Pingyang was born in 600 to Li Yuan, a peasant who had risen through the army to become a commander. She was the only daughter to him and his second wife Duchess Dou. She did have two older sisters from Li Yuan’s first marriage, however, Pingyang spent more time with her four brothers. As was […]
Tag: Biographies
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 […]
Empress Wu Zetian
In the East as in the West, female rulers were not the norm. In China, the famous philosopher Confucius is reported to have said a woman ruling was as unnatural as a “hen crow like a rooster at daybreak.” Huh. A regular John Knox, that guy. Well cock-a-doodle-doo, Confucius, because this is the story […]
Bona Sforza
One would generally think the Queen of Poland would be….well….Polish. In this case, she was not. Bona Sforza, as her name would indicate, was Italian. However, as the wife of King Sigismund I she exercised great power over the country. A member of the powerful Sforza family of Milan, Bona was born on February 2, […]
Nana Asma’u
There is a lot of talk in the news about the education of girls. In fact in recent history Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban for daring to go to school and being female at the same time. However, education for women was not always considered taboo in Islamic cultures. Nana Asma’u is a […]