Introduction

Beginning with an account of the great comet of 1577, which was seen and interpreted around the world as a heavenly omen praising or denouncing government by women, this introduction describes the dawn of women’s rise to positions of power starting in the early sixteenth century. It discusses some of their forerunners—women who rose to positions of power in previous centuries—as well as the changed world of early modernity in the Age of Discovery, the rise of gunpowder empires, and the rapid growth of the institutions that make up the nation-state. It then suggests the set of circumstances in which women were able to insert themselves into governing positions and maintain them for long periods.