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As the Emperor’s health began to fail, Wu’s influence grew. She became empress dowager and regent after he died. In 690, she broke the rules again, claiming the throne as her own, the only woman to rule China as an independent sovereign.Unlike many of the other tradition-busting moms on this list, Wu Zetian didn’t get punished for her ambition (or her tendency to murder rivals). She ruled until the age of 82, when, seriously ill and facing challenges for the throne, she relinquished power to her third son. She died soon after. 4. Catherine de Medici, mother of three kingsCatherine de Medici mothered three French kings.Catherine de Medici mothered three French kings. (Image credit: Public domain)The mother of three French kings, Catherine de Medici didn’t get off to a great start. An Italian married off to a French prince in love with another woman, de Medici “was at first this very marginalized person who could have been removed at any moment,” Pavlac said.

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But 10 years after her marriage began, she started producing heirs. When de Medici’s husband, King Henry II, died, one of their sons became king at the age of 15, only to die a year later. That brought de Medici’s 10-year-old son Charles IX to the throne and promoted de Medici to regent.Catherine de Medici ruled over a France divided by civil and religious warfare. She was no political genius, Pavlac said, but “she did what she could to hold things together for her and her children.In 1572, the Catholic Charles IX took a genocidal step, ordering Paris’ city gates closed and thousands of visiting Protestants killed. Blame for the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, as it became known, fell into the queen mother’s lap, cementing her reputation as treacherous and scheming. Nonetheless, she remained a powerful advisor to the next king, her third son Henry III.”She was at least brighter than her sons,” Pavlac said. “They made a lot of bad decisions.”Isabella I of Spain