Women Who Shaped the Fate of Europe

Women were at the center of European upheavals—with lasting effects. Whether Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of Castile, Elizabeth I, Maria Theresa, or Catherine the Great: they mastered the tools of power politics, held their own in religious conflicts, and contributed to the emergence of modern states. Their authority, however, was not based on recognized equality. It was not until the Age of Enlightenment that women's rights were explicitly formulated as part of human rights. Writings such as Olympe de Gouges' "Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen" and Mary Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" marked the beginning of a new era. A well-founded historical examination of female power, responsibility, and emancipation in Europe.