Khadījah bint Khuwaylid or Khadījah al-Kubra (Khadījah the Great) (c. 555 or 567 – 620 C.E.) was the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, the central figure of Islam. As Muhammad’s first follower, she is considered the first Muslim and one of...
Remnants of the Byzantine Empire can be found on colorful mosaics and frescoes from the medieval period, and they do little justice to the opulence of the empire that dominated Eastern Europe in the medieval era. Sophia was the daughter of Empress Theodora’s...
Christina of Sweden (1626-1689) was supposed to be a boy. Her parents, King Gustav II and Maria Eleonora of Sweden, desperately wished for a son who would be strong enough to rule Sweden. At birth, baby Christina was even mistaken for a boy; Christina’s aunt had...
Francesca Caccini was born on September 18, 1587 in Florence to Giulio Caccini, a successful Florentine musician. Her childhood was spent under her father’s musical tutelage, where she had the chance to showcase her talents in roles her father had written for...
Born in 1533, Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Before she was three years old, her mother was beheaded, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. She was mostly neglected by her father until his last wife, Catherine...
Queen Mary I of England was the first woman to rule in her own right as Queen. She lived a difficult life as the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon — their only living child born in 1516. During her childhood, Henry broke with the Catholic Church in...
