The first of these cities was Camulodunum (now the city of Colchester).  Rome had taken this city to be used as a settlement for discharged Roman soldiers.  Ix Hispana, a Roman legion (or section of an army like a regiment), was sent to stop the rebels, but they were ultimately defeated soundly by Boudica and her army.  Camulodunum was a special target because the Roman soldiers that were discharged there mistreated the locals and built a temple to Claudius at local expense.  In the end, the city was burnt down and only a few soldiers and the commander were left of the soldiers in Ix Hispana.  Second, Boudica turned her attentions to Londinium (or modern-day London).  Suetonius, the current governor of British Rome, came back in order to stop the rebels before they reached Londinium.  Shortly before Boudica's arrival, Suetonius realized that he had no chance at victory because the Roman soldiers were too far outnumbered.  He abandoned Londinium to Boudica and her rebels.  It, like Camulodunum, was burned to the ground with its citizens slaughtered.  Verulamium was next on Boudica's list.  It was burned down much like the other two cities that they attacked before.  All in all, between seventy and eighty thousand people lost their lives in the slaughtering and burning of these three cities.  According to Tacitus, a Roman historian, the Britons (Boudica and her army) had no use for capture of or selling of prisoners.  She and her army only sought destruction and death in retribution for what the Romans had been doing.  This amounted to a feeling of humiliation felt by the Romans.  They were being slaughtered in such numbers and with such ease by a woman?!  In the end, Boudica met with a legion of Romans in a disputed field.  This field was set up to give an advantage to the far-outnumbered Romans.  The narrowness of this field meant that Boudica could not use her huge numbers to overwhelm the Romans.  Also, Boudica could not effectively command her army because they were not nearly disciplined enough for open combat.  This amounted to a defeat by the much smaller Roman forces, who were more disciplined and used to open combat.  Unfortunately, Boudica most likely met her end at her own hand.  It is believed she committed suicide rather than be taken prisoner.

Boudica was a true warrior queen.  She is often forgotten in the annals of history because of her obscurity (the only source of knowledge about her is a Roman account).  She is so ambiguous that no one really knows what happens to her.  She could have committed suicide or ran off into the woods and remained in hiding.  One thing that cannot be forgotten is that she was not only one of the most notable people to oppose Roman rule, but she was a woman who lead an armed force against Rome.  She was a woman who had power and used it.  She is an interesting figure.

Read more...

Here is her Wikipedia Page

Here is her HistoryNet Page

And For a little teaser to the next post (these posts are not necessarily going to go in chronological order...)

Welcome to Women in European History

Welcome to my Women in European History blog!  I am Zachary Harris, teacher of social studies at the high school.  This blog was created for two basic reasons.  The first reason is that I feel women are largely ignored in most history classes.  For example, many people know that Henry VIII of England had six wives, but how many people can name them and say anything about them?  I hope to remedy this truth in small parts.  The second reason this blog was created is because I will take some extra credit questions for my exams from the individual blogs.  There will be roughly 20 blogs per semester and five tests.  Thus, each of these tests will have one question from each of the four blogs posted in the time period of the test.  Each blog will consist of the following: one image of the subject of the post, a little information about the woman mentioned, 2 hyperlinks to find more information (test questions may come from these linked sites), and a sneak peak image of the woman that will be covered in the next post.

Thus, this post will end with a sneak preview of the next post's topic: