Anne Askew was one of the earliest-known female poets to compose in the English language, the first Englishwoman to demand a divorce, and wound up the only recorded woman to be tortured in the Tower of London, then burned at the stake.
Eleanor Cobham and Margery Jourdemayne came from different worlds. But a shared interet in the occult brought them together, and ruined them forever.
Nothing would stop Frances Howard from marrying the love of her life. Not the fact she was already married, and certainly not having to murder her lover's best friend.
Margaret Beaufort was single-minded in her quest to allow her son Henry to become King. Even after he was crowned, she continued to work behind the scenes to ensure his success.
Margaret Beaufort arrived at royal court for the first time at age nine, and nothing was ever the same again.
What we forget about Mary Shelley.
Elizabeth Woodville was a commoner whose stunning beauty and strength of character proved irresistable to King Edward IV. But winning over the rest of the royal court was more challenging.
Catherine Benincasa was proclaimed a saint years after her slow self-inflicted death by starvation.
Lucy Hay was the great-great-grandniece of Anne Boleyn, the inspiration for Milady de Winter from The Three Musketeers, and a completely badass lady spy.
Lettice Knollys was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth I whose secret marriage caused a rift between the two women that lasted until both of their deaths.