Uppity Women of History: Books by Vicki León

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Despite what men think, there have always been "uppity women" -- those who just didn't know their place.

Uppity Women have been the bane of masculine dominance for centuries. In a series of books Vicki León has told the tales of women around the world in different times who defied the local conventions. Just a few of the excerpts are below:

Uppity Women of Medieval Times
Rosa Vanozza “knew that the pleasure-seeking tone of fifteenth-century Italy was often set by the most powerful pleasure seeker: the pope de jour. With that in mind, rosa set out to be the CEO (Chief Erotic Officer) of a catalan priest named Rodrigo Borgia….who brought himself to papacy as Alexander VI.
As head of the mistress brigade, Rosa Vanozza had four love children with this power pope…..It’s said she had her portrait painted over the door to Alex’s bedroom – with Rosa as the Virgin Mary! (Even our century’s Madonna would be hard pressed to top that outrageous combination of the sacrilegious and the salacious.)
….Her late-breaking piety earned Rosa a prodigious funeral…followed by two hundred years of pre-paid Masses said in her honor.”
Uppity Women of the Renaissance
”What Anne of Cleves knew about the carnal act could have filled a thimble….When push came to shove, his (Henry VIII’s) bedside manner failed. The naïve queen, on the other hand, thought things were going great. Asked to describe their sex life, she said, ‘When the king come to bed, he kisses me and says “goodnight sweetheart.” “
When Henry found solace in the arms of Katherine Howard, Anne of Cleves “gave in gracefully. Relieved, Henry made her a handsome settlement – as long as she remained in England….Now independent, unmarried, and wealthy, Anne bought new clothes, took up gambling, gardening, pets, and had a stiff drink now and then.”
Uppity Women of Shakespearean Times
“When’s the last time you sent a ‘Ladies’ Peace Day’ greeting card, or saw it marked on your calendar? Well, join the club. The Ladies’ peace…was a very big deal on August 3, 1529….In blue trunks, representing France, was dowager Queen Louise of Savoy….In red knickers was Margaret of Austria. The women weren’t there as photo ops or mere signature stand-ins. They did the negotiating, hammering out a complex treaty that – among other things – gave parts of Italy its freedom from French domination, and traded two French princes for a pile of Krugerrands. Radical idea, huh: two women working out a peace treaty? Too bad it didn’t stick – or set a precedent.”

In addition to the books listed above, León has written several other Uppity Women books

...of Ancient Times
...of Ancient Greece
...of the New World.

These are women who, in a world typically associated with famous men, infamous women also abounded. These are women who were not content to sit by the fireside, sew, cook and raise babies. They were women who cross-dressed, were poets, courtesans, artists, international traders, army commanders, spies, and mine owners. These are women who refused to knuckle under and rose to the top as they had their way with the men in their world.

All the books are fun reading. Few of the biographies are more than a couple of pages long – exactly right when you have a only a couple of minutes to read or need a little inspiration when the man in your world becomes “uppity.”

Live well and prosper
Review by Jewel

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