It has happened, oddly enough, that although women are forbidden by the fourteenth century construction of the Salic Law to sit on the throne of France as sovereigns, no country has been more frequently ruled by women. Sometimes the queen-mother has acted as regent during the minority of her son, sometimes the queen has steered the ship of state while her husband was out of the country on war intent. Isabella of Hainault, Philip Augustus’s first wife, was regent when her lord went to the third crusade in 1189; Blanche of Castile governed her son’s kingdom for ten years (1226-1236); Anne de Beaujeu, daughter of Louis XI, guided the realm of her brother, Charles VIII, from 1483-1490; Louise de Savoie ruled (1515) until her son, Francis I came of age, and was again entrusted with the power when he went upon one of his many military expeditions; Catherine de Medicis, the mother of three kings--Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III--began her career as a ruler when her husband, Henry II, was warring with Germany (1552), continued it unofficially during the short reign of Francis II, was legal regent (1560) during the minority of Charles IX, and enjoyed a long continuance of influence because of his and his brother Henry III’s weakness of character which she herself had fostered; Marie de Medicis (1610) played havoc with Henry IV’s reorganized France during the long minority of her son, Louis XIII; Maria Theresa controlled the kingdom of Louis XIV while the “Sun King” was carrying war into Holland; Marie Louise was declared regent when Napoleon left France (1812-1814) to meet the allied forces of Austria, England, Prussia, Russia, and Sweden; and Eugénie took her husband’s place when Napoleon III fought against Austria (1859) and again (1870) when he left his country, never to return to it, during the ill-advised contest with Prussia. Blanche of Castile was a person of extraordinary political intelligence, tact and administrative ability. The years of her son’s minority were made turbulent by unruly vassals who thought to take advantage of the inexperience of a woman, yet the queen-regent proved herself able to cope with every situation that arose. She endeared herself and the young king to the burgesses by appealing to them for support against the lords, and the lords realized the worth of the citizens’ friendship. On one occasion, when the _bourgeois_ of Paris set forth to meet and protect their young master who was surrounded by foes at some distance from the city, the nobles, hearing the news, gave up their iniquitous intentions and went to their homes. Indeed, it was their lack of coöperation among themselves that enabled Louis all through his reign to strengthen the royal power at the expense of that of his subjects.