Ten Leading Women of the World Quiz

Answer: Greece

Cleopatra VII sprang from the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty. Ptolemy, who was one of Alexander the Great's generals, became governor of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. By 305 BC he had titled himself King Ptolemy I. Cleopatra VII (69-30 BC) was the last active ruler of that dynasty. Initially she ruled Egypt with her father, then with two of her brothers, both of whom she married, as was the tradition then, and both of whom predeceased her. From 44-30 BC, she became the last active pharaoh of that mighty country. She made her son by Caesar, Caesarion (47-30 BC), a joint ruler in name when he was only three years old, to strengthen the family's hold on the throne, but he was murdered shortly after Cleopatra's death.

Cleopatra's life as the last Pharaoh included the following:

1. Bitter battles with her brother/husband Ptolemy XIII.
2. Her liaison with the besotted Julius Caesar.
3. Ruling over a country devastated by famine, flood, political machinations and economic disasters.
4. Siding with the Caesarian party led by Mark Antony during the disastrous civil war which followed Caesar's assassination.
5. Her follow up relationship with, and marriage to, Antony.
6. Instigating the murder of her half-sister (and possible threat to her rule), Arsinoe.
7. Her desperate but doomed fight to defend Egypt against an onslaught by Rome.
8. And, knowing all was lost and that she would be paraded throughout Rome in chains, her final defiant act of suicide.

Answer: Boudicea

Boadicea, whose name is spelled in a number of different ways, except for the ones listed above, died circa 60 AD. Her birth date is unknown. She was queen of the Iceni people who inhabited a large part of what is now East Anglia. When the Romans invaded Britain, commencing in 43 AD, her husband, who was ruling the Iceni tribe at that time, made an uneasy alliance with them. On his death, he stated that his kingdom should be divided between his two daughters and the Roman Emperor of the time. This was completely ignored by the Romans, who subsequently took over the area, flogged Boudicea, and raped her daughters in front of her. Boudicea's revenge would prove to be momentous.

She called for her people and the people in other kingdoms around her own to rise in revolt against the Romans. In her chariot, with her daughters by her side, she urged the rebels on in what was described as a loud, rasping voice, and with her flaming red hair streaming behind her. The army she amassed and led, some 100,000 men (an extremely large number for the time) went on to cut a huge swathe through several of the areas occupied by the Romans, methodically destroying all buildings in their path, slaughtering every single inhabitant, and gruesomely killing every Roman they captured. Some eighty thousand people fell before the vengeance of this mighty woman and outraged mother. The Roman Emperor, alarmed at the casualties of the Roman settlements by the revolt, considered withdrawing from Britain altogether, but Boudicea was ultimately defeated in the West Midlands by the efficiency of the highly trained Roman fighting force. Her ultimate fate is unknown. The aftermath of this fiery queen's vengeance was that the Romans took a far more agreeable stance when dealing with the people of the British areas they occupied for the next 400 years.

Answer: Turkey

That empire's capital was Constantinople, known today as Istanbul, and located in the modern country of Turkey. Theodora II was the last empress of the 200 year period (867-1056) when the Byzantine empire was under the control of the Macedonian dynasty. She, like the fascinating Cleopatra of Egypt, was the last of that line. Forced in her earlier life by her envious older sister, Zoe, to join a nunnery for thirteen years, Theodora only made her way up to the throne during a period of political intrigue and backstabbing that would have delighted the heart of even the most prolific writer of melodrama. She was actually forced to take the throne by the people, in spite of fleeing to the sanctuary of her chapel, and was dragged out, furiously protesting, to be dressed in imperial robes against her will.

Initially put into a position of having to co-rule with the inept Zoe from 1042-1055, Theodora was the stronger of the two sisters by far, and was the driving force behind the empire's administration, and the cessation of the corruption of officials that was tearing the empire apart. Together, the sisters rectified many of the faults of previous reigns, but it was an uneasy alliance to say the least. More machinations followed when Zoe married for a third time. Now with the empire headed by three rulers, Zoe and her husband (Constantine IX) tried to usurp Theodora's authority, but with only a degree of success. Zoe died in 1050, and her husband followed suit in 1055. As he lay dying, and such was his dislike of his powerful sister-in-law, Constantine tried to have Theodora removed from the line of succession. Theodora put a brisk halt to that, and in the short eighteen months left to her, took the throne as sole empress of the Byzantine Empire. She was an exceptionally strong and just ruler, controlled the nobles, put a halt to all abuse of power, put her favourites into ruling positions so she could keep her hand on the pulse of her empire, and presided at all meetings of the Senate and decisions of her supreme court. Who knows what else she could have achieved for her empire, but at the age of seventy-six, and before the full effects of her administration could come to fruition, Theodora died. Her death saw the empire fall into a period of decline for the following thirty years.

Answer: France

Born in the country we know today as France, Eleanor lived from 1122-1204. Given the best education possible by her father, she developed into an accomplished musician and sportswoman, was intelligent, high-spirited and stubborn, and, on the death of her father in 1137, became the Duchess of the enormous and powerful Duchy of Aquitaine. Her marriage to King Louis VII of France followed shortly afterwards and was initially a compatible one. However, as independent as ever, when she accompanied Louis on the Second (disastrous) Crusade (1145-1149), she insisted on heading her own group of soldiers from her duchy. From that period of her life on, she and Louis began to fight violently. After they succeeded in having their marriage annulled, in spite of having produced two daughters, she married Henry II of England within eight weeks.

That fiery couple were man and wife from 1152 to 1189 (his death) and, despite a rather tumultuous union, managed to produce three daughters and five sons, three of whom (Henry, Richard and John) were crowned king. The marriage began to founder from 1166, possibly because of Henry's extramarital affairs, after which they lived apart, with Eleanor setting up her own court back in France, a court that soon became renowned throughout the land for its splendour, chivalry, literature, art, music and courtly practices. In 1173, while supporting her son Henry (the 'Young King') in a revolt against his father, a suitably outraged Henry had Eleanor captured and imprisoned at various castles until his death in 1189. He let her out for special occasions however, and often quite cheerfully took her with him on official trips around the realm, before returning her to luxurious bondage.

Upon her release from prison on Henry's death, she ruled England in her son Richard's name until his death in 1199, after which, with John subsequently enthroned, she journeyed to Castile to secure one of her granddaughters as a wife. When some months later, war brought out between John and Philip of France, the ageing queen rallied her forces once again to support another son, but was besieged in a castle by her grandson, who was attempting to claim Aquitaine and England for himself. Rescued by John, and worn out by her long and colourful life, Eleanor spent the remaining three years of her life in a nunnery. At eighty-two years old, the endlessly fascinating Eleanor of Aquitaine died in 1204, having outlived two husbands and all but two of her children. Entombed in Fontevraud Abbey next to her husband Henry, one wonders if, in the still hours of the night when all humans are safely asleep, Eleanor and Henry can still be seen flitting through the halls of the abbey all these centuries later, in continual lively, loving and vigorous regal debate.

Answer: Spain

Isabella I of Castile (1451-1504) was Queen of Castile and Leon. With her marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon, this mighty couple ruled over a huge part of south-western Europe. In a series of brilliant moves, the steps they set in motion would eventually result in the formation of the empire of Spain. Like many of the great leading women of the world, Isabella's early life and first part of her marriage consisted of years of turmoil as rivals factions fought for, about, and around her for years, using the girl as a kind of human pawn in their battles. That she managed to survive all that and eventually inherit the throne from her ever threatening brother is an achievement all on its own. In 1469 Isabella and Ferdinand finally managed to seal a union that had been so long ago agreed to by those in control of their lives, but which had proved yet another bone of contention between the warring factions. The fallout from that marriage continued from some years after, and it wouldn't be until the early 1490s that Isabella was able to take her strong and successful position on the world stage - in full control of her life - and in full control of her kingdom.

A few of the achievements of Isabella's rule, either on her own, or with Ferdinand, include the following:

1. Upon taking the throne of Castile and Leon in 1474, she immediately began a series of reforms that brought retribution to the thousands of criminals, officials and nobles who had been allowed to do as they please under her brother's rule.
2. Restoring the Crown's finances by enforcing all the revenue earning lands and rents her brother had completely mismanaged, establishing a legal standard of coinage, and a monopoly on the royal mint to protect same.
3. Refining the royal administration offices, households and departments into distinct categories, and redefining the tasks expected to be performed by members of the Royal Council and the Councils of State. This in particular was no mean achievement of the determined little queen.
4. Creating what we would recognise today as a highly efficient public relations machine to improve the public perception of the Crown, herself and Ferdinand. This was another stroke of genius on their part.
5. Sponsoring Christopher Columbus on his voyage of discovery
6. Either by war or peaceful means, beginning the slow process of what would ultimately become the great empire of Spain under their grandson, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, who was also known, from 1516, as the first King of Spain.

Answer: Elizabeth of England

Elizabeth I, born in 1533, was Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603. Her rule is referred to by historians as the Golden Age or Elizabethan Era. Daughter of the head-lopping, monastery-destroying Henry VIII, she only ascended the throne after the death of her younger brother, Edward VI, and the follow up rule of her ever threatening older sister Mary I. Choosing to never marry and reproduce, and rightly so considering the fate of her mother, Anne Boleyn, the throne of England passed to James VI of Scotland who became James I of England, upon her death. James was descended from Henry's older sister, Margaret Tudor, who had married James IV of Scotland.

A few of the momentous highlights from Elizabeth long and powerful reign, include the following:

1. An outpouring of music, art, poetry and literature such as England had never seen before.
2. Her extremely reluctant beheading of the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots.
3. The growth of a powerful defensive navy that could, if attacked, prove to be deadly.
4. Ongoing wars or uneasy truces with Spain.
5. The defeat of the mighty Spanish Armada in 1588.
6. The circumnavigation of the globe by Francis Drake.
7. The subduing of the rebellious Irish.
8. Her tours and constant appearances throughout the kingdom.
9. The re-establishment of the Church of England as the church of the realm in a major religious settlement, often called 'The Elizabethan Settlement'.
10. The raising of England's status in the eyes of the world to that of a powerful leading nation.

Answer: Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) was an Archduchess of Austria who became the Queen of France and Navarre, when, in 1770, she married the Dauphin of France, who took the throne as King Louis XVI (1754-1793) in 1774. This young, charming and beautiful Queen has continued to fascinate mankind ever since. Her barbaric treatment during her imprisonment, and subsequent death on the guillotine during the French Revolution (1789-1799), is a blot on that great nation's great history.

Born into a life of wealth and privilege in Vienna as the youngest daughter of the Habsburg Empress Marie Theresa, Marie grew up completely shielded from the reality of the world outside her palace homes. She was beautiful, graceful, vivacious, musically accomplished, but not particularly interested in developing any intellectual abilities she may have possessed beyond what was necessary. Married at the age of fourteen to an equally childlike Louis, the two young teenagers were a pair of babes in the gilded woods. They simply had no idea of the discontent in their country and the terrible fate that awaited them within a few short years. It was only in the last two or three years of her life that Marie began to develop wider interests and become aware of the deteriorating situation in the country, most of which was unfairly placed on her shoulders. Marie Antoinette's achievements for her adopted country came then to the grand total of nothing - all save the loss of her life on the guillotine. That deed's awesome symbolism signalled the end of a long line of monarchs that had ruled that country since the year 486 AD. Various attempts to restore the monarchy to France came into life with each flickering briefly for a few short years after her death, but, by 1870, the long and colourful French monarchy had been relegated to the pages of history, and France had become a republic.

Answer: Russia

Catherine the Great of Russia (1729-1796) was one of the most powerful leaders that large nation had ever known, and, once she organised the assassination of her weak husband Peter III, and took the throne as sole leader in his stead, this Prussian born Queen also took her adopted land, shook it up, dusted it off, revitalised and modernised it to such an extent that it grew to become one of the most powerful nations in the world. Unfortunately, by carrying on the relentless tradition followed by past and future leaders of her empire, these achievements came at the cost of maintaining a relentless grip on the throat of Russia's millions of serfs. This would ultimately bring about the downfall of Russia's monarchy in 1917.

Some of the highlights of the mighty Catherine's long thirty-five year reign include the following:

1. The borders of the Russian Empire were extended south and west to absorb the countries of the Ukraine, Crimea, the northern Caucasus, Belarus, Lithuania and part of Latvia. This greatly antagonised the Ottoman Empire.
2. Two follow up wars against that empire, in which the Ottomans were rather severely beaten by Russia.
3. War with Persia and with Sweden.
4. Apart from her failure with Japan, the successful establishment of diplomatic relations with many leading European countries of the time, some of which would now and then prove to be on rather shaky ground, but others in which Russia acted as mediator in their various international squabbles.
5. Her attempt to have many of the principles of the Enlightenment introduced to her country, but her subsequent failure to have her officials agree on same.
6. The refining of the finances, banking systems, and political structures within Russia.
7. Her great reforms of the existing education practices, and attempts to establish one nation wide system of education.
8. Her great patronage of Russian arts and literature.

Answer: Queen Victoria of England

Most people know that Queen Victoria (1819-1901) of the United Kingdom, and Empress of India took the throne of that nation at the age of eighteen. She was married to Prince Albert and mourned his early passing for the rest of her life, produced nine children, and reigned for an amazing sixty-three years, during which time the British Empire experienced an explosion of industrial, scientific and military development, great political and cultural change, and a mighty expansion of existing and newly acquired territories all over the globe.

What they don't know, perhaps, was that this little queen, who has always fascinated me more than any other, was exceptionally warm-hearted, cared deeply for the welfare of her people, insisting whenever she heard of any wrong, that her ministers deal with it immediately, and had a quick temper which was just as quickly followed by a sincere and contrite apology. They may not know that she loved her children and insisted, no matter what their age, or the kingdoms they ruled, or how far from her they lived, on inundating them with letters of loving advice about their health, their eating habits and how they should deal with all their daily concerns. And they may not know that she had an excellent sense of humour which often saw her rocking with laughter, and that she never once uttered that ridiculous expression, "We are not amused". That phrase irked her considerably, leading her to write in in capitals in her diary one night after returning from a comic play, that "I was VERY MUCH AMUSED INDEED!" One example of this feisty little queen's humour follows:

Once, while attending a formal luncheon, and sitting next to a very deaf Admiral who was telling her about the repairs to one of the navy's ships, she decided to change the subject by asking him about his elderly, autocratic sister. The Admiral, thinking she was enquiring further into the state of the ship, answered loudly "Well Ma'am, I am going to have her turned over and have a good look at her bottom and have it well scraped." Victoria tried hard to control herself, but could not. Instead, she put down her eating utensils, covered her face with a handkerchief, and "shook and heaved with laughter until the tears rolled down her face."

Answer: Netherlands

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (1880-1962) reigned as the monarch of that country from 1890 until 1948. The poor little thing inherited the throne at the age of ten on the death of King William III, but until she came of age, her mother acted as regent. She ascended the throne proper in 1898, at the age of eighteen, and married three years later. After several miscarriages, she finally gave birth to a healthy daughter, Juliana, in 1909, thus ensuing the continuity of the monarchy. Her marriage, devoted on her part, was, for her royal husband, a business agreement in which he produced the necessary heir, and little more.

Wilhelmina's reign included seeing her country through the troublesome times of the new century, keeping the ever threatening Germans at bay, the civil unrest that the 1917 Russian Revolution created in a 'follow-on effect' throughout Europe, the worldwide depression of the early thirties, and World War II. After years of service, the latter part of which saw Wilhelmina battling continual ill health, she abdicated the throne in favour of Juliana in 1948. During her remaining years, she only once emerged from retirement, during the period when she travelled around the Netherlands giving hope and encouragement to a nation reeling from the devastation of the 1953 North Sea flood. This popular and much loved queen, who had spent fifty-eight years of her life in serving the people of the Netherlands, died in 1962.