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Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy

Isabella (Portuguese: Isabel) was born on 21 February 1397, in Évora. She was daughter of King João I of Portugal and his wife, Philippa of Lancaster . Isabella was the fourth child and only daughter to survive to adulthood. Philippa instilled in all her children, including Isabella, a sense of duty, faith and belief in education. Isabella was an avid reader and was interested in politics. Her father ensured that she was given a good understanding of politics, joining her brothers in their instructions in affairs of state. Isabella became proficient in Latin, French, English and Italian; she was fond of riding and hunting. In 1415, Isabella received an offer of marriage from her cousin, King Henry V of England, an effort to form closer links with Portugal against France. The negotiations failed and Isabella remained unmarried. 1415 was also the year she grieved the death of her mother, with whom she had a close relationship. At the age of 30, Isabella was still unmarrie
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Catherine Howard

Catherine was born circa 1523, in Lambeth. She was one of the daughters of Lord Edmund Howard and his wife, Jocasta “Joyce” Culpeper. Her father’s sister, Elizabeth Howard, was the mother of Anne Boleyn , so Catherine and Anne were cousins. Catherine had an aristocratic pedigree, but her father was not wealthy, being a younger son among 21 children. Joyce Culpeper died circa 1528, when Catherine was aged about 5, so she was sent with some of her siblings to live in the care of her father’s stepmother, Agnes Tilney, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Agnes presided over large households at Chesworth House and at Norfolk House, where dozens of attendants, along with her many wards, resided. While sending children to be educated and trained in aristocratic households other than their own was common for centuries among European nobles, supervision at Chesworth House and Norfolk House was apparently very lax. Agnes was often at court and it seems she had little direct involvement in the u
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Jane Grey

Jane was born in 1536 or 1537; she was the eldest daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and his wife, Frances Grey (the eldest daughter of Mary Tudor ). Jane had two younger sisters, Catherine and Mary. Through their mother, the three sisters were great-granddaughters of King Henry VII, grandnieces of King Henry VIII , and first cousins once removed of King Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I . Jane received a humanist education, studying Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Italian. Through the influence of her father and her tutors, she became a committed Protestant. Jane preferred books to hunting parties and regarded her strict upbringing, which was typical of the time, as harsh. In early February 1547, Jane was sent to live in the household of Edward VI’s uncle, Thomas Seymour, who soon married Henry VIII’s widow, Catherine Parr . Jane lived with them until Catherine’s death in September 1548. Lady Jane acted as chief mourner at Catherine’s funeral; Thomas Se
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Maria of Portugal, Queen of Castile

Maria (aka The Most Beautiful Maria ) was born on 9 February 1313; she was the first daughter of King Afonso IV of Portugal and his wife, Beatrice of Castile. In 1328, Maria married King Alfonso XI of Castile. Their relationship was unhappy: from 1327, Alfonso had a mistress, Leonor de Guzmán, who gave him ten children, including the future King Henry II of Castile. Maria did not participate in the affairs of the court, being relegated by the mistress Leonor and it is quite likely that she spent long periods secluded at the Royal Monastery of San Clemente in Seville. Maria and Alfonso had two sons: Fernando (died aged 1) and Peter (who succeeded his father as King of Castile). In 1335, Maria returned to her father, who had demanded that Alfonso separated from Leonor by use of alliances with the Pope, the Muslims and rebels in Castile, and finally by an invasion. In July 1340, in the peace treaty of Seville, Alfonso agreed to have Leonor imprisoned in a convent, thereby secu
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Henry VIII of England

Henry was born on 28 June 1491, at the Palace of Placentia. He was the third child and second son of King Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth of York . Of Henry’s six siblings, only three survived infancy: Arthur, Margaret and Mary . Henry was given a first-rate education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French, and learning some Italian. Not much is known about his early life because he was not expected to become King. In November 1501, he played a considerable role in the ceremonies surrounding his brother’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon . In early 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15, probably of sweating sickness. Arthur’s death thrust his duties upon the 10-year old Henry. Henry VII gave the boy few tasks; Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public. As a result, he later ascended the throne untrained in the exacting art of kingship (in other words: spoiled) . Henry VII still wanted to seal a marital alliance between England and Spain, so he
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Mihrimah Sultan

Mihrimah was born in Istanbul in 1522; she was the daughter of Sultan Süleyman I (aka The Magnificent) and his concubine, Hürrem Sultan . Her mother was freed in 1533 or 1534 and became the Sultan’s legal wife. On 26 November 1539, Mihrimah, aged 17, married Rüstem Pasha, who later rose to become her father’s Grand Vizier. Though this union was unhappy, Mihrimah flourished as a patroness of the arts and continued her travels with her father until her husband’s death. Mihrimah had two children: Osman and Hümaşah. Mihrimah travelled the Ottoman Empire with her father as he surveyed the lands and conquered new ones. In international politics, her mother sent letters to the Sigismund II, King of Poland, and the contents of these letters were mirrored in the letters Mihrimah sent. Although there is no proof of Hürrem and Mihrimah’s direct involvement in her half-brother Mustafa’s downfall, Ottoman sources and foreign accounts indicate that it was widely believed they worke
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Anne, Duchess of Brittany

Anne (Breton: Anna) was born on 25 or 26 January 1477, in Nantes; she was the eldest daughter of Francis II, Duke of Brittany, and his second wife, Margaret of Foix. She had a younger sister, Isabelle. Margaret died when Anne was little, and Francis died when Anne was 11 years old. It is likely that Anne learned to read and write in French, and perhaps a little Latin. She was also taught music, dance, and singing. In this period, the law of succession was unclear, but prior to the Breton War of Succession (1341-1365) mainly operated according to semi-Salic Law: women could inherit but only if the male line had died out. The Treaty of Guérande (1365), however, stated that in the absence of a male heir from the House of Monfort, the heirs of Joanna of Penthièvre would succeed. By the time Anne was born, her father was the only male from the House of Monfort, and the Penthièvre heir was a female who had sold her rights over Brittany to King Louis XI of France. The lack of a
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