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Women of History

• Melisende of Jerusalem

• Joan of Arc

• Isabella of Spain

• Elizabeth I

• Grace O'Malley

• Hannah Emerson Dustin

• Catherine the Great

• Ada Byron Lovelace

• Victoria Woodhull

• Emmeline Pankhurst

• Countess Markievicz

• Jane Digby 

• Indira Ghandi

• Sirimavo Bandaranaike

• Fanny Pearson

• Lilian Ngoyi

QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN   Born 1451

Isabella insisted that she and Ferdinand share their sovereign chores; she ruled Castile while he took care of Aragon. Or, as she put it in their marital motto: They rule with equal rights and both excel. Bold in battle and investment strategy -- it was her jewelry that bankrolled Columbus -- Isabella also welcomed female intellectuals at court. But when it came to other religions and races, the Catholic queen was cruelly intolerant, encouraging the infamous Inquisition. In her lust to unify Spain and centralize power, Isabella drove out the Jews, Moors and Gypsies