There have never been female dictators, but have there been dictator-like queens?

Question

There have never been female dictators, but have there been dictator-like queens?

Answer 1

Yes.  The worst one I can think of is Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar, who is estimated to have had up to 15,000 Christians tortured to death during his reign in the mid-1800s.

Answer 2

Empress Dowager Cixi (November 29, 1835 – November 15, 1908), popularly known in China as the West Dowager Empress, was from the Manchu Yehe Nara Clan. She was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, ruling over China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908.

Empress Wu Zetian (625 – December 16, 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Emperor. Ruling China first through puppet emperors from 665 to 690, not unprecedented in Chinese history, she then broke all precedents when she founded her own dynasty in 690, the Zhou (interrupting the Tang Dynasty), and ruled personally under the name Emperor Shengshen from 690 to 705.

Catherine II of Russia Catherine the Great (2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796) reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years, from June 28, 1762 until her death. She regarded herself as an enlightened despot (Enlightened absolutism).

Answer 3

Probbaly the closest is Catherine the Great of Russia, however, when there were absolute monarchies in most of the world of course the Monarch (whether King or Queen) was dictator-like.

Answer 4

cleopetra, tzarina, Indira Gandhi etc,

Answer 5

Isabella of Spain

Answer 6

Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, known in France as Marie la sanglante (bloody Mary), Catherine de Russie, Elizabeth Ist, but really you can't compare the times of absolute monarchy to moderne dicatators like Hitler, Staline or Franco.