The last Queen of France is probably among the most maligned women in history, perceived as insensitive and cruel. In reality, she was modest and frugal, and once much-loved by her subjects. So how did she end up executed by a cheering mob?
women in history
Pirates: Jeanne de Clisson
In 1330, Jeanne de Belleville married her third husband, wealthy Breton nobleman Olivier de Clisson IV, becoming Jeanne de Clisson. The couple individually had extensive properties and the combination of their assets and wealth turned them into something of a power couple, though it would take some years (and Olivier’s death) before that power truly revealed itself.
Pirates: Six Biographies
Six short biographies of ruthless female pirates across history.
Women in STEM: Chien-Shiung Wu
Before we get into the main article, I must admit that I don’t understand physics and I definitely skipped over most of the technical, sciency stuff when I was researching. Sorry. What I did understand, however, was that Chien-Shiung Wu was a genius who contributed enormously to our knowledge of physics, and that she truly … Continue reading Women in STEM: Chien-Shiung Wu
Women in STEM: Trota of Salerno
In New York, there stands a statue of J. Marion Sims, a man known as the ‘father of gynaecology’. Asks historian Monica H. Green — ‘why the field of women’s medicine has a father but no mother’. Well, perhaps there was one - enter Trota of Salerno.
Femme Fatales: Mata Hari
She is remembered as one of history’s greatest femme fatales, a cunning, double-crossing spy who was responsible for the deaths of up to 50,000 men. But was Mata Hari really that deadly, or was she instead just the scapegoat France needed at the time?
Femme Fatales – Lucrezia Borgia
Murderous temptress or weak pawn? These are the two enduring images of Lucrezia Borgia, but are either at all true? Evidence suggests not.
Suffrage Around the World: Clara González
During the early 1900s, women all around the world were mobilising to fight for their rights, and it was no different in Latin America. Clara González spent her whole career fighting for women and their rights.
Suffrage Around the World: Nüzi canzheng tongmenghui
China’s ‘first wave’ of feminism took place between 1911-1913 when the new constitution contained no mention of women's suffrage. Women's groups across China came together to form the Women's Suffrage Alliance - the first of its kind in the country.
Warriors: Black Agnes Randolph
‘From the record of Scottish heroes, none can presume to erase her.' These were the words used by novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott about Black Agnes Randolph, a Scottish heroine in the fight against the English.