[Illustration: QUEEN VICTORIA.] THE GIRLS’ BOOK OF FAMOUS QUEENS BY LYDIA HOYT FARMER AUTHOR OF “THE BOYS’ BOOK OF FAMOUS RULERS,” “A SHORT HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION,” “THE LIFE OF LA FAYETTE” _TWELFTH THOUSAND_ NEW YORK THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. PUBLISHERS _Copyright_, BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. 1887. TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & CO. PRESSWORK BY BERWICK & SMITH, BOSTON. DEDICATED TO MY DAUGHTER. PREFACE. IN the annals of history, women have played an important part; and among the famous sovereigns of the world, queens, as well as kings, have made their names illustrious by heroic deeds and great enterprises. The names which we have chosen for this book do not include all the renowned female sovereigns; but their lives present some of the most important epochs in the world’s history. I am indebted to the assistance of my son, in the sketches of Queen Marie Antoinette and the Empress Eugénie. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. PAGE SEMIRAMIS, QUEEN OF ASSYRIA 1 DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE 10 CLEOPATRA, QUEEN OF EGYPT 33 ZENOBIA, QUEEN OF PALMYRA 95 MATILDA OF FLANDERS 110 MARGARET OF ANJOU 120 CATHARINE OF ARAGON 137 QUEEN ELIZABETH, AND MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 156 QUEEN CATHERINE DE’ MEDICI 232 QUEEN ANNE 263 MARIA THERESA, EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA 283 CATHERINE II., EMPRESS OF RUSSIA 302 QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTE 321 THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE 378 THE EMPRESS EUGÉNIE 447 QUEEN VICTORIA 478 GIRLS’ BOOK OF FAMOUS QUEENS. SEMIRAMIS. 2069 B.C. “What shall I do to be forever known, And make the age to come my own?”—COWLEY. THE name of Semiramis is associated with the story of Nineveh’s glory, and the building of the mighty city of Babylon. And though historians differ widely regarding the time of her famous reign, and some even express doubts whether she ever really existed, holding that her story was a mythological legend, her name is too illustrious to be passed over in silence, and her deeds too remarkable to be ignored, if she did in truth live; and if the story is a mere legend, it is, moreover, so interwoven with historical records as to deserve mention.