Rejected Princesses | History That's More Than 2-Dimensional.

History That's More Than 2-Dimensional.

Theodora (c.497-548)

The Concubine Who Conquered Constantinople

Sex worker who became empress of the Byzantine Empire, and used her political power to safeguard her interests, and her husband’s reputation.

Tomoe Gozen (c.1157-1247)

The Samurai Who Made Samurai Flee

Fearsome undefeated samurai warrior who was “a match for any god or demon,” and is one of Japan’s greatest heroines to this day.

Collection: Spies >

Isabelle Eberhardt

This undefinable adventurer's life burnt bright but short: a wildcard of the Algerian revolution, she survived an assassination attempt by sabre, and died in a freak desert flood.

Virginia Hall

This "most dangerous of all spies" staged daring mountaintop escapes, prison breaks, and railway bombings -- all on her trusty wooden leg, codenamed "Cuthbert."

Noor Inayat Khan

Pacifist Indian princess who gave up everything of herself to hold the line in occupied Paris during World War 2.

Xtabay (Mesoamerican myth)

Siren of the Yucatan

Chaste and virtuous woman spends life assuming she’s better than her more sex-positive neighbor, and for this haughtiness becomes in death a demonic woman who lures wayward men to their death – a stunning indigenous inversion of the Madonna/whore complex.

Nanny of the Maroons (c.1680-1750)

The Mother of Us All

Led colony of escaped slaves and protected them from the English using borderline supernatural abilities.

Nana Asma’u (1793-1864)

The Princess Who Loved Learning

Massively educated princess who started all-female gang of itinerant teachers, who would roam the land and educate unsuspecting passersby.

Collection: Soldiers >

Trinidad Tecson

Turned into a revolutionary in middle age, this mother became one of the Philippines most heralded women.

Khutulun

This undefeated warrior princess refused to marry unless her suitor could defeat her in wrestling - if he lost, he owed her 100 horses. In the end, she had 10,000 horses and no husband.

Osh-Tisch

The last Crow nation baté (Two Spirit mystic) in history, she earned her name -- which means "Finds Them and Kills Them" -- by tirelessly fighting to preserve her way of life.

Chiyome Mochizuki (16th century)

The Widow Who Ran a Ninja Academy

Recruited widows, orphans, and prostitutes into an all-woman ninja spy group, the largest in Asia at the time.

Josefina Guerrero (1918-1996)

Leper Spy of the Philippines

Let her leprosy go untreated for years to make herself the perfect spy in the Japan-occupied Philippines - soldiers wouldn't touch her, so she could slip right through.

Mary Lacy (1740-1801)

The First Female Shipwright

This self-described “undutiful daughter” posed as a man to become the world’s first female shipwright.

Collection: Samurai >

Masako Hojo

When her shogun husband cheated on her, she raised an army and destroyed the other woman's house. Later she deposed her incompetent son to become the first nun to rule Japan.

Tsuruhime Ohori

When invaders threatened her island home, she declared herself a living god, raised an army, and fought them tooth, nail, and occasional grenade.

Sutematsu Oyama

The first Japanese woman to go to college didn't have a choice. But the experience changed her - and she changed Japan in return.

Nwanyeruwa (Early 20th century)

Instigator (and Peacekeeper) of the Igbo Women's War

Instigated a massive "women's war" against British taxation, the effect of which was one part protest movement, one part comedy roast, and one part block party.

Pope Joan (9th century)

The Pope Who Gave Birth

This pope was largely assumed to be male until she gave birth in the midst of a procession - and largely assumed to be factual until the 13th century.

Browse the site entries on a map

The best of the site, curated

Women in Combat

Women warriors are not new

Aligned projects get the RP treatment