Dr Elizabeth Norton

Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat…This medieval goose is feeling a bit worried & wonders if he can distract Christmas diners with a book for their stockings. Great choice goose, he’s gone for Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy #womenwhoruledtheworld

Well, the historical Christmas tree is up #christmas #christmas2025

First commercially available Christmas card (from 1843) a somewhat boozy affair. One woman looks less than impressed. She’s brought Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy to help pass the time until Boxing Day. Great choice &available in all good booksellers 😉#womenwhoruledtheworld

Thrilled to have two articles in the new issue of @allabouthistory.bsky.social on reigning empresses of Japan and What if Anne Boleyn had a son.

You can read more about Japan’s empresses in my new book, Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy
#womenwhoruledtheworld #anneboleyn

Nice to see Father Christmas busily giving presents in Puritan England. Looks like someone’s getting a copy of Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy, which is surely top of everyone’s Christmas list. Available in all good booksellers (& also from Santa 😉) #womenwhoruledtheworld

Have you got your tickets for Six Queens: Peril and Passion at the Court of Henry VIII? @southwarkcathedral.bsky.social
24 January 2026. bit.ly/3X4zY1K Third speaker is @enortonhistory.bsky.social on Jane Seymour.

Charlemagne the hamster likes to do some reading in the mornings. This week he’s chosen Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy #womenwhoruledtheworld

I am so excited that Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy is a BBC History magazine book of the year. Thank you so much to @tracyborman.bsky.social for selecting it @historyextra.bsky.social @wearefootnote.bsky.social #womenwhoruledtheworld #bookoftheyear #bbchistory

Great to see some actual images from inside great library of Alexandria before it burned in 48 BCE. What’s everyone reading? I think it’s Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy. Good choice Egypt had two rival queens, Cleopatra VII & Arsinoe IV, at that point #womenwhoruledtheworld

Lingerie made for Lady Mountbatten in 1940s, made of World War II escape maps printed on silk due to the fabric’s durability. With the continuation of rationing after end of war, this was a practical use for the maps. On display in Secret Maps exhibition in @britishlibrary.bsky.social #secretmaps

An atlas commissioned by Mary I as a gift for Philip II of Spain, open on the page showing West Africa. On display in the Secret Maps exhibition in @britishlibrary #secretmaps #maryi #marytudor #tudor #tudors

Lovely to see @nathenamin.bsky.social at tonight’s private viewing of the new Secret Maps exhibition at @britishlibrary.bsky.social We spotted some fifteenth and sixteenth century maps in this stunning exhibition #secretmaps

Fabulous to attend a private viewing of Secret Maps, new exhibition at @britishlibrary.bsky.social tonight. With maps dating back more than 800 years, the exhibition takes a global perspective, looking at what map makers wanted their audience to see, and what they don’t
#secretmaps #britishlibrary

Pomare IV nonplussed to receive a carriage& drawing room furniture from Queen Victoria after requesting help in 1843 when France tried to colonise Tahiti. Still they let her take her copy of Women Who Ruled the World when driving her out of her palace. So that’s all right then #womenwhoruledtheworld

Cleopatra was not best pleased to hear that the Romans had accidentally burned down the great Library of Alexandria in 48 BCE. Still, at least she kept hold of her copy of Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy which she wasn’t due to return for another week #womenwhoruledtheworld

Wu Zetian, China’s only female head of state, has a poor reputation, not uncommon amongst powerful women who often attract negative comments. Wu, who took throne in her late sixties is shown here with her favourite book, Women Who Ruled the World. Unsurprisingly, she features #womenwhoruledtheworld

All set for an evening out in Cambridge #cambridge

Spotted in Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge #mybook #womenwhoruledtheworld

Rather a nice room for the night at Peterhouse, the oldest college at Cambridge. The room hangs over the courtyard, joining the fellows’ parlour to the chapel. I particularly like the portrait of Charles I as a martyr, although may find it a bit alarming after dark #peterhouse #peterhousecambridge

YouTube video by The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society Queens, “Female Kings,” and Power: Elizabeth Norton Explains

So happy to hear the talented historian-authors @claireridgway.bsky.social & @enortonhistory.bsky.social discuss WOMEN WHO RULED THE WORLD: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tME6... Now listening to this #newrelease on Audible. #history #queens #kings #women #rulers #femalekings

That’s so lovely to hear. I really hope you enjoy it!

Great to receive new issue of the fabulous @tudorplaces.bsky.social magazine today. I wrote the article ‘In the Footsteps of Reigning Queens’, which looks at the places associated with the 16thC reigning queens of England and Scotland, as well as further afield #tudorplaces #womenwhoruledtheworld

Wedding feasts can be long & boring, especially if you’re only 12. Luckily Empress Matilda brought a book, Women Who Ruled the World. It gave her some great ideas when she claimed the English crown in 1135. Sadly, Stephen, who usurped her throne, hadn’t read the book himself #womenwhoruledtheworld

…Highly detailed, readers will be captivated by this fresh look at a woman who truly deserves to be remembered as the founder of the Tudor dynasty.

#margaretbeaufort

Johnson brings story of one of the most powerful women in British history to life, taking readers on an epic journey through a life dominated by random turns of Fortune’s Wheel. She situates Margaret not only within her own life & times, but also within the context of those with whom she interacted…

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Margaret Beaufort by @historylauren.bsky.social which launched today. My comments are below:

#margaretbeaufort

It was lovely to attend the launch this evening of Margaret Beaufort: Survivor, Rebel, Kingmaker by the fabulous @historylauren.bsky.social A great evening and I’m sure that the book will do really well! #margaretbeaufort

Pete, Nadine, Stephen, Elizabeth and Jo on stage

Jo on stage

Remember remember the fifth of November 💥 Back in July I had the pleasure of chairing a panel exploding the myths of the Gunpowder Plot with @elegantfowl.bsky.social @misswalsingham.bsky.social Prof Stephen Alford and @enortonhistory.bsky.social at @harvingtonhall.bsky.social History Festival

That old thing? 😆

Great builders, the Romans. They built things to last 😆