Jadwiga of Poland
A network of European monarchies established power throughout Western Europe through the Medieval period. Men were generally given precedence to reign as monarch, however aristocratic women could achieve influence. A number of such women were singled out as model Christians by Pope John Paul II in his Mulieris Dignitatem letter on the dignity and vocation of women: Olga of Kiev, Matilda of Tuscany, Hedwig of Silesia, Jadwiga of Poland and Elizabeth of Hungary.