-
Tamar of Georgia- Queen of Kings
Despite the name, I am not talking about the state in the Southern United States. There is a whole other country coincidentally called Georgia located on the Black Sea near Turkey. The name “Georgia” is probably a corruption of the Persian name for the people there, gurğān. There is also a theory put out there that the people loved the legend of St. George and the Dragon. In any case, they were devoutly Orthodox Christian country with a reputation for being fierce warriors. Their rulers also claimed to be descended from King David, the second king of Israel. Yes, that David. Tamar was born in 1166 CE to King Georgi…
-
Dorothy Lawrence- The Woman in the Trenches
History is full of women who disguised themselves and fought along their menfolk for causes they believed in. A prime example are the women who inspired the legend of Molly Pitcher during the American Revolution. (For more on this, please see this post: http://www.historynaked.com/searching-molly-pitcher/ ) According to historian, Elizabeth Shipton, many women made it to the front line as nurses in the trenches or helping those wounded in No Man’s Land. Some women took up arms and called “she soldiers”, but they had to operate in secret. Dorothy Lawrence was one of these. She disguised herself as a man and fought in the trenches along with the men. Dorothy…
-
Hürrem Sultan- From slave to queen
Born Aleksandra Ruslana Lisowska around 1502, little Nastia as she was known would never have dreamed she would rise to become a queen. She was born in the town of Rohatyn in Polish Ruthenia, which is now in Western Ukraine. Legend has it her father was an Orthodox priest. Some time in the 1520’s, Nastia’s world turned upside down when she was captured by the Crimean Tartars at the tender age of 12. Raids by the Tartars into this region were not uncommon, and Nastia was soon taken to the slave markets of Kaffa. From there she went on to Istanbul, where she was selected for the sultan’s harem. The…
-
Agent 355
In August 1776, George Washington and the Americans had to beat a hasty retreat leaving the British in control of New York City. This was thought by many as the death blow to the Revolution. Washington tried to regroup and desperately needed intelligence from the occupied city of New York. Out of this need, the Culper spy ring was born. It was organized by Major Benjamin Tallmadge and two main members of the ring were Abraham Woodhull, under the pseudonym of Samuel Culper Sr., and Robert Townsend, who used the pseudonym of Samuel Culper Jr. The covert activities began in 1778 and they were charged with reporting on the troop…
-
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
I don’t know about you, but there are days I get very discouraged. People are rude, everything I do fails and nothing goes my way. Then I read about people like Ida B. Wells, and I realize I need to suck it up. My life is pretty easy in comparison. This woman is the epitome of rising on your own steam and is a true badass. Born in 1862 in Holly Springs, Ida B. Wells was the daughter of two slaves- James and Lizzie Wells. This made her a slave too. Luckily when she was six months old, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln, which made young…
