THE REMEDIAL HERSTORY PROJECT
  • Home
  • About
    • Why HERSTORY?
    • The Eckert Test
    • About RHP >
      • Board of Directors
      • Partnerships
    • Contact
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Become a Patron
  • Educators
    • Teaching with Inquiry
    • Submit a Lesson Plan
    • Professional Development >
      • Online Courses
      • Summer Educators Retreat
      • Sponsor the Summer Retreat
      • Podcast PD Certificate
    • Elementary
    • C3 Inquiries
  • Podcast
    • About the Podcast
    • Apply to Speak
    • All Episodes
    • Season 1 >
      • Episodes 1-10 >
        • S1E1 Our Story
        • S1E2 His Story Her Story
        • S1E3 Heroes and Sheroes
        • S1E4 Herstory's Complicated Suffrage
        • S1E5 His Sphere Her Sphere
        • S1E6 Fast Girls and 1936 Olympics
        • S1E7 Standards and Her Voice
        • S1E8 Rape and Civil Rights
        • S1E9 Textbooks and Crossdressing Spies
        • S1E10 It's not about feminism
      • Episodes 11-20 >
        • S1E11 Equal Pay and Ida Tarbell
        • S1E12 Equal Rights Amendment
        • S1E13 Culture Wars and the Frontier PART 1
        • S1E14 Culture Wars and the Frontier PART 2
        • S1E15 Women's Historians and Primary Sources
        • S1E16 Education and Nuns
        • S1E17 Blanks and Goddess Worship
        • S1E18 Thanksgiving and Other
        • S1E19 Feminist Pedagogy and the Triangle Fire
        • S1E20 Mrs. So and so, Peggy Eaton, and the Trail of Tears
      • Episodes 21-30 >
        • S1E21 First Ladies and Holiday Parties
        • S1E22 Sarah, Mary, and Virginity
        • S1E23 Hiding and Jackie O
        • S1E24 Well Behaved Women and Early Christianity
        • S1E25 Muslim Women and their History
        • S1E26 Written Out Alice Paul
        • S1E27 Blocked and Kamala Harris
        • S1E28 Clandestine Work and Virginia Hall
        • S1E29 Didn't Get There, Maggie Hassan and the Fabulous Five
        • S1E30 White Supremacy and the Black Panthers
      • Episodes 31-40 >
        • S1E31 Thematic Instruction and Indigenous Women
        • S1E32 Racism and Women in the Mexican American War
        • S1E33 Covid Crisis and Republican Motherhood
        • S1E34 Burned Records and Black Women's Clubs
        • S1E35 JSTOR and Reconstruction
        • S1E36 Somebody's Wife and Hawaiian Missionary Wives
        • S1E37 Taboo = Menstruation
        • S1E38 What's her name? Health, Religion and Mary Baker Eddy PART 1
        • S1E39 What's her name? Health, Religion and Mary Baker Eddy PART 1
        • S1E40 Controversial and Reproductive Justice PART 1
      • Episodes 41-50 >
        • S1E41 Controversial and Reproductive Justice PART 2
        • S1E42 Sexual Assault and the Founding of Rome
        • S1E43 Sexist Historians and Gudrid the Viking
        • S1E44 Byzantine Intersectionality
        • S1E45 Murder and Queens
        • S1E46 Hindu Goddesses and the Third Gender
        • S1E47 Women's Founding Documents
        • S1E48 Women and Bletchley Park
        • S1E49 Unknown Jewish Resistance Fighters
        • S1E50 End of Year ONE!
    • Season 2 >
      • Empresses, Monarchs, and Politicians >
        • S2E1 Let's Make HERSTORY!
        • S2E2 Empresses, Monarchs, and Politicians: How did women rise to power in the Ancient world? >
          • Women Explorers and Pioneers >
            • S2E29: Women Explorers and Pioneers: Who was the real Lady Lindy?
            • S2E30: What is the heroine's journey of women in the west? ​With Meredith Eliassen
            • S2E31: What is the lost history of the Statue of Freedom? with Katya Miller
            • S2E32: Why did women explore the White Mountains? With Dr. Marcia Schmidt Blaine
            • S2E33: How are native women telling their own stories? with Dr. Ferina King
        • S2E3 How did female sexuality lead to the rise and fall of Chinese empresses? with Dr. Cony Marquez
        • S2E4 How did medieval women rise and why were they erased? ​With Shelley Puhak
        • S2E5 Did English Queens Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn have agency? with Chloe Gardner
        • S2E6 Is Elizabeth a turning point in World History? with Deb Hunter
        • S2E7 How did Maria Theresa transform modern Europe? With Dr. Barbara Stollber-Rilinger
        • S2E8 Were Paul and Burns the turning point in women's suffrage? With Dr. Sidney Bland
        • S2E9 Were the First Ladies just wives? ​With the First Ladies Man
        • S2E10: How did ER use her position and influence to sway public opinion and influence politics? ​With Dr. Christy Regenhardt
        • S2E11: Why was women’s fight for low level offices needed? ​With Dr. Elizabeth Katz
        • S2E12 Should We Believe Anita Hill? With the Hashtag History Podcast
      • Women Social Reformers >
        • S2E13: Women in Social Reform: Should temperance have been intersectional?
        • S2E14: Why are material culture artifacts reshaping our understanding of women's history? With Dr. Amy Forss
        • S2E15: Did 19th institutionalizing and deinstitutionalizing healthcare make it safer? with Dr. Martha Libster
        • S2E16: Why are the interconnections between women and their social reform movements important? With Dr. DeAnna Beachley
        • S2E17: Did WWII really bring women into the workforce? ​With Dr. Dorothy Cobble
        • S2E18: How have unwell women been treated in healthcare? ​With Dr. Elinor Cleghorn
        • S2E19: How did MADD impact the culture of drunk driving?
      • Women and War >
        • S2E20: Women and War: How are Army Rangers still changing the game?
        • S2E21: Should we remember Augustus for his war on women? ​With Dr. Barry Strauss
        • S2E22: Were French women willing participants or collateral damage in imperialism? with Dr. Jack Gronau
        • S2E23: Was Joan of Arc a heretic? ​With Jacqui Nelson
        • S2E24: What changes did the upper class ladies of SC face as a result of the Civil War? with Annabelle Blevins Pifer
        • S2E25: Were Soviets more open to gender equality? ​With Jacqui Nelson
        • S2E26: Why Womanpower in the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948? with Tanya Roth
        • S2E27: What role did women play in the Vietnam War? with Dr. Barbara Tischler
        • S2E28: Why were women drawn into the Anti-Vietnam Movement with Dr. Jessica Frazier
      • Women in World Religions >
        • S2E34: Women and World Religions: How did Confucianism’s enduring impact affect women in China?
        • S2E35: What precedent is there for female Islamic leaders? with Dr. Shahla Haeri
        • S2E36: Were Islamic Queens successful? with Dr. Shahla Haeri
        • S2E37: Is there space for female Islamic leaders today? with Dr. Shahla Haeri​
        • S2E38: Were Protestant women just wives and mothers? with Caroline Taylor
      • Women in Queer History >
        • S2E39: Queer Women in History: How did one woman legalize gay marriage?
        • S2E40: Was Title IX just about sports? with Sara Fitzgerald
        • S2E41: Was Hildegard de Bingen gay? with Lauren Cole
        • S2E42: What crimes were women accused of in the 17th and 18th Century? with Dr. Shannon Duffy
        • S2E43: How should we define female friendships in the 19th century? with Dr. Alison Efford
        • S2E44: Were gay bars a religious experience for gay people before Stonewall? with Dr. Marie Cartier
      • Women and Business >
        • S2E45: Women and Business: Do We still have far to go? With Ally Orr
        • S2E46: How did 16th century English women manage businesses? with Dr. Katherine Koh
        • S2E47: How did free women of color carve out space as entrepreneurs in Louisiana? with Dr. Evelyn Wilson
        • S2E48: Who were the NH women in the suffrage movement? with Elizabeth DuBrulle
        • S2E49: What gave Elizabeth Arden her business prowess? with Shelby Robert
        • S2E50: End of Year Two
        • BONUS DOBBS v. JACKSON WOMEN'S HEALTH
    • S3E1: Mahsa "Jani" Amini and the Women of Iran
  • Shop
  • Learn
    • Learning Overview
    • World History >
      • 1. to 15,000 BCE Pre-History
      • 2. to 15,000 BCE Goddesses
      • 3. 10,000 BCE Agricultural Revolution
      • 4. 4,000-1,000 BCE City States
      • 5. 800-400 BCE Rome's Founding Myths
      • 6. 800-300 BCE Asian Philosophies
      • 7. 100 BCE - 100 CE Roman Empire
      • 8. 100 BCE - 100 CE Han Empire
      • 9. 0 CE Monotheism
      • 10. 100-500 Silk Roads
      • 11. 300-900 Age of Queens
      • 12. 700-1200 Islam
      • 13. 1000-1500 Feudalism
      • 14. 900-1200 Crusades
      • 15. 1200-1400 Mongols
      • 16. 1300-1500 Renaissance and Ottomans
      • 17. 1000-1600 New Worlds
      • 18. 1000-1600 Explorers
      • 19. 1450-1600 Reformation
      • 20. 1500-1600 Encounters
      • 21. 1500-1600 Slave Trade
      • 22. 1700-1850 Enlightenment
      • 23. 1600-1850 Asia
      • 24. 1850-1950 Industrial Revolution
      • 25. 1850-1950 Imperialism
      • 26. 1900-1950 World Wars
      • 27. 1950-1990 Decolonization
    • US History >
      • 1. Early North American Women
      • 2. Women's Cultural Encounters
      • 3. Women's Colonial Life
      • 4. American Revolution
      • 5. Republican Motherhood
      • 6. Women and the Trail of Tears
      • 7. Women in the Abolition Movement
      • 8. Women and the West
      • 9. Women in the Civil War
      • 10. Women and Reconstruction
      • 11. The Rise of NAWSA and NACWC
      • 12. Women and Expansion
      • 13. Women and Industrialization
      • 14. Progressive Women
      • 15. Women and World War I
      • 16. Final Push for Woman Suffrage
      • 17. The New Woman
      • 18. Women and the Great Depression
      • 19. Women and World War II
      • 20. Post-War Women
      • 21. Women and the Civil Rights Movement
      • 22. Women and the Cold War
      • 23. Reproductive Justice
      • 24. The Feminist Era
      • 25. Modern Women
  • Resources
    • OTD Calendar
    • Book Club
    • Books
    • Movies >
      • World History Films
      • US History Films

11. 300-900 The Age of Queens and Empresses

All around the world, in the early middle ages, women rose to power-- to the top of the hierarchy. The experiences of these women and those they ruled set precedents that lingered. They ruled differently then men, fought hard to consolidate power, and had to consider carefully how marriage and children would shift their hold on power. 
  • Article
  • Lesson Plans
  • Bibliography
  • Authors
  • Citation
<
>
The beginning of the middle or medieval era was a Middle Age for Europe, a Golden Age for the Byzantines and China. In most places the period went down as a harsh lesson in female leadership. Across the world, women rose to top positions in monarchies and empires but it was not the beginning of a trend– their successors tried to cover up the legacies of power held by these incredible Queens and Empresses, which tells us a great deal about these societies and the space they allowed for women at least in retrospect

Byzantine Empire: With the collapse of the western Roman empire, the eastern Roman empire or Byzantium grew into a Golden Age. For women this is a period of transition from pagan to Christian theology, a transition from diverse deities that included the feminine to the acceptance of an all male God. Women had been instrumental in the spreading of Christianity and many became martyrs in the quest to spread the gospel. Despite the instrumental role of women, the spread of Christianity ultimately led to further subordination as the patriarchal governing structures adopted it.
PictureMary of Egypt, Wikimedia Commons
When most people think of Byzantium they probably remember Constantine the first. He was tolerant of all religions within the empire and eventually worshiped Christianity to some extent. His so-called conversion ended the long persecution of Christians and began the process of clamping down on pagan practices. The altar to the Goddess of Victory was removed from the Senate House. But pagans still existed and led throughout the Empire. Byzantium was importantly inclusive as the empire was vast and expansive. People of different ethnicities, backgrounds, and cultures thrived within the empire. Even its definition of gender was less restrictive and binary. Mary of Egypt, considered a saint in the eastern orthodox Christian tradition, achieved Sainthood after she gave up prostitution for a pious life in the desert. She cut her hair and impersonated a man. She is depicted in Byzantine art as masculine, with short hair and no curves. Notably different from depictions of the feminine Virgin Mary for example. This was a common trope of the era: women could attain holiness and male-like virtue by transcending the limitations of her sex. 

It is in this context that female leaders rose to power in Byzantium, although none ruled the empire out right, but rather as a consort to the emperor. Most of the wives of the emperors are known and recorded in history, but several Byzantine empresses are notable for interesting reasons. 

Helena was the mother to Constantine the Great. Her origins were likely humble. She may have even been a prostitute, because she later became a concubine to Constantius (Constantine’s father). She disappears from the historic record for a bit and reemerges when her son becomes emperor and in 306 CE, Helena moved to his court. Constantine elevated her to Augusta, which means that she was considered an empress and a holy person.

PictureFausta, Wikimedia Commons
Fausta: Constantine‘s wife Fausta is also interesting here because her inclusion in history puts a different light on Constantine’s legacy. Exactly what happened is debated, here’s what definitely happened: Constantine‘s wife, Fausta, died in a bath and he was blamed by his critics for her death. A bath is not a traditional space for execution, so why was she killed there? This has riddled historians for a long time. The official line is that Fausta accused Constatines oldest son from a previous marriage of raping her. Constantine, believing her, had his oldest son and heir promptly executed, before his mother Helena could intervene and convince him that perhaps Fausta had lied? 

Constantine then turned his rage on Fausta and had her locked and smothered in a bath. But an emerging and modern theory is that the affair was consentual, as the son was closer to her age than Constantine, and she died in the bath having an abortion to cover it up. Whether her death was an accident, murder, or she was forced to have an abortion is uncertain. But what we do know is that she was locked in the spa and she died. For Constantine, wives were disposable. Fausta had given birth to three future emperors. Her death tells us a great deal about the rights of elite men compared to the rights of elite women. It also tells us that abortion practices were known.

For her part Helena was distraught by these events and left on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. According to tradition, Helena found three crosses, including perhaps the most valuable relic to Christians: the cross and nails Jesus Christ died on. Three people touched the cross and the third was healed. Two churches were constructed there by her. 

Picture
Saint Helena, Wikimedia Commons
PictureTheodora, Wikimedia Commons
The empire grew and thrived over the next several centuries and by the sixth century reached its golden age. Here and across the globe, a woman’s class and path to power can often be remarkable. Women had incredible rags to riches stories, as some of the most powerful women in world history started as slaves and prostitutes. 

Theodora reigned as empress of the Byzantine Empire alongside her husband, Emperor Justinian I, from 527 CE until her death in 548 CE. She came to the court as an actress, stripper, and maybe prostitute, and won a beauty contest catching the heart of Justinian. After their marriage, they ruled the empire together. Everything we know about her comes from pretty biased contemporary historians: one is the court histories written by Procopius ordered by Justinian, and the other is a Secret History also by Procopius (how’s that for a plot twist), that considers Justinian and Theodora to be the worst thing to happen to Byzantium, like ever. Sources from the period are problematic for Theodora as they are all written by men, and because a Byzantine woman doing anything but being pretty and submissive would have been seen as improper. Procopius said she was scheming, unprincipled, and immoral– as most assertive and powerful women were often portrayed. He wrote of lurid sexual scandals she was supposedly involved in. But nevertheless, she was a valuable partner who was directly involved in state affairs. 

During a riot that broke out in Constantinople, Theodora convinced Justinian not to flee. Although probably not verbatim, Procopius credited her as saying, “I do not care whether or not it is proper for a woman to give brave counsel to frightened men; but in moments of extreme danger, conscience is the only guide. Every man who is born into the light of day must sooner or later die; and how can an Emperor ever allow himself to become a fugitive? If you, my Lord, wish to save your skin, you will have no difficulty in doing so. We are rich, there is the sea, there too are our ships. But consider first whether, when you reach safety, you will not regret that you did not choose death in preference. As for me, I stand by the ancient saying: royalty makes the best shroud.”

Theodora’s influence was palpable everywhere. She led to the downfall of prominent men, including a pope– it’s no wonder Procopius wrote so poorly of her. Theodora was known for her social reforms and her charitable work at orphanages, hospitals, and  a home for former prostitutes seeking to reenter respectable society. When Justinian fell ill with Bubonic plague that was ravaging the world, Theodora ruled alone demonstrating control, political savvy, and perhaps some vindictiveness against her court rivals. 

When she died, Justinian didn’t have the same flare for leadership

PictureRadegund in 11th Century painting, Wikimedia Commons
Francia: Theodora would have known and corresponded with other queens around the world– especially in Europe. Western Europe was politically less stable than their Byzantine counterparts. The small kingdoms that made up this region were constantly raiding and murdering one another. So instead of a continuing empire, warlords used the title of "king."  They considered themselves part of the Roman world and worked to emulate the Romans. 

Most of what we know about women from this time comes from The Ten Books of History, by Gregory, Bishop of Tours. He clearly favored some women over others and employed common tropes about women– often. 

Radegund for example, lived in Francia or modern day-ish France. She was a captured Thuringia princess who was forced to marry her enemy after her entire family was murdered in front of her in order to unite two kingdoms. She wrote eloquently about the experience providing psychological insight into how this conflict may have impacted elite women of the time. Radegund had agency though, after giving birth to a son, she refused the sexual advances of the king and dedicated herself to the church. She eventually convinced him to let her live out her days in a convent where she crushed it. Radegund‘s church became one of the most powerful and influential in Western Europe after she successfully negotiated to get a piece of Helena’s true cross of Christ. For Radegund, the opportunity to study, serve, and avoid her husband would have been a great reprieve.

When her husband died, he left behind him five sons from various marriages. Through his warring and violence he had united Francia under the Merovingian family. But upon his death his kingdom was divided between four of his sons, not Radegund’s because he was considered a bastard. The two youngest sons inherited the smallest portions of the kingdom and spent the remainder of their lives trying to expand, warring against their brothers. The third son waited until he was older to marry a princess and legitimize his claims. Brunhild, a Visigoth Princess from Spain was given land and an elaborate Roman style wedding to further ally the Visigoths and Francia.

PictureChilperic strangles Galswintha, Wikimedia Commons
The fourth son married three times in his lifetime and was known for his fornication with enslaved women of the palace. His second wife was Brunhild‘s older sister, Galswintha, Who agreed to marry him only so long as he promised to give up this habit. He did, but shortly after their marriage she discovered that he had picked up his shenanigans with an enslaved woman named Fredegund. Shortly after this discovery, Galswintha was found dead in her bed and within the month Fredegund was married to the king— the first of at least 12 murders that would be credibly linked back to this rags-to-riches queen. As the third wife of the king, Fredegund had to contend with the legitimacy of her stepchildren and conspired to put those children into danger so that her own children would rule and inherit the kingdom. Fredegund’s life was marked with tragedy as so many of her sons failed to survive childhood. She was a nasty queen who held onto power through violence, trickery, and assassination. After killing Brunhild’s sister she also killed her husband. The rivalry between these two queens seems almost out of a story book. Take all of this with a grain of salt– however because Gregory had clearly chosen to paint Fredegund as his femme fatal to Brunhild’s heroine of sorts.

Brunhild was not a weak queen, she was the master of politics, trained and prepared to be a queen her entire life. Brunhild forged alliances that helped her maintain her power, negotiated prominent marriages for her daughter and granddaughters. She became the first queen of the medieval era to oversee a trial, was A signer and lead negotiator in the first treaty of Western Europe, and while most of her contemporaries abhorred female leaders, they had to admit she was incredible.

PictureFredegund attacking her own daughter, Wikimedia Commons
These two rival queens held on to power for the better part of a century and would provide the stability of the sons could not. The territory these two queen regions controlled spanned modern-day France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxenberg, western and southern Germany, and parts of Switzerland. In the medieval period, Charlemagne would be the only ruler to briefly control more territory than these two women. Multiple husbands, and sons would come and go, but these women provided the consistency their kingdoms needed. In fact, when Brunhild‘s son died at the age of 25, it is written down in the chronicles as a relatively insignificant event. Throughout his life his mother had served as queen regent and even when he came of age, he seemed a relatively unremarkable king. Brunhild had ruled before and would rule again. Throughout their rule, when diplomatic letters would be addressed to their child sons and grandsons, the queens would reply in their own names and title, Domina Regina. Pope Gregory, later Gregory the Great, however, knew where the true power resided, and did not make this mistake, addressing their letters to Brunhild, Queen of the Franks. 

Brunhild concerned herself with her legacy, after securing her kingdoms she focused on the work of the church, and in alliance with the Pope, spreading the mission to the pagans in Britain. Fredegund on the other hand continuously looked to expand her kingdom and proved to be exceptionally gifted at strategy. In one of her armed conflicts against Brunhild, she had all of her soldiers hold sticks to resemble trees in order for them to advance at night. Her use of the strategy predates other references to it. She may have learned the strategy from a previously unknown Celtic past, but for all intents and purposes she invented it. Instead of doing the work of God, she used the spoils of war to reward loyal bishops and buy the church. After years of serving as a manipulative Queen consort, with at least twelve credible murders linked to her, and a decade as queen regent for her son, Fredegund died. And that’s how the chronicler recorded it, “Fredegund died.“ For the death of a ruling queen that wasn’t much fanfare. She was only fifty and when previous rulers had died young and otherwise healthy, there was much speculation that perhaps they had been murdered. For Fredegund, there was no such speculation. Was this bloody queen murdered?

PictureDeath of Brunhild, Wikimedia Commons
Brunhild carried on, having outlived many of the statesman and the historian Gregory she had begun her career with— she even outlived both of her children and most of her grandchildren. She revived old Roman trading networks and roads, showed incredible mercy to her rival's living son, championed battered women in her quest to purify the church, and was metropolitan and tolerant even of the Jews in her kingdom. Many of her initiatives and reforms required raising taxes on the aristocracy and the church, both of whom worked for exemptions or actively against her.

But into her 70s, Brunhild and her four grandsons would fall shortly after their father died in his prime, having finally united the Franks. The boys, none older than eleven, would go into battle against Fredegund‘s son and be betrayed by their Mayor of the Palace. One boy would escape, the youngest sent to be raised by the enemy, and the eldest two executed by an ax. Brunhild would’ve expected in her late age to be exiled or sent to a convent, but instead she was brutally hacked to pieces in the most public way only reserved for kings: whipped, bloodied, and paraded through the masses before trampled by a wild horse. She was accused of all of Fredegund’s crimes and dubbed a king killer. 

Why such a violent death for an aging queen regent? One has to suspect that it was a threat she posed to the new King's claims. She was, after all, the most powerful person in Western Europe. He and his chroniclers used the same old tricks– blaming women in order to elevate their male hero. 

King Chlothar II, the only son of Fredegund to survive into adulthood. He and the betraying aristocracy signed the Edict of Paris one that essentially limited the powers of the King and gave the Mayor of the Palace, who had betrayed Brunhild, and all future mayors, hereditary and lifetime appointments. The result was the rise of the Carolingians, the great great grandfathers of Charlemagne. King Chlothar II erased Brunhild and her entire line from the legal record, and curiously made no effort to honor his mother: burying the knowledge of these two queens for centuries. There are massive discrepancies between the contemporary chroniclers and those even a generation later who expressed disgust for the two queens. Nobles and bishops revised earlier writings to justify their betrayal of Brunhild and her horrific death, adding in lines and imposing warnings if she did not rein in her ambition. Because she outlived Pope Gregory, her champion was not there to defend her piety and credit her for essentially Christianizing Britain. 

There were no Merovingian queen regents before Brunhild’s and Fredegund, and the two that followed them were subsequently murdered or sent to a convent. Other influential women were left out of the record completely. The Carolingian dynasty that followed made a point to write history in such a way that their guys were the heroes and rivals were pure evil. Unfortunately, that means our only sources for the reigns of Brunhild and Fredegund tend to demonize them. 

The Carolingians were careful to get the chronicles telling their rise to power in a way that made them the heroes. Misogyny was a useful tool to do that with. Of course, despite their warnings, women continued to be involved in politics under the Carolingians. Charlemagne's mother, for example, held a great deal of influence. ​

PictureEmpress Suiko, Wikimedia Commons
Japan: Across the world, however, another queen was breaking barriers and coming to power: Suiko. There was some precedent for female rule. Himiko was an ancient queen of legend, not mentioned in Japanese histories. Historians disagree on where her kingdom was. She was noted for being a shaman queen, unmarried, and living in a fortress where she was served by 1,000 women.

Suiko, living centuries later, was well documented. She was the daughter of Emperor Kimmei and at 18 became the empress-consort of Emperor Bidatsu, who reigned 572 to 585. After a short rule by the Emperor Yomei, interclan warfare over the succession broke out. Suiko's brother, Emperor Sujun or Sushu, reigned next but was murdered in 592. Her uncle, Soga Umako, a powerful clan leader, who was likely behind Sushu's murder, convinced Suiko to take the throne, with another of Umako's nephews, Shotoku, acting as regent who actually administered government. Suiko reigned as Empress for 30 years. 

Empress Suiko is credited with ordering the promotion of Buddhism beginning in 594. It had been the religion of her family, the Soga. During her reign, Buddhism became firmly established; the second article of the 17 article constitution instituted under her reign promoted Buddhist worship, and she sponsored Buddhist temples and monasteries.

It was also during Suiko's reign that China first diplomatically recognized Japan, and Chinese influence increased, including bringing in the Chinese calendar and the Chinese system of government bureaucracy. Chinese monks, artists, and scholars also were brought into Japan in her reign. The power of the emperor also became stronger under her rule.

PictureQueen Seondeok, Wikimedia Commons
Korea: To the north, in Korea, Queen Seondeok became the first female monarch in the Kingdom of Silla starting in 632. Unlike other places, her rule would lay the groundwork for more female rulers. Unfortunately, so much of her rule has been lost to time. 

She ruled for 15 years and used skillful diplomacy to form a stronger alliance with Tang China and secure Sillan independence. Her strong foreign policy allowed Seondeok to form alliances with leading families of Silla. She arranged marriages between prominent families and created a power bloc that would unify the Korean Peninsula under her rule and end the Three Kingdoms period.

Seondeok faced a challenge from Lord Bidam. He rallied supporters under the motto, "Women rulers cannot rule the country." The legend states that a falling star convinced him that the queen too would fall soon. To counter the narrative, Seondeok flew a flaming kite.

After 10 days, Bidam and his co-conspirators were seized and executed. But Seondeok died of natural causes during this time. She, unlike other female monarchs around the world, had the chance to choose a successor and left her kingdom to another woman–her cousin Queen Jindeok.

The fact that another ruling queen followed immediately after Seondeok's reign proves that she was an able and astute ruler. The Silla Kingdom would also boast Korea's third and final female ruler, Queen Jinseong, who ruled nearly two hundred years later from 887 to 897.

PictureWu Zeitan, Wikimedia Commons
China: Both Theodora and Fredegund found paths to power through prostitution and cruelty– but this wasn’t only true in the west. In China, shortly after their time, another empress was rising: Wu Zeitan. Wu has a reputation of being one of the most cruel rulers in China’s history– which again probably says more about the chroniclers than it does about her.

The Tang Dynasty, during which she ruled, was a Golden Age for China– producing gorgeous art and culture. During the Tang, the Silk Roads were at their height of influence. During Wu’s life, overland trade routes brought massive entrepreneurial opportunities with the West and other parts of Eurasia, making the capital of the Tang Empire the most cosmopolitan of the world’s cities. Although merchants dealt for and traded many goods, commerce involving textiles, minerals, and spices was particularly prominent. With such avenues of contact, Tang China was ready for changes in society and culture. Importantly, Tang women were assertive, active, and more visible; they rode horses, donned male attire, and participated in politics.

Wu was a master of politics. She came to the court as a concubine, one of many, to the emperor.  She bore him four boys and earned his favoritism. She earned the respect of the court and even the Empress! She knew the ins and outs of court because attendants would report gossip and even trivial events. 

Greedy for power, she looked to eliminate the Empress Wang. After giving birth to a baby daughter, she brought her to the empress to hold. When the Empress Wang had played with the baby, Wu killed her own infant daughter and blamed the murder on Empress Wang. The emperor believed this and promoted Wu to Empress. Wu immediately put Wang and her other rivals to death, exiling their families. 

She purged the court of those disloyal to her. When the emperor died, her son became emperor, and her a regent where she could rule from the shadows. But being a puppet emperor had its limitations and in 690, she conferred upon herself the title “Holy and Divine Emperor,” founded what she called the “Zhou dynasty” and  ruled for the next fifteen years as the only woman emperor in Chinese history, until she was finally deposed in a coup.

Male historians recorded her legacy with contempt– quick to point out the horrific and cruel ways with which she ruled. But this was not uncommon for male leaders around the world. It’s important to acknowledge that she ruled in a Golden Age. She recruited qualified officials to do important jobs, helped to spread Buddhism, expanded the empire, sponsored the writing of agricultural texts to improve production. Finally, Wu represents the rare elite woman to support the women behind her. She campaigned to improve the status of women. She advised scholars to write and edit biographies of exemplary women. Wu believed the ideal emperor was one who ruled as a mother does over her children. 

PictureBrunhild's Death, Wikimedia Commons
Conclusion: Women rulers were possible and somewhat common in monarchies throughout world history. Women came to power as consorts, regents, and through closeness with power, as enslaved people and prostitutes. 

We cannot separate the stories of these women from the men who recorded them. So many of them were portrayed as evil, violent, and horrible. It’s possible that they were, but perhaps those chroniclers were unaccustomed to women outside their domestic roles. How different would our knowledge of these women be if women had recorded them? 

It’s important to ask how the existence of female rulers influenced the lives of everyday women in the kingdoms? Did they reach back and support female education and rights to land ownership and bodily autonomy? How did these women leave space for future female leaders? And was their rule successful?

Draw your own conclusions

Learn how to teach with inquiry.
Picture
How did medieval women claim the throne across cultures?
In this inquiry, students explore primary materials about Theodora of Byzantium, Fredegund and Brunhild of Francia, and Matilda of England. They seek patterns for women's rise to power in western Europe, if any exist, to understand how women came to hold these top positions. 
How did medieval women claim the throne across cultures?
File Size: 3523 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture
St. Mary of Egypt and Moral Progress, Wikimedia Commons
How did Byzantines portray Mary of Egypt?
Saint Mary of Egypt's story as portrayed in the Byzantine texts and art is interesting for its portrayal of gender and sexuality and gives insights to Byzantine values. In this inquiry, students will examine Byzantine primary sources to more deeply understand cultural values.
How did Byzantines portray Mary of Egypt?.pdf
File Size: 592 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture
Nuns, Wikimedia Commons
How did nunneries expand and limit women's opportunities in the Middle Ages?
In this inquiry, students explore primary and secondary material about women inside Medieval convents to determine if these were oppressive institutions, or freeing from the patriarchal burdens.
How did nunneries expand and limit women's opportunities in the Middle Ages?
File Size: 734 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture
Radegund, Wikimedia Commons
Picture
Death of Brunhild, Public Domain
What work did women do in the Middle Ages?
In this inquiry, students bust myths about the types of work women did and, using primary and secondary material, uncover that women did a whole variety of work. 
​
What work did women do in the Middle Ages?
File Size: 2560 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Did female monarchs provide women more opportunities in their society?
In this inquiry, students explore the actions, or inactions, of female monarchs toward women in their communities and students are asked to consider whether this was significant.
Did female monarchs provide women more opportunities in their society?
File Size: 2774 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture
OTHER: Women in Tang China
In this inquiry from Women in World History focuses on the enduring influence of Confucianism on the lives of women in ancient and modern China and Wu Zeitan. Check it out!
Lesson Plans from Other Organizations
  • This website, Women in World History has primary source based lesson plans on women's history in a whole range of topics. Some are free while others have a cost.
  • The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media has produced recommendations for teaching women's history with primary sources and provided a collection of sources for world history. Check them out! 
  • The Stanford History Education Group has a number of lesson plans about women in World History.

Bibliography

Cartwright, Mark. "Empress Theodora." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified April 03, 2018. https://www.worldhistory.org/Empress_Theodora/.

Cartwright, Mark. "Queen Himiko." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified May 01, 2017. https://www.worldhistory.org/Queen_Himiko/.

Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Empress Suiko of Japan." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/empress-suiko-of-japan-biography-3528831 (accessed June 6, 2022). 

Miles, Rosalind. The Women’s History of the World. London, UK: Harper Collins Publishers, 1988.

​​Strayer, R. and Nelson, E., Ways Of The World. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.

AUTHOR:

​Kelsie Brook Eckert

Primary Reviewer:

Dr. Jonathan Couser

Consulting Team

Editors

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Kelsie Brook Eckert, Project Director
Coordinator of Social Studies Education at Plymouth State University

Dr. Nancy Locklin-Sofer, Consultant
Professor of History at Maryville College. 

Chloe Gardner, Consultant
PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University

Dr. Whitney Howarth, Consultant
Former Professor of History at Plymouth State University

Jacqui Nelson, Consultant
Teaching Lecturer of Military History at Plymouth State University

​Maria Concepcion Marquez Sandoval
PhD Candidate in History at Arizona University
Chris Canfield
Humanities Teacher, Moultonborough Academy

Reviewers

Ancient:
Dr. Kristin Heineman
Professor of History at Colorado State University
Dr. Bonnie Rock-McCutcheon
Professor of History at Wilson College
Sarah Stone
PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University
Medieval:
Dr. Katherine Koh
Professor of History at La Sierra University
Dr. Jonathan Couser
Professor of History at Plymouth State University
Dr. Shahla Haeri
Professor of History at Boston University 
Lauren Cole
PhD Candidate in History at Northwestern University
Remedial Herstory Editors. "11. 300-900 THE AGE OF QUEENS AND EMPRESSES​." The Remedial Herstory Project. November 1, 2022. www.remedialherstory.com.​
BACK
NEXT
Did we miss something? We welcome your feedback.
© The Remedial Herstory Project 2022
Donate
CONTENT
​

Books to Read

Films to Watch

On This Date in Herstory

Professional Development
SITE

About 

Board
​

​Privacy Policy

Terms and Conditions
CONNECT

Speak on our Podcast

​Contact Us

​
Give to RHP
PATRONS
​Jeff Eckert, Barbara Tischler, Brooke Sullivan, Christian Bourdo, Kent Heckel, Jenna Koloski, Nancy Heckel, Megan Torrey-Payne, Leah Tanger, Mark Bryer, Nicole Woulfe, Alicia Guitierrez-Romine, Katya Miller, Michelle Stonis, Jessica Freire, Laura Holiday, Jacqui Nelson, Annabelle Blevins Pifer, Dawn Cyr, Megan Gary, and Melissa Adams.
Picture
  • Home
  • About
    • Why HERSTORY?
    • The Eckert Test
    • About RHP >
      • Board of Directors
      • Partnerships
    • Contact
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Become a Patron
  • Educators
    • Teaching with Inquiry
    • Submit a Lesson Plan
    • Professional Development >
      • Online Courses
      • Summer Educators Retreat
      • Sponsor the Summer Retreat
      • Podcast PD Certificate
    • Elementary
    • C3 Inquiries
  • Podcast
    • About the Podcast
    • Apply to Speak
    • All Episodes
    • Season 1 >
      • Episodes 1-10 >
        • S1E1 Our Story
        • S1E2 His Story Her Story
        • S1E3 Heroes and Sheroes
        • S1E4 Herstory's Complicated Suffrage
        • S1E5 His Sphere Her Sphere
        • S1E6 Fast Girls and 1936 Olympics
        • S1E7 Standards and Her Voice
        • S1E8 Rape and Civil Rights
        • S1E9 Textbooks and Crossdressing Spies
        • S1E10 It's not about feminism
      • Episodes 11-20 >
        • S1E11 Equal Pay and Ida Tarbell
        • S1E12 Equal Rights Amendment
        • S1E13 Culture Wars and the Frontier PART 1
        • S1E14 Culture Wars and the Frontier PART 2
        • S1E15 Women's Historians and Primary Sources
        • S1E16 Education and Nuns
        • S1E17 Blanks and Goddess Worship
        • S1E18 Thanksgiving and Other
        • S1E19 Feminist Pedagogy and the Triangle Fire
        • S1E20 Mrs. So and so, Peggy Eaton, and the Trail of Tears
      • Episodes 21-30 >
        • S1E21 First Ladies and Holiday Parties
        • S1E22 Sarah, Mary, and Virginity
        • S1E23 Hiding and Jackie O
        • S1E24 Well Behaved Women and Early Christianity
        • S1E25 Muslim Women and their History
        • S1E26 Written Out Alice Paul
        • S1E27 Blocked and Kamala Harris
        • S1E28 Clandestine Work and Virginia Hall
        • S1E29 Didn't Get There, Maggie Hassan and the Fabulous Five
        • S1E30 White Supremacy and the Black Panthers
      • Episodes 31-40 >
        • S1E31 Thematic Instruction and Indigenous Women
        • S1E32 Racism and Women in the Mexican American War
        • S1E33 Covid Crisis and Republican Motherhood
        • S1E34 Burned Records and Black Women's Clubs
        • S1E35 JSTOR and Reconstruction
        • S1E36 Somebody's Wife and Hawaiian Missionary Wives
        • S1E37 Taboo = Menstruation
        • S1E38 What's her name? Health, Religion and Mary Baker Eddy PART 1
        • S1E39 What's her name? Health, Religion and Mary Baker Eddy PART 1
        • S1E40 Controversial and Reproductive Justice PART 1
      • Episodes 41-50 >
        • S1E41 Controversial and Reproductive Justice PART 2
        • S1E42 Sexual Assault and the Founding of Rome
        • S1E43 Sexist Historians and Gudrid the Viking
        • S1E44 Byzantine Intersectionality
        • S1E45 Murder and Queens
        • S1E46 Hindu Goddesses and the Third Gender
        • S1E47 Women's Founding Documents
        • S1E48 Women and Bletchley Park
        • S1E49 Unknown Jewish Resistance Fighters
        • S1E50 End of Year ONE!
    • Season 2 >
      • Empresses, Monarchs, and Politicians >
        • S2E1 Let's Make HERSTORY!
        • S2E2 Empresses, Monarchs, and Politicians: How did women rise to power in the Ancient world? >
          • Women Explorers and Pioneers >
            • S2E29: Women Explorers and Pioneers: Who was the real Lady Lindy?
            • S2E30: What is the heroine's journey of women in the west? ​With Meredith Eliassen
            • S2E31: What is the lost history of the Statue of Freedom? with Katya Miller
            • S2E32: Why did women explore the White Mountains? With Dr. Marcia Schmidt Blaine
            • S2E33: How are native women telling their own stories? with Dr. Ferina King
        • S2E3 How did female sexuality lead to the rise and fall of Chinese empresses? with Dr. Cony Marquez
        • S2E4 How did medieval women rise and why were they erased? ​With Shelley Puhak
        • S2E5 Did English Queens Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn have agency? with Chloe Gardner
        • S2E6 Is Elizabeth a turning point in World History? with Deb Hunter
        • S2E7 How did Maria Theresa transform modern Europe? With Dr. Barbara Stollber-Rilinger
        • S2E8 Were Paul and Burns the turning point in women's suffrage? With Dr. Sidney Bland
        • S2E9 Were the First Ladies just wives? ​With the First Ladies Man
        • S2E10: How did ER use her position and influence to sway public opinion and influence politics? ​With Dr. Christy Regenhardt
        • S2E11: Why was women’s fight for low level offices needed? ​With Dr. Elizabeth Katz
        • S2E12 Should We Believe Anita Hill? With the Hashtag History Podcast
      • Women Social Reformers >
        • S2E13: Women in Social Reform: Should temperance have been intersectional?
        • S2E14: Why are material culture artifacts reshaping our understanding of women's history? With Dr. Amy Forss
        • S2E15: Did 19th institutionalizing and deinstitutionalizing healthcare make it safer? with Dr. Martha Libster
        • S2E16: Why are the interconnections between women and their social reform movements important? With Dr. DeAnna Beachley
        • S2E17: Did WWII really bring women into the workforce? ​With Dr. Dorothy Cobble
        • S2E18: How have unwell women been treated in healthcare? ​With Dr. Elinor Cleghorn
        • S2E19: How did MADD impact the culture of drunk driving?
      • Women and War >
        • S2E20: Women and War: How are Army Rangers still changing the game?
        • S2E21: Should we remember Augustus for his war on women? ​With Dr. Barry Strauss
        • S2E22: Were French women willing participants or collateral damage in imperialism? with Dr. Jack Gronau
        • S2E23: Was Joan of Arc a heretic? ​With Jacqui Nelson
        • S2E24: What changes did the upper class ladies of SC face as a result of the Civil War? with Annabelle Blevins Pifer
        • S2E25: Were Soviets more open to gender equality? ​With Jacqui Nelson
        • S2E26: Why Womanpower in the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948? with Tanya Roth
        • S2E27: What role did women play in the Vietnam War? with Dr. Barbara Tischler
        • S2E28: Why were women drawn into the Anti-Vietnam Movement with Dr. Jessica Frazier
      • Women in World Religions >
        • S2E34: Women and World Religions: How did Confucianism’s enduring impact affect women in China?
        • S2E35: What precedent is there for female Islamic leaders? with Dr. Shahla Haeri
        • S2E36: Were Islamic Queens successful? with Dr. Shahla Haeri
        • S2E37: Is there space for female Islamic leaders today? with Dr. Shahla Haeri​
        • S2E38: Were Protestant women just wives and mothers? with Caroline Taylor
      • Women in Queer History >
        • S2E39: Queer Women in History: How did one woman legalize gay marriage?
        • S2E40: Was Title IX just about sports? with Sara Fitzgerald
        • S2E41: Was Hildegard de Bingen gay? with Lauren Cole
        • S2E42: What crimes were women accused of in the 17th and 18th Century? with Dr. Shannon Duffy
        • S2E43: How should we define female friendships in the 19th century? with Dr. Alison Efford
        • S2E44: Were gay bars a religious experience for gay people before Stonewall? with Dr. Marie Cartier
      • Women and Business >
        • S2E45: Women and Business: Do We still have far to go? With Ally Orr
        • S2E46: How did 16th century English women manage businesses? with Dr. Katherine Koh
        • S2E47: How did free women of color carve out space as entrepreneurs in Louisiana? with Dr. Evelyn Wilson
        • S2E48: Who were the NH women in the suffrage movement? with Elizabeth DuBrulle
        • S2E49: What gave Elizabeth Arden her business prowess? with Shelby Robert
        • S2E50: End of Year Two
        • BONUS DOBBS v. JACKSON WOMEN'S HEALTH
    • S3E1: Mahsa "Jani" Amini and the Women of Iran
  • Shop
  • Learn
    • Learning Overview
    • World History >
      • 1. to 15,000 BCE Pre-History
      • 2. to 15,000 BCE Goddesses
      • 3. 10,000 BCE Agricultural Revolution
      • 4. 4,000-1,000 BCE City States
      • 5. 800-400 BCE Rome's Founding Myths
      • 6. 800-300 BCE Asian Philosophies
      • 7. 100 BCE - 100 CE Roman Empire
      • 8. 100 BCE - 100 CE Han Empire
      • 9. 0 CE Monotheism
      • 10. 100-500 Silk Roads
      • 11. 300-900 Age of Queens
      • 12. 700-1200 Islam
      • 13. 1000-1500 Feudalism
      • 14. 900-1200 Crusades
      • 15. 1200-1400 Mongols
      • 16. 1300-1500 Renaissance and Ottomans
      • 17. 1000-1600 New Worlds
      • 18. 1000-1600 Explorers
      • 19. 1450-1600 Reformation
      • 20. 1500-1600 Encounters
      • 21. 1500-1600 Slave Trade
      • 22. 1700-1850 Enlightenment
      • 23. 1600-1850 Asia
      • 24. 1850-1950 Industrial Revolution
      • 25. 1850-1950 Imperialism
      • 26. 1900-1950 World Wars
      • 27. 1950-1990 Decolonization
    • US History >
      • 1. Early North American Women
      • 2. Women's Cultural Encounters
      • 3. Women's Colonial Life
      • 4. American Revolution
      • 5. Republican Motherhood
      • 6. Women and the Trail of Tears
      • 7. Women in the Abolition Movement
      • 8. Women and the West
      • 9. Women in the Civil War
      • 10. Women and Reconstruction
      • 11. The Rise of NAWSA and NACWC
      • 12. Women and Expansion
      • 13. Women and Industrialization
      • 14. Progressive Women
      • 15. Women and World War I
      • 16. Final Push for Woman Suffrage
      • 17. The New Woman
      • 18. Women and the Great Depression
      • 19. Women and World War II
      • 20. Post-War Women
      • 21. Women and the Civil Rights Movement
      • 22. Women and the Cold War
      • 23. Reproductive Justice
      • 24. The Feminist Era
      • 25. Modern Women
  • Resources
    • OTD Calendar
    • Book Club
    • Books
    • Movies >
      • World History Films
      • US History Films