Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Blog #5 Week 11/9-11/16
Blog #5 Week 11/9-11/16 “Between 1450-1800, many women gained power as rulers, some as reigning queens, others as regents. Identify two such powerful women and discuss how issues of gender, such as marriage and reproduction, influenced their ability to obtain and exercise powers. (Remember to respond to the question in 6-8 sentences (yes it can be longer) and to respond to two of your classmates answers in 4-6 sentences. Do not just agree or disagree without defending or justifying your argument.) Think above and beyond the common answers that you may see. Be sure to challenge your classmates with controversial tactics, actions or selections. Good Luck!!!! Go Mustangs!!!
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20 comments:
the first person who comes to mind is elizabeth I. henry VIII made her an illegitimate heir to the throne since she was female which delayed her ascending the the throne. once she was queen, she used the possibility of marriage to her political advantage. example-philip II offering his marriage proposal quieted down hostile catholics in england with the prospect of a union with spain while she went on with religious reforms. The proposal also kept the french monarchy in check with the thought of an alliance between england and spain.it was tactics such as these that elizabeth used to bring england from an impoverished country in 1558 to one of europes powerhouses in 1603. (after all, they dont call it the golden age for nothing)
catherine de medici is another woman who exercised power during the time frame. she used her sons francic II charles IX and henry III as means of control. it was through her position as regent for charles that she issued the January Edict which the duke of Guise violated and ultimately lead to the French wars. her effectiveness was opposite of elizabeth since it seems all her judgments were made out of fear of a Guise dominated monarchy.
start blogging people!
ok.. when i think about women during this time period, i come to think of queen elizabeth I. i mean, she was able to solve religious conflicts by creating the Anglican Church. Also, she defeated the spanish armada (rivalry between spain and england) and brought a measurement of religious peace to england. Elizabeth I was actually considered to be one of England's finiest rulers, even though she was a woman.
Catherine de Medici was also a regent who gained power. She issued her January Edict which granted protestants freedom to worship publicly as they wished. She gave them their own freedom of religion.
I agree with both anu and ashley
two women i think of when i think of two women who played a great role is Catherine de'Medici and Queen Elizabeth. They both were the authorities in thier country and were constanly pressured, because they were women
Catherine de'Medici, a women who was married to HeneryII. When he died she had to take over as queen,
when all three of her sons that took over as king died. she ended up becoming regent.At the time she was alive with her three sons they faced constant conflict, with civil and religious war.Without Catherine, her sons would have never survived the throne.
Elizabeth I was very intelligent, repectable queen.When she reigned she was determined on not getting married. She was considered a decisive ruler. She was enigma to her own people. She was a politique. She was able to solve religious conflicts she planned on improving her counntry, and she succeeded.
During this time period, Elizabeth I of England was one of the most effective women rulers. Her reign was from 1558-1603 and is often called the Elizabethan or "Golden Age" because it was a time period of great advancement and achievement in England.She never got married and she used her single statu as a foreign policy tool. Elizabeth I restored Protestanism. She unified a Protestant England against the Catholic Spanish and defeated the Spanish armada which was a conflict betwwen spain and england in 1588. She was also responsible for English exploration of the New World and the improvement of the economy, making England a world power.
Catherine de Medicis was the queen mother of the last three kings of France- Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III. SHe became regent for her son Charles XI ans was a major force in French politics. She marrieed the king of France, Henry II, and had very little power during the reign of her husband and her first son. Due to his death, the government fell entirely into her hands. She was able to maintain power by keeping a balance between the Protestant group, the Huguenots and the Roman Catholics. Catherine de Medicis issued the January Edict which gave Protestants more religious rights.
Two such women could be Elizebeth I and Mary I. Both were in control and reigned as ruler for England, but both had different methods. The first to rule was Mary I. Although Mary had an unpopular marriage with Phillip II of Spain, she ruled by fear and had many of her own people executed for being a religion other than than of Catholicism. Women were believed to be unfit to rule, which would likely cause the throne to be contested, but because of the fear of execution, only powerful or foolish people would challenge her. However, she did not have children and her reign ended with her death, i think.
Next to come to the throne would be Elizabeth I because she was the 2nd child that Henry VIII. Although her sister ruled by fear, Elizabeth I had shown success in both domestic and foreign policies. She probably ruled without much competition because she was either a competent ruler or was feared because she was Mary's sister. Due to many compromises, she was able to keep her people happy and a lot more loyal than the time during Mary's rule. Elizabeth also showed her power through military. She defeated the spanish armada and was able to show Europe that England was a very strong country. The only thing that made her rule similar to Mary's was that she showed no mercy to those who challenged her rule.
I agree with Anu and Ashley in that Elizebeth was a very powerful ruler to England. She proved that women were able to rule over land as competantly as men, maybe even better. She was intelligent in avoiding conflict and not making a certain religion more powerful than any other. She would also compromise with her people during controversy.
I so far slightly disagree with some of the statements people have said so far about Catherine de Medici. Even though she tried to give freedom of religion to protestants in her country, she single handedly caused civil war in her country by lying about her involvment in an assassination attempt, which caused the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre. She also made decisions out of fear and panic, not usually thinking about her actions. Although ahe was able to stop her sons from making dangerous mistakes that would endanger their country, she had and made many deals with the Guises that endangered the well-being of her nation. She only joined with the Guises because she feared their power, but if a greater power came, that was even more powerful than the Guises, she would have likely have sided with them. This fear of a greater could have been easily exploited by other powers outside France.
Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici are the two most noted women of the time period. The issues of gender for Queen Elizabeth were that since King Henry had no male heir she was the one to receive the throne. In the context of marriage she used the possibility of a royal marriage to gain more control over England and to unify her country. Catherine de Medici was empowered because of her name and her husband. Also because of her motherhood to Francis II when he died she took over for him for a short amount of time. During the Saint Bartholomew’s massacre she made rash decisions out of panic and fear. She convinced Charles that a attack was afoot and she was right. She fought a losing battle trying to control a kingdom full of chaos. Some historians believe that without her sons help she would not have survived in the throne.
as everyone else has already mentioned, the first person that comes to mind is Elizabeth I. Anu is right, as a woman it did slow down her chances of being the head of the throne but once she was, religious and political events took place dramatically. she was the half sister of Mary I and had many successes in domestic and foreign policy.she controlled a centralized episcopal system that defined protestant doctrine and traditional catholic ritual. she REFUSED to take Philip II's hand in marriage which used her possibility of a royal marriage to her advantage. what also made her a great ruler was her rarely letting her emotions override her political instincts which many people thought would happen to her since she was a woman and many people doubted her.
another woman is Mary I. Mary's marriage to Philip II of spain allowed her to try to convert many people to what ever religion she pleased. she used brutal force to those that opposed her. Evan is right, Mary ruled by fear of others. people feared her because of her brutal ways. she not only "tried" to persuade people to convert to catholicism, like her father Henry VIII practiced, but forced them to. those who didn't fled to a new continent or suffered the consequenses.
i do agree with Anu and Ashley too. Elizabeth I was a shocking ruler. she surprised many with the unknown capabilities of hers. many questioned her abbilities but she soon showed them that a woman can do just as much or even more than a king ruler.
During the time of 1450-1850 a few exceptional women ruled. Catherine de Medici and Elizabeth I were two woman rulers who gained power. Catherine was the wife of Francis II and became the regent for her sons Charles IX, Francis II, and Henry III. Catherine de Medici’s first concern was to preserve the monarchy among the Protestants. She issued the January Edict which granted Protestants freedom and worship in public outside of towns which led to the French Wars. Catherine wanted a Catholic France but had always feared a Guise dominated monarchy. Coligny and the Huguenots became Charles IX advisor. She then gained the support of Guises as the protestant influence grew.
Elizabeth I was another woman who gained power. Elizabeth was Mary’s successor and the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She was assisted by Sir William Cecil. She guided a religious settlement in parliament that prevented religious differences from destroying England. She made a centralized episcopal system by a protestant doctrine and catholic ritual. She refused the proposal of to marriage to Phillip II which settled the Catholic Radicals. She executed fewer Catholics that Mary Tudor had in her 45 year reign. Elizabeth remained unmarried on purpose using a possible marriage to her own advantage.
Responses:
I agree with Anu completely when she stated that:
Elizabeth I refusal to marry Phillip II quieted hostile Catholics in England and kept the French monarchy in check. Catherine Medici started out her reign by using her three sons to gain power. As well as the January Edict which led to the French Wars.
I also agree with Alyssa when she stated that:
Elizabeth never got married and used it as a foreign policy tool. Elizabeth restored Protestantism. She unified Protestant England against Catholic Spain while defeating the Spanish Armada. Catherine de Medici gained the power of the government because of her son’s death and issued the January Edict.
In a way, i guess i agree with evan and phil. Mary was a somewhat "good" ruler because she was harsh. she was brutal to her people and that's what made them follow her. sometimes you need that forcefulness but then at times that could jsut scare them. you know?
i'll respond to someone else later. people, it's thursday! post your comments!
OK, well, Elizabeth I was of course the most prominent example of the prompt. If you think about it, women in politics have many advantages over men. They have the ability to seduce their competitors in a predominately male field. They can induce political marriages, and are in most cases more in touch with the people. Back to Elizabeth -- We seem to like to picture her as the nice ruler, while categorizing her predecessor, Mary I as a the shrewd, insecure, fear monger type.
In response to evan, I agree with you in that Mary used her advantages of political marriages and public executions to secure and strengthen her own power.
I also like Alyssa's description of Elizabeth I in that it shows all her achievements.
I'll make another response when more people post.
You all drive me nuts, talking about the same three women, so I'm branching out:
What about Anne of Austria? There were a few, but I mean Louis XIVs mom. Although not as well known and also not as flaunting with her power, she openly opposed the power of her husband's councilor, Richelieu, and is suspected of helping the Spanish in the Thirty Years' War (while she was living in France, no less)Later in life, after the death of her husband, Anne was the one in charge of crushing the Fronde (yes, I know, you all hoped you wouldn't see that word again...)
To prove her importance, read the Three Musketeers. She's in it!
As my second choice:Christine, Queen of Sweden. AKA "Girl King", she was raised as a boy would've been and therefore had a lot more education than most women at the time, plus had been involved in the country's politics since the age of fourteen (no, not because her parents had died, she just kind of did it). Her contributions to her country were little things like, oh, I don't know, sending out settlers to a piece of the New World and calling it New Sweden. She also began the Swedish newspaper. She, like many queens, had opportunities to marry for power, BUT unlike them, she didn't use it for power. We won't get into the reasons behind that. It's...weird.
And I hadn't meant to post that, I wasn't done...but okay.
Um. Comments:
1) In general, the same things are being said...
Over and over and over and over and over and over...you get the idea.
Not being specific, I know.
2)And I disagree with all of you. Quoting Jordan, "Back to Elizabeth -- We seem to like to picture her as the nice ruler, while categorizing her predecessor, Mary I as a the shrewd, insecure, fear monger type."
Okay then. I'm sure you all think she was(I mean Elizabeth), but to be a good ruler, it often involves... questionable... things. It's a question of perspectives. It's not like she didn't have Mary Queen of Scots beheaded (she did) or mess with people's heads. She was good at using people. I'm not saying you're all wrong in the sense that she was a good ruler, but you don't seem to see that some of her "nice-ness" was for as much personal gain as for her country's gain. Seem to me she did a lot of things out of a) bitterness for being so outcast as a child or b) fear of other people taking her throne.
And I can't think anymore, so deal with what I've already put, if I'm getting out what I'm trying to...
when i think of women who are in control i think of catherine the great. I think she might have been very scandelous with all her love affairs but above all that her way of ruling was similar to that of peter the great. She expanded the Russian border to the black sea. She also focused on spreading education among the elite.
I think for a woman to be able to rule over a country during that time, they had to have a male figure for them to be able to take over.
My Comment
Well… since most of you are talking about Elizabeth and Catherine de Medici…I guess I will talk about somebody else…=]
Besides Mary I and Elizabeth I of England, and Catherine de Medici of France, Queen Isabella of Castile + Aragon (Isabella I of Spain), Maria Theresa of Austria and Mary Queen of Scots were actually another three powerful women who gained power as rulers or queens between the 15th and 18th century.
Queen Isabella ruled Castile in 1474 to 1504 and her reign wasn’t very significant until her marriage with King Ferdinand of Aragon in1469 (well, he was the future king of Aragon at that time). This marriage gave the rise to the national monarchy in Spain. On the political side, after their marriage, they united their kingdoms, and increased the royal power at the expense of the nobility and the towns. In addition, their Spanish army was one of the Europe’s best. On the religious side, Ferdinand and Isabella both gained control over the Spanish Catholic Church and created the Spanish Inquisition to go against rebellious nobles and churchmen. As you can see, their marriage and unification of the two areas really helped Isabella and Ferdinand to increase their power in Spain during the 15th century.
Another powerful woman who gained power as a ruler was Queen Mary of Scotland. Although she didn’t contribute a lot during her reign, but she was still considered as one of the well-known women rulers in our history. Queen Mary of Scots became the queen of Scotland when she was only six-days-old when her father died at the age of thirty. Mary, at the age of 16, married an heir to the French throne, the Dauphin Francois, who later became Francois II of France, and Mary became the queen of France. For some reason, after the death of her husband, Catherine de Medici took control over France, since Mary couldn’t do anything about it, she returned to Scotland. Furthermore, Mary was also the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor; therefore, she should be in line to the throne of England after Henry VIII’s children. However, although many believed that she should be the queen of England that time, many also believed that since Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, was illegally married to King Henry, she couldn’t be considered as one of the heir to the England throne. As you all know, Mary I didn’t became the ruler of England. In my opinion, she didn’t contribute a lot.
Another powerful woman ruler between this the 15 and 18 century was Maria Theresa of Austria. Maria Theresa was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. Since Charles VI didn’t have a male heir, he issued the Pragmatic Sanction, having everybody to agree to Maria Theresa as the ruler of all Austrian territory. Maria Theresa was considered one of the most powerful women rulers in our history because she accomplished a lot like other female rulers. She focused a lot on reforming to enlightened absolutism. In addition, she introduced educational and financial reforms, and promoted commerce and development of agriculture in Austria. She basically strengthened the resources of Austria. Therefore, she was also a powerful female ruler.
My Response
Alyssababe – I agree with her on the part she said that Elizabeth I defeated the Spanish Armada. I mean, Philip II invaded England because he thought Elizabeth I was weak because she was a woman. However, after Elizabeth I defeated him, it definitely showed that although she was a woman, it didn’t affect her political ability. It also demonstrated that she was one of the top ten powerful women rulers in our history.
_/evan\_ - I agree with Evan too…on the part he disagreed what other people had said about Catherine de Medici. Although Catherine de Medici seemed to be a great and powerful woman ruler, she didn’t really have her own point of view. She did was she did mostly because she was in between the protestants and the powerful Guises.
I believe that one of the most powerful woman that gained power as a ruler was Mary I.Mary I (r. 1553-1558) had a very much disfavored marriage with Philip of Spain.During her time of reign, she revoked the protestant statues of Edward and came back to the practices of the Catholic religion i.e. practices of her father, Henry VIII. Three great Protestant leaders(Edwardian Age) were sentenced to death for heresy and numerous Protestants joined them in "martyrdom."
Another powerful woman that gained power as ruler I believe would be Elizabeth I.(r. 1558-1603). She claimed the throne after Mary, being her half sister. She had acted upon processing a religious settlement which was completed through Parliament that had stopped England from tearing apart in the 16th century. Elizabeth also put a stop to many conflicts by establishing the Anglican Church which combined the beliefs of Protestantism and Catholicism.
My Responses:
I agree with ashley when she stated that Elizabeth I was able to solve conflicts by establishing the Anglican Church because it did after all combine the beliefs of both Catholicism and Protestantism.
I also agree with Evan that although women were thought to be unfit to rule, people still followed her due to fear of execution.
i like how daisy and hailey are "branching out" from talking about elizabeth and catherine.
speaking of catherine, she issued the january eddict but that lead to, and im quoting myself, the duke of guise violated and caused a war..not the sign of the best leader in my opinion..seems a lot of people are forgetting that. and i just like to add to hailey's remark on elizabeth's bitterness of being an outcast as a child influenced most of her desicions that she probably never got married since henry went through wives like mad.(the man had what..six wives?)that probably left a bleak impression of marriage on her.
Between 1450-1800, two powerful women were Isabella of Castile and Catherine the Great of Russia. Isabella of Spain was married to Ferdinand of Aragon, who both were the rulers of Spain, but governed independently. She reduced the power of rebellious nobles, strengthened her government, and encouraged scholarship. Isabella was also a very strong catholic and wanted her country to be also. So she established the Inquisition in Andalusia, which led to the eviction of 170,000 Jews. Lastly she conquered Granada, a territory of the Moors.
Catherine the Great of Russia was also another female ruler who ruled with a iron fist. She was so deceptive, she had her own husband removed from the throne. She supported progressive ideas, such as reforms in law, education, and provincial and municipal administration.
I support Evan because Elizabeth was one of England's greatest rulers. She was strong in politics and military wise. Also She defeated the spanish armada and showed Europe that England was becoming a strong country.
I also support selennieweenie because of her views on Catherine the great. She was a good leader that showed comparisons to Peter the great because of her want for knowledge and her want for her country to advance. Catherine not only helped her country education wise but she expanded Russia's borders into the Black sea.
first off, id like to say this is Drew Hogan, period 1, just to get rid of any confusion.
alright, so honestly, one of my favorite wemon in history was Sophia of Russia. she was sister of peter the great who was named regent ofter Ivan, her other brother. she had worked hard at claiming the position through out struggles with her gender, first by getting Ivan V to take the throne and ruling as regent over both him and peter. she later led a rebelion of streltsy soliders against peter, all of which abandoned her, and she was then overthrown by peters followers.
maria theresa was the perfect example of a woman who did virtualy nothing to inherit the throne. her father, charles VI created the Pragmatic Sanction, which alowed her to inherit her fathers land, although, as would be expected, as soon as charles died people saw the hapsburg empire ripe for the picking. In december 1740 frederick II of prussia invaded. but, although she sacrificed much of the power of the monarchy, she was able to hold together the foundation of the hapsburg empire.
i belive theese two women are fine examples of women enforcing power, one reason is because they didnt marry into power. if someone marries into power that to me seems like there rideing someones coattails, not being all powerfull because they have some to lean of for support. how ever, most of the wemon mentioned so far did not do that, for example, anu mentioned elizabeth I. she was not only a great leader, but the way she carried her self socialy was brilliant, the way she never married, thus being able to use men as she pleased to get what she need, brilliant!
althoght i dont agree with catherine de medici, the way she handled the hugonaughts, with forceful policies instead of common sence was a bad move on her part.
i guess i also agree with alyssa when she talks about how elizabeth did NOT get married. this is good because she showed that she didn't need a man to help her rule. she could be a good ruler without the male gender.. you know? she proved that women could rule themselves and be successful in it.
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