Matilda’s Top Women In History

Lady Jane Grey holds the record for the shortest lived monarch in English history - she was Queen for 13 days, and only 9 of them were known to the public. She was manipulated by the powerful men around her, and forced into a situation she didn’t want and couldn’t control. Sources/Further Reading: Tallis, Nicola: Crown of Blood - The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey Ives, Eric: Lady Jane Grey...

Lady Jane Grey holds the record for the shortest lived monarch in English history - she was Queen for 13 days, and only 9 of them were known to the public. She was manipulated by the powerful men around her, and forced into a situation she didn’t want and couldn’t control. Sources/Further Reading: Tallis, Nicola: Crown of Blood - The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey Ives, Eric: Lady Jane Grey...

Lady Jane Grey holds the record for the shortest lived monarch in English history - she was Queen for 13 days, and only 9 of them were known to the public. She was manipulated by the powerful men around her, and forced into a situation she didn’t want and couldn’t control. Sources/Further Reading: Tallis, Nicola: Crown of Blood - The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey Ives, Eric: Lady Jane Grey...

Lady Jane Grey holds the record for the shortest lived monarch in English history - she was Queen for 13 days, and only 9 of them were known to the public. She was manipulated by the powerful men around her, and forced into a situation she didn’t want and couldn’t control. Sources/Further Reading: Tallis, Nicola: Crown of Blood - The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey Ives, Eric: Lady Jane Grey...

Mary Fortune - it almost sounds like a made up name. However, although Mary did use numerous pseudonyms, this wasn’t one of them. Mary Fortune saw the Irish Potato Famine, the construction of Canada’s railways, the violence and despair of the Australian goldfields and rise rise and fall of Marvellous Melbourne - at the time one of the richest cities in the world. She established a name for herself...

Mary Fortune - it almost sounds like a made up name. However, although Mary did use numerous pseudonyms, this wasn’t one of them. Mary Fortune saw the Irish Potato Famine, the construction of Canada’s railways, the violence and despair of the Australian goldfields and rise rise and fall of Marvellous Melbourne - at the time one of the richest cities in the world. She established a name for herself...

Berengaria of Navarre was married to one of England’s best known kings, and the daughter in law of a famous Queen. However she herself is less well known - despite living a very interesting life. She went on crusade, became stranded on an island, worried about her kidnapped husband and then ran her own independent territory for 2 decades. She never gave up and refused to simply fade away, even whe...

Berengaria of Navarre was married to one of England’s best known kings, and the daughter in law of a famous Queen. However she herself is less well known - despite living a very interesting life. She went on crusade, became stranded on an island, worried about her kidnapped husband and then ran her own independent territory for 2 decades. She never gave up and refused to simply fade away, even whe...

Lizzie Borden was suspected, arrested, tried and ultimately acquitted of a brutal murder, and that is why she is famous - or infamous. But her life is also an interesting insight into how middle-class American women lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She may have been found not guilty in court, but public opinion was very different - and the murder completely changed her life. Source...

Lizzie Borden was suspected, arrested, tried and ultimately acquitted of a brutal murder, and that is why she is famous - or infamous. But her life is also an interesting insight into how middle-class American women lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She may have been found not guilty in court, but public opinion was very different - and the murder completely changed her life. Source...

Gráinne Ni Mháille, known in English as Grace O’Malley, was a woman who broke all the rules. In the 16th Century - a time when women were not considered local leaders and didn’t go out on boats - she ruled over her own fleet of ships, sailing out to trade and raid all along the rugged West Coast of Ireland. She fought against the brutal English Governor and took her case all the way to the top - m...

Gráinne Ni Mháille, known in English as Grace O’Malley, was a woman who broke all the rules. In the 16th Century - a time when women were not considered local leaders and didn’t go out on boats - she ruled over her own fleet of ships, sailing out to trade and raid all along the rugged West Coast of Ireland. She fought against the brutal English Governor and took her case all the way to the top - m...

Eva Peron was born into a working class family and died as Evita, the beloved mother to Argentina. Her life went from a dusty and rural Pueblo to a stage in front of a million-strong crowd. She was both loved and loathed, admired and feared - she had a lot of power and influence, but she also worked exceptionally hard to try and improve the lives of the Argentine people. Perhaps one thing everyone...

Eva Peron was born into a working class family and died as Evita, the beloved mother to Argentina. Her life went from a dusty and rural Pueblo to a stage in front of a million-strong crowd. She was both loved and loathed, admired and feared - she had a lot of power and influence, but she also worked exceptionally hard to try and improve the lives of the Argentine people. Perhaps one thing everyone...

Margaret Douglas was a Tudor Princess - Granddaughter of King Henry 7th, niece to Henry 8th, cousin to Elizabeth 1st and mother in law to Mary Queen of Scots. For decades she was at the centre of both English and Scottish affairs - and was locked up in the Tower of London 3 times for her troubles. Her story is a fascinating one; she witnessed some of the most famous events in English history. Sour...

Margaret Douglas was a Tudor Princess - Granddaughter of King Henry 7th, niece to Henry 8th, cousin to Elizabeth 1st and mother in law to Mary Queen of Scots. For decades she was at the centre of both English and Scottish affairs - and was locked up in the Tower of London 3 times for her troubles. Her story is a fascinating one; she witnessed some of the most famous events in English history. Sour...

Sylvia Plath is today remembered as one of the most influential and popular writers of the 20th Century - she was called ‘the most gifted woman poet’ - a term that still manages to capture the sexism she encountered throughout her life. Growing up in the 1950s was a difficult time for women who wanted both a family and a career, and this is something Sylvia would struggle with for her entire life...

Sylvia Plath is today remembered as one of the most influential and popular writers of the 20th Century - she was called ‘the most gifted woman poet’ - a term that still manages to capture the sexism she encountered throughout her life. Growing up in the 1950s was a difficult time for women who wanted both a family and a career, and this is something Sylvia would struggle with for her entire life...

Isabella of France was the daughter, sister, wife and mother to Kings; acutely conscious of her royal bloodline and dignity, she was not going to be pushed around. When her husband and his hated favourite insulted and belittled her, she took matters into her own hands and did something no woman has done before or since - launched an invasion of England. Sources/Further Reading Warner, Kathryn: Isa...

Isabella of France was the daughter, sister, wife and mother to Kings; acutely conscious of her royal bloodline and dignity, she was not going to be pushed around. When her husband and his hated favourite insulted and belittled her, she took matters into her own hands and did something no woman has done before or since - launched an invasion of England. Sources/Further Reading Warner, Kathryn: Isa...

Isabella of France became Queen of England when she was only 12 years old, and she found a husband who was was not interested in her - both because of her age and her gender. From her first step on English soil she was consistently ignored by the King, who much preferred to spend time with his court favourites. Isabella grew up to be a strong and formidable character, and soon King Edward 2nd woul...

Isabella of France became Queen of England when she was only 12 years old, and she found a husband who was was not interested in her - both because of her age and her gender. From her first step on English soil she was consistently ignored by the King, who much preferred to spend time with his court favourites. Isabella grew up to be a strong and formidable character, and soon King Edward 2nd woul...

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy is a modern style icon - almost 3 decades after her early death. However she was much more that a fashionable socialite - friends and family all say she was kind, warm and caring. She forged a successful career in a difficult industry, and fell in love with a man who happened to be in the public eye. Her struggle to get used to the frenzy of media attention was ongoing, an...

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy is a modern style icon - almost 3 decades after her early death. However she was much more that a fashionable socialite - friends and family all say she was kind, warm and caring. She forged a successful career in a difficult industry, and fell in love with a man who happened to be in the public eye. Her struggle to get used to the frenzy of media attention was ongoing, an...

Katherine Swynford was born an ordinary girl into an ordinary family. But she became the ancestor of Kings and Queens, and produced the family that became the Tudor Dynasty. Her story is, unusually for the times, a love story - and equally as unusually, she was not a woman after power and prestige. Sources/Further Reading: Amin, Nathan: The House of Beaufort, the Bastard Line that Captured the Cro...