TOP 7 FEMALE DICTATORS AND DESPOTS

There is this saying that goes "what a man can do, a woman can do it better". Not true in all cases but one can see where they are coming from.

Anytime we hear the word "dictator" we think of the likes of Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, Josef Stalin, Benito Mussolini etc, we always tend to forget the women. Why? I don't know. Luckily y'all have me(you're welcome).

These women helped shaped history even though it cost the lives of thousands of people.

7. AGRIPPINA

 Born in AD 15 in Rome,Agrippina the Younger was the great granddaughter of Roman Emperor Augustus and sister of the Emperor Caligula. In AD 39, Caligula exiled her for conspiring against him, but he allowed her to return to Rome in AD 41. In AD 49, Agrippina saw her main chance and seized it. Poisoning her second husband, Passienus Crispus, she married her uncle, the Emperor Claudius, by then an old and feeble man, and effectively took control.

Agrippina soon bullied Claudius into adopting her son Nero, and strengthened Nero's position further by marrying him to Claudius's daughter Octavia. Meanwhile, Agrippina poisoned all potential rivals. It is likely that she poisoned Claudius, who died in AD 54 after eating poisoned mushrooms, along with his son and heir Britannicus. Nero became Emperor, but Agrippina held on power as regent taking the title AVGVSTA, meaning "empress".

However, Nero soon realized that he was not safe from his mother's lust for power and tried to kill her. He attempted to poison her three times then he sent her out into the Bay of Naples on a ship designed to sink, but she managed to swim ashore. Eventually Nero sent soldiers to her villa to beat her to death.

6. MARY I

Born 18 February 1516 in Greenwich, Mary Tudor was the first queen to rule England in her own right. Her brutal persecution of protestants earned her the nickname 'Bloody Mary'.

The daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, she found herself declared illegitimate when Henry dissolved his marriage in 1533. She was stripped of her title of princess and forced to renounce her catholic faith, though she continued to practice it secretly.

On the death of her half brother, the weakly Edward VI, a protestant insurrection put Lady Jane Grey on the throne and Mary fled to Norfolk. She returned to a triumphal welcome in London. Lady Jane Grey( the so called nine days queen) was deposed after just two weeks on the throne and executed, along with her husband Dudley.

Soon after the coronation, Mary began to revive the catholic church which had been banned under Henry VIII, she gave a rousing speech which stirred the people of the capital to defend her, and the rebellion was defeated and its leaders executed.

Mary then married Phillip, restored the catholic creed and began prosecuting heretics. Some 300 protestants were burnt at stake.

Lonely, childless and hated, she died on 17 November 1558, to be succeeded by her half sister Elizabeth I, a protestant.

5. WU HOU

Born in 625, a daughter of a senior government official.

At the age of 13, Wu Hou entered service as a junior concubine to the first Tang emperor of China, T'ai Tsung. On his death in 649, she transferred her affections to his heir Kao Fsung, becoming his favorite wife. She murdered his other concubines and wives including the then empress becoming empress herself.

Wu Hou then began to exert influence in government, eliminating those who complained that her relationship with the emperor was incestuous. She executed or exiled numerous statesmen including the emperor's uncle. By 660, with the emperor ailing, she was in complete command.

She hired and fired government ministers and hand picked the military commanders who invaded Korea on her orders in 660 and 668. In 690, she usurped the throne herself, ruling for the next fifteen years.

In 705, there was a coup at the palace, and the Changs were executed;the empress was forced to hand power to her son Chung Tsung. At the age of 80, she retired to her summer palace, dying soon after.

4. CATHERINE DE MEDICI

Born 13 April 1519 in Florence, Catherine de' Medici came from the powerful Medici family which ruled Florence with despotic powers almost continuously from 1434 to 1737. In 1533, she married the Dauphin who became Henry II in 1547. Although he maintained a very public mistress, Diane of Poitiers, Catherine bore him ten children in ten years of marriage.

At the time, France was split by a series of religious wars between the catholics, who were backed by spain, and the protestants, led by a group called the Huguenots. Catherine attempted to end the conflict by ordering the massacre of over 4000 Huguenots in paris, in what became known as the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

She became regent again when Charles IX died in 1574 and, during the reign of Henry III, she continued dabbling in politics, stroking up religious conflict. In 1589 she died in France,

3. TZU HSI

Born 1835 in obscurity and started as a lowly concubine, she ended up ruling China for over 50 years, after her great beauty brought her to the attention of the Emperor Hsienfeng, and she bore his only son Tung chih. When Hsienfeng died, Tung chih was only 6 years old, so Tzu hsi ruled as regent, when Tung chih came of age in 1873, Tzu hsi refused to relinquish power. Two years later, he died(some say at the hands of his mother), After placing Tung chih three years old cousin Kuang hsu on the throne, with herself as regent, she gave herself the title ' Mother Auspicious Orthodox Heaven Blessed Prosperous All Nourishing Brightly Manifest Calm Sedate Perfect Long Lived Respectful Reverend Worshipful Illustrious Exalted Empress Dowager', she was known in the Forbidden city as 'The Old Buddha'.

She staged a coup and had the emperor imprisoned in his palace, while she ruled as stead. In 1900, she encouraged the Boxer rebellion which aimed to drive all foreigners from china. When this was brutally put down by European troops, she fled Beijing and was eventually forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty in 1902.

The day before she died on 15 November 1908, Kuang hsu was killed in accordance to her deathbed wishes.

2. CATHERINE THE GREAT

Born 2 May in Stettin, Prussia, Catherine the Great ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796. Like all the tsars, she was an absolute ruler and built on the reforms of Peter the Great to establish Russia as a great power.

Although she is now better known for the somewhat exaggerated tales of her sexual appetites than her political excesses, her sexual life and her political life were inextricably linked.

Life and Crimes:

* 1729- Born 2 May in Stettin, Prussia.

* 1745- Marries heir to the Russian throne.

* 1761- Her husband becomes tsar.

*1762- Proclaims herself empress;husband abdicates and is murdered;takes over lands and serfs belongings to the church

* 1764- Installs her lover Stanislow Poniatowski on the polish throne.

* 1767- Writes liberal constitution but fails to put it into practice.

* 1768- Goes to war with turkey.

* 1774-  Crushes Cossack rebellion.

*1775- Tightens grip of serfdom.

* 1783- Annexes Crimea.

* 1792- Annexes western Ukraine.

*1795- Dismembers Poland.

* 1796- Dies 6 November at Turkey Selo near St Petersburg

There is a myth that Catherine died when she declared that no man could satisfy her, and tried sex with a horse. The horse, it was said was lowered on her by a crane. The crane broke and crushed her to death. There is no evidence to support this scandalous tale.

1. ELIZABETH BATHORY

A legendary beauty, Elizabeth Bathory was born in 1560 into one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Transylvania. She had many powerful relatives, including a cardinal and several princes, a cousin who became prime minister of Hungary, and an uncle who became King Steven of Poland(1575-86).

However, other relatives were known to be insane and sexually perverted, and another uncle as an infamous devil worshipper.

Life and Crimes:

* 1560- Born in Transylvania.

* 1575- Marries Count Ferenz Nasdasdy.

*1604-1610- Tortures and kills female victims and bathe in their blood.

* 1610- Villagers spot bodies of dead girls being thrown over castle ramparts.

*1611- Bathory's accomplices tried and sentenced to death;Elizabeth is sentenced to life in solitary confinement.

* 1614- Dies bricked up behind a wall in her castle.

I really wished i could go into details of how she tortured all those girls and bathe in their blood because she felt it made her younger, but lets make a deal, if i get enough comments here and personally telling me to discus it- i will.

Stay Tuned for the Male Edition

Coming Soon.

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