The 20 Most Violent Women in History

Olga of Kiev is remembered as one of the most formidable rulers of medieval Europe—especially if you belonged to the Drevlians tribe. She had no intention of letting them get away with it after they had taken her husband’s life; she exacted her revenge through a series of brutal punishments, including burying envoys alive and setting a city ablaze using birds laden with embers. As incredible as it may seem, she was later canonized.

Fu Hao was a queen, a priestess, and a military commander of the Shang Dynasty who knew how to wield power. Inscriptions from ancient China credit her with leading military campaigns against rival groups, and even her tomb contains weapons that leave no doubt about her military status. After all, you don’t get buried with battle axes if you were just attending meetings.

Queen Teuta ruled over the Ardiaei, an Illyrian people, in the 3rd century B.C., and her kingdom was infamous for its acts of piracy in the Adriatic Sea. Complaints from the Romans regarding the Illyrian raids eventually led to a major conflict after Roman envoys were reportedly attacked. Her aggressive policy also helped trigger the First Illyrian War.

Fédegonde, a 6th-century Frankish queen, made a name for herself at a royal court where poisonings, assassinations, and family tragedies were commonplace. Yet even in a world where such events were nothing out of the ordinary, she was accused of orchestrating the murders of her rivals, including members of her own extended political circle.

Irene of Athens ruled the Byzantine Empire, proving that court intrigues could be just as ruthless as any battlefield. Nor did her tyranny stop at the boundaries of her own family. She had her own son, Constantine VI, blinded following a power struggle, thereby paving the way for her to reign in her own name. 

Trung Trac led a rebellion against Han Chinese rule in Vietnam alongside her sister, Trung Nhi. In the 1st century CE, she helped raise armies, conquer territories, and briefly establish independence before Han forces returned in force. Her story remains heroic nonetheless—that of a woman who resorted to violence to achieve political freedom.

Never forget that women of the medieval nobility did not always hide behind closed doors. Sichelgaita of Salerno was a Lombard princess who fought alongside her husband, the Norman leader Robert Guiscard. Although accounts vary, it is said that during the Battle of Dyrrhachium in 1081, she rallied the fleeing soldiers and urged them to resume the fight. 

Caterina Sforza, nicknamed the “Tigeress of Forlì,” defended her family’s estates with a tenacity that made her famous throughout Renaissance Italy. When her enemies invaded her lands and captured her children, it was to force her to surrender. But she refused to give in and continued to hold the fortress. Later, she also resisted the forces of Cesare Borgia.

Grace O’Malley had many exploits to her credit. She was, above all, an Irish pirate queen who commanded ships, led fighters, and carried out raids along the west coast of Ireland. She also defied English authority, fought rival clans, and even negotiated directly with Queen Elizabeth I when it served her interests. 

Anne Bonny became one of the most famous pirates of the early 18th century when she set sail alongside Calico Jack Rackham. She didn’t just stay in the background; she took part in attacks on merchant ships in the Caribbean and is said to have fought fiercely when Rackham’s crew was captured. Her legend only grew when people realized that she did not fit the docile image that men often attributed to women of her time.

Mary Read spent much of her life disguised as a man, and, curiously enough, she eventually became a pirate alongside Anne Bonny. She fought aboard Rackham’s ship, and it is said that she defended the ship while most of the male crew members were too drunk or too scared to come to its aid. 

Catalina de Erauso, often nicknamed “the nun lieutenant,” ran away from a convent in Spain and went on to fight as a soldier in the Spanish colonies in the Americas. If you really want to learn more about her, you’ll have to delve into her memoirs, which describe duels, brawls, her military service, and several murders—though some details are the subject of debate among historians. 

Charlotte Corday went down in history for assassinating Jean-Paul Marat during the French Revolution, which is more than enough to leave a lasting impression. Convinced that Marat’s radical political ideas were helping to fuel the Reign of Terror, she managed to sneak into his apartment and stabbed him while he was taking a bath. Her act did not put an end to the violence in France, but it made her one of the most memorable figures of the Revolution.

Hannah Duston was a Puritan settler who was captured during King William’s War in 1697, and her escape became one of the most harrowing stories of colonial New England. While held captive by her Abenaki captors, she and two others killed ten Indigenous people, including children, before escaping. She has been celebrated as a frontier heroine for generations, but today’s readers realize just how brutal this story really is.

Ranavalona I ruled Madagascar in the 19th century and was known for all manner of ruthless acts, including repressive policies, forced labor, and capital punishment. During her reign, thousands of people perished in armed conflicts and as a result of government projects aimed at maintaining royal control. While some have argued that she defended Madagascar’s independence against European influence, her methods nonetheless made her one of the most feared monarchs of her time.

Laskarina Bouboulina was not simply a wealthy woman who was content to wait for things to work themselves out. She put her fortune and her ships at the service of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, organized naval operations, supplied the fighters, and took part in blockades and sieges, particularly around Nafplio.

Yaa Asantewaa led the Ashanti resistance against British colonial forces during the War of the Golden Stool in 1900. As Queen Mother of Ejisu, she also helped rally the fighters when leaders hesitated or were captured. Although her rebellion was ultimately defeated, her leadership made her an indelible symbol of Ghanaian history.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko: a Soviet sniper during World War II, she is considered one of the most formidable women in combat that history has ever known. Her story is simply incredible: she is credited with killing 309 enemy soldiers during the fight against Nazi Germany, particularly during the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. She was even given the nickname “Lady Death.”

Phoolan Devi, later nicknamed India’s “Queen of Bandits,” became a feared outlaw after enduring years of abuse, caste-based oppression, and violence. Her exact role in these events remains controversial, but she was implicated in the 1981 Behmai massacre, during which more than twenty men were killed. However, this massacre did not seem to affect her much, and she was subsequently elected to the Indian Parliament.

Make no mistake: women contributed just as much to the existence of the concentration camps. Irma Grese served at Ravensbrück, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen; survivors described her incredible cruelty toward the prisoners, and she was, thankfully, convicted at the Belsen trial after the war. She was executed in 1945, leaving behind one of the most heinous examples of monstrous authority.