[December 18] Nzinga, queen of Ndongo and Matamba

Full Name: Nzingha a Mbande
Parents: Kiluangji, king of Ndongo and Matana, and Kangela
Date of Birth: circa 1583
Predecessor: Mbande
Reign: 1624 – 1663
Brief: Though a woman, Nsinga was destined to rule her people. Her father, Kiluanji, kept her close during his political councils and even took her with him when he went to war. She enters history as an envoy for her brother, Mbande, to the Portuguese, who were spreading their slave empire into Angola. She argued favorably against certain improprieties and the two nations signed an equal treaty. To strengthen the treaty, Nzinga converted to Christianity and took the name Anna de Sousa. Unfortunately, the Portuguese did not hold up their end of the bargain, and King Mbande committed suicide out of regret. Nzinga claimed the regency for her son, Kaza, but he died soon after, at which time Nzinga claimed the throne for herself. In the 1640s, Nzinga made an alliance with the Netherlands against the Portuguese, fighting against them successfully in 1644 before being defeated two years later.  In 1647, with Dutch help, Nzinga defeated a Portuguese army and laid siege to their chief city in Masangano. This back-and-forth war continued throughout her reign, and Nzinga continued to personally lead her armied well into her sixties. By 1657, though, she was tired and agreed to peace with Portugal. In her last years, she devoted herself to Christianity and died quickly at the age of eighty in 1663. 

Date of Death: 17 December 1663

Successor: Francisco Guterres Kanini

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Ankan, emperor of Japan (535)
• William I, duke of Normandy (942)
• Gregory VIII, pope of Rome (1187)
• Baldwin V, count of Hainaut (1195)
• Leopold II, king of Belgium (1909)
• Thubten, Dalai Lama of Tibet (1933)

[December 16] Wu, empress of China

Local Name: Wǔ Zétiān (武則天)
Parents: Wu Shihu, duke of Ying, and Yang
Date of Birth: 17 February 624
House: Zhou
Spouse(s): (1) Taizong, emperor of China, then (2) Gaozong, emperor of China
Predecessor: Wang
Reign: 690 – 705
Brief: China's only empress regnant and a blatant usurper who named her dynasty the "Zhou Dynasty", Empress Wu is a rather unique figure in Chinese history. She came to power through her companionship with Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, who had her as a concubine. When the emperor died prematurely, she married his son and successor, Gaozong, becoming his first and foremost wife. When the emperor had a stroke in 660, she claimed the regency for him. When Taizong died in 683, she continued as regent for their son Zhongzong. When Zhongzong began to rebel the next year, she deposed her son and installed Ruizong, her youngest son, in his place. She then began a purge of all rival members of the Tang dynasty, either killing them or forcing them to commit suicide. In 690, she deposed her son and claimed the throne for herself, destroying the traditional order of succession established a thousand years before. As empress, she elevated Buddhism over Taoism across China, and built temples for it. She then began expanding the empire outward in all directions, especially strengthening the garrisons in the north. Throughout her fifteen-year reign, Wu fought against rivals, intrigues, and outside attacks, but in the end, expanded China to one of its broadest extents since Han times. She became ill in 705 and was forced to abdicate, dying later that year. Though a usurper, Tang historians decided nevertheless to honor her memory and she and her dynasty entered the record books as Wu of Zhou, empress regnant of China. 

Date of Death: 16 December 705

Successor: Wei

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Eberhard, duke of Friuli (867)
• Charles, titular emperor of Constantinople (1325)
• Otto III, margrave of Montferrat (1378)
• John II, duke of Lorraine (1470)
• Leopold II, prince of Anhalt-Dessau (1751)
• Nam, emperor of Vietnam (1963)

[December 4] Meisho, empress of Japan

Local Name: 明正天皇
Parents: Go-Mizunoo, emperor of Japan, and Tokugawa Masako
Date of Birth: 9 January 1624
House: Japan
Predecessor: Go-Mizunoo

Reign: 1629 – 1643
Brief: The succession of women to the throne of Japan was not unknown, but it was also extremely uncommon. In most cases, the women were single with no children of their own, begging the question: why did they succeed. Such was the case with Meisho, the first empress regnant in nearly a thousand years. She was raised with her family rather than with the females in the Imperial palace at Heian. Her father abdicated in 1629, leaving the five-year-old empress under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate and Shogun Iemitsu. In 1634, her retired father, Go-Mizunoo, claimed the regency for his daughter and never seemed to relinquish his control until her own abdication in 1643. Her reign was dominated by revolts and crises in Japan. In 1637, Christians revolted in numerous provinces. The next year the revolt was crushed, with up to 37,000 Christians killed. Iemitsu decreed that Christians were thereafter banned from Japan. In 1640, a delegation of Spaniards arrived in Nagasaki and were decapitated a month later. By 1643, possibly resigned to non-governance by the interferences of her father, Meisho abdicated the throne in favor of her eleven-year-old half-brother, Go-Komyo. She outlived her two successors and died in the reign of Emperor Higashiyama in 1696. 
Date of Death: 4 December 1696

Successor: Komyo

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Jafar Sadiq, imam of Shi'a Islam (765)
• Carloman I, king of the Franks (771)
• Anno II, archbishop of Cologne (1075)
• William I, king of Scots (1214)
• Theobald II, king of Navarre (1270)
• John XXII, pope of Rome (1334)
• Adolf VIII, duke of Jutland (1459)

[November 29] Maria Theresa, queen of Bohemia

Full Name: Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina
Parents: Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and Elisabeth Christina of Burnswick-Wolfenbüttel
Date of Birth: 13 May 1717
House: Habsburg
Spouse(s): François, duke of Lorraine, son of Leopold, duke of Lorraine, and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans
Predecessor: Charles VI

Reign: 1740 – 1780
Brief: The resultant final heir of the House of Habsburg, Maria Theresa was destined to be queen of Bohemia and archduchess of Austria from at least 1713, when her father passed his Pragmatic Sanction. Most of the rest of his reign was spent securing the law that would allow his daughter to succeed to the throne, but it was all for nothing. This was partially because Emperor Charles VI had already signed a Mutual Pact of Succession with his elder brother that ensured that the daughters of Emperor Joseph I would supersede any daughters of Charles. But by the time Charles died, little mattered to the land-hungry magnates of Europe who only wished to dissect Austria for themselves. Raised by Jesuits and kept under harsh security, Maria Theresa was not a great student and her father did not teach her how to rule his empire. At the age of nineteen, Maria Theresa married the duke of Lorraine, who lost Lorraine the next year but gained the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as compensation. When Charles finally died in 1740 of mushroom poisoning, he left Austria in financial bankruptcy and a small unprepared army. Maria Theresa did not have a clue how to run her new government.

Taking her father's advice, Maria Theresa campaigned to have her husband elected Holy Roman Emperor, since she could not gain the title herself. To give him a free vote from Bohemia, the queen made him joint-ruler of Austria and Bohemia, though Hungary waited a year before approving the joint leadership. Despite his joint role, Maria Theresa did not trust her husband and did not allow him to make decisions within her empire. Outside of Austria, the queen's neighbors began banging swords in a move that would prompt the War of the Austrian Succession. Charles Albert, duke of Bavaria, was married to the senior Habsburg heiress and wanted a piece of Austria. Frederick II, king of Prussia, wanted Silesia and took it from her through force after negotiations failed. The Bavarian duke invaded Bohemia in 1741 while Maria Theresa was pregnant with her second child. She threw everything into the war effort to keep Charles Albert from succeeding, but the Bavarian duke was nominated Holy Roman Emperor in early 1742. On the same day, Austrian troops occupied his Bavarian capital of Munich, sullying the coronation. In 1745, Charles Albert died, ending the Bavarian fight. François was elected Holy Roman Emperor Franz I later that year and the war ended in 1748 with the cession of Parma to Spain. For ten years, Maria Theresa had peace until Prussia invaded Saxony in 1756 sparking the Seven Years' War. Luckily, the war ended with little changed for Austria, though the queen desperately wanted Silesia back from Prussia. Domestically, Maria Theresa modernized much of the Austrian military, creating a standing army and unifying Bohemia and Austria more closely. She ended capital punishment and outlawed witch burning and torture. When Franz I died in 1765, Maria Theresa removed herself from government, leaving the management to her eldest son, Joseph II. She died in 1780, probably after a prolonged smallpox attack that left her sick with pneumonia. She was the last direct Habsburg descendant on record, her cousin having predecesed her, and her successors would be known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

Date of Death: 29 November 1780
Successor: Joseph II

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Chlothar I, king of the Franks (561)
• Gregory III, pope of Rome (741)
• Otto II, duke of Bavaria (1253)
• Clement IV, pope of Rome (1268)
• Philippe IV, king of France (1314)
• Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1378)
• Nanda, king of Burma (1600)
• Frederick V, count palatine of the Rhine (1632)

[November 28] Wilhelmina, queen of the Netherlands

Parents: William III, king of the Netherlands, and Emma of Waldeck & Pyrmont
Date of Birth: 31 August 1880
House: Orange-Nassau
Spouse(s): Henry, son of Frederick Francis II, grand duke of Mekclenburg-Schwerin, and Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
Predecessor: William III

Reign: 1890 – 1948
Brief: Born late in the life of King William III, Wilhelmina was kept close to her parents during her childhood. She became heir to the throne in 1884 when her brother died. When King William died in 1890, Queen Emma was proclaimed regent for her ten-year-old daughter. She took direct control of the government in 1898 and married three years later to a German prince. With her husband, Wilhelmina only produced a daughter, Juliana, in 1909. During World War I, the Netherlands remained neutral but Wilhelmina was constantly on her guard, inspecting her troops in case they were called upon. The queen stopped a communist take-over of her government in 1917 simply through her charisma. After the war, she provided asylum for the deposed German emperor Wilhelm II. When World War II broke out and Germany invaded the Netherlands, the royal family fled to the United Kingdom, though the queen wished to remain in the Netherlands to increase morale for the resistance. During the war, she sent secret radio messages to her people in the Netherlands, overthrew her own government-in-exile which was trying to negotiate a separate peace with the Nazis, and addressed the US Congress. For her services, she was inducted into the British Order of the Garter, with Churchhill calling her "the only real man" among the many governments-in-exile in London. The queen returned home but abdicated to her daughter in 1948 due to failing health and disappointment over the return of pre-war politics to the Netherlands. She died fourteen years later at her palace in Het Loo.

Date of Death: 28 November 1962
Successor: Juliana

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• St. Gregory III, pope of Rome (741)
• Owain, king of Gwynedd (1107)
• Naungdawgyi, king of Burma (1763)
• Mubarak al-Sabah, emir of Kuwait (1915)
• Constantine VI, patriarch of Constantinople (1930)

[November 27] Constance, queen of Sicily

Parents: Roger II, king of Sicily, and Beatrice of Rethel
Date of Birth: 2 November 1154
House: Hauteville
Spouse(s): Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, son of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Beatrix of Burgundy
Predecessor: William III

Reign: 1194 – 1198
Brief: Born posthumously to Roger II, king of Sicily, a line of illegitimate children of Roger succeed him leaving Constance to develop relatively normally. She wasn't betrothed until she was thirty and when she was, it was to the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI. They married in 1186 and became a force to be reckoned with. After a coup shifted the Sicilian inheritance to another illegitimate line, Henry and Constance gathered an army, invading Sicily and Naples in 1190. Constance took up residence at Salerno, the mainland capital of the kingdom, while Henry ravaged the rebel forces. His army caught malaria, though, and were forced to retreat to Germany, leaving Constance alone in the south. Salerno betrayed Constance and handed her over to the usurper, Tancred. He agreed to return the queen in exchange for recognition as king of Sicily by the pope. Henry sent a small force to recapture the queen before any diplomacy could be finalized. Luckily, Tancred died suddenly in 1194 leaving the throne disputed between Constance and Tancred' son, William III. Meanwhile, Constance gave birth to a son, Frederick, at the age of 40, allowing many matrons to view the birth and the queen breast-feeding to ensure the child's legitimacy. Henry died in 1197 and Constance took direct control over Sicily for her young child, placing Frederick in the care of Pope Innocent III while relying on loyal advisors to manage her realm. Constance died suddenly in 1198, noting Innocent as the guardian of Frederick in her will.

Date of Death: 27 November 1198
Successor: Frederick II

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Clovis I, king of the Franks (511)
• Maurice, emperor of Constantinople (602)
• Muhammad at-Taqi, imam of Shi'a Islam (835)

[November 17] Mary I, queen of England

Sobriquet: "Bloody Mary"
Parents: Henry VIII, king of England, and Catherine of Aragón
Born: 18 February 1516
House: Tudor
Spouse(s): Felipé II, king of Spain, son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Manuela of Portugal
Predecessor: Edward VI or Jane

Reign: 1553 – 1558
Brief: The only surviving child of Henry VIII and his first wife, Mary was raised as a Catholic in an increasingly Protestant England. At the age of two, she was promised to the French Dauphin, but that eventually lapsed, being replaced with a betrothal to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, which also later lapsed. Meanwhile, Henry VIII removed Mary from the line of succession to replace her with Elizabeth, his daughter from his second marriage. Mary was sickly and disappeared into obscurity for many years. Henry finally produced a son, Edward, in 1537 but it wasn't until 1543 that the family was reunited and Mary returned to the line of succession behind Edward and ahead of Elizabeth. Edward succeeded to the throne as a minor in 1547. His regents arranged to bypass Mary and Elizabeth in the succession, settling on a cousin, Jane, as the king's heir. When Edward died at the age of fifteen from an infected lung, Jane succeeded briefly to the throne, but Mary rallied a makeshift army in East Anglia and deposed the upstart queen nine days later.

As queen, Mary sought out a husband and found one in Charles V's son, Felipé of Spain, whom she married in 1554. There was little love between the couple and they never produced a child. Mary lashed out against Protestant leaders throughout her short reign. OVer a period of a week, she executed 283 people, mostly by burning, for heresy. She continued her persecutions until the end of her reign, though with declining frequency. In 1557, Felipé, now king of Spain, convinced Mary to go to war with France, which ended with the loss of Calais, the only remaining English possession on the continent. After 1557, Mary acknowledged Elizabeth as her successor. She died the next year of an influenza epidemic, though signs of other problems were also present. 

Date of Death: 17 November 1558
Successor: Elizabeth I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Jin Kangdi, emperor of China (344)
• Valentinian I, emperor of Rome (375)
• Leo II, emperor of Constantinople (474)
• Jomei, emperor of Japan (641)
•  John III, king of Sweden (1592)
• Catherine II, empress of Russia (1796)
• Adolphe, grand duke of Luxembourg (1905)

[November 15] Maria II, queen of Portugal

Surnamed: "The Educator" (A Educadora) and "The Good Mother" (A Boa Mãe)
Parents: Pedro IV, king of Portugal, and Maria Leopoldina of Austria
Born: 4 April 1819
House: Capet-Burgundy-Aviz-Bragança
Spouse(s): (1) Auguste, 2nd duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugène de Beauharnais and Augusta of Bavaria, then (2) Fernando II, son of Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha and Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág
Predecessor: Pedro IV

Reign: 1826 – 1828, 1834 – 1853
Brief: Maria II has the unique distinction of being the only European monarch in modern history to be born outside of Europe, being born in Brasil in 1819. Her father, Pedro, was the eldest son of King João VI and was Emperor of Brasil since 1822. A younger son, Miguel, had been exiled after prompting revolutions against his father during the Napoleonic Wars. Maria, his eldest granddaughter, was nominated as his heir until "the legitimate heir" returned to Portugal. Unfortunately, João did not note which son was his legitimate heir. Pedro sought a compromise: marry his daughter to his brother. This would solve any succession crisis. Miguel agreed, but when he finally arrived in Portugal, he proclaimed himself king and deposed his niece. Pedro replied violently in 1831, abdicating the Brasilian throne to his son, Pedro II, and invading Portugal with forces loyal to Maria. Miguel was finally forced to abdicate in 1834, leading a long life of exile abroad. Maria II was now in firm control over Brasil. After a short marriage to a grandson of Empress Josephine (Napoleon's wife), Maria married a prince of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, who received the title "king consort" a year later. She successfully suppressed an insurrection in 1846, and completely avoided the crises of 1848. She focused on expanding education and public health in Portugal. Maria II died in 1853 due to complications from childbirth, leaving the country to her teenaged son, Pedro V.

Date of Death: 15 November 1853
Successor: Pedro V

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Penda, king of Mercia (655)
• Constantine VIII, emperor of Constantinople (1028)
• Leopold III, margrave of Austria (1136)
• Jungjong, king of Korea (1544)
• Tsangyang Gyatso, dalai lama of Tibet (1706)

[November 11] Lili'uokalani, queen of Hawai'i

Local Name: Lydia Lili'u Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamaka'eha
Parents: Caesar Kapa'akea and Analea Keohokalole
Born: 2 September 1838
House: Kalakaua
Predecessor: Kalakaua

Reign: 1891 – 1893
Brief: Raised by royal relatives in the Western style, learning English and government, Lili'uokalani married John Owen Dominis, the governor of O'ahu and Maui, in 1862 at the age of 24. The princess never had any children of her own, though her husband had three illegitimate children that she adopted. In 1874, Liliuokalani's brother, David, won the election for kingship, and three years later, Lili'uokalani became crown princess when her younger brother died. A decade later, the princess was sent to the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in London, where she learned of the Bayonet Constitution passing in Hawai'i under coercion. She returned to Hawai'i at once. Lili'uokalani inherited the throne in early 1891 and moved to overturn the Bayonet Constitution by drafting a new one which would reinfranchise Asians and native Hawaiians. American and European businessmen conspired to depose the queen since she was a woman, and since she no longer respected the constitution. Trade suffered, as well, which precipitated her overthrow by the United States government in January 1893. In November of the same year, US President Grover Cleveland offered to return the throne to the queen in return for amnesty to those responsible. She refused and was found guilty of neglect. On July 4, 1894, Sanford B. Dole proclaimed the Republic of Hawai'i, and the queen was officially dismissed from the country. She was arrested the next year after a failed counter-revolution and was imprisoned, which is when she wrote "Ke Aloha o Ka Haku". She was restored as a citizen in 1896 and campaigned against US annexation for much of the rest of her life. She sued the government multiple times to reclaim lost lands, but failed every time. Queen Lili'uokalani died in 1917 from a stroke. She received a massive state funeral attended in recognition for her years of service to Hawai'i.

Date of Death: 11 November 1917
Successor: David Kalakaua Kawananakoa (as pretender)

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Pedro V, king of Portugal (1861)

[October 28] Anna, empress of Russia

Local Name: Anna Ioannovna (Анна Иоанновна)
Parents: Ivan V, tsar of Russia, and Praskovia Saltykova
Born: 7 February 1693
House: Romanov
Spouse(s): Frederick William, duke of Courland, son of Frederick Casimir Kettler and Elisabeth Sophie of Brandeburg
Predecessor: Peter II

Reign: 1730 – 1740
Brief: Anna lived a somewhat tragic life. She married the duke of Courland at the age of seventeen only for the man to die three months later on the return trip home. She took over the government of Courland thereafter, remaining unwed the rest of her life. When Emperor Peter II died in 1730, Anna, who was the emperor's niece, was proclaimed his successor. The hoped that by installing her as empress, the nobles could regain some of their lost powers and establish a constitutional monarchy. Anna, in response, indebted herself to the Russian military and lesser nobility and ruled as an autocrat as those before her had. She went power hungry almost immediately, publicly insulting anyone who would mock her or get in her way. She even forced a noble to wed an elderly common woman in a ceremony that involved a zoo's worth of animals and an ice palace, just to insult the man. She replaced many court functionaries with Baltic Germans, and she secured an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, committing Russia to the War of the Polish Succession in 1735. Anna also began attacking targets east and south of Russia in a bit to expand the state. She became ill in 1739 and proclaimed her grand-nephew, who was one-year-old at the time, her heir. Soon after Anna died the next year, Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, deposed little Ivan VI and took the throne.

Date of Death: 28 October 1740
Successor: Ivan VI

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Maxentius, emperor of Rome (312)
• Margaret I, queen of Denmark (1412)
• Ashikaga Yoshihide, shogun of Japan (1568)
• Jahangir, emperor of India (1627)

[October 17] Petronila, queen of Aragón

Parents: Ramiro II, king of Aragón, and Agnes of Aquitaine
Born: 29 June 1136
House: Jiménez
Spouse(s): Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, son of Ramon Berenguer III, count of Barcelona, and Douce I, countess of Provence
Predecessor: Ramiro II

Reign: 1137 – 1164
Brief: From the moment Petronilla was born, it was known that she would rule as queen regnant. She was married at the age of one to the count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer IV. Her father then abdicated the throne and resumed his monastic life leaving the regency of Aragón to Ramon Berenguer.  At the age of 15, she consummated her marriage and eventually produced five children. In 1162, her husband died and for two years she ruled solely. In 1164, she abdicated the throne in favor of her son, Ramon Berenguer, who changed his name to Alfonso II. He had already become count of Barcelona when his father died and, upon succeeding to the Aragonese throne, he became the first ruler over both realms. Petronilla does not seem to have taken up the regency for her son and died a decade later. She was buried in Bercelona Cathedral, though her tomb has long since been lost.

Date of Death: 17 October 1174
Successor: Alfonso II

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Boniface II, pope of Rome (532)

[September 5] Constance, duchess of Brittany

Date of Birth: 12 June 1161
Parents: Conan IV, duke of Brittany, and Margaret of Huntingdon
House: Penthièvre
Spouse(s): (1) Geoffrey, son of Henry II, king of England, and Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine, then (2)Ranulf, earl of Chester, then (3) Guy of Thouars

Predecessor: Conan IV

Reign: 1171 – 1194
Summary: Inheriting the duchy of Brittany from her father in 1171 at the age of ten, Constance went on to lead a troubled life. At twenty, she was forced into marriage with Geoffrey Plantagenet, the fourth son of King Henry II of England. The couple had three children, two of which inherited Brittany after her. Geoffrey excluded his wife from managing Brittany while he lived, and when he was trampled to death in a tournament in 1186, she was only too eager to reclaim her authority. King Henry, though, sought to control his former daughter-in-law. He married her off again two years later to an English lord, who resumed her duties as lord suo uxoris. In 1191, King Richard I of England proclaimed Constance's son, Arthur, as his heir in a treaty signed by the king of France. Constance abdicated her throne in 1194 to support the claims of her son. Meanwhile, her married life was in disarray and her second husband eventually imprisoned her in England, sparking rebellions in Brittany. She was released in 1198. Constance immediately had her marriage annulled and soon after married a Breton nobleman. When Richard died in 1199, Arthur became the count of Anjou, Maine, and Poitou, but Richard's brother John took the English throne. Arthur swore loyalty to King Philip II of France prompting a short war with John. The young duke was captured at Mirabeau and vanished mysteriously three years later. Eleanor, Constance's eldest daughter, was also captured and imprisoned for the remainder of her life. Constance didn't live to see the fate of her children, though. She died at Nantes in 1201 and was buried in a nearby abbey. She probably died from complications related to the birth of twins at the age of 40.

Date of Death: 5 September 1201

Successor: Arthur I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Nijo, emperor of Japan (1165)
• Henry I, duke of Brabant (1235)

[August 9] Irene, empress of Constantinople

True Name: Ειρήνη Σαρανταπήχαινα
Date of Birth: c. 752

House: Sarantapechos

Spouse(s): Leo IV, emperor of Constantinople, son of Constantine V, emperor of Constantinople, and Tzitzak of Khazaria

Predecessor: Constantine VI
Reign: 797 – 802

Summary: Irene was born into an Athenian Greek family known as the Sarantapechos. She was orphaned while young and her uncle, Constantine, was a patrician. In 769, she was married to the Byzantine crown prince, Leo, after being brought to the court a few months earlier. No good reason has been fronted as to why she was chosen as empress, suggesting she may have been chosen from a list of mostly qualified contestants. Irene moved into the palace and in 771 gave birth to a son, Constantine. When her father-in-law died in 775, Leo became the new emperor at Constantinople and attempted to rule as a moderate in the ongoing iconoclasm debate. Beginning in 780, however, Leo IV became a harsh fighter against icons and when he discovered that Irene was harboring icons, he refused her the marriage bed. Leo died that same year, and Irene became regent for their nine-year old son Constantine VI. Almost immediately, Leo's half-brother, Nikephorus, attempted to take the throne. Irene counterattacked by ordaining him and his conspirators as priests, thereby disqualifying them from the throne. Irene also attempted to negotiate a closer relationship with Western Europe and the Franks by betrothing her son to Rotrude, a daughter of Charlemagne. She broke off the betrothal in 787, however, against her son's wishes. Throughout this all, Irene was working to secure her borders from Arab attacks, which were increasing annually. Still as regent, Irene summoned two church councils to resolve the iconoclasm debate. The second council, the so-called Seventh Ecumenical Council, in 787 reunited the Eastern and Catholic churches and revived the veneration of icons in Eastern Orthodoxy. Despite the resolution, the Franks attacked various Byzantine possessions in 788 while Irene's forces reconquered the Balkans.

Irene's ascent to the Byzantine throne began around 790 following an attempt revolt from her son, Emperor Constantine IV. At the age of 19, Constantine VI was proclaimed sole emperor by a large group of Byzantine soldiers. Irene began conspiring to keep the throne for herself. She set of cells of her conspirators throughout the Empire, leaving Constantine with nowhere to flee. He attempted to cross the Bosphorus in 797 but was captured and returned to the capital. There, his eyes were gouged out and he died from wounds several days later. Irene's ascent to the top was complete. She became the first female ruler of the Roman Empire since its creation in 27 BCE. Her rise to power brought unexpected opportunity to the west, where Pope Leo III, who was at risk of losing his papal seat, interpreted the ascension of a female in the east as a sign that the Roman Imperial throne was vacant. He crowned Charles the Great Roman Emperor in 800, a move that was viewed in the east as a direct attack on their authority and legacy. Irene, however, took advantage of the coronation of her rival to propose a marriage between the two, thereby binding East and West together in one Roman Empire. Her scheme was frustrated by a courtier, Aetios, and Irene's brief reign came to an inglorious end. She was deposed in 802 and replaced by Nikephorus, a Byzantine minister. Irene was exiled to the Greek isle of Lesbos where she died the following year. 

Date of Death: 9 August 803
Successor: Nikephoros I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Trajan, emperor of Rome (117)
• Valens, emperor of Rome (378)
• Al-Ma'mun, caliph of Sunni Islam (833)
• Damasus II, pope of Rome (1048)
• Horikawa, emperor of Japan (1107)
• Eric IV, king of Denmark (1250)
• Metrophanese III, patriarch of Constantinople (1580)
• Michael, voivode of Wallachia (1601)

[July 25] Matilda, margravine of Tuscany

Surnamed: "The Great Countess" (La Gran Contessa)
Parents: Boniface III, margrave of Tuscany, and Beatrice of Upper Lorraine
Date of Birth: 1046
Royal House: Canossa
Spouse: Humaira Begum, daughter of Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan and Zarin Begum
Predecessor: Godfrey IV
Reign: 1055 – 1115
Summary: Born to the noble family of Canossa, she was the youngest child of her parents. Her father was murdered when she was six and her older sister died the next year. In fear that her two surviving children would be targets of ambitious nobles, her mother, Beatrice, married Godfrey the Bearded, duke of Upper Lorraine. Soon afterwards, he and Beatrice went into open rebellion against the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III. Matilda, meanwhile, was betrothed to Godfrey's son by a different mother, Godfrey the Hunchback. Henry III was angered by Beatrice's unauthorized marriage and Beatrice ventured north to speak with the emperor. She took with her Frederick, Matilda's brother and the margrave of Tuscany. Beatrice was imprisoned in terrible conditions while Frederick was treated well but died in 1055 all the same. Matilda, unexpectedly, became the legitimate margravine of Tuscany upon his death.

Her stepfather, Godfrey, took direct control of Tuscany as her self-proclaimed regent. Since she was only around nine years old at the time, this was expected. When Henry III died, Beatrice was released and she returned to Italy with Godfrey to rule in peace. During the 1050s, the army of Tuscany was used multiple times to defend the popes from Imperial attacks, especially since three popes in a row were from Tuscany. Matilda was raised as a warrior queen. She learned military arts and horseriding alongside German and French. She married Godfrey the Hunchback sometime in the 1060s but there was little love between the pair. They only produced a single daughter before Godfrey returned to Germany, never to set foot in Tuscany again. In 1076, Matilda took control over her inheritance. Her parents both died that year and she was around thirty-years-old in any case. Harboring the Tuscan popes turned ill for her when Emperor Henry IV showed up at her door in 1077, barefoot and kneeling. Pope Gregory VII was being housed at Canossa at the time and Henry sought penance. Yet by 1080, she found herself fighting Imperial forces coming from Ravenna in the north. At the battle of Volta Mantovana, the Tuscan army was defeated. This led to a public revolt in Lucca, the capital, where her ally Bishop Anselm was ousted. In 1081, Henry IV formally deposed her but that did not have a major effect on her control over Tuscany. Matilda personally took control over her army and routed the Imperials at Sorbara in a dispossession attempt. With Gregory's death in 1085, Matilda supported the new pope, Victor III, and attempted to invade Rome to install him. The Imperial garrison was too strong, however, and she and the new pope were forced to flee. In 1090, Matilda married Welf V of Bavaria and Henry IV invaded. The newlyweds were forced into the mountains, but the Tuscan army soundly defeated the Imperial army in 1092 and Henry was never again able to gain dominance in the region. By 1095, Henry was trying to hurt Matilda in any way possible, but when she arrived at the head of an army, he fled. She spent the next twenty years reasserting her authority throughout Tuscany. The new emperor, Henry V, recognized her achievements and made her Imperial viceroy of Liguria in 1111. Matilda died of gout in 1115 and her estates were left to the pope, who divided them up and prompted the era of city-states in northern Italy. Michelangelo would later claim descent through her daughter, though records suggest the daughter may have died as a child.
Date of Death: 24 July 1115
Successor: Conrad von Scheiern

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Shirakawa, emperor of Japan (1129)
• Konrad von Thüringen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (1240)

[July 9] Charlotte, grand duchess of Luxembourg

Parents: William IV, grand duke of Luxembourg, and Marie Anne of Portugal

Date of Birth: 23 January 1896
Royal House: Nassau-Weilburg
Spouse: Felix, son of Robert I, duke of Parma, and Maria Antonia of Portugal
Predecessor: Marie-Adélaïde
Reign: 1919 – 1964
Summary: The second daughter of William IV, Charlotte was not originally destined to inherit the Luxembourg throne. Her elder sister, Marie-Adélaïde, was forced to abdicated in her favor in 1919 due to revolutionary tendencies turning against the grand duchess. Marie-Adélaïde was a political woman and the country did not want a politician on the throne. Charlotte, in contrast, promised not to meddle. In September 1919, Luxembourg voted to maintain the monarchy with Charlotte as grand duchess. In such a role, the monarch lost virtually all remaining political power. At the age of twenty-three, Charlotte ascended the throne.

Her first two decades in power saw little for her except marriage and childbirth. She married a close cousin, the son of the duke of Parma. As such, her title was elevated from grand ducal highness to royal highness since the dukes of Parma were considered Italian and Spanish royalty. Between 1921 and 1929 she produced six children, all of whom lived to adulthood. At the start of World War II, the family called for aide from France and placed themselves under France's protection. This proved to be an ill-choice in allies and the family was forced to flee through Spain to Portugal. Remembering her sister's problems during World War I, Charlotte refused a Nazi invitation to reclaim her throne and remained in exile throughout the war. She settled in London and made regular broadcasts to her people in Luxembourg, encouraging them in their resistance. Luxembourg was annexed to Germany with the French Moselle department and all the Luxembourgers were required to learn and speak German and join the German army. Her younger sister, Antonia, was captured in 1944 in Hungary and deported to Dachau Concentration Camp then transferred to Flossenbürg where she was tortured. Her son, Jean, served in the Irish Guards throughout the war. After the war, her quiet life resumed. She abdicated in 1964 in favor of her son, Jean. She died twenty years later from cancer and was buried in the Ducal Crypt in Luxembourg City.
Date of Death: 9 July 1985
Successor: Jean

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Anastasius I, emperor of Constantinople (518)
• Leopold III, duke of Austria (1386)
• Maurice, elector of Saxony (1553)
• Ferdinand IV, king of the Romans (1654)
• Gian Gastone, grand duke of Tuscany (1737)
• Philip V, king of Spain (1746)
• Nicholas VI, patriarch of Alexandria (1986)

[June 16] Marie, princess of Neuchâtel

Parents: Henri II, duke of Longueville, and Louise de Bourbon-Estouteville

Date of Birth: 5 March 1625

House: Valois-Orléans-Longueville

Spouse: Henri II, duke of Nemours

Predecessor: John Louis Charles

Reign: 1694 – 1707

Summary: The line of the Longueville dukes was well known and respected in France despite being descended from an illegitimate son of Louis I, duke of Orléans, the younger son of King Charles V of France. Marie's father, Henri II, was a peer of France and served as the governor of Picardy and Normandy during the civil war known as the Fronde. In 1648, in his capacity as prince of Neuchâtel, Henri II finalized the removal of the Swiss Confederation from the Habsburg-controlled Holy Roman Empire. Thus, the Neuchâtel that Marie inherited from her three brothers in 1694 was wholly independent of any external power save the loose confederation of Swiss Cantons that surrounded it. While the rights to Longueville went extinct with the death of her youngest brother, Jean Louis Charles,  upon his death, Neuchâtel remained a family possession ruled by the only daughter of the line, Marie. 

Marie ruled her small principality from the safety of France. In 1657, she had married Henri of Savoy, the duke of Nemours. He died only two years later leaving her alone and childless. Much of her remaining fifty years were spent fighting for control over her marriage lands which she had a right to until death. Her stepmother did not help the matter as she fought for the rights of her own daughters to Neuchâtel and Longueville. Distraught, Marie spent all of her thirteen-year reign in Paris, writing memoirs and reporting on Parisian news to an early weekly gazette. It is unlikely that Marie ever visited Neuchâtel while she was its princess, being in her seventies and eighties. She may have visited it earlier in life, though. When she died in 1707, the rights to the territory passed to Frederick I, king in Prussia, whole ruled the territory in dynastic union until Napoléon Bonaparte deposed his descendant some hundred years later. Neuchâtel finally joined the Swiss Confederation as a full member in 1814. It became a republic in 1848 deposing the reinstated Hohenzollern monarch.

Date of Death: 16 June 1707

Successor: Frederick I

Other Monarch Deaths:

Christian, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel (1623)

[May 22] Gensho, empress of Japan

The Imperial Seal of Japan

True Name: 元正天皇
Parents: Kusakabe and Gemmei, empress of Japan

Date of Birth: 683

House: Japan
Predecessor: Gemmei

Reign: 715 – 724

Summary: Ruling as the second woman in succession in Japan, Gensho was never intended to rule Japan. She was an elder sister of Emperor Mommu, who had predeceased her, and the daughter of the Japanese prince Kusakabe and his wife, Gemmei. When Mommu died, Kusakabe was already dead and his wife, Gemmei, the daughter of Emperor Tenji, took over as empress in his stead. Thus, Gensho descended from the Japanese royal family on both her parents' sides. Her claim to the succession was strong, and when Gemmei abdicated in 715, Gensho was selected as her successor. Gensho was chosen as an interim monarch until her nephew, Obito, son of Mommu, was old enough to rule, thus Gensho would be considered a regent in many other monarchies. But in Japan, regencies were not preferred and so on 3 October 715, Gensho became the 44th monarch of Japan.

Japan's first history book, the Nihonshoki, was completed during Gensho's reign. The book described much of the early history of Japan, copying oral histories and traditions. Gensho's place as the "44th empress" is due to this book's reckoning. The Japanese royal family was expansive during this time and had posts at every level of government. Fujiwara no Nakamaro helped organize a new code of law in Japan while Nagaya worked out a new taxation system. Fujiwara no Fuhito became the most powerful courtier and then was succeeded by Nagaya. Their two lines would fight for control of the government in future generations. In 724, Prince Obito was declared old enough to rule and Gensho abdicated in his favor. He was crowned Emperor Shomu. Gensho never had any children and never married, but lived another 24 years before dying in 748. Her tomb in located in the city of Nara.

Date of Death: 22 May 748

Successor: Shomu

Other Monarch Deaths:

Constantine I, emperor of Rome (337)

Go-Reizei, emperor of Japan (1068)

Alexander VII, pope of Rome (1667)

Ferdinand II, king of the Two Sicilies (1859)

[May 17] Catherine I, empress of Russia

True Name: Yekaterina I Alekseyevna (Екатерина I Алексеевна)
Parents: Samuel Skowronski and Elisabeth Moritz

Date of Birth: 15 April 1684

House: Skowronski
Spouse: Peter I, emperor of Russia

Predecessor: Peter I

Reign: 1725 – 1727

Summary: Catherine set a good example in Russia for female rule, but like many of the other female rulers, she did so in an extraordinarily bad way. She was born with the name Marta, a Polish peasant girl and Roman Catholic, and raised by a Lutheran pastor in Latvia. She served as a housemaid and she was never taught to read or write. In fear that her beauty would overtake his son, the pastor married her off to a Swedish dragoon, Johan Cruse, but the pair remained together for only a week in 1702. Soon after, the pastor and his family, including Marta, moved to Moscow. She eventually became a part of Prince Alexander Menshikov's household, the best friend of Peter the Great of Russia. Menshikov and Marta formed an alliance and Peter met Marta in 1703. Shortly after, Marta became the emperor's mistress. Marta converted to Russian Orthodoxy in 1705 and took the name Catherine Alexeyevna. She rarely left Peter's side after that. Peter and Catherine married secretly in 1707. Of their twelve children, only two lived to adulthood, Yelizaveta and Anna. The two were very much in love and lived in a small log cabin in St. Petersburg despite the status of the emperor. In 1711, tradition states that Catherine saved Peter and the Russian Empire when she suggested bribing the enemy with her and the other women's jewelry. The ploy worked and Peter lived to fight another day. Peter married Catherine again officially in February 1712. Catherine became the tsarina of Russia and eventually became empress. A strange twist came in 1724 when Peter the Great named Catherine his co-ruler. He died the next year without having named a successor. Catherine, fearing an aristocratic takeover, arranged a coup with Menshikov. She was popularly proclaimed Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias by the Russian military.

Menshikov, Peter Tlstoy, and the Supreme Privy Council did most of the ruling during Catherine's short reign. It is unlikely Catherine planned to rule directly or for a prolonged period of time, but that she wished to act as a transitional monarch while a new monarch, one that would favor the new meritocracy, was found. What happened, though, was that Catherine established a new order in Russia. She was the first female ruler of the empire that was only found a decade earlier. Her successors, including her daughter, Elizabeth, and Catherine II would dominate Russian politics for the eighteenth century. As empress, Catherine downsized the military to cut spending. The resulting tax relief gave her a reputation of just and fair rule. Russia joined the Habsburg league in 1726 to defend her son-in-law, the Duke of Holstein, against incursions by Great Britain. She died only two years after becoming empress. The cause of her death was probably abscess of the lungs, and she was buried in St. Petersburg. She was succeeded by her step-grandson, Peter II, the son of Alexei, the eldest surviving son of Peter the Great by his first wife, Eudoxia.

Date of Death: 17 May 1727

Successor: Peter II

Other Monarch Deaths:

Sima Yan, emperor of China (290)

Go-Fushimi, emperor of Japan (1336)

Louis VI, duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg (1365)

Charles, raja of Sarawak (1917)

[May 12] Joan I, queen of Naples

Parents: Charles, duke of Calabria, and Marie of Valois

Date of Birth: 1328

House: Capet-Anjou
Spouse: (1) Andrew, duke of Calabria, then (2) Louis, prince of Taranto, then (3) James IV, king of Majorça, then (4) Otto, duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen

Predecessor: Robert

Reign: 1343 – 1382

Summary: Joan was the granddaughter of Robert, king of Naples, and as such she was second-in-line after her father, Charles. Her mother was the sister of Philip VI of France and thus Joan was both French and Neapolitan. When she was seven, she was betrothed to another member of the house of Anjou, Andrew, whose claim to the throne of Naples was nearly as strong as her own. When her grandfather died in 1343, he bequeathed the whole of the kingdom to Joan, not even mentioning her husband. The crown was to pass to her sister, Maria, if she were to die without issue. Joan was crowned the sole monarch of Naples in 1344 but after a petition from her mother-in-law, she allowed Andrew to be crowned king consort the next year. Unfortunately for Andrew, he was murdered in 1345 before he could receive his crown. She was pregnant at the time of his murder and the queen quickly found a new spouse in her cousin, Louis. Joan's reign was off to a politically hostile start.

Her reign was dominated by rivalries between the Neapolitan and Hungarian branches of the House of Anjou. The murder of Andrew, of the Hungarian branch, brought a Hungarian army to Naples. Joan only survived by fleeing to France and then selling her rights to Avignon to the pope, thereby ensuring his support. A new trial was arranged regarding Andrew's assassination and Joan was acquitted. Louis was finally crowned king consort in 1353. When the Western Schism broke out within the Papacy, Joan supported the French, adopting Louis, yet another cousin and the son of King John II of France, as her heir. This choice caused the legitimate pope, Urban VI, to declare her a heretic and he forfeited her kingdom to Charles of Durazzo, her niece's husband. Joan decided to remove Louis from the succession and replace him with another Louis, this one the brother of King Charles V of France. But Charles Durazzo felt increased safety in this decision because Louis could not mount a proper attack at the time. Durazzo went on to become king of Naples in 1381 as Charles III, in opposition to Joan who was still alive at the time. Joan's fourth husband, Otto, failed to hold off the Hungarian troops as they marched on Naples. She finally was forced to surrender the city to Charles in August 1381. Fearing an uprising, Charles had Joan killed in 1382 for her murder of Andrew. Her death prompted a century of recurring warfare in Naples over the lawful succession to the throne. She left no children

Date of Death: 12 May 1382

Successor: Charles III

Other Monarch Deaths:

Silvester II, pope of Rome (1003)

Sergius IV, pope of Rome (1012)

Thomas, despot of Morea (1465)

Adolf Frederick II, duke of Macklenburg-Strelitz (1708)