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...family. She accepted the marriage proposal of Tory MP the Hon. George Norton, though they had little in common and the marriage was soon very unhappy. Norton was discovered to have misrepresented his financial position and began to subject his wife to vicious beatings. Caroline found consolation in writing and the publication of her verses led to appointments as magazine...

...family, Nur Jahan was brought to court as a widow in 1607, to serve as lady-in-waiting. Reputedly very beautiful, she attracted the attention of the Emperor and they were married in 1611; she would be Jahangir’s twentieth and last legal wife. During the next ten years, assisted by trusted men like her father and brother, she assumed all the rights of sovereignty and...

...family of Ndongo in central West Africa, Nzinga became Queen of the Mbundu people in in 1626, having served both as her brother’s envoy and as regent following his death. Initially, Nzinga made accommodation with the Portuguese. In so-doing she gained an ally in the struggle against her African enemies and, at the same time, called a halt to Portuguese slave raids in...