The Scariest & Most Feared Queens of the Middle Ages...

In the Middle Ages, men ruled the world, except when they didn’t. Many history lovers are aware of women like Margaret of Anjou and Eleanor of Aquitaine but other lesser-known Medieval female bosses were just as formidable. Let’s travel back in time now and meet some of these women who held power instead. Some in their own right, others as regents, and others by having great influence over the men in their lives. Welcome to Medieval Madness.
00:00 Introduction
40:00 Theodora
02:10 Empress Suiko of Japan
03:16 Aethelflaed
04:53 Matilda of Scotland
06:18 Empress Matilda
07:45 Aelfthryth
09:33 Olga of Kiev
Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by Jamit Productions
Thank you for watching.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are, or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please email us at [e-mail]
Copyright © 500 AD to 1500 Top5s All rights reserved.

[@juliairzyk]

You left out the best Olga of Kiev story. After she laid siege to the capitol she said she'd stop if they gave her 2 birds from every house in the city. They complied and she tied burning embers to the birds, who then returned to their homes and burned the city to the ground.

[@fame545]

Just another reason not to trust birds

[@misscyanic2484]

St. Olga is my historic girl crush❤ what an absolute demoness! The embodiment of Scorched Earth🔥

[@rarebird_82]

I know! Given that a lot of the art shown here depicted the birds flying with flaming embers beneath them 🤔

[@kyrawilliams7497]

Anyone else learn about her from Puppet History? 😅

[@josephwear9572]

Yeah that’s the story she’s most well known for.

[@augustbliss]

Olga just didn't get revenge, she absolutely went Medieval on them. Hell Yes!!!

[@nyxspiritsong5557]

Lol went medieval on them.......😂😂😂 sorry I'm easily amused and that made my night.

[@augustbliss]

@@nyxspiritsong5557 😊😃

[@0megaVon]

LMFAO 🤣🤣💀

[@nancytestani1470]

Was quite witty..ha.

[@mariapdr3261]

The irony is that they killed St. Olga’s husband because they thought dealing with Olga would be easier and they would be able to successfully pressure her into remarrying one of their nobles.

[@Bigmtj10678]

I’m becoming obsessed with the medieval era now. Found a new addiction

[@ttiroff]

This is the best channel ever. I have learned so much from watching it. Thanks for the hard work.

[@mayavail2970]

he lifts his scripts straight from wikipedia lol (compare the part about olga of kiev to her wiki page)

[@Someonesmom84]

I love this channel so much 🎉

[@NicholasNappi]

Me too 😊

[@neoAREAXIS]

Me too 🎉

[@hollybyrd6186]

Olga was a badass!

[@David-xh9cw]

Always a treat! Ty!

[@GirtheAlienGoldfish]

Fredegunde also comes to mind.

[@mrlume9475]

Great content as always. I thought there was little of interest in the medieval period until I came across your channel. Fascinating stuff!

[@datmelonblob]

i was expecting wu zetian to be here lolll

[@babyramses5066]

Yes she should've been ..ultimate medieval tiger mom

[@haldemarest]

I was expecting Brunhilda or Fredegund

[@Ninjachucks]

Love this channel!!

[@andrealittle2836]

Me too!

[@samsteed6793]

Great Video! Not sure if you take recommendations or requests but a video on illegitimate children, both male and female, would be cool and their place in society at all levels as I feel like series like Game of Thrones have given people a somewhat incorrect view of them.

[@Toxus8]

I see that Cryptopsy album cover 😏

[@amy43215]

I absolutely love the sarcasm when you mention how many women were accused of witch craft

[@ElectriCobra]

clicked because None So Vile album cover

[@stinkiesgoofy]

nice

[@Rydonattelo]

Let the madness commence ⚔

[@SusannahDyro-gd1nx]

Olga you go girl 😅

[@lenol0315]

Cryptopsy album has Herodias, with head of John the Baptist on it lol

[@chicagogyrl4846]

My middle name is Theodora. Thanks! 😊

[@overcomerbtbojesus]

One correction - william II was succeeded by his brother henry 1 not his son

[@OstblockLatina]

1:17 - the two images of Hagia Sophia depicting the structure with minarets, come from the tima after the fall of the Byzantine Empire and after the fall of Constantinople into Ottoman hands, after the churches had been adapted to be mosques, therefore are incorrectly used when speaking about the times of Justinian and Theodora. Oh, btw. the first image looks more like the blue mosque than Hagia Sophia, and that mosque was built by the sultan in the early 1600s.

[@Trainspotter-]

All these women are literally iconic and revolutionary.

[@giobtcsamsung]

Not really

[@jovanweismiller7114]

St Olga is also a Saint in the Byzantine Catholic Churches, not just the Russian Orthodox.

[@Stephan-bj3lh]

Thank God I missed the middle ages!!!!

[@cherylbrooks7005]

❤

[@olivere5497]

No amanirenas?

[@the13xiii52]

OLGA! GOD DAMN! Where do I get a woman like that!?!

[@lesliemackerel9416]

Bro, she would have unalived you

[@mysterycrumble]

why has suiko got a motorbike on her head?

[@medeasherbs]

where is wu zetian tho

[@fungusmcbungus7943]

Nice, let's see a Queens of the Stone Age video next.

[@user-hb1ez2mq9s]

Hey y'all 😮

[@paxtwn]

cryptopsy reference

[@paulphoenix1669]

Any other Cryptopsy fans in the house tonight? Wynyk

[@sapphicgeek24]

Festive Fact: The Anarchy is the historical inspiration for the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon.

[@firepowerg]

You need to do a video on the witch accusations. I find it very interesting. How they were randomly accused, how they got false noses added to look more hideous, how they were found guilty if they weighed the same as a duck. Also what the accused did. There was this one witch, apparently she turned a guy into a newt! Luckily he got better.

[@Chris-mj9vm]

How do you know shes a witch?

[@grapeshot]

Yes that Queen of Kiev have they sure could use her now over in Ukraine.

[@awantedboi]

If she ain’t like Olga, I don’t want her.

[@user-kf8uh3ug7m]

Izabella I of Spain (1454_1504), Mary The Rich (1457_1482) Jadwiga king of Poland,

[@chicagogyrl4846]

If you could speak a little slower, that would be helpful!

[@conclavecabal.h0rriphic]

Find the ⚙️

[@isthattrue1083]

Russ was really really small.

[@giuseppelogiurato5718]

Lol, I know it's just the way he talks, and there's nothing wrong with it, but to my ears he always sounds like an intelligent/rebellious student being forced to read his "A+" book-report aloud in front of his entire class, and he's hating every minute of it, and wishing he hadn't done such a good job... I almost expect him to close each video with, "There; I read the whole thing, just like you asked. Can I go outside and play now?"

[@nancytestani1470]

Not me..has a really modulated voice and interesting

[@RedKresnik11]

“Women hold up half the sky” ~Chairman Mao Women always have.

[@misscyanic2484]

Mama is the whoopin post that holds up the world ~ MissCyanic

[@FishBoneD14]

Henry I was William II brother not son

[@-JA-]

🫢👍

[@josepartida1711]

Don’t fuck with Olga

[@joserocha7850]

I thought this was supposed to be scariest and most feared??

[@jeffhumble5144]

Enjoy the info. Would like longer videos. Also take the pace down a notch. You talk so fast that about 25% of the info is lost. Constructive criticism of course :)

[@LucienSabre]

I too would love longer videos. 👍💗 The pace on the other hand seems great to me; he doesn’t speak that fast, I’ve never lost info or anything else…but that’s just my personal impression/opinion. ☺️

[@AllisonChains64]

​@@LucienSabreI agree 100%! I would also like longer, more in-depth videos, but the pace is perfect!

[@StEvEn420BrUlE]

Hell yeah cryptopsy

[@areyoutheregoditsmedave]

celibacy is definitely respectable

[@GreatGreebo]

*Subscriber no. 128* here. Do you still read your comments? Please let me know. If you don’t then there is no point in me leaving them anymore. Cheers 🤘

[@beebeelicious]

Hello, love the videos but can yousort out your pronunciation? Cheers 🩵

[@giuseppelogiurato5718]

Not complaining or hating, but I will go ahead and point out that showing Ottoman-era images of Hagia Sophia as a mosque with minarets while talking about the time of Theodora is unnecessarily anachronistic, but it's ok, because this is not a video about Eastern Orthodoxy... (The images in these videos are obviously not intended to exactly match up with the narrative; they seldom do; they're just there to suggest a mood or landscape)... Still, I wouldn't be surprised if every ODox-Xtian immediately notices it and "cringes", ever so slightly. (No one's gonna freak out about it, but we do notice those little things.) It was better for everyone when it was still a museum, imo. (Meanwhile, Greeks are still like, "They took our Cherch!", a la South Park)

[@babyramses5066]

Nah ..it's a fair assessment. This is a history channel. Unrelated- I also hate the ottoman updates to the hagia zofia. Those huge black signs inside are tacky af.

[@giuseppelogiurato5718]

@@babyramses5066omg, those huge disk-sign-thingies... Yuck! The calligraphy is not ugly, but I agree, it's like putting mustard on a cheesecake. Totally incongruous with the aesthetic of the architecture. What frightens me is that the Turkish government is not doing enough to preserve it; it would be a HUGE tragedy if it collapsed, bigger than the Notre Dame fire a few years ago... whether as a church or a museum or a mosque, the loss would be tragic, especially if there were people inside, whether Christians/Muslims/innocent tourists etc...

[@VioletDisregard23]

Was anyone else amused by the idea of a celibate woman being considered more masculine? Celibacy doesn’t strike me as a quality that would be considered particularly masculine even by today’s standards.

[@andrealittle2836]

Shame that “strong women” have to be so evil to get control

[@babyramses5066]

To be fair, men who took control had to do atrocities also because it was the middle ages and life was short and cruel

[@theconqueringram5295]

This is peak feminism.

[@areyoutheregoditsmedave]

the girlbossing will continue until all infrastructure fails

[@oceanelf2512]

Olga was vile.

[@4sername]

how was the first broad scary?

[@PrinceIsot]

No wonder i find Russian women so attractive 😂

[@user-hb1ez2mq9s]

Hey y'all 😮