History's Forgotten Women

19 August 2026

Writing stories of forgotten women throughout history may seem like something of a cliché in today’s climate — a salute to wokeness, or indeed a cynical attempt at clickbait. This is not my intention. You will also find that history is littered with examples of men who have been consigned to the scrapheap of the history books.

While it is true that women across the ages have had the short end of the proverbial stick in almost every respect, there were also men of inferior birth, limited means, or otherwise low social standing who never made it into the official record of events in any meaningful way.

With this in mind, this article will have a sibling, with the rather unimaginative title History’s Forgotten Men. Why not simply write about them together? Despite sharing their forgotten or unappreciated status, men and women were treated and perceived differently by society by virtue of their sex, and therefore deserve their own articles.

So, have a look through the list — and perhaps find inspiration for your next historical fiction novel!

1. Katherine Neville, Duchess of Norfolk

The name Neville is ubiquitous in accounts of the Wars of the Roses and many other parts of English history. Katherine Neville, however, does not feature among the most famous names on the list. Her story nevertheless offers a fascinating glimpse into the perversity of some of the age’s marriages — and the double standards surrounding them.

Katherine was born in approximately 1397, the eldest of fourteen children born to the recently created Earl of Westmorland, Ralph Neville, and his second wife, Joan Beaufort, the daughter of John of Gaunt and half-sister of Henry IV.