Empress Wu Tse-Tien banned killing for more than half a year in 692.

The dynasty continued to flourish under Empress Wu Zetian, the only empress regnant in Chinese history, and reached its zenith during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, who oversaw an empire that stretched from the Pacific to the Aral Sea with at least 50 million people.

She was the first empress ( like Empress Wu in China ) consort of Japan who was not a daughter of the imperial family itself.

* 690: Pro-Buddhist imperial consort Wu Zetian seizes power and rules as Empress of China

* Wu Zetian, the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant ( Huangdi )

* 705: Overthrow of Empress Wu Zetian, the reign of China's first and only sole-ruling empress ends.

* Wu Zetian, Empress of China from 690 to 705

* Wu Shihuo, father of Empress Wu

* February 17 – Wu Zetian, Empress of the Zhou Dynasty of China ( d. 705 )

* Empress Wu Zetian of China

* December 16 – Empress Wu Zetian of the Zhou Dynasty ( b. 625 )

* Empress Wu conquers the Kingdom of Khotan.

* Empress Yang Yan, first wife of Emperor Wu ( d. 274 )

The dynasty was interrupted briefly by the Second Zhou Dynasty ( October 8, 690 – March 3, 705 ) when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, becoming the only Chinese empress regnant, ruling in her own right.

* Empress Yang Yan, first wife of Emperor Wu ( b. 238 )

* Empress Zhu, wife of Sun Xiu of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms

During the Chinese Tang Dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian ( 684-704 ) decreed that the swastika would also be used as an alternative symbol of the Sun.

This final translation was made at the behest of Empress Wu Zetian, after Śikṣānanda had completed his 80-fascicle translation of the

Finally, it was generally not possible for a female to succeed to the throne and in the history of China there has only been one reigning Empress, Wu Zetian ( 624-705 CE ) who usurped power under the Tang dynasty.

There has been only one lawful reigning Empress in China, Empress Wu of the Tang dynasty or the Wu-Zhou ( Wu-Chou ) dynasty founded by her.

Prominent examples include Empress Dowager Cixi, mother of the Tongzhi Emperor ( 1861 – 1874 ), and aunt and adoptive mother of the Guangxu Emperor ( 1874 – 1908 ), who ruled China for 47 years ( 1861 – 1908 ), Empress Wu Zetian ( who ultimately declared herself Empress, and was subsequently overthrown ) and the Empress Dowager Lü of the Han Dynasty.

Livia was the first Roman Empress and was Augustus ’ third wife ( from Livia ’ s first marriage to praetor Tiberius Nero, she had two sons: the emperor Tiberius and the general Nero Claudius Drusus.

On the day that Agrippina married her uncle Claudius as her third husband / his fourth wife, she became an Empress and the most powerful woman in the Roman Empire.

February 1215: Yolanda de Courtenay ( c. 1200 – 1233 ), daughter of Peter I, Emperor of the Latin Empire and his second wife, Yolanda I, Empress of the Latin Empire

Daughters of others than imperials remained concubines, until Emperor Shōmu — in what was specifically reported as the first elevation of its kind — elevated his Fujiwara consort Empress Kōmyō to chief wife.

Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort ), mother ( empress dowager ), or a woman who rules in her own right ( empress regnant ).

One of the most famous Imperial coronation ceremonies was that of Napoleon, crowning himself Emperor in the presence of Pope Pius VII ( who had blessed the regalia ), at the Notre Dame de Paris | Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The painting by Jacques-Louis David | David commemorating the event is equally famous: the gothic cathedral restyled Empire ( style ) | style Empire, supervised by the Letizia Ramolino | mother of the Emperor on the balcony ( a fictional addition, while she had not been present at the ceremony ), the pope positioned near the altar, Napoleon proceeds to crown his then wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais as Empress.

He was succeeded first by one of his brothers, Emperor Yōmei, then by another, Emperor Sushun, and then Empress Suiko, his sister and wife, before his grandson, Emperor Jomei, eventually took the throne.

Empress Suiko was a consort to her half-brother, Emperor Bidatsu, but after Bidatsu's first wife died she became his official consort and was given the title Ōkisaki ( official consort of the emperor ).

She became the wife and Empress consort of her uncle Emperor Jomei.

After his death, his wife, Empress Yamato wrote a song of longing about her husband.

He was succeeded by Empress Jitō, who was both his niece and his wife.

Genshō was an elder sister of Emperor Mommu and daughter of Prince Kusakabe and his wife who later became Empress Gemmei.

Christian pendant of Empress Maria ( empress ) | Maria, daughter of Stilicho, and wife of Honorius.

* 1102 – Empress Matilda, Princess of England and wife of Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire ( d. 1169 )

Empress Shōken, wife of Emperor Meiji, was a descendant of the Fujiwara clan and, through Gracia Hosokawa, of the Minamoto clan.

His parents were the general Nero Claudius Drusus ( son of Empress Livia Drusilla, third wife of Emperor Augustus ) and Antonia Minor ( the younger daughter of the triumvir Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus ).

* 58 BC – Livia, First Roman Empress the wife of Emperor Augustus ( d. 29 )

* 1967 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran and then crowns his wife Farah Empress of Iran.

* 1851 – Empress Myeongseong, first official wife of Korean King Gojong ( d. 1895 )

In accordance with this last policy, the marriage of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany with Guelph of Bavaria was promoted ; Prince Conrad of Italy was assisted in his rebellion against his father and crowned King of the Romans at Milan in 1093 ; and Henry IV's wife, the Empress ( Adelaide ), was encouraged in her charges of sexual coercion against her husband.

Power then passed into the hands of his second wife, the Empress Catherine.

His legitimization of his children by Catherine, and rumors that he was about to crown his new wife Empress, ending the morganatic status of his second marriage, caused great tension with the entire extended Romanov family.

( She wouldn't have precedence over the next Empress Consort, however, as only those Dowager Empresses who were mothers of Emperors had precedence over the wife of the reigning sovereign.

* Meiji Jingu — Meiji Jingu Shrine in Yoyogi, Tokyo, commemorates Emperor Taisho and his wife Empress Shoken.

Shahanshah Shah Jahan erected many splendid monuments, the most famous of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, built in 1632-1648 as a tomb for his beloved wife, Empress Mumtaz Mahal.