I’ve been watching an interesting programme on BBC 4 (She Wolves: England’s Early Queens) and it’s struck me how prominent queens are in history, far more than you’d expect given their rarity. Maybe their very rarity means they stand out more, but when you look back at (British) history, their reigns do seem to be prominent.
Who can name a Celtic king? We all know who Boudica was.
Henry VIII is certainly well known – but how much of that is wrapped in his love life? And how many people know the names of his wives better than they know the names of other kings?
Who (apart from historians) remembers what happened in the reign of Henry II? Looking it up on Wikipedia is cheating. Yet Eleanor of Aquitane – his wife – is a name more people have heard of.
Think about it – Elizabeth I, (Bloody) Mary I, Lady Jane Grey, Victoria, Elizabeth II – all monarchs who made an impact. Between the most recent two queens you have a string of Edwards and Georges that, bar those who were alive in their reigns, no one can distinguish between.
Maybe that has an effect – it is easier to remember the occasional Mary or Elizabeth, rather than keeping straight six Georges and seven, eight or nine Edwards (depending on how you’re counting). Maybe it’s the fact that the few women who found themselves in a position of power had to be that much more extraordinary at what they did, and were under more scrutiny from the men around them, waiting for them to slip and yield power. It’s certainly an interesting observation to make when you consider that they all did this in times when their gender should have left them entirely powerless.