The next time you walk along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and pass the John Knox house, think about what the 16th-century preacher had to say about women rulers.

According to Knox, promoting a woman to rule was repugnant to nature, an insult to God, and the subversion of all good order, equity, and justice.

Yet Britain has a long tradition of strong, powerful, effective women who faced huge adversity and were targeted because of their gender.

It’s a subject I’ve had a growing fascination with ever since I was a girl in America and discovered the stories and struggles of women like Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart when my mother took me on weekly trips to the public library.

US Vice President Kamala HarrisUS Vice President Kamala Harris (Image: free)

I realised that one of the most common ways to attack and diminish a powerful woman, in the past and now, has been to accuse her of sexual impropriety.

Such women have also been called foolish and incompetent with no right to their position.

We see this all the way from Boudicca in the first century, through Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart in the 16th century, and Nicola Sturgeon and US Vice President Kamala Harris (among many others) in the 21st.

All these women had triumphs and difficulties. Knowing about them is not only fascinating but helps us think more about the issues of women and power.

It’s something we explore in Elizabeth I In Her Own Words which uses the English queen’s own letters to look at her life – and puts a strong emphasis on her relationship with the queen of Scots.

Both lived in cultures where a deep distrust, and sometimes disdain, for powerful women ran long and deep.

The story of Boudicca underlines this. She became the queen of the Iceni after being widowed. The Romans, controlling much of Britain under Emperor Nero, then started plundering her people.

When Boudicca and her young daughters went to treat with the Romans, she was publicly flogged, and the girls were gang-raped.

Instead of being crushed, Boudicca drew the Iceni and other tribes together and fought back in a campaign that was initially successful and became the stuff of legends.

The Romans had to bring troops from all over Britain to defeat them – after which Boudicca was said to have taken her own life.

Gildas, monk and historian, called Boudicca “a treacherous lioness.”

So, what of Elizabeth and Mary?

Elizabeth I ruled for over 44 years as single woman. To many she was a beloved figure whose broad religious policy kept England from being engulfed in horrendous religious wars that afflicted much of Europe.

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Yet, she was often denigrated. There was the London baker who described Elizabeth as “an arrant whore,” adding “if he could come to her he would tear her in pieces, and he would drink blood.”

Elizabeth and Mary Stuart never met, yet the cousins’ relationship was complex, intense and ultimately deadly.

Some Catholics argued that Elizabeth was a “bastard” and Mary was the rightful queen of England.

Elizabeth was unhappy when in 1565 Mary married their cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, but agreed to be the godmother of their only son James.

Mary deeply regretted the marriage, especially after Darnley was involved in the murder of her Italian secretary David Rizzio, which happened in front of her.

Darnley was himself found strangled in the garden at Kirk o’ Field in 1567, with Lord Bothwell the chief suspect.

Despite their rivalry, Elizabeth wrote to Mary, advising that she must at all costs protect her reputation and not allow someone as tainted as Bothwell to be close to her. Instead, Mary married Bothwell.

Rebellion broke out and the familiar twin ghouls of sex and violence raised their heads as Edinburgh echoed to cries of “burn the whore”.

Forced to abdicate, then imprisoned, Mary escaped in 1568 and fled to England. She spent 18 years as an enforced guest, embroiling herself in conspiracies to have Elizabeth murdered.

After resisting calls for her cousin’s execution Elizabeth finally signed the death warrant in 1587, believing it was her life or Mary’s.

One way women could navigate the male-dominated system was to either neutralise the disadvantages they had from being a woman, or turn them in their favour.

Elizabeth did this superbly. Only men led armies, but in 1588 when Philip of Spain sent his Armada to conquer England, she refused to hide and rode to Tilbury docks to rouse her troops.

There she told her people that while she had the body of a weak and feeble woman, she had the heart and stomach of a king.

Sadly, the same old fear and denigration of powerful women faced by Elizabeth and Mary continues today.

Mary, Queen of ScotsMary, Queen of Scots (Image: free)

Nicola Sturgeon became first minister of Scotland in 2015. The Daily Mail then described her as “the most dangerous woman in Britain”.

She was popular during Covid, but then came the questions about money raised for the independence campaign.

But some of the attacks on Sturgeon were instead about her sexuality, with rumours repeated that her marriage was a sham, and that she and her husband were both gay.

When she resigned in February 2023, she stated that the rumours about her sexuality had taken a toll.

Kamala Harris served as the Attorney General of California and as a senator. She is also of African-American and Asian-American background.

Despite her achievements, a Texas member of the House of Representatives has stated that “She has got to be the lowest IQ vice president that this country has ever had”.

A conservative news host stated that Harris “can’t put a sentence together”.

DEI is the shorthand for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and an aid of former President Donald Trump calls Harris a DEI hire. He added, “She’s a woman. She’s colored, therefore she’s got to be good”.

However, my hope is that we are now better placed to celebrate the accomplishments of women, even though the attitudes of John Knox live on.

Carole Levin is the writer of Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words, which is being performed during the Edinburgh Fringe at theSpace@Surgeons’ Hall 2-17 August. She is Willa Cather Professor of History Emerita at the University of Nebraska and the author or editor of 20 books, most recently The Reign and Life of Queen Elizabeth I