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Matilda’s Top Women In History
Caterina Sforza - Minisode (episode 1)
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Caterina Sforza Riario Feo de Medici had many surnames, but she also had an incredibly interesting life - one that was quite unusual for a 15th century woman. Daughter of a duke, wife of a count and niece to a Pope, Caterina had impeccable connections and for several years was one of Romes key social players. She would prove to be more than a socialite however, physically taking up arms to fight her opponents on several occasions - and usually winning. Caterina met some of the most famous people in history - Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolo Machiavelli, Lorenzo de Medici - and is immortalised on the walls of the Sistine chapel. She would have three husbands and seven sons, but would prove to be the most capable military organiser of her family. She held the entire Catholic Church to ransom, faced down coups, avenged her two murdered husbands and stood strong against the feared Cesare Borgia when he invaded her territory. She was a true Renaissance woman
Sources/Further Reading
Lev, Elizabeth: Tigress of Forli, The Fascinating Biography of The Ultimate Renaissance Woman
Jordan, Jonathan and Jordan, Emily Anne: The War Queens, Extraordinary Women who Ruled the Battlefield
Fraser, Antonia: Warrior Queens Boadicea’s Chariot
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterina_Sforza
Encyclopedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/biography/Caterina-Sforza
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01:00:30|In 1776 the work of the English parliament and law courts paused for a week to hear the unusual case of a woman being tried for bigamy. Elizabeth Chudleigh had married the Duke of Kingston, but before that she had married - and never divorced - the Earl of Bristol. The entire country was agog to see the outcome - was she a Duchess or a Countess? For Elizabeth, there was more at stake than just a title - her husband the Duke had left her an enormous fortune, and his relatives wanted it back. Sources/Further Reading:Chudleigh, Elizabeth: An Authentic Detail of Particulars Relative to the Late Duchess of KingstonGervat, Claire: Elizabeth - the Scandalous Life of the Duchess of KingstonOstler, Catherine: The Duchess Countess, the Woman Who Scandalised 18th Century LondonA Most Scandalous Lady https://janeaustenslondon.com/2016/01/22/a-most-scandalous-lady/The Bigamous Duchess of Kingston https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/exhibitions/online/fromparchmenttopixels/duchessofkingston.aspxWikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Pierrepont,_Duchess_of_Kingston-upon-HullNancy Wake - Australian Hero for the French Resistance (minisode)
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01:03:56|Nancy Wake was a New Zealand born Australian journalist working in France when Germany invaded her beloved adopted country. Unwilling to watch as France became overrun with foreign soldiers, she joined up with the secret band of guerrilla fighters known as the French Resistance. Embedded with a group of fighters in the mountains of Central France, Nancy played an invaluable role in obtaining weapons and money for the Resistance as well as laying explosives and leading a charge on a machine gun station.Sources/Further ReadingFitzsimmons, Peter: Nancy Wake - A Biography of Our Greatest War HeroineWake, Nancy: The White MouseBraddon, Russell: Nancy Wake - SOE’s greatest HeroineThe Story of Nancy Wake https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/nancy-wake/Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_WakeAustralian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P332Lady Caroline Lamb - Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know? (Minisode)
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01:06:39|Lady Caroline Lamb is famous - or infamous - for her affair with the poet Lord Byron and for being the wife of Queen Victoria’s favourite Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. But she was also a novelist in her own right, helping to create a new genre of fiction called the silver fork novel which allowed ordinary people a glimpse into the lives of the rich aristocracy. Throughout her life she suffered from mental illness, possibly bi-polar disorder, which in a time with limited understanding of mental illness and limited treatment made life difficult for herself and those around her. Her mother referred to Caroline as the ‘joy and torment of my life’ and many others probably felt the same.Sources/Further Readinghttps://scispace.com/pdf/the-madness-of-writing-lady-caroline-lamb-s-byronic-identity-28d17t2bmv.pdfhttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jun/17/duke-wellington-mud-streaked-waterloo-cloak-up-for-auctionDouglass, Paul: Lady Caroline LambFraser, Antonia: Lady Caroline Lamb, A Free SpiritCaro: The Lady Caroline Lamb Website https://sites.google.com/sjsu.edu/caro/biographyWikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Caroline_LambJadwiga of Poland - A Female King (Minisode)
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