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Medieval Queens, Empresses, and Women Rulers

Women of Power in the Middle Ages

By , About.com Guide

Elizabeth of York

Elizabeth of YorkPublic domain image
(February 11, 1466 - February 11, 1503; England)
Elizabeth of York was the only woman to have been a daughter, sister, niece, wife, and mother to English kings. Her marriage to Henry VII signaled the end of the wars of the roses and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty.

Elizabeth Woodville

(about 1437 - June 7 or 8, 1492; England)
Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England, wielded considerable influence and power. But some of the stories told about her may be pure propaganda.

Fredegund

(about 550 - 597; Neustria - France)
She worked her way up from servant to mistress to queen consort, and then ruled as her son's regent. She talked her husband into murdering his second wife, but that wife's sister, Brunhilde, wanted revenge. Fredegund is chiefly remembered for her assassinations and other cruelties.

Isabella of France

(1292 - August 23, 1358; France, England)
Wife of Edward II of England, she helped arrange his removal and murder, then ruled with her lover as regent for her son before being banished to a nunnery.

Queen Isabella I of Spain

Queen Isabella the Catholic(c) 2001 ClipArt.com. Used by permission.
(April 22, 1451 - November 26, 1504; Spain)
Queen of Castile and Aragon, she ruled equally with her husband, Ferdinand. She's known in history for sponsoring Christopher Columbus' expedition that discovered the New World; read about other reasons she's remembered.

Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey© Clipart.com
(October 1537 - February 12, 1554; England)
The reluctant eight-day queen of England, Lady Jane Grey was supported by the Protestant party to follow Edward VI and to try to prevent the Roman Catholic Mary from taking the throne.

Joan of England, Queen of Sicily

(October 1165 - September 4, 1199)
Daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Joan of England ws married to the king of Sicily. Her brother, Richard I, rescued her first from imprisonment by her husband's sucessor, and then from a shipwreck.

Margaret of Anjou

Margaret of AnjouArchive Photos / Getty Images
(March 23, 1429 - August 25, 1482; England)
Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England, took an active part in her husband's administration and led the Lancastrians in the early years of the War of the Roses.

Saint Margaret of Scotland

(about 1045 - 1093)
Queen Consort of Scotland, married to Malcolm III, she was patroness of Scotland and worked to reform the Church of Scotland.

Margaret Tudor

Margaret Tudor - after a painting by Holbein© Clipart.com, modifications © Jone Johnson Lewis
(November 29, 1489 - October 18, 1541; England, Scotland)
Margaret Tudor was sister of England's Henry VIII, queen consort of James IV of Scotland, grandmother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and also grandmother of Mary's husband, Lord Darnley.

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