Important women in history

It may sound like it's an easy list but I'm looking for successful women who are:
-not from modern history (preferably existed around the age of discovery/sails)
-not famous because of womens rights (suffragette)
-not famous from media (films/books/singer)
I'm looking for the likes of Queen Elizabeth / Victoria. Empress Catherine. Even Florence Nightingale. I have a bit of play on timelines as it'll be a parallel universe.
Examples of famous women I don't want: Rihanna, Jane Austen, Magarette Thatcher (tho she will make a good choice if she aspirated earlier in history)
Thanks in advance

- Ada lovelace, the original geek chick
- Joan D'Arc
- Marie Curie - may be too modern but she was alive at the same time as Ms. Nightingale

Mary Anning (paleontologist early 19th century-England)
Maria Mitchell (astronomer 19th century)
Sophia Brahe (astronomer 16h century)
Anna Morandi Manzolini (18th century physician-Europe)

try this list: http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/discipline.shtml

I just did a very quick Google search on "famous women in history" and came up with a couple of helpful websites:

http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/100import/
http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/figures.htm
http://www.onlineschools.org/resources/famous-women/
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0768442.html

Those are just a couple of the first hits that turned up. There are female politicians/leaders, inventors/scientists, writers, activists, etc.

Yeah, got Joan of Arc already, shoulda given a list. The only other two I'd got so far was Wu Zetian and Isabella I of Castile I think.

Can't really swing Marie Curie round as she did radioactivity, and my story's timeline is nowhere near electricity discovery. Nursing was a bit easier to fit in. 16th century+ is what I'm searching for.

The list is pretty useful, and I'll have a good look later.

I haven't looked into other saints, but will do as well to see if I can get anything.

Another condition is that it can't be anyone too far back in history, like from the Roman times or whatever. The Egyptian Queens woulda been nice, but they didn't fit into the story political world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boedecia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_VII
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakagawea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocohantas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_de%27_Medici
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yim_Wing-chun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Hao
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trung_Sisters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Pitcher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_von_Bingen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnodice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sappho
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippina_the_Younger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Schumann

Going to wikipedia and searching for "List of women ___" (scientists, or whathave you) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_queens_regnant

will give you lots more

The 17th century was probably the most male dominated of all. Women were nevertheless often very influential, but of necessity worked behind the scenes.

Some examples:

Olympia Maildalchini 'the female pope'. She was the sister-in-law of pope Innocent X and ran the entire Vatican for a few years.

There were some very powerful ladies at the court of Louis XIV as well:
mistresses:
- Madame de Montespan
- Madame de Maintenon (she later became his wife, but that was a 'public secret')

A very influential lady who singlehandedly governed almost all of France's overseas conquests, colonies and missions was the niece of cardinal Richelieu: Madame la Duchesse D'Aiguillion. She is hardly ever mentioned in history, but had an immensely high status at the French court. She was permitted to sit on a tabouret in the presence of the king, a favour that was reserved for members of the royal family. The problem is finding information about her. She wisely made herself into nothing in order not to raise the king's suspicion.

I rather like Gráinne O'Malley, myself.

and you cannot forget these!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_piracy

Here are some that come to mind for me, and I don't think they're on any of your lists -

Margaret Cavendish - 17th century writer, scientist, etc
Emilie du Chatelet - translated Newton's Principia Mathematica, contemporary of Voltaire
Christine de Pisan - Italian
Empress Elizabeth of Russia - she preceded Catherine the Great and was pretty awesome
Mary, Queen of Scots - everyone fawns over her, I think she's a little overrated
Clara Barton - she's a little late (civil war era) but since Florence Nightingale is the Crimean War, she might work
Maria Theresa - only female Hapsburg ruler (she was Austrian), general badass, managed all of Austria's affairs while having 16 kids

Roughly contemporary with Victoria was Queen Liliuokalani, the last Hawaiian monarch. She wrote some songs, including "Aloha 'Oe", but wasn't really a singer in the sense of Rihanna.

When you mention the Age of Discovery, my mind went to Anne Bradstreet - very famous female poet, which is amazing considering she was a Puritan. If she could become highly respected in that world she deserves a mention.

Not sure if you'd want Abigail Adams, but since you've got Florence Nightengale she might be on the cusp of your timeline; the 2nd First Lady and wife of John Adams carried on a lengthy discourse with her husband and was quite well versed in many areas. You said you didn't want ones noted for suffrage, etc., and she was a proto-feminist, but I'm thinking you only meant you didn't want ones noted for the actual Suffrage Movement as it'd be to late for your timeline. (Abigail Adams is almost exactly a century before Susan B. Anthony, for instance.) I think if conditions were right she could have been the first female Senator if appointed to succeed her husband, which happened some then (John would have had to be a Senator and then to die early, but still...)

Falling perhaps at the tail end of your time period, but nevertheless important and often forgotten about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_C._J._Walker

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, can probably find enough resources through these :)