There are four major periods in the Habsburg Dynasty:

a) The first period 1273-1526 ended with the Invasion of Hungary by the Turks and with Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria being elected king of Bohemia & Hungary; b) The growing years 1526-1648 finished with the horrific 30 Years War; c) The years of foreign expansion 1648-1806, which lasted until the End of Holy Roman Empire; and finally; d) 1806-1918, which saw the ultimate collapse of the Austrian Empire and which is not dealt with in this article.

The birth of a dynasty 1273-1526

The family origins can be traced back to the 11th Century, when the family occupied Habichtsburg (Castle of Hawks) in modern Swiss canton of Aargau. Through alliances and service with the German emperors they added Switzerland, Alsace and Swabia to their domain. In 300 years the family became one of most powerful in Southern Germany.

The warrior princes of medieval central Europe aimed to extend their territories by conquest, matrimonial alliances and claiming hereditary rights. The extinction of the Babenberg dynasty of Austria (1246) awakened ambition in Ottokar II Premysl, king of Bohemia, who wanted Austria. His rival Bela IV, king of Hungary, wanted Styria (the South Eastern part of modern Austria). Ottokar won a war against Bela. Then Ottokar laid claim to the Empire after the death of Richard of Cornwall, King of Germany. But Rudolf IV of Habsburg, a German prince with vast lands in Alsace and Swabia, was elected Emperor Rudolf I in 1273. In the most significant battle of the middle ages Ottokar was killed at Marchfeld when his Slavic army lost to Rudolf on 26 August 1278.

Rudolf IV (d.1291) of Habsburg, was godson of Emperor Frederick II. Regarding his personal qualities, Tapie says he was: ” one of the great figures of his time: strong and handsome in physique, keenly intelligent, capable of both ambition and adaptability, with a yearning for grandeur and at the same time a desire to avoid excess. Above all Rudolf was a sincere and convinced Christian whose faith encouraged him always to try to do better, to purify his political designs and not to be afraid of generous gestures.” The war with Ottokar II Premysl led to Rudolf I acquiring Austria where the Habsburgs fixed their roots.

The 14th Century was a chaotic period of minor wars. At end of this period, the Habsburgs took over Austria, the Angevins ruled Hungary and the Luxemburgs ruled Bohemia. Charles IV succeeded to the Bohemian throne in 1346. He was brought up at the court of the Valois and started the Czech people’s interest in France. He was crowned Emperor in 1355 and Died in 1378.

The Golden Bull of 1356 gave the Empire a new constitution, yet it did not make the Duke of Austria, an elector. Rudolf IV of Austria, who reigned from 1358-65, sought compensation, claiming great privileges or “privilegium majus” for his House within the Empire arising from ancient charters. Privileges included the use of the title ‘Archduke’ and quasi-sovereignty within their own territories.

During this period the Hussite movement took place in Bohemia. The Church became engaged in a crusade against them and John Huss was burnt on 6th July 1415. Shortly afterwards a new challenge came from the East with Turkish encroachment into the Balkans after Mahomet II captured Constantinople in 1453. It was the Hungarians who bore the brunt of the war under Regent John Hunydai. He died in 1456.

The Diet of Hungary chose Hunyadi’s second son Matthias Hunyadi Corvinus as its king. He established a mercenary array of ‘Black knights’ which kept the Turks at bay and also defeated the Hussite Bohemian kingdom in 1471. After the Emperor Frederick III refused to recognise him as King of Bohemia, Matthias captured Styria, Carinthia and part of lower Austria. He established himself in Vienna, where he died in 1490 after 5 years. Tapie stated that “[by] establishing himself at Vienna Matthias showed how important a role the Austrian duchies might play in the construction of a great state.” However his attempt to create an Austrian Empire relied too heavily on one man. He had no legitimate heir and after his death the mighty black army was dispersed.

Emperor Frederick III (d.1493) was the first Habsburg to establish a durable alliance between his family, the Empire and the Danubian countries. He was very conscious of his dynastic rights. The emperors used the vowels A.E.I.O.U. to their own benefit, interpreting the meaning as “Austriae est imperare orbi universe.”

The reign of Maximilian I (b.1459 – d.1519), who became Emperor from 1493, was a turning point in European History. His matrimonial policies were to influence the destinies of Europe. One branch of the Habsburgs would dominate Eastern France (including the Netherlands) and the Iberian peninsula (including its vast colonies) and the other would monopolize the imperial crown in the heart of Central Europe. He married three times (He was widowed twice). He believed in a great destiny and horoscopes played a significant role in his life and his decisions. Maximilian died in 1519.

The Religious Wars and the Growth of the Dynasty 1526-1648

Louis II Jagellon, king of Hungary and Bohemia was defeated by the Turks under Sultan Soliman II near Mohacs in Hungary on 29th August 1526. Whereas neither Ottokar II Premysl nor Matthias Corvinus were able to maintain association of Danubian kingdoms, the Habsburgs succeeded, starting with the advent of Ferdinand I of Austria, who was elected king of Bohemia and Royal Hungary in 1526. This was to last 400 years.

The Habsburgs were infamous for inbreeding between first cousins, uncles and nieces etc. They were regarded in three different ways: Firstly, 19th Century German view maintained that they suppressed German true nationality; Secondly, the Danube countries witnessed aggressive Germanism; and Thirdly, the Austrian view was that they were supranational.

Maximillian’s grandson Charles V (already king of Spain) (d.1558) became Emperor in 1519 and ceded the Austrian domains to his brother Ferdinand I of Austria (d.1564, Emperor from 1556). Ferdinand became king of Bohemia and Hungary, but the result of Turkish invasions under Soliman the Magnificent, was to reduce Hungary for 200 years to territorial dismemberment and humiliation. Only smaller Royal Hungary (now Slovakia) (which existed from 1526 to 1699) remained under Ferdinand.

There was a religious crisis in the 16th Century. Martin Luther was excommunicated for defying The Pope in 1521. Central Europe moved towards Lutheran Reforms and Calvinism entered into Hungary.

The Habsburgs remained loyal to the Catholic Church. Charles V abdicated in 1556 and gave the Empire to his brother who had been administering it earlier. Ferdinand I was unable to defeat the Protestants by force because the Empire needed to present a united force against the Turks who had invaded part of Germany. They besieged Vienna in 1529 and overran Hungary in 1541. Ferdinand granted religious concessions in return for subsidies for war.

The 30 Years War (1618-1648) began in Prague with the Defenestration and ended in Prague at the gates of Charles Bridge. It resulted in victory for the Habsburgs and prepared the ground for a Danubian empire with Vienna rather than Prague as its capital. Within a short time period three Emperors died: Emperor Matthias d.1619; Emperor Ferdinand II d.1637; and Emperor Ferdinand III d.1657.

Although they had lost Alsace the Emperor secured the patrimonial empire of Bohemia and its provinces, the Alpine duchies and Innerosterreich and Royal Hungary. Here the Emperor was not absolute ruler, i.e. representing the fusion of all powers:” justice, finance, and administration”, according to Tapie – but took second place to patrimony, (i.e. property inherited from the family) and the family.

As a matter of power, authority and prestige but not true absolutism, the House of Austria employed any available means to ensure the dynasty retained its territories, e.g. Ferdinand III married first cousins Maria Anna of Spain (sister of Anne of Austria & Philip IV) and Maria Leopoldina of Tyrol. The Spanish line soon exhausted itself.

Foreign Policy and The Rise of Napoleon 1648-1806

From 1660-1740 war with Turkey was the biggest element of the House of Austria’s foreign policy. The campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy brought victory and conquest after 35 hard years from 1648 to 1683 with the Turkish siege of Vienna. The Habsburg House took upon itself the role of protector of Christendom against Islam. Unlike the Turkish retreat from the siege of 150 years earlier, this time the imperial armies pursued the Turks to drive them out of Hungary. These events took place under Leopold I (b.1640 d.1705), who was Emperor from 1656 to 1705. The Diet of 1687 recognized the Hungarian crown as the hereditary possession of the House of Habsburg, which was a great victory for the dynasty.

The war with France 1689-1697 encouraged the legend of the king of France as an enemy of Christendom and drew the people closer to the Emperor.

Charles II (1665-1700) of Spain died without an heir, thus ending the stronger Habsburg line. Louis XIV of France had married Charles’ sister Maria Theresa and considered himself heir. However, Emperor Leopold I also hoped his son Charles would be adopted by the late king. This led to the 13 year War of Spanish Succession which almost destroyed France, ending with the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. Charles (d. 1740) became king of Spain (Charles III) then Emperor Charles VI after the Spanish kingdom was given to Philip V (grandson of Louis IV).

The Peace of Passarowitz on 21st July 1718 with the Turks meant that the Empire acquired access to sea. However after Prince Eugene died in 1736 Austria lost most of its 1718 conquests against French-reorganised Turks under Treaty of Belgrade in 1739.

In 1740 Charles VI died with no male heir. This resulted in the War of Austrian succession in 1740. The French and Bavarian troops overran Austria in 1741 and elected Charles VII Emperor (1742-45). He was married to the daughter of Emperor Joseph I (d.1711), Charles VI’s brother. Charles VII died in 1745 and Francis of Lorraine husband of Maria Theresa (1717-80) (eldest daughter of Charles VI and heir under his Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, reserving right of female heir) was elected Emperor Francis I (1745-1765).

Maria was ‘King’of Hungary and held the Bohemia crown and archducal cap of Austria, according to Tapie. They had 16 children (1737-56). She modernized her lands into a new state. Francis built up the Habsburg personal fortune. Before 1749 the Habsburg monarchy was regarded as an association of states, but under 1749 reforms the Czech government became centred in Vienna. In the future the Czechs would see this as key cause of their loss of independence. Thus western part became unified.

The 7 years war took place between Austria and Prussia between 1756 and 63. Maria Theresa gave her youngest daughter, Marie-Antoinette (1755-93), in marriage to the French heir (Louis XVI ), allying herself to France in the hope of retaining Silesia from Prussia. Tapie wrote that “Maria Theresa’s ideology was . . . a Christian fidelity in pursuing the achievements of her ancestors, which she could then transmit to her own descendants. Her technique was faithful activity in the service of the monarchy and … easing the burden of her peoples.”

She continued to influence her son Joseph II when he became Emperor (1765-1790). Joseph’s decrees bound the subjects of the Emperor to one another and established the conception of the service of the state, raising public service to a vocation. He liberated the peasants and reformed the Church as part of a vast programme of political and humanitarian reforms to transform the monarchy into a rational and prosperous state. Joseph’s subjects forgot however how much he had done for them.

Belgium declared independence in 1789 (being the same year as The French Revolution). Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were executed in 1793. Hungary was in a pre-revolutionary state when Joseph’s brother Leopold II (1747-1792) became Emperor (1790-92). He restored the peace. Then after 50 years of French-Austrian alliance, all Europe united against France between 1792 and 1815.

Leopold’s son Francis II (b.1768- d.1835) became Emperor in 1792, but this would only last until 1806. Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Austrians at The Battle of Marenego in 1800, but he won his greatest victory at Austerlitz on 2nd December 1805 against numerically superior Russians and Austrians. On 6 August 1806, at the Church of the Am Hof, the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was proclaimed by Francis to prevent Napoleon becoming Emperor.

Bibliography: The Rise and Fall of the Habsburg Monarchy –Tapie (1971)

The birth of the Swiss Guard is historically dated to the 22 January 1506 when the first contingent of Swiss mercenaries arrived in Rome. They were by no means the first Swiss mercenaries to arrive in Rome, as several Popes had done deals with the Swiss Confederation during the 15th century during times of crisis. This time was different. They came as part of a deal between Pope Julius II and the Swiss Confederation as part of an eternal alliance between the two parties.

The agreement meant that the Swiss would be responsible to maintain the numbers and send replacements when necessary. The guards’ duty was specifically tied to the Pope’s person: They were responsible for the life and the personal defence of the reigning Pope. In return, the Swiss got privileges in the appointment of bishops: They were allowed to submit shortlisted candidates from which the Pope would chose their bishops. Kings and Emperors had waged many wars against the Popes to get this privilege, and failed.

Pope Julius clothed them in the yellow and blue colours traditional to his own della Rovere family. Having a personal guard was essential to Julius as his external policy centred on getting rid of the European powers sitting in Italian lands and re-conquering Papal lands lost over the last century. Internally he reorganized the church by strengthening the position of the Pope against the cardinals. All in all, he managed to step on the toes of just about everyone.

Members of the Swiss Guard were not subject to the Pope’s secular power. They were subject to the laws of the Confederation and had the right to be judged by their peers. For all this, it was only logical that they swore their oath in German, and they swore it to the Pope as head of the Catholic Church, not the secular prince ruling parts of Italy. The language of the guards to this day is a mixture of German and Italian.

Emperor Charles V of Austria (and at that time also King of Spain) had a rather pointed discussion with Pope Clement VII which culminated in the Sack of Rome on May 6, 1527. The emperor had chosen his German troops specifically for their Lutheran convictions in the hope they would break just about every convention held at the time, and he was not disappointed. When they entered Rome, they also entered St. Peter. They butchered 200 fugitive civilians on the steps of the altar after having slaughtered the 147 Swiss Guards trying to defend them against the infidels.

42 guards ushered the Pope out of the Vatican and into the Castel Sant’Angelo keeping him from getting captured. This could not prevent the total defeat of the Papal forces, and part of the conditions for the Popes freedom was the disbanding of the Swiss Guard. They were replaced by a German Guard. The Pope managed to get the concession from the Emperor that any Swiss willing to do so would be allowed to enter the German Guards, but he managed to hold only 12 of his trusted men as their hate and disdain for the heathen Germans was just too much to bear.

If the German Guard was replacing the Swiss, it was rather as jailers to the Pope than for his defence. In addition to the Germans, Charles V left a Spanish Guard in the Vatican. The Papal States and the Catholic Church were in a state of occupation and controlled by the Habsburg emperors.

In memory of the sacrifice of the Swiss Guards during the Sack of Rome, new recruits to the guard are sworn in on May 6. The ceremony is normally not open to the public but is attended by the families of the new recruits. On invitation, it is also attended by the Swiss Government, Swiss bishops, ambassadors, and cardinals.

Official Swiss History dates the roots of modern Switzerland to 1291. The official version cites the ‘Bundesbrief’ (Federal Charter) of that year together with the oath of mutual assistance between the counties of Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden as the starting point of common interests with the logical end of an independent country. This view is not only flawed but downright Victorian.

In the late 19th century, Switzerland was surrounded by countries formed on national common roots. Germany, France, and Italy claimed (wrongly) to be impersonations of their nations of common interests, common regional origins, and no national identity.

In 1890, the city of Bern was preparing the celebrations for the 700 years jubilee of its founding in 1191 and decided to add on as an afterthought the jubilee of the founding of Switzerland in 1291. A historical row was the consequence, and as in all historical rows politics won the day over historic accuracy. Out of this, Switzerland was to get the common history it had previously lacked.

The ‘Bundesbrief’ had lain mouldering in an archive in Schwyz for centuries and had been widely ignored by everybody including historians. The document is basically a list of rights and duties of the population of the three signatory cantons in their relations with each other. It makes no claim to independence of the German Roman Empire. It is dated at the ‘beginning of August 1291’. It was in no way a unique document and most probably just a reiteration and elucidation of earlier documents now lost. Only two points out of many deal with armed conflict, all the rest concern civil matters.

Hans Schriber (translates to John the Scribe or Writer) collected the documents and legends relevant to the Swiss Confederation in 1470. He related the story of the oath of mutual armed assistance of the three cantons and dated it to 1307. The date comfortably coincides with Phillip IV of France move against the Knights Templar.

In 1891, the date of the ‘Bundesbrief’ and the oath taking together with the legend of Wilhelm Tell were mangled into a single coherent ‘historical date’ which was subsequently accepted as the history of the origin of Switzerland. In fact, the ‘Bundesbrief’ has meanwhile been carbon-dated to the end of the 13th century. The story told by Hans Schriber might well be true and correctly dated, as the persons mentioned are historically proven to have existed at the time mentioned and no proofs have been found to change Schriber’s dating. Wilhelm Tell’s legend took shape during the 15th century and contained many elements from the real life of Stauffacher, one of the oath takers.

Where would the Knights Templar fit into this set-up? To answer this question, the first look should be at what we have in information. The three cantons in the confederation were poor with a poor population. The main income was farming in a region that mainly consisted of mountains. In 1230, the Devil’s Bridge was built opening a merchant’s pass into Italy. It provided a small income as it was not a primary route. It was enough though to lift the three cantons from dirt poor to poor. They also were constantly overpopulated.

In 1307, King Phillip tried to have all Knights Templar in France arrested. He forced Pope Clement VII to disband the order in 1312 and had the last of his prisoners murdered in 1314.

In 1315, several hundred men from the three Swiss cantons faced the army of Duke Leopold of Habsburg made up of 2,000 knights and 9,000 foot soldiers. Leopold had set out on a punitive excursion on the behest of his brother, Duke Frederic of Austria and Styria. Together with his knights, he expected an easy little ride into Schwyz, some burning down of villages and farms, and then an easy ride back, as it was unthinkable that anybody but a knight would do battle against a knight. And the three cantons boasted no knighted local nobility.

Leopold was unaware of the fact that the Swiss had changed the rules. If the locals knew that as lowly farmers they were not allowed to touch the high and mighty knights, they didn’t care. Even worse, they had devised a new weapon that indicated their full intent and the change of rules: the halberd. Mounted on a long pole, the halberd is designed to bring down horses, pierce through visors, hack, slash, cut, and generally work as a tin opener on knights’ armour; a fitting weapon for the nation that would eventually invent the Swiss Army Knife. In a further change of rules, the Swiss didn’t take prisoners. Leopold lost more than 2,000 men that day, most of them knights, while the Swiss claim to have lost 12 men.

The main question is: Where did the Swiss get their halberd from? Or rather, where did farmers get the idea for the halberd from? It is this puzzle which makes some people believe that the Knights Templar might have had a hand in it.

It is highly unlikely that a Knight Templar or even several of them could have entered the cantons unnoticed without leaving a trace even in local legend. It is even more unlikely that a knight would have approved of the change in rules. The battle of Morgarten became a turning point in military history. Before, knights had engaged in battle contests, leaving the dying mostly to the lowly footmen, while the Swiss had entered that fray with the sole intent of winning it at all cost. This way of thinking could have been nothing but anathema to any knight.

But what historians haven’t looked into in detail is the economic fallout of King Phillip’s apprehension of the Knights Templar. There were whole industries dependent on the knights, not the least of them the smiths providing the armour. Highly skilled individuals were made welcome anywhere, and they could have arrived in cantons without making much of a stir. And a smith who knows how to build armour would certainly know how to take it apart.

While I do not believe in the Knights Templar settling in the Swiss Confederation, I do think it is time that historians had a closer look at the economic implications stemming from the dissolution of the order which went much farther than the knights proper.

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Vienna as the capital of the Austrian Empire harbours the famous Kapuzinergruft (Crypt of the Capuchins) with the sarcophagi of the Imperial family since Vienna became the capital. It is one of the weirdest places in the world, but a must have seen if ever you get to Vienna. The sarcophagi range from simple through classic into the weird, fantastic and grotesque.

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Looking at these pictures you immediately get the connection to Saint Death. It is also startling to see the crowns of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia settled upon skulls. Many Austrians come to the crypt on a regular basis and leave flowers for their favourite Imperial, and many still remember Zita and her post Second World War efforts in the United States and Canada to raise money for civilian relief in Austria and Hungary.

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What most people don’t know: The bodies buried in the crypt are all incomplete, because before burial the heart had been removed for separate burial. The place were all these hearts are kept is the monastery of Muri in Switzerland. Even though the abbey was secularised in the 19th century by the Swiss, the custom persists.

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Switzerland therefore was on high alert after the death of Her Imperial & Royal Majesty Zita in 1989, as the family burial would be taking place in secrecy in Muri. On such occasions, all members of the Imperial family gather, and security measures are strident. A week later, the unofficial state burial took place in Vienna.

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Why would the Austrian Imperial family choose to have their hearts kept in Switzerland, the most democratic of countries? They are one of the oldest Swiss families and most of them have a Swiss passport these days. Their ancestral home is Castle Habsburg in the Canton and Republic of Argovia, where they resided as Counts of Habsburg until 1240, when Rudolf was elected king of Germany.

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Large parts of modern Switzerland are made up of original Habsburg counties, and the family retains lands and castles in Switzerland. Truly Swiss, they never use their titles in Switzerland, and many obscure and quite a lot of prominent members of the Imperial family live a peaceful and private life among the Swiss who gracefully ignore their status.

As follows are ten queen regnant from different historical periods ranging from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages to modern history:

Hatshepsut

The first female pharaoh to reign over ancient Egypt (1479 to 1458 B.C.). After her husband Thutmose II’s death, she became regent to her newly crowned young nephew Thutmose III, but would proclaim herself “Pharaoh” after a few years. An able leader, she conducted military campaigns in Nubia, re-established trade routes disrupted by the Hyksos invasion, and constructed the awesome temple complex at Deir el-Bahri.

Christina

“Christina on horseback” (1653) by Sébastien Bourdon

Queen of Sweden, dubbed “The Minerva of the North” for her love and patronage for the arts and culture. In 1632 when her father King Gustav II Adolf died in battle, she was immediately declared as “king” of Sweden at only six years of age. Educated as a prince, this very mannish but gifted ruler began to rule in her own right on her eighteenth birthday, and was able to effectively negotiate the Treaty of Westphalia bringing to an end the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. Overburdened by the pressure for her to marry, she relinquished the throne in 1654 in favor of her cousin Charles Gustav (Charles X), converted to Catholicism, and settled in Rome, where she died and was buried in St. Peter’s Basilica in 1689.

Artemisia I

“Battle of Salamis” (by Wilhelm von Kaulbach) in which Artemisia commanded five ships

The daughter of Lygdamis and tyrant queen of Halicarnassus, the only woman whom Herodotus attributed with manly bravery. In 480 B.C., she commanded five ships to assist her Persian ally under Xerxes in the Battle of Salamis; but when she found herself about to be captured by the winning Greek fleet, she deliberately crashed and sunk a Persian ship in order to deceive the Greeks into thinking she had changed sides, and thereby, to spare her life.

Razia Sultana

An unknown artist’s rendition of Razia Sultana

A thirteenth century Muslim ruler, the first female monarch to rule Delhi. She was chosen by her father, Iltutmush, over his many incompetent sons to be his successor. She started wearing man’s attire upon assuming the throne. She proved to be a capable leader both in the battlefield and in court, establishing law and order in her country, and successfully playing the game of politics to rally support to her side.

Septima Zenobia

Zenobia, portrait bust (Vatican Museum, Rome)

Queen of Palmyra (267 to 273 A.D), known for her exceptional beauty and courage. She was also well educated, able to speak Latin, Greek, Syriac and Coptic. She ascended the throne as regent of her infant son Vaballathus upon her husband Odenathus’ death. She personally marshaled troops into battle decisively vanquishing the Romans, conquered parts of Asia Minor and annexed Egypt claiming to be a descendant of Cleopatra and Marc Antony.

Maria Theresa

Portrait of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria by Martin van Meytens

Archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia (1740-1780), the only female empress of the 650-year history of the Habsburg dynasty. Being the eldest, she succeeded her father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI; however, her accession triggered the War of Austrian Succession which was instigated by Frederick the Great of Prussia in his desire to claim the throne for himself. Strong-willed and ambitious, her many successful reforms included government centralization, establishment of the supreme court, abolition of capital punishment, power restrictions of local nobles, founding of military and engineering science academies, regulation of serf’s obligation and education support for the peasantry.

Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great (1783), painting by Dmitrij Grigorevic Levickij

Empress of Russia, well-known for the many lovers she had during her reign. In 1762, she, with the support of the Imperial Guard, took part in a bloodless coup that ousted her husband Peter III and had herself proclaimed empress. Under her rule from 1762 to 1796, she was able to annex Southern Ukraine and Crimea to Russia through warfare, promoted the arts and education and transformed St. Petersburg into one of the most impressive European capitals.

Elizabeth I

“The Ermine Portrait of Elizabeth I” (c1585) by Nicholas Hilliard

The daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn, nicknamed the “Virgin Queen” (as she never married) and “Gloriana.” Her 45-year reign (1558-1603), commonly referred to as the “Golden Age of England,” was an era of prosperity and great accomplishments, as follows: Church of England established; commerce flourished; North America colonized; Spanish Armada defeated and the world circumnavigated by Francis Drake; and arts and literature thrived with celebrated writers as Shakespeare, Marlowe and Spenser.

Isabella II

“Queen Isabella II of Spain” (1852) by Franz Xavier Winterhalter

The eldest daughter of Ferdinand VII by his fourth wife Maria Christina of Bourbon. She became Queen of Spain in 1836, because her father was able to persuade the Cortes Generales to set aside the Salic law which precluded all females from inheriting the throne. However, her corrupt handling of politics, military misalliances, tyranny and religious zealotry brought about the Glorious Revolution resulting in her exile to Paris in 1868 and her abdication in 1870 in favor of her son Alfonso XII, whose rule officially started in 1874.

Wu Zetian

The lone female emperor in China’s history. During the seventh century Tang Dynasty, she ruled with an iron hand, instituted a secret police force that did not hesitate to jail, exile or execute anyone who dared to oppose her. Though despotic, she was a capable ruler treating the peasants fairly; lowering taxes; improving infrastructure and agricultural productivity; recruiting qualified people to government through exams; and even allowing women to be educated. She initially reigned in her husband Emperor Gaozong’s and her sons’ name but would eventually declare herself “emperor” under the new Zhao Dynasty.

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