Who were some famous women in Shakespeare's time?

Answer 1

Of course Shakespeare spent the early part of his life during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, a very famous woman indeed. And throughout the sixteenth century there were many powerful women in politics, particularly in the first half of the century. During Shakespeare's boyhood, France was ruled de facto by Catherine de Medici, the mother of three successive weak kings. In literature, Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, was a powerful figure, co-writing the work Arcadia and writing plays and poetry. There were women who were famous for other reasons as well. Mary Frith was a notorious transvestite, thief and bawd who actually appeared on the stage of the Fortune Theatre (for which both she and the theatre owners were prosecuted.) Anne Turner was a woman who invented and popularized saffron-dyed starch for collar ruffs, for which she was the sole supplier. However, she was later hanged for poisoning a man who was making himself inconvenient to one of Mrs. Turner's friends' love life. And of course there is Pocahontas, who arrived in England the year before Shakespeare died.