JH WEEKLIES ISSUE #27
2011-2012
Women’s History Month--Strong Women of the World
“In politics if you want anything said, ask a man.
If you want anything done, ask a woman.”
Margaret Thatcher
“Fortune befriends the bold.”
Emily Dickinson
In honor of Women’s History Month, enjoy reading about these bold women from other
cultures and times who knew how to get things done.
Hatshepsut (Queen of Egypt, 15th century BC)
As the oldest daughter of Thutmose and Queen Ahmose, Hatshepsut had royal blood from both her
mother and father. However, a less royal step-brother from another of Thutmose’s wives stood in line to
become pharaoh because he was male. To keep her lineage, Hatshepsut and her step-brother married.
The step-brother also took another wife who produced the next male heir, Thutmose III. He was just a
young boy when his father died, so Hatshepsut acted as his queen regent and performed many functions
on his behalf. She also began to assume duties that would normally be done only by male pharaohs,
such as making offerings to the gods and building obelisks to honor her own accomplishments.
When the son was technically old enough to assume full rule, he remained second-in-command as
Hatshepsut continued to reign for 21 years. She had herself pictured in male dress, wearing the
pharaoh's headdress, kilt, and even the pharaoh's false beard. Despite that, the National Geographic
quotes ancient writings that say “To look upon her was more beautiful than anything.” She was a
prolific builder of temples and monuments, writing on one: “Now my heart turns this way and that, as I
think what the people will say. Those who see my monuments in years to come, and who shall speak of
what I have done.” Unfortunately, that was not to be. When her stepson, Thutmose III, eventually
gained the throne after her death, he spent years wiping away inscriptions and other written history of
her. In 2006, her unmarked sarcophagus was finally identified in a minor tomb in the Valley of the
Kings.
Nefertiti (Queen of Egypt, 14th century BC)
Nefertiti was the wife of Akhenaton, who was the father of Tutankhamen by another wife, making
Nefertiti the stepmother of King Tut. During Akhenaton’s rule, Nefertiti’s image is found almost twice
as often as her husband’s, suggesting that she had unusual power and influence. Although Akhenaton
had other wives, only Nefertiti’s image was carved on the four corners of his granite sarcophagus, and
she was depicted as giving him the protection usually provided by a female deity. During his life,
Akhenaton promoted the abandonment of multiple gods for the worship of just the sun god named Aten.
Access to this god was expanded as coming not just through the pharaoh but through the royal couple,
which may explain some of Nefertiti’s perceived power.
Her beauty may have been another factor. Her image is known to us today because of a bust which is
widely considered one of the most iconic pieces of Egyptian art. Known as the Berlin bust because of
where it is displayed, the statue shows a long, graceful neck, full red lips, and a finely featured face, all
adorned by a tall, blue, flat-topped crown. As a result of this statue, she remains known as “The Most
Beautiful Woman in the World.” References to her disappear toward the end of her husband’s rule;
scholars disagree whether that occurred because she died or because she changed her name to become
his co-regent, in the manner of Hatshepsut.
Cleopatra (Queen of Egypt, 69-30 BC)
Cleopatra was the last pharaoh of Egypt, coming onto the throne when she was 18 years old and her
father Ptolemy Auletes died. She was fluent in nine languages, a mathematician, and a good
businesswoman. However, by law, she was forced to take a husband who was either her brother or son
so that a male name from the Ptolemy family line could be attached to the throne. She therefore married
her 12-year-old brother; however, she soon dropped his name from documents and had coins minted
with only her image. She was overthrown by members of the court who feared her power and wanted
her younger brother to rule, thinking he could be more easily influenced, and she was exiled from the
government center.
In the 200 years before her father’s death, the Ptolemy family had grown increasingly allied with Rome
as Egypt’s power waned. When her younger brother killed the Roman general Pompey, who was the
Ptolemy family guardian, the Romans invaded and Caesar himself came to Alexandria. Cleopatra had
herself smuggled back into the city in a carpet and proceeded to win Caesar’s heart, resulting in her rule
being restored. She had a child by Caesar, and Caesar’s relationship with Cleopatra contributed to his
assassination by Roman senators who feared possible foreign rule. Cleopatra returned to Egypt
determined “As surely as I shall yet dispense justice on the Roman Capital.”
She then pursued the affections of Mark Antony, with whom she had a pair of twins, although he was
married to a Roman woman. The height of Cleopatra’s influence over Antony occurred when he
celebrated a military victory with a parade through Alexandria and proclaimed her as the new Isis.
That arrogance finally provoked Antony’s Roman brother-in-law, who declared war on Cleopatra and
eventually defeated Antony’s forces. Both Antony and Cleopatra chose to commit suicide, with
Cleopatra allowing herself to be bitten by a snake, since death by venom was considered a path to
immortality. After Cleopatra’s death, Egypt was ruled by Rome and never again had a pharaoh.
Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1202; Queen of France 1137-1152 and Queen of England 1154-1189)
At the age of 15, Eleanor became the most eligible bride in Europe when the death of her father made
her Duchess of Aquitaine, which encompassed a large part of modern France. She married Louis VII
who soon succeeded to become the king of France. As a pious man, he determined to take part in the
Second Crusade, and Eleanor insisted on accompanying him after assembling 300 of her vassals and
ladies in waiting. Louis was a weak leader and ineffective strategist, leaving Eleanor and her guard to
ride in the front while he marched with the pilgrims and baggage in the rear. When Louis’ group
straggled behind, they were ambushed by Turks who had been watching them, and many French were
killed. Because much of the luggage belonged to the ladies at the front, the disaster was blamed on
them, particularly on Eleanor. Upset with being made a scapegoat, Eleanor sought an annulment soon
after her return to France. Within two months of that decree, she married Henry II, who two years later
became the king of England. Among their eight children was Richard, who eventually became king
himself and left 65-year-old Eleanor to rule on his behalf when he went on the Third Crusade. Her life
was filled with political intrigue, including being abducted and imprisoned multiple times. She outlived
all her children, dying at the age of 82.
Joan of Arc (1412-1431; Leader of the French Army 1429-1431)
Joan of Arc was born to Isabelle Romée and Jacques d’Arc, who was a farmer and minor official in the
village of Domrémy, located in northeastern France. Therefore, Arc is not a place name, but rather a
reference to her father’s surname. Prior to Joan’s birth, France was engaged in longstanding conflicts
that had left it in a shambles. First, the Hundred Years’ War had been ongoing since 1337, with most of
the battles fought on French soil. The dispute was with England, who claimed that their king also held
dual succession to the French throne through the marriage of Edward II with Isabella of France in 1308.
To make matters worse, the French king Charles VI suffered from insanity. His brother, the Duke of
Orleans, and his cousin, the Duke of Burgundy, were quarreling over guardianship of the king’s children
as a pathway to the regency of France. The hostilities were so bad that the House of Burgundy allied
itself with the English. Joan’s village was loyal to the Orleans cause, but it was surrounded by
Burgundy lands.
Starting at the age of 12, Joan claimed to see visions of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and Saint Margaret
who told her to drive out the English and bring the king’s son, known as the Dauphin Charles, to Rheims
for coronation as the next French king. At the age of 16, she managed to visit the royal court and deliver
a prophecy of an unlikely victory over the English. When it came true, Dauphin Charles granted her
permission to travel with the French army and wear the equipment of a knight. It is not clear whether
she actually rode in battle or was simply a standard bearer, but she did take part in planning sessions
ordering bold moves. Between May and July of 1429, she led the army to several victories, culminating
in the Dauphin’s coronation at Rheims.
She continued to fight in minor battles until she was captured by a Burgundy force in May of 1430. The
English ransomed her from Burgundy and took her to England for a heresy trial, hoping that a
conviction would undermine the legitimacy of the Dauphin’s coronation. She was charged with wearing
male clothing, which she agreed not to do anymore. When she resumed wearing men’s clothes in prison
to avoid being attacked by male guards, her repeat “offense” led to her death sentence. She was burned
at the stake on May 1431, just two years after she began leading the French to victory. A posthumous
retrial by the Catholic Church in 1456 found her to be innocent; she was beatified in 1909 and canonized
as a saint in 1920.
Isabella I of Castile (1451-1504; Queen of Spain 1469-1504)
Isabella was the daughter of the King of Castile and the Queen of Portugal. She had a much older halfbrother, Henry, who was in direct line for the Castile throne, and then a younger brother Alfonso whose
birth made her third in line. Her father died when she was two, leaving the care of Isabella, Alfonso,
and their mother to Henry. An uprising in his court to establish Alfonso as the king over Henry’s
offspring led to a rebellion. Alfonso died of the plague before the matter was resolved, so the rebels
asked 16-year-old Isabella to lead the revolt. Isabella preferred diplomacy and made an agreement with
Henry that she would be his heir, if he could approve whom she might marry as long as he did not force
her to marry someone against her will. In spite of that agreement, Henry attempted to coerce her into
several politically advantageous marriages that she managed to elude. Isabella took matters into her
own hands and made a secret agreement to marry the future King Ferdinand of Aragon. Ferdinand
disguised himself as a tradesman, and Isabella claimed she was visiting her brother’s grave, in order for
the two to finally marry when she was 18. She and Ferdinand ruled their kingdoms separately but set
the stage for future unification, with the two territories comprising much of what is now modern Spain.
During her reign, Isabella funded the voyages of Columbus to free Spain from Portugal’s dominance of
the Atlantic; she established the first police force organized and paid for by the government to fight
crime that had gotten out of control; she fixed a legal standard of minting money to stabilize its value;
she relied on professionals rather than nobility to handle affairs of state; and she bought back royal
estates that had been sold under value by her spendthrift brother Henry. She and her husband also
attempted to unify the religion of the country. They retook Granada from the Muslims, bringing the
entire Iberian Peninsula back under Catholic control; they exiled Jews who refused to convert; and they
reestablished the Inquisition to root out anyone unfaithful to the church. As a result, they were both
granted the title of Catholic Monarch, and their grandson, Charles V, became the 20th Holy Roman
Emperor, ruling over an area that spread across Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain.
Catherine the Great (1729-1796; Empress of Russia 1762-1796)
Catherine was born Sophia Augusta Frederika as the daughter of a Swedish princess and German prince.
The brother of Catherine’s mother had been engaged to the daughter of Peter the Great but had died
before the marriage could take place. The grieving fiancée went on to become Empress Elizabeth of
Russia. With no children of her own, she raised her nephew and future tsar, Peter III, after his parents
died. When it came time to choose his bride, Empress Elizabeth remembered her former fiancée’s
family with fondness and sent for Sophia. Sophia converted to the Russian Orthodox Church and was
christened Catherine Alekseyevna. Catherine and Peter married at the age of 16.
Catherine was intellectual, but Peter was coarse. Catherine grew to love Russia, but Peter did not care
for it. He idolized Prussia, with which his country was fighting a long and bloody war. When he
ascended to the throne, his first actions were to end the war and restore all territories to Prussia. He
wore a ring on his finger with the image of the Prussian king and attempted to impose Prussian
discipline and uniforms on his own troops. Within the year, his nobility and officers overthrew him in a
coup that was bloodless except for Peter’s own death. Catherine had won the hearts of those in the royal
court and was installed as the Empress.
She set to work addressing the financial and social disarray in the country. Corruption and injustice
were rampant. The army had not been paid in eight months. No one knew what revenues were in the
treasury, or even how many towns were in the country. She had to send someone to a shop to purchase
a map so the towns could be counted. She improved techniques in agricultural areas by sending experts
to study the soil; she brought in experts from other countries to teach modern methods of planting and
animal breeding; she brought in immigrant labor to help work under populated areas. She sent
geologists to access mines; she encouraged the start of factories; and she abolished export fees to
increase trade. She repaired infrastructure and doubled the number of civil servants to administer
orphanages and prisons. She developed a model for new towns that reduced fire risk. She introduced
the concept of vaccinations and public health and required a school to be built in every community. She
built up the Imperial art collection and commissioned the building of palaces and the Hermitage. She
kept up a lively correspondence with Voltaire and Diderot and bought their libraries after their deaths.
Catherine died of a stroke after a 34-year reign. Upon her death, the British Ambassador wrote: “Last
night... this incomparable princess finished her brilliant career.”
Tzu-His (1835-1908; Dowager Empress of China 1861-1908)
Tzu-His (also called Cixi) was born into an ordinary family of the Manchu Yehenara clan. She was
selected to enter the Emperor’s harem at age 16. She rose through the ranks of the harem when she bore
the Emperor his only son. The Emperor died when the son was only five, but before his death he
appointed eight regents to oversee the development of his son into a ruler, headed by Cixi and another
favorite wife Ci’an. While waiting for the Emperor’s funeral, Cixi received a petition from the
Shandong province to “listen to politics behind the curtain,” meaning for her to become the ruler. Cixi
had made alliances with other powerful men who had been ostracized by the eight appointed regents.
Aided by this ambitious group, the two wives ousted the regents and assumed full control themselves,
with Ci’an handling the family and household decisions while Cixi effectively ruled the affairs of state
in lieu of her son.
As one of her first acts after the coup, Cixi issued an edict that changed the established tradition of rule;
it decreed that the two women were to rule without interference of the male princes who normally
exercised great control within an emperor’s reign. Cixi required that all bureaucrats over the provincial
level report personally to her. She also reversed tradition when she shifted the dominance of the
Manchu minority by entrusting several leadership positions to Han Chinese officials. She decided that
agriculture-based China must expand its industry to compete with the West, so she developed a “learn
from foreigners” program by importing teachers and sending young boys abroad to the United States.
However, she was alarmed at the liberal thinking of those who returned, especially as it might threaten
her rule, and she unfortunately spent the rest of her years fighting the reforms they were sent to learn.
When her son turned 18, she effectively marginalized him until he died of small pox two years later,
putting Cixi back into direct control. Since he died without a male heir, she chose her nephew to
become the next Emperor. Because he was only five at the time, Cixi again retained rule while the
young boy grew. Cixi “retired” when he became Emperor at 18, but he began a Hundred Days’ Reform
aimed at modernizing the country. Displeased by the loss of power the reforms imposed upon her, she
orchestrated a coup and returned to control. In 1905, she threw her full support behind the Boxer
Rebellion, which was a grassroots movement to expel foreigners from China. She said: “…the
extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield to them, I would have no face to
see our ancestors after death. If we must perish, why not fight to the death?” She put diplomats, foreign
civilians and soldiers, and Chinese Christians under siege for 55 days until an eight-nation alliance
defeated the Imperial Army and captured Beijing.
In an effort to regain her standing with the West, Cixi reversed her opposition and instituted sweeping
reforms in law, education, government structure, and social policy that were more radical than those
earlier proposed. Nonetheless, her last act may have been designed to ensure the reforms did not extend
beyond her desires. Knowing that she was dying, she probably poisoned her deposed nephew, whose
body upon modern autopsy was found to have 2,000 times the ordinary level of arsenic. The day after
his death, Cixi installed a new Emperor of her own choice, and then she herself died. She was buried
covered in diamonds in a gold-leafed tomb.
Liliuokalani (1838-1917; Last Monarch of Hawaii 1891-1893)
Liliuokalani was born Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha. According to the custom
of hānai adoption, as the daughter of two chiefs, she was given to two chiefs of higher rank to be raised
as their own. Her hānai mother was the daughter of Kamehameha I, who united all of the Hawaiian
Islands into the Kingdom of Hawaii. Lydia married John Owen Dominis who became governor of Oahu
and Maui. Lydia’s brother ascended to the throne and without a male heir named Lydia as his Crown
Princess in line for the throne, at which time he changed her name to Liliuokalani.
During an 1887 royal tour abroad, she learned that her brother had been forced to sign a “Bayonet
Constitution,” which essentially stripped the monarchy of its power and transfer power to a legislative
and cabinet government controlled by American, European, and native Hawaiian elites. When she
ascended to the throne in 1891, she moved to write a new constitution that would restore the veto power
of the throne and give voting rights to poor native Hawaiians and Asians. Threatened by her initiative,
American and European businessmen formed a “Committee of Safety” in 1893 to overthrow the
Hawaiian Kingdom, depose the queen, and seek annexation to the United States. As they proceeded
with their coup, they used concern for the safety of American citizens as a pretense to request that the
United States take up military positions on shore.
In the face of this force, Liliuokalani temporarily yielded her authority while seeking redress from the
government of the United States to restore her position. A provisional government was installed and
Hawaii was named a protectorate of the United States. President Grover Cleveland got a report from the
Blount Commission in the House of Representatives that found in favor of Liliuokalani, but this was
contradicted by the Morgan Report from the Senate that found in favor of the coup. In 1894, the
Republic of Hawaii was proclaimed and Sanford Dole, who had drafted the original Bayonet
Constitution, became its first president.
In 1895, a counter-revolution failed and Liliuokalani was arrested. Although she denied knowledge of
the effort, she was found guilty and sentenced to five years hard labor in prison, with her sentence
commuted to confinement to an upstairs bedroom of the Royal Palace in Honolulu. During this time she
abdicated her throne in exchange for the release of those loyal to her. She also worked on her memoirs
and composed songs to express her feelings about the Hawaiian culture and history and what was
happening to her people. Among her compositions was the well known “Aloha Oe.”
After one year, she was released to house arrest and then given a full pardon with her civil rights
restored. She believed in peace and peaceful protests. She filed several unsuccessful lawsuits against
the United States for compensations of lost lands; she made several trips to the United States to protest
its annexation of the islands; and she helped oppose the banning of Buddhist and Shinto religions on the
islands. She was eventually given a $4,000 annual pension by the Hawaiian government and the income
from a sugar plantation that had belonged to her brother. When she died, she asked that all her
possessions and properties be sold and the money raised be put into the Queen Liliuokalani Trust Fund
to help orphaned and indigent children.