Queen Elizabeth I of England was definitely not to be trifled with.
Really? I thought that a pretty basic element in the definition of “dictator” is that all executive power is concentrated in one person. It would be pretty hard to say that about Theodora, who was second-in-command to her husband, Justinian, who was one of the greatest rulers in the history of human civilization (I’d say top 25).
Don’t get me wrong: she was a very impressive lady. But not dictator material.
Tamar of Georgia certainly qualifies in my book.
Note that most of these examples were hereditary monarchs or other aristocratic claimants. While such a person may wield absolute authority, and technically be a “dictator” by some definitions, I tend to agree more with the definition used in the opening of the Wikipedia article:
It might be interesting to restrict the discussion to women who attained dictatorial power through means other than a hereditary claim.
And no Hillary Clinton references either, please. 
Gang of Four* founding member Jiang Qing.
CMC fnord!
*No, the other Gang of Four.
I think it does apply to all absolute rulers, but few Kings and Queens rule absolutely. I believe the nobility actually gained a lot of power under Catherine the Great, for example. Queen Elizabeth had to deal with Parliament.
There are kings (and perhaps Queens) who have had close to dictatorial powers (Louis IIIIX is a popular example) but just being a monarch doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a dictator.
Mary I, Queen of England and Ireland - ‘Bloody Mary.’
Again, British monarchs had their power constrained by Parliament. They weren’t dictators.
How would you view the Dowager Empress of China I cited above? She was of non-royal origin herself. She took advantage of her position as mother of the heir to the throne to seize far more power than she was entitled to according to the norms of Chinese royalty, and then ruled despotically.
You mean Louis XIIII, and not Louis VI, right? Because Louis VI wasn’t that powerful.
Doh! Louis XIV is what I meant. If I ever start a dynastic line, I’m using Arabic numerals to lessen confusion for future generations.
Thanks,
Simplicio 1
:: beheads Simplicio 1 ::
The King is dead! Long live the King!
-Simplicio 2
Sacred and Divine Empress Regnant Wu Zetian.
I’m inclined to allow her, although she still manipulated claims to royal titles to attain her power. As you observe, she wasn’t born to them. Still, one reason for not including hereditary monarchs under “dictator”, is that you really want to apply it to somebody that junked a system and imposed their own absolute rule. Somebody attaining the top spot in a system that allows for an absolute ruler in the first place isn’t as notorious as the leader of the military junta that overthrows the existing government of a Republic and starts, well, dictating. It’s difficult to draw a really clear distinction, of course. Most power grabbers legitimized themselves within hte political system at some point.
So you cannot inherit the “dictator” title? The North Koreans will be thrilled to learn that.
Who claimed that?
Well, this
Nothing in what you quoted implies that a dictatorship can’t be inherited.
I don’t think she belongs in this list. We have no evidence that she tried or desired to rule politically, only that she led the people in battle after the death of her husband. Second, almost all of what we know about her comes from Roman sources, who were not above presenting stereotypes as fact to prove a point. The rest of our knowledge comes from archaeology; nothing from contemporary Celtic written sources. Third, we have no way of comparing her actions to the legitimate rulers of the Iceni or other contemporary tribes.