Royal Women in Power W

Brief lives of women who reigned or ruled in their own right or by marriage by providing their a) proprietary titles, b) parents/pedigree, c) patrimony and properties, d) persona or personality, e) powers exercised, f) patronages and g) progeny or posterity.

WALDRADA OF ESTE
a.k.a. Valdrada d'Este

"Azo I succeeded his father. He married Valdrada, daughter of Pater Candianus, the Fourth, Doge of Duke of Venice, and niece (sic) of Hugh, Duke of Tuscany, by whom he acquired a rich territory, and a commanding influence in the Venetian province... From Este, their new estates, the inheritance of Hugo the Great, extended to the Adege, the o, and the Mincius. Their farms and cattle were scattered over the plain; many of their heights, Montagnana, Monfelice, etc. were occupied by their forts and garrisons'  and they possessed a valuable tract of marsh-land, the island of Rovigo, which almost reaches to the gates of Ferrara." (Collins, p. 6)

"Albert, or Azo I, succeeding his father, greatly increased his riches by espousing Valdrada, the daughter and heiress of Laudianus, doge of Venice, who, as the niece of Hubert, the holder of many of the Tuscan territories, brought back to him many of the possessions that lately aggrandized his titles.  Azo is also the first of the Guelphs who took the title of marquess of Este, in the castle of which he took up his residence in the territories of Venice, by which title this line was ever after distinguished, as relative to its Italian dignities...."  (Fisher, p. 360)

Wilhelmine of Courland (1781-1839)
Duchess of Sagan, Lady of Nachod, 1800-1839
See. See also

Xenia of Yaroslavl, Rus. Ksenia, (d. after 1281), wife of Vasiliy (1229-1249), Prince of Yaroslavl, 1239-1249.

"...When Fedor (Prince of Smolensk, husband of her daughter Maria) deigned to return home, he found the gates locked; Ksenia and Maria had taken advantage of his long absence to incite the boyars to revolt. Fedor's underaged son, Mikhail, had been acclaimed prince, with Ksenia and Maria named regents for him. Finding himself in an absurd position, Fedor returned to the Horde" where he was married to the khan's daughter whose baptismal name was Anna... Twice the khan sent ambassadors to Iaroslavl...demanding that Fedor be given a portion of his former possession. Ksenia, who had gained the support and affection of Iaroslavl boyars and their retinues, ignored the threats. The dispute lasted for years. Only after the deaths of Ksenia, Maria and the young prince Mikhail in the 1290s was Fedor able to reestablish his right to rule Iaroslavl." (Puskareva & Levin: 21)