Facebook Pixel
5 of the Best

Women

5 of the Best
5 of the Best
Joan of Arc
 



Born
6 January, c. 1412[1]Domrémy, 



 

 
Joan of Arc        nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" (French: La Pucelle d'Orléans), is considered a heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. 
 
Joan was the daughter of Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée[23] in Domrémy, a village which was then in the French part of the duchy of Bar.[24] Joan's parents owned about 50 acres (20 hectares) of land and her father supplemented his farming work with a minor position as a village official, 
 
She later testified that she experienced her first vision in 1425 at the age of 13, when she was in her "father's garden"[26] and saw visions of figures she identified as Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, who told her to drive out the English and bring the Dauphin to Reims for his coronation
 
 

 
In 1418, Paris was taken by the Burgundians, who massacred the Count of Armagnac and about 2,500 of his followers.[16] The future French king,Charles VII, assumed the title of Dauphin – the heir to the throne – at the age of fourteen, after all four of his older brothers had died in succession.[1
 
 
 
 
 
"... the Maiden lets you know that here, in eight days, she has chased the English out of all the places they held on the river Loire by attack or other means: they are dead or prisoners or discouraged in battle. 
 
The sudden victory at Orléans also led to many proposals for further offensive action. Joan persuaded Charles VII to allow her to accompany the army with Duke John II of Alençon, and she gained royal permission for her plan to recapture nearby bridges along the Loire as a prelude to an advance on Reims and the coronation of Charles VII. 
 

 
Joan Arc song
CBBC: Horrible Histories - Joan of Arc Song - YouTube
 
 
 
 
Boudica



Died
circa AD 60 or 61, Britannia



 
Boudica was a striking looking woman. - "She was very tall, the glance of her eye most fierce; her voice harsh. A great mass of the reddest hair fell down to her hips. Her appearance was terrifying
 

 
Boudica's husband Prasutagus was ruler of the Iceni tribe. He ruled as a nominally independent ally of Rome and left his kingdom       when he died  Boudica was flogged, her daughters were raped, and Roman financiers called in their loans.
 
 
 

 
 
In 60 or 61 AD, while the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paullinus was leading a campaign in North Wales, the Iceni rebelled. Members of other tribes joined them
 

The Iceni warriors managed to destroy Camulodunum (Colchester) they also defeated the Roman IX Legion.
Hearing the news, Paullinus rushed back from Wales and set about evacuating Londinium (London). He guessed (correctly) that it would be the Britons next target.
Boudicca and her army destroyed Londinium and then attacked Verulamium (St Albans), destroying that city too.
Some people believe that more than 70,000 people were killed in the attacks on Camulodunum, 

 

The Roman army in Britain regrouped in the Midlands and finally defeated the Britons in the Battle of Watling Street.

 
 
Roman cavalry was released which promptly encircled the enemy and began their slaughter from the rear. Seemingly mad with blood lust, Tacitus records that 80,000 Britons; men, women and children, were killed. The Roman losses amounted to 400 dead with a slightly larger number wounded.
 
Boudica was not killed in the battle but took poison rather than be taken alive by the Romans.
 

Alfred Lord Tennyson, the Victorian poet, wrote a poem called Boadicea, and Prince Albert commissioned Thomas Thornycroft to create a statue of Boudicca and her daughters riding a war chariot. The sculpture was finished in 1905 and it is situated close to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge.



Boud
Horrible Histories - Boudicca - YouTube
 
 
Eva Perón
 
Born out of wedlock, Eva, commonly known as Evita, left school when she was 16 and went to Buenos Aires to pursue her dream of becoming a star.
 

 
Juan Duarte, a wealthy rancher from nearbyChivilcoy, already had a wife and family there. During this time period in rural Argentina, it was not uncommon to see a wealthy male with multiple families.[13] However, the lack of legitimacy for Juana and her children would still leave them stigmatized and rejected. Referred to as "bastards", the family was somewhat isolated
 
 
Soon after, Juana moved her children to a one-room apartment in Junín. To pay the rent on their single-roomed home, mother and daughters took up jobs as cooks in the houses of the localestancias.
 
 In 1934, at the age of 15, Eva escaped her poverty-stricken village when, according to popular myth, she ran off with a young musician to the nation's capital of Buenos Aires.

 
 
She found a job on one of the radio stations and remained there until, in 1943, she met Juan Peron, the Secretary of Labour and Social Welfare, who had ambitions to be president, and was working with the Argentine workers to support this bid
 

 
 
Peron stood in the presidential elections in 1946 and Evita was an active campaigner by his side, an unprecedented occurrence in Argentine politics.
 
 

 
On 21 October 1945, Evita and Juan were married.
 
Peron was duly elected and Evita CONTINUED to play an active role. She kept her promise to the working classes and took such an interest that, in everything but name, she became the Secretary of Labour, supporting higher wages and greater social welfare benefits.
 

 
Cleopatra
 



(presumably)


Born
69 BCAlexandria, Egypt


Died
12 August 30 BC (aged 39)Alexandria, Egypt



Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greek[2] origin that ruled Egypt afterAlexander the Great's death 

 
Ptolemy XII died in March 51 BC, thus by his will making the 18-year-old Cleopatra and her brother, the 10-year-old Ptolemy XIII joint monarchs. The first three years of their reign were difficult, due to economic failures, famine, deficient floods of the Nile, and political conflicts. Although Cleopatra was married to her young brother, she quickly made it clear that she had no intention of SHARING power with him
 
 
Cleopatra dropped Ptolemy's name from official documents and her face appeared alone on coins, which went against Ptolemaic tradition of female rulers being subordinate to male co-rulers. In 50 BC Cleopatra came into a serious conflict with the Gabiniani, p
 
 

 
 Cleopatra's younger brother Ptolemy XIII became sole ruler.[11]
She tried to raise a rebellion around Pelusium, but was soon forced to flee with her only remaining sister,Arsinoë.[12]
 
 
Eager to take advantage of Julius Caesar's anger toward Ptolemy, Cleopatra had herself smuggled secretly into the palace to meet with Caesar. 
 Caesar restored Cleopatra to her throne, with another younger brother Ptolemy XIV as her new co-ruler.[17][18
She became Caesar’s mistress, and nine months after their first meeting, in 47 BC, Cleopatra gave birth to their son, Ptolemy Caesar, nicknamed Caesarion, which means "little Caesar."
 
 

 
 
Horrible Histories Awful Egyptians: Cleopatra's beauty regime. "Historical Hospital": Dr Isis - YouTube
 
Caesar Special_News of the Roman Empire World - YouTube
Horrible Histories Julius Caesar' Romeover, Bob Hale's Roman Britain Report - YouTube
5 of the Best
Not playing