Linda Margaret Rospianna-Cranora

Linda Margaret Rospianna-Cranora, most commonly called Queen Linda, was one of the most famous, influential, intelligent, wise, and beautiful women in Oceanus for many reasons, the foremost being that she was the first Queen Prima (Queen Prima=Queen Regnant) in their history.

Life Summary
Linda was born on August 25, 1030 AWD in Rospa probably at the castle of their capital city although records from that time period are rather incomplete so no one can be sure.
She was raised as a normal Rospian princess would, learning several languages, the finer points of society, and various regal and noble pastimes. When she was four years old, her father, King Richard of Rospa died from pneumonia the night before his wedding anniversary. For an unknown reason*, Linda was emotionally scarred and get mild depression every January for the rest of her life.
When Linda was eleven or twelve, she was betrothed to the then fifteen-year-old Prince Eric of Crarina and it is unknown what her reaction was although it's generally accepted that she was pleased to be able to help her family by becoming Queen of an important country. Unfortunately, in 1044, Prince Eric's father, King Napoleon, died**, making the prince King Eric and the agreement was broken off.
In early 1047, King Eric met Linda for the first time and according to Linda's diary and some decades-old-gossip, they fell in love immediately, and they married swiftly, in May of that year. Linda was a good Queen to her subjects and there were no issues in the first years of her being queens, although that is to be expected as Queen Consorts were not supposed to have any power besides fashion rights.
On December 28^th 1049, Fasorian forces stormed Castletown without warning and kidnapped Queen Linda, who was newly pregnant (she was aware of this although only a few others knew, and certainly no one outside of Crarina) and it was revealed to her that King Ferdinand of Fasoria desired her as his wife.
Linda spent six months in prison and her daughter whom she named Lillian was born on May 4^th 1050. The mother and daughter remained in prison for months until Lillian was about a year old. Linda remained loyal to Eric the entire time, although Ferdinand asked her twice for her hand in marriage. Fortunately for Linda, a group of Crarinians searching for her found her in her prison cell and rescued her, reuniting her with Eric.
The Crarinian Royal family traveled in a roundabout way to the capital, Castletown, to organize a resistance movement to retake Crarina, but Linda became pregnant during the journey and they slowed down and lived at a fort for several months. On June 4^th 1052, Eric Napoleon Cranora, called Napoleon for most of his life, was born and there was an heir to the throne of Crarina. One week after his birth, Eric and Linda had to split up to get away from Fasorian search parties, but Linda was taken by the Fasorians and had to spend six months in prison. During that time Ferdinand asked her several times to marry, but Linda always refused.
In mid-December of 1052, Eric came to the fort where Linda was being held and single-handedly got her and their two children out of their jail. But coincidentally Ferdinand was visiting Linda and he was outside to see the family running from the buildings. He took a horse and apprehended them alone. After a difficult fight, Eric managed to get Linda and the children away from Ferdinand and they were able to get to a secret base where they began plotting Ferdinand's downfall from his usurpation. After nearly two years of hard work and retaking a few cities, Ferdinand died and the Crarinians took the chance to retake Castletown entirely, and when they had an entire province, the Fasorians left the country and were chased back by the angry Crarinians. They took one of Fasoria's most important port cities and the Fasorians suddenly surrendered and revealed that King Ferdinand, lacking an heir or close relative, had chosen the next monarch of his country to be Linda.
Linda had some indecision about her sudden power; she wanted Eric to rule it and be Emperor, but she did desire the power to change things that she knew should be changed.
Finally she made her decision. If she really tried and did her best to rule her subjects well, she would be known as the best monarch ever, as well as the first Queen Prima, and those after her could learn from her good example.
If she was as all women were rumored to be, becoming corrupt and evil when trusted with too much power, then others would learn from her bad example and avoid her mistakes. Linda reasoned that it would help others learn if she took power as Ferdinand had wished, so she accepted his dying gift.
Linda was a very good queen, and because of her beauty and intelligence the citizens and often even her enemies admired her. She was always married to and deeply in love with Eric, although they were often separated, ruling their own countries, and others urged her to annul the marriage so that she could rule more freely.
In her first year of ruling Fasoria, 1055, Linda had her last child, Elizabeth Christinne Cranora, and from then on the Royal Family was five, with Eric, Linda, Lillian, Napoleon, and Beth.
Nine years after she began her reign, in 1064, her daughter Lillian was brought into an arranged marriage with Wynne, the Prince of Paparn, a small country-island to the south. After the marriage, Linda decided to give up the throne to her daughter, believing that it was wrong for her daughter to inherit the throne after her death. After crowning Lillian, Linda left Fasoria and lived with her husband King Eric in Crarina, occasionally visiting Fasoria for short periods of time later in her life. She lived in Crarina for the rest of her life, but after Linda's death in 1114 at the age of 84, her body was brought to Fasoria and she was buried in the Royal Cemetery, next to King Ferdinand, despite protests from her daughter because "Mother would want to be buried besides her husband, not the man she hated." But Linda lays resting there, next to Ferdinand, as Ferdinand would have it. It was considered a great honor for her, because she would be the first woman to be buried as a king.

*In her diary she revealed that King Richard promised to live long enough to celebrate at least one more anniversary, but died before that day. She was deeply touched by this, even as a four year old, and although it took several years for the impact to settle, she was always emotional around that time of year. It is believed that she had PTSD, and it never left her.

**He was later revealed to have been assassinated via poison, but no one was ever accused or punished for it.

Accomplishments
Linda did many great things in her life, officially rewarded, unofficially rewarded, and personal feats that no one really appreciated.

Linda was faithful to her husband no matter what Ferdinand threatened, and many told her to simply give up, but she continued to believe, even when she thought she had little reason to continue existing in jail. It is thought that she felt under-appreciated for it at times, although she never remarked on it.
Linda was able to fence a little and use a bow and arrow although most women of her era were not supposed to have those abilities. She is credited with slaying two Fasorians in the war, although she never spoke of it and often ignored the fact. However, King Eric had a special honorary medal of valor made for her.
Linda was good at balancing budgets and she participated in two minor wars during her reign, her side winning both. The Fasorian economy is said to be at it's best at this time, and her nine years were called the Golden Age of Fasoria. Although the reigns of her successors were also called Golden Years, hers were the true Golden Years. Because of her wisdom and success, Linda was known from then on as Linda the Great.
It is believed that Linda had the most alliances with other countries during her reign than any other queen. She was allied with Rospa, Crarina, Boncoru, Paparn, Sinsi, and New Bansanok although she broke off the alliance between Boncoru when they attacked Crarina in 1059, and Sinsi broke off the alliance when Fasoria sided with New Bansanok in the War of 1060-1063.
Linda is credited with inventing several new types of clothing, including what we call a hoopskirt or crinoline, replacing the farthingales of the era that were stiffer and more difficult to move in, or the massive amounts of petticoats that a woman would wear to get the desired shape of the skirt. She also made stomachers obsolete, (before they were popular and the fashions could sometimes be restricting and painful) and popularized a comparatively more free, loose style of gowns and dresses.^{See the question "1047, 1054, I don't get this!" and read the answer.}

That's all I have on Linda for now, I will someday upload a drawing of her and then you can see her the way I do.

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