This course, part of a “Women in World History series,” offers an in-depth look at the lives of ruling women and rebels across the globe. We will examine the world in which each of these women lived, the particular challenges they confronted, their respective legacies and how these women have been remembered through the centuries. How did they survive, thrive, and shape their own records? We will draw from a wide range of historical sources and narratives to focus on the lives of Empress Chabi (1216-1281), wife of Kubilai Khan; Queen Isabel of Castile (1451-1504); Queen Njinga of Angola, and Qing Dynasty Empress Cixi (1835-1908) of China (1583-1663).