a) Born into a peasant family, she became a French heroine by leading the army of Charles VII against the English at Orleans. Captured by the Burgundians, and held by the English, she was put on trial on charges of witchcraft and fraud. She was charged only for wearing male clothes, an offence against the Church, and was burned at the stake. Her legend grew and she was canonized in 1920.

b) Her rule was short and stormy. Upon inheriting the throne, she had to deal with a depressed economy and a constitution that was forced on her people by the United States, leaving the monarchy powerless. She was determined to free the country from overseas control. Her push for a new constitution led to a confrontation with the Americans. She was imprisoned on charges of supporting an uprising, which never actually took place, and a provisional government was set up.

c) She was joined in a political marriage to Henri, Duke of Orleans, who became the French King. As queen she brought aspects of Italian culture to France, such as the theatre and food. After her husband's death, she gained political power and was involved in political intrigues of the court. She was blamed for the idea of the massacre of St. Bartholomew (1572).

d) Starting out as a low-ranking concubine of Emperor Hs'en Feng, she rose in status when she gave birth to his only son. At the king’s death, and her son's succession, she became active in state affairs and refused to stop even when her son came of age. She used state funds to build herself a palace. Under her rule, the western powers forcefully increased their presence in the country.

e) She was the powerful wife of Akhenaton, who worshipped a new religion honouring only one god, Aten. She later rejected this religion, backing her half-brother who re-established the old worship of the sun-god Amon. Her beauty was immortalized in beautiful sculptures made at the time.

f) As the queen of the Ndongo and Matamba kingdoms she was honoured for her resistance against the Portuguese occupying these parts of Africa. She organized a powerful guerrilla army, conquered the Matamba, developed alliances to control the slave routes, and even formed an alliance with the Dutch, who helped her stop the Portuguese. She eventually negotiated a peace treaty with the Portuguese, but still refused to pay tribute to their king.

g) This ambitious last ruler of the Macedonian Dynasty of Ancient Egypt was a highly intelligent and educated person. In her struggles to win the crown and keep her country free, she needed the support of Julius Caesar, later gaining the protection of Rome through an affair with Mark Anthony. Financing his failing military campaigns, she was defeated in a battle against Octavian in 31 B.C. and committed suicide.

h) Born in the Ukraine, she emigrated in 1921. Her work within the Labour movement led her to achieve high political positions, including diplomatic missions, Minister of Labour and Minister of Foreign Affairs; in 1969, she was elected Prime Minister. She was a powerful, tough leader, but her defence policy was criticised because the country was unprepared in the 1973 Yom Kippur War; she retired from politics when the Labour Party fell from power as a result of this war.

i) She arrived in Russia from Germany in 1744 to marry the 16-year-old Grand Duke Peter. His unpopularity allowed her to remove him from power, plan his death, and declare herself the ruler of Russia. She supported progressive ideas, such as reforms in law, education, and administration. However, she ruled as an autocrat, suppressed Polish nationalists (which led to Poland's partition), and took the Crimea and parts of the Black Sea coast from Turkey.

Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most __________ and fascinating personalities of feudal Europe. At the age of 15, she married Louis VII, King of France, bringing into the union her __________ from the River Loire to the Pyrenees. At the age of 19, she offered thousands of her __________ for the Second Crusade to Bernard of Clairvaux. While the church may have been pleased to receive her thousand fighting vassals, they were less happy when they learned that Eleanor, with 300 of her ladies, also planned to help "tend the __________." The presence of Eleanor, her ladies, and wagons of female __________ dressed in armour, was widely criticized.

Later Eleanor fell in love with her uncle Raymond, the prince of Antioch, who was only a few years older than her and more interesting than her husband, Louis. When Raymond and Louis __________ on the next goals of the Crusade, Eleanor agreed with Raymond. Louis commanded Eleanor to __________ him to Jerusalem, but she announced that their marriage was not __________ in the eyes of God, for they were related through some family __________ that was prohibited by the Church. Nevertheless, Louis still forced Eleanor to ride with him, but their expedition failed.

The defeated Eleanor and Louis were returning to France in separate ships when she learned that her uncle had been killed in __________. For the next Crusade, it was forbidden for any women to join in. All the Christian monarchs, __________ King Louis, agreed to this.

Her __________ with Louis was over and in 1152 their marriage was annulled; she then regained her estates. At the age of 30, she married 20-year-old Henry who two years later became king of England. Henry's infidelities caused her to establish her own court at Poitiers (in 1170), which became the scene of much artistic __________. She supported her sons in their __________ revolt (1173) against Henry and was confined by him until 1185. In 1189 she helped Richard gain the throne. Later, her other son, John, became king of England.

Shagrat al-Durr, a slave of Turkoman origin, became the wife of Salih Ayyub, the sultan of Egypt. In 1249, while the crusading armies of France were threatening Egypt and Salih was away in Damascus, Shagrat, acting on his behalf, organized the defence. The sultan came back, but died soon after his return. Shagrat concealed his death by saying he was "ill" and continued to rule in his name.

When Turan, his son and her stepson, returned, she finally announced her husband's death and gave power over to him. Retaining control over the army, Shagrat defeated the Crusaders. The leaders of the army did not respect Turan; they wanted Shagrat, seeing her as a Turk, like themselves. They plotted against Turan and had him murdered. In 1250, Shagrat al-Durr was put on the throne and peace was made with the Franks.

Shagrat al-Durr became the first sultan of the Mamluk dynasty. However, Egypt of that time was under the authority of the Caliphate at Baghdad, who did not approve of Shagrat. The Caliph said that no woman was to be ruler, and appointed in her place a Mamluk soldier named Aibak. Shagrat was humiliated, as she had been Egypt's sultan for only two months. She stepped down but was not finished. Either for love or political ambition, she managed to seduce Aibak, who married her to legitimize Mamluk’s rule. With her experience at administration and leadership, it was Shagrat rather than Aibak who really ruled for seven years. A historian who lived at the time comments: "She dominated him, and he had nothing to say." Shagrat continued to sign the sultan's laws, had coins struck in both their names, and had people call her Sultana. However, Shagrat al-Durr was a jealous woman who did not want to share power. When she married Aibak, she made him divorce his wife, with whom he had a son. In 1257, Aibak proposed to take another wife. In Shagrat’s eyes this was unthinkable. Out of jealousy, she planned his murder and carried it out when he was having a bath after a game of polo.

In desperation, Shagrat al-Durr tried to conceal the crime, but Aibak's former wife and son wanted revenge. The army divided into those supporting Shagrat and those opposing her. Rioting broke out, and Shagrat was cornered. Encouraged by Aibak's ex-wife, Shagrat was beaten to death with wooden shoes by the harem slaves. Her half-naked body was thrown into the moat of the citadel. Eventually, her bones were placed in what today is known as the mosque of Shagrat al-Durr.

María Eva Ibarguren was born in 1919 as the illegitimate daughter of a ranch manager and his mistress. At the age of 17, Eva left her home for Buenos Aires and within three years established herself as a radio and film actress. In January 1944, Eva met a very popular politician named Juan Perón. Within weeks, they were living together and then married. Later he was elected President of Argentina and ruled in the style known as "Peronism", which was a mixture of democratic principle and despotism.

Eva became the object of intense, almost mystical adoration by the country's common people. She gained international attention during her Rainbow Tour of Europe to promote Argentinean interests, and at home she was famous for The Eva Perón Foundation for charitable works among the nation's poor. In turn, the poor wanted her to become the vice-president. Eva would never realize this goal, because she had cancer and died in 1952 at the age of 33. The popularity she had among her fellow citizens could be seen in the sadness that followed her death. Nearly a million Argentineans crowded the streets of Buenos Aires for her funeral procession, and about three million came to pay their last respects. The myth of "Saint Eva" was kept alive by requests to the Vatican for her canonization: forty thousand appeals were received in the two years following her death.
Oh, What a Circus

Murasaki Shikibu, the best-known writer to emerge from Japan's glorious Heian period, was born into the Fujiwara family. Her father __________ the governor of a province and a well-known scholar, who __________ Shikibu to study with her brother. He even __________ her learn some Chinese classics, which was considered improper for females at the time.
Lady Murasaki __________ her distant relative, and __________ him their only daughter in 999 A.D. Her husband __________ in 1001 A.D. The imperial family __________ of her writing talent and her brilliant mind, and __________ Lady Murasaki to court.
At court, Lady Murasaki __________ a diary she __________ up for two years. She __________ a vivid account of court life. She also __________ to great pains to hide her knowledge of Chinese. She __________ the criticism of those who __________ it to be unladylike to be happy reading this unknown language.
Shikibu __________ the novel The Tale of the Genji at the court. She __________ it loosely on her years as lady-in-waiting to the Empress Akiko. The very long novel __________ complications in the life of a fictitious prince called Genji. The tales of Prince Genji, known as "the Shining Prince," __________ popular from the moment of its release. Little is known about Lady Murasaki's later life. Perhaps, she __________ from court and __________ seclusion in a convent.

Anna Comnena is considered the world's first female historian and a major source of information about the rule of her father, Alexius I. Her works are full of details about daily life at court, the activities of her family, and the exchanges between the Byzantines and western crusaders during the first crusades.
1. Anna was an Emperor's child. It is sure, that she received an excellent education. She ______________ an excellent education.
2. Perhaps, she expected that at her father's death she would take his place as head of an empire which stretched from Italy to Armenia. She _______________ that at her father's death she would take his place as head of an empire which stretched from Italy to Armenia.
3. But the birth of her brother destroyed all her hopes. Anna married a historian in 1097. Probably, her mother encouraged her to try and seize the imperial throne for him. Her mother _____________ her to try and seize the imperial throne for him.
4. The attempt failed, and she was forced to retire from court life. The attempt failed, and she ______________ to retire from court life.
5. After her husband's death, she entered a monastery. We are sure it was where 55-year-old Anna began serious work on Alexiad, a 15 volume history of her family, the Comneni. It _______ in the monastery, where 55-year-old Anna began serious work on Alexiad, a 15 volume history of her family, the Comneni.
6. In her works, Anna directed most of her hatred toward the crusaders from the West. Her father had asked Pope Urban I for help. It is obvious he wanted to stop the Turkish attacks which had left the southern and eastern borders of the Byzantine empire virtually defenceless. He _____________ to stop the Turkish attacks which had left the southern and eastern borders of the Byzantine empire virtually defenceless.
7. Urban II’s response was positive. The First Crusaders soon arrived in the magnificent city of Constantinople. It is clear that to Anna, they appeared as uneducated barbarians, with manners far beneath those of the wealthy and cosmopolitan Byzantines. To Anna, they __________________ as uneducated barbarians, with manners far beneath those of the wealthy and cosmopolitan Byzantines.