So I've been having fun continuing the project of my massive family tree. The next step was to do quick internet searches to find historical people in the line and write a short summary of who they were and what they did. Yes, I know, the internet is full of bad information--but I've mostly just been looking to see if someone was known in history at all. One thing that I noticed about halfway through the Middle Ages somewhere is that there were some pretty amazing women around then! Here are some of the more interesting ones (both good and nasty):
Aelia Eudoxia (d. 404): She was the wife of the Eastern Roman Emperor, Arcadius. She actively supported orthodox, Nicene Christianity and gave money to fund the anti-Arians. She became an enemy of John Chrysostom when he condemned women's lavish dresses and parties, because she thought she was being targeted. She had him exiled twice. During his second exile she bled to death after miscarrying her seventh child.
Aelia Eudocia (401-460): She was a servant who had been deprived of her father's inheritance by her evil brothers. She went to court in Constantinople to plead her case, and her persistence attracted the attention of the emperor Theodosius' sister, Pucheria. Pucheria hired her as a lady-in-waiting and taught her manners, introducing her to her brother. Eudocia and Theodosius II were married and she became empress.
Basina de Thuringia: She left her husband and went to Gaul (France), where she proposed to the King of the Franks and he married her. She is known for saying, "I want to have the most powerful man in the world, even if I have to cross the ocean for him." She is the mother of Clovis, the first Frankish king to convert to Christianity.
Theodelinde of Bavaria (570-625): Married to the King of the Lombards, but when he died she chose to marry his brother, making him king. She worked hard to restore orthodox/Nicene Christianity to primacy in Italy, fighting against Arianism. She built many churches in Lombardy and Tuscany, including a cathedral.
Fredegonde (543-597): A servant and mistress of the Frankish king Chilperic I. After he murdered his wife she became queen. She had one brother-in-law assassinated and made attempts on the life of her other two brothers-in-law. When her husband mysteriously died, she took his money and her infant son and took refuge in a cathedral in Paris. She had her infant nephew killed so that her son would inherit his lands. Gregory of Tours says that she was "ruthlessly murderous" and "sadistically cruel" with "few rivals in monstrousness." She may be the source of the evil stepmother in Cinderella fables.
Emma Welf of Altorf (d. 875): Wife of the German King Louis. She led an army against insurrectionists who tried to capture her husband. The traitor was so frightened by the arrival of the queen at the battle lines that he fled to exile. She had seven children.
Gisele, Princess of France (820-876): Youngest daughter of the French Louis I and named after Charlemagne's sister (her aunt). She was known for her piety and virtue and was the sole educator of all nine of her children.
Oxburth of Wight (810-835): She was the mother of Alfred the Great who said she was "a religious woman, noble both by birth and by nature."
One of the bumper stickers that I despise the most is "Well-Behaved Women Don't Make History." I've always tried to come up with a witty comeback for that one, and my husband finally helped me come up with one: "Well-Behaved Women Don't Invent History." These Ancient and Medieval women were anything but pushovers and pawns. They influenced entire nations and empires--either by their righteousness or wickedness. Many of them even converted their husbands through their examples of faithfulness, or were only known because their powerful children praised them, like Alfred the Great's mother. I'm not sure of the definition of "well-behaved" would be, but hopefully the feminists aren't asking for another Fredegonde.
