When you hear the phrase 10 forgotten women, you might picture mythic heroines or legendary queens, but the reality is far richer. Across continents and centuries, a handful of women slipped into the shadows of male‑dominated power structures, pulling the strings of empires while the world believed they were merely consorts or mothers. This roundup shines a light on those covert rulers, revealing how they seized, held, and sometimes lost power in the most dramatic fashion.
Discover the 10 Forgotten Women Who Shaped History
10 Marozia
In the chaotic early tenth century, Europe resembled a crumbling mosaic: the Frankish realm was disintegrating, Viking raids intensified, Muslim forces held Spain and Sicily, and the Hungarians thundered across the Carpathians. The only institution appearing to hold the continent together was the Catholic Church, and at its helm was a woman of astonishing ambition—Marozia, a senator of Rome.
Born to Count Theophylact, the most influential Roman noble of his day, Marozia inherited his vast political network after his death. She proclaimed herself senatrix and, when Pope John X tried to assert independence, she imprisoned him, where he met a swift and mysterious demise. From that point onward she installed a succession of pliant popes, effectively ruling Saint Peter’s throne from behind the curtain.
By 931, after Pope Stephen VII’s death, Marozia placed her own son, John XI, on the papal seat, cementing her grip on Rome. Yet she craved even greater authority. In 932 she negotiated a marriage to Hugh of Arles, the King of Italy, hoping that the Pope would crown the pair as emperor and empress, thereby claiming overlordship of all Europe.
Fate, however, intervened in a petty domestic squabble. Marozia’s teenage son Alberic, from a previous marriage, despised his new stepfather. When Hugh slapped Alberic for spilling water, the insult ignited a rebellion. Alberic rallied Roman citizens, forced Hugh to flee down the city walls via a rope, and then seized his own mother, imprisoning her and assuming the true reins of power in Rome.
9 Toregene
When Genghis Khan’s third son, Ögedei, took the mantle of Great Khan, his reign was marked by a surprising indulgence: he was an inoffensive alcoholic whose main political talent lay in delegating authority. That delegation fell largely to his wife, Toregene, whose name appears on several imperial edicts even before Ögedei’s death.
After Ögedei’s premature demise—largely a result of his own drinking—Toregene stepped forward as the empire’s de‑facto ruler, buying time until a new khan could be selected. She skillfully postponed the election for five long years, during which the Mongol realm stretched from the Chinese heartland to the distant steppes of Russia. Even the Seljuk sultan and Grand Prince Yaroslav of Kiev journeyed to pay homage to her, though Yaroslav met an untimely, mysterious end after feasting at her court.
Throughout her extended regency, Toregene worked tirelessly to secure her own lineage. She championed her son, Güyük, as the next Great Khan—a candidate that many despised. To force his election, she introduced an aggressive tax‑farming system, raising funds for a massive bribery campaign across the empire. Her efforts bore fruit in 1246, just a year before her death, when Güyük finally ascended the throne.
8 Kosem Sultan
The most formidable Ottoman woman of the seventeenth century arrived in Istanbul as a captive around 1600. Of Greek origin, she was renamed Kösem upon her entry into the imperial harem, where she quickly became the favorite consort of Sultan Ahmed I. Following Ahmed’s death, Kösem engineered the ascension of his mentally unstable brother, Mustafa, to the throne, marking her first bold move onto the political stage.
Mustafa’s reign was short‑lived; he was ousted by his nephew, Osman II, prompting Kösem to retreat from the limelight for a few years. She resurfaced in 1623 when her own son, Murad IV, assumed the sultanate. As his mother, Kösem acted as regent, steering the empire through a decade of turbulence and consolidating her authority.
When Murad IV died in 1640, the throne passed to his mentally ill brother, Ibrahim I. Kösem, recognizing Ibrahim’s erratic behavior, orchestrated his assassination in 1648. She then continued to dominate as regent for his young son, Mehmed IV, ensuring that the Ottoman state remained firmly under her control for yet another generation.
7 Turhan
After Mehmed IV’s accession, Kösem continued to rule from behind an opulent curtain, directing ministers and court affairs with a subtle hand. This arrangement irked the sultan’s mother, Turhan Hatice, who believed the regency should rightfully belong to her. Though Kösem’s power seemed unassailable—bolstered by the personal loyalty of the Janissary corps and a fortune that made her one of the world’s wealthiest individuals—Turhan plotted her own rise.
Complicating matters, Kösem sensed growing independence in both her son Mehmed and his mother Turhan, prompting her to scheme a lethal plot to poison the sultan’s sherbet. Turhan, however, received a warning about the poison and realized that decisive action was required.
In September 2 1651, Turhan launched a swift palace coup. She and her cadre of eunuchs stormed Kösem’s apartments, slaughtering the guards before Kösem could summon her Janissary allies. The empress tried to hide in a closet, but was dragged out and strangled with the very curtains she once ruled from.
With Kösem eliminated, Turhan assumed the regency, effectively governing the empire until 1656, when she consented to transfer authority to Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, marking the end of her direct rule.
6 Sorghaghtani
Although her name seldom surfaces in modern textbooks, Sorghaghtani was a powerhouse of the thirteenth century. The Persian chronicler Rashid al‑Din praised her, noting that the “great emirs and troops” of the Mongols “never strayed a hair’s breadth from her command.” A contemporary poet even proclaimed that if all women resembled her, they would surpass men.
Sorghaghtani was married to Tolui, Genghis Khan’s youngest son. When Tolui passed away, she was appointed regent of his extensive estates, despite her eldest son already being twenty‑three. She quickly asserted herself as a central figure in Mongol politics, playing a decisive role in the elevation of Güyük Khan to the throne.
Following Güyük’s death in 1248, Sorghaghtani seized the moment to advance her own lineage. Forming an alliance with Batu, the powerful khan of the Golden Horde, she launched an extensive bribery campaign to secure the election of her son, Möngke, as Great Khan. This effort faced fierce opposition from Güyük’s relatives, but Sorghaghtani persisted, even overseeing the torture and execution of Güyük’s wife, Oghul Qaimish, to eliminate rivals.
Her meticulous scheming paid off: all four of her sons—Möngke, Kublai, Hulagu, and Ariq Böke—rose to prominence as great khans, cementing her legacy as one of the most influential women in Mongol history.
5 Ahhotep
Ahhotep I lived during a turbulent epoch in the 1500s BC, when ancient Egypt was besieged by internal strife and the invading Hyksos. She was the sister‑wife of Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao, who met a brutal end at the hands of the Hyksos—his mummy reveals two axe blows to the head and a dagger wound to the neck.
Following her husband’s gruesome death, Ahhotep stepped into the role of regent for her young son, Ahmose I. Not only did she govern Egypt, but she also personally rallied her husband’s forces, leading campaigns that expelled the Hyksos and quelled domestic rebellions. In recognition of her military prowess, she was awarded the “Golden Flies of Valor,” a decoration traditionally reserved for distinguished Egyptian generals.
Ahmose later commissioned an inscription honoring his mother: “Give praise to the lady of the land, the mistress of the lands, whose name is held high in every foreign country, who has made many plans… who took care of [Egypt]. She looked after its troops, she guarded them, she rounded up its fugitives, brought back its deserters, she pacified the South and she repelled those who rebelled against her.”
Ahhotep lived to an impressive age—perhaps around ninety years—and was interred with great honors, still wearing the Golden Flies of Valor around her neck, a testament to her lasting influence.
4 Zoe
Although she officially shared power with a succession of husbands, Zoe was undeniably the true architect of Byzantine policy during her reign, which spanned the Balkans and Asia Minor. Her sole rival for supremacy was her sister, Theodora, who eventually forced herself onto the throne as co‑empress before Zoe managed to sideline her once more.
Born daughters of Constantine VIII, the childless emperor, Zoe first married the powerful urban prefect Romanos, who became emperor upon Constantine’s death. Zoe swiftly exiled her sister, poisoned Romanos, and then wed her chamberlain, who ascended the throne as Michael IV.
When Michael IV died, a usurper attempted to seize the throne and banish Zoe. The people of Constantinople erupted in fury, storming the palace and demanding the return of their empress. The captured pretender was brutally castrated, blinded, and sent to a monastery, while Zoe’s sister Theodora was also summoned to share power.
Eventually, Zoe outmaneuvered Theodora by marrying Constantine IX Monomachus, who became co‑emperor. Zoe continued to dominate Byzantine affairs until her death in 1050, after which her husband and sister carried on her legacy.
3 Arsinoe
Arsinoe was the daughter of Ptolemy I, the Macedonian general who seized Egypt after Alexander the Great’s death. She first married Lysimachus, another of Alexander’s successors who ruled Thrace. In a ruthless bid for power, Arsinoe poisoned Lysimachus’s son from a previous marriage and later saw her own children murdered by her second husband.
Circa 279 BC, Arsinoe fled back to Egypt, where her brother Ptolemy II sat on the throne. Demonstrating extraordinary political acumen, she orchestrated the exile of her brother’s wife on fabricated charges and then married Ptolemy II herself—a scandal that shocked Greek sensibilities.
As queen, Arsinoe effectively eclipsed her brother’s authority, governing Egypt in all but name. Official documents referred to her as a pharaoh, and she issued coins bearing her portrait in full pharaonic regalia. In art, she and Ptolemy II were frequently depicted as Isis and Osiris, invoking ancient Egyptian traditions to legitimize their joint rule.
Arsinoe died around 268 BC, leaving behind a powerful cult that venerated her. Her brother never remarried, continuing to rule for another two decades under her lingering influence.
2 Empress Wei
Empress Wei was married to Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty, who ascended the throne in the early eighth century after the reign of Wu Zetian—the sole woman to ever rule China in her own right. Wei, a fervent admirer of Wu, sought to emulate her predecessor’s ruthlessness and political savvy.
Fortunately for Wei, her husband was widely regarded as timid and lacking the will to govern, happily ceding real authority to his more astute and decisive wife. She swiftly assembled a formidable faction at court, recruiting many of Wu’s former ministers. Opposition was met with lethal severity; on one occasion, the Minister of War murdered an officer merely for daring to criticize the empress.After five years of rule, Wei’s position was jeopardized when her husband suddenly died—rumors suggested she herself had poisoned him. Anticipating a scramble for the throne, Wei concealed his death, buying time to summon a force of fifty thousand troops to encircle the palace.
However, her own enemies were already poised inside the palace. Princess Taiping, the emperor’s sister, and her nephew Li Longji orchestrated a nocturnal coup. Wei attempted to flee, but the very soldiers she had ordered to guard the palace turned on her, killing her and siding with the victorious conspirators.
1 Nur Jahan
In the 1620s, the Mughal Empire stretched across the Indian subcontinent, a realm of immense wealth and power. Officially, the empire was ruled by Emperor Jahangir, yet in practice the reins were firmly in the hands of his wife, Nur Jahan—an extraordinary woman whose influence eclipsed that of the emperor himself.
Nur Jahan’s authority was unmistakable: she issued proclamations bearing her own name, minted coins that displayed her portrait, and held the royal seal used to authenticate every official order. Her presence in the public sphere was a radical departure from the norm, where women’s power was typically confined to the harem.
A contemporary observer noted that while women’s influence often operated silently within the harem, Nur Jahan “stood forth in public; she broke through all restraints and custom, and acquired power by her own address.” Her boldness reshaped the perception of female authority in the empire.
Her chief adversary was the general and minister Mahabat Khan. When Nur Jahan had Mahabat’s son‑in‑law arrested, he retaliated by seizing Jahangir in a coup. Undeterred, Nur Jahan personally led troops in an attempt to reclaim the emperor and devised a cunning escape plan, ultimately thwarting Mahabat’s ambitions and leaving her power unchallenged.