The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages Quotes

“The story of women taking over the duties of their husbands in factories and homes during times of war is a familiar one. While he was deployed overseas to stop a foreign dictator from world conquest, she was placed in charge of the household. In the past, she depended on her husband's paycheck for all their material needs. Now, for the first time, she was solely in charge of the family's finances. She was also responsible for new duties such as simple home repairs and overseeing improvement projects.”
― Melissa Rank, The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor

“She declared on becoming queen that “this is the doing of the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes,” quoting from Psalm 118.”
― Melissa Rank, The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor

“She became conversationally fluent in six languages, and later in life was even able to dress down foreign diplomats in Latin, a necessary exercise since the English language held little currency in international diplomatic circles during the 16th century.”
― Melissa Rank, The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor

“The Spanish Inquisition, which was under direct control of the monarchy and not the papacy in Rome, was established to maintain the orthodoxy of the conversos, the converted Jews.”
― Melissa Rank, The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor

“If something was not done for love, then it was not worth doing.”
― Melissa Rank, The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor

“She also took advantage of all that the Catholic Church had to offer to women in the 14th century. Through the Dominican order she learned to read.”
― Melissa Rank, The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor

“In her childhood, Europe launched the First Crusade, and hundreds of thousands of Catholic pilgrims passed through – and ransacked – the surroundings of Constantinople.”
― Melissa Rank, The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor

“With the revolt put down, Theodora and Justinian kept the high taxes in place and used the revenue to build up Constantinople.”
― Melissa Rank, The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor

“Anna Komnene, the world's first female narrative historian, is thought to have crafted her history for the sole purposes of giving a stronger voice to women.”
― Melissa Rank, The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor