6 Inspiring Stories of Teens Who Have Changed The World | From Peter The Great To Malala Yousafzai
As a teen, it’s easy to believe that you can’t do anything because you’re too young. But if there’s one thing history teaches us, it’s that young people can be as capable as anybody else. Here’s the story of six teens (not sixteen) who changed the world (or were on their way) in their teenage years…
Story Chapters
"Carolus Rex" Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718)
Sweden today is known for IKEA, Stockholm Syndrome, and ABBA. However, in the 1600s, Sweden was an empire that controlled most of the Baltic Sea.
And it was in this Sweden that Charles XII was born. In 1697, he ascended to the Swedish throne at only fifteen years old. He had been raised with the idea of being an absolute monarch (having sole authority) and being subject to God.
He spent the first few years on the throne partying, drinking, and hunting. It all ended in 1700 when three empires—Denmark, Poland-Saxony, and Russia—invaded the Swedish Empire from three sides. These empires had seen the boy king as a weakness and thought Sweden would be easy to defeat as a result.
Europe looked very different back in 1700 than it does today. Poland was controlled most of Eastern Europe, Denmark and Norway were united, and Russia was considered an undeveloped backwater.
The Boy Goes to War
However, Charles XII had mostly defeated them within a year and had defeated the strongest of the opponents, Peter I of Russia, at the Battle of Narva. He was vastly outnumbered, but after defeating Russia, he marched on Poland-Saxony. By this point, he had become a competent general and leader. He inspired his men through his bravery and was renowned for his warrior spirit on the battlefield. In 1706, he made peace with his enemies and deposed the leader of Poland-Saxony.
The Russians hadn’t been fully defeated, however. They had been beaten early on, and while Charles XII was occupied finishing off his enemies, Peter I had been training his armies. And so, a year after Charles made peace, he marched on Russia to finish them off.
And It All Came Tumbling Down…
But Russia, being Russia, retreated deep into their country and destroyed supplies the Swedes could use. A massive winter forced Charles south into present-day Ukraine, and in 1709 he attacked the Russians at Poltava to decide the outcome of the war…
...and the Swedes lost. They were unfit for battle, while the Russians were well prepared. Charles wasn't even able to lead his army due to an injury, so he passed off command to his subordinates. Most of the Swedish army surrendered following the battle, but Charles was escaping as fast as he could to the south… to Turkey.
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Exiled in the Ottoman Empire
So, Sweden’s affairs of state were handled in Turkey... for FIVE YEARS. The Ottoman Empire wanted some of Russia’s land, so they were willing to cooperate with the Swedes. They even declared war on Russia four times. But Sweden’s new army never came.
Things in Turkey weren’t getting any better. Charles and a few of his men were attacked at their camp by the Ottoman army, and he fought them off with less than a hundred men. It later became known as the Skirmish at Bender.
Finally, after five years in exile, Charles disguised himself and secretly rode through enemy lands for 14 days and nights until he finally returned to Sweden.
Defending The Homeland
A coalition against him formed, and everyone in Europe was against him. First, he fought delaying actions in the Baltic provinces to prevent the war from reaching the Swedish mainland. He put together an army, formed a grand strategy, and prepared to defend his empire… by attacking Norway.
One night, he was inspecting fortifications for a siege when a Danish soldier "head-shotted" the now 36-year-old boy king. Some theories say it was an assassination by friendly forces to end the war. But what is known is that Sweden’s Empire fell with Charles and would never rise to the same height again.
Legacy
Charles XII represents the days when Sweden’s Empire was at its height. He is known for being a skilled tactician and an intellectual. Encyclopedia Britannica describes his pursuits,
He became increasingly occupied with new ideas in administration, and many of his administrative reforms were far ahead of their time. He demanded considerable sacrifices of those classes in Sweden who were lukewarm about the war effort once the years of bad fortune set in after 1709.
Charles had risen to power at 15 and grew to be a brave general and competent leader. Funny enough, his greatest enemy was also a teenager when he came to power… Peter the Great of Russia.
I have resolved never to start an unjust war, but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies.
Charles XII (1682-1718)
Peter the Great
What Was Russia Like Before Peter?
To understand why Peter the Great was so determined, it’s important to understand what Russia was like before him. Before Peter’s life, Russia was undeveloped and had rejected westernization and modernization.
On the left you can see what France was busy building in the 1600s. King Louis XIV was building the enormous and grand Palace of Versailles. Meanwhile, Russia was still back in the Middle Ages.
Russia was still medieval, and the aristocracy and Orthodox Church still held enormous power. The aristocracy, made up of the boyars (nobles), were powerful lords who controlled most of the country and numerous times defied the tsars.
To the rest of Europe, Russia was barbaric and uncivilized, completely different than what we see today. Russia had no real infrastructure or big cities. The common people of Russia were mainly serfs and were basically slaves to the boyars. This backwards Russia is what Peter was born into in 1672.
Early Childhood
Peter was born to Tsar Alexis and Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, Alexis’ second wife. Peter was the 14th child of Alexis. Most of the children born to Alexis and his first wife, Mariya Ilinichna Miloslavskaya, were sickly, while Peter was relatively healthy. However, as soon as Alexis died, the two sides of the family began fighting for power.
Peter was only four when his father died, and his older half-brother, Fyodor III, became tsar. Through Fyodor, the Miloslavskaya (Alexis’ First Wife’s Family) rose to power. He only ruled for six years, dying at only 20 years old.
When Fyodor III died, the Miloslavskaya (Alexis’ First Wife’s Family), were determined to keep power. Russia’s most important and powerful men (boyars) gathered to proclaim who would be tsar.
The Miloslavskaya (Alexis' first wife's family) backed Ivan, Peter's older half-brother, while the Naryshkina (Peter's mother and Alexis' second wife) backed Peter. The boyars declared their support for the healthier and more capable Peter.
However, Ivan's sister, Sophia, persuaded the guard (streltsy) to revolt, forcing Ivan V to share power with Peter. As a result, Ivan’s older sister became regent because of Ivan’s poor health and Peter’s youth. She forced Peter out of the government, so Peter and his mom fled to a village outside Moscow.
How Did Peter Become Interested In The West?
Growing up in a village, he did not receive a proper education for a tsar. However, a church clerk gave him a basic education, and Peter became interested in the military, so he played military games with the other kids; some of them eventually rose to become generals in Peter’s army. As Peter grew up, a model fortress was built for him, and he organized "play" troops that eventually became his guard regiments. In the village, Peter also got involved in carpentry, joinery, blacksmith’s work, and printing.
Near the village was a nemetskaya sloboda ("German colony"), where Westerners lived. Peter became friends with people around town, which sparked his interest in other countries, and an old English ship started Peter’s passion for sailing. Peter’s mom also had Peter educated in Western ideas, further influencing the young boy’s interest in the West.
Peter married his first wife at seventeen to make the statement that he was an adult and was now ready to rule. The marriage didn’t last, and she was forced to enter a convent later on. But we'll get to that.
Peter Finally Rises To Power
The streltsy revolted again in 1689, and Sophia attempted to use it to stage a coup, but things turned in Peter’s favor. He finally took power at seventeen, although he agreed to still live with joint rule with Ivan V. Eventually, after another streltsy revolt, Sophia was officially forced into a convent to become a nun.
Ivan V was physically and mentally weak. He suffered from scurvy and had poor eyesight, so he never really took part in state affairs. Ivan also became partially paralyzed in his later years. Since he was too weak to really take part in government, he spent his time praying and fasting.
While Ivan occupied himself with pilgrimages and was slowly dying, Peter began to build the first seaworthy Russian ships. Ivan V finally died in 1696 when he was 29, and Peter finally became the sole ruler of Russia.
Peter Begins His Expansion
So remember how Peter was toying with building Russian ships? Now he wanted to build a navy. But first, he needed land by the ocean, and to do that, he needed to expand Russia. So he began his expansion by invading the Crimean Tartars, who were allies of the Ottoman Empire.
As you can see, Russia didn't have much land next to the ocean.
The Sea of Azov is a little part of the bigger Black Sea, just off the map to the right of Crimea, and the major city of the region was Azov. Russia had joined an anti-Turkish "Holy League" years before, and now was their time to hold up their end against the Turks. In addition, Peter saw the capture of Azov as an opportunity to weaken the Tartars from attacking Russia and to secure land on the Black Sea.
His first attempt to take the city failed. So he built a fleet on the river and sailed down the river to take Azov. He captured the city in 1696 and was finally able to begin building a proper fleet.
Peter Tours The West
Ever since he was a child growing up in the village, Peter had been interested in the West and how they did things. So in 1697, Peter created what was called a "Grand Embassy," a group of around 250 people that would go with him to tour Europe. The tour had two goals…
Access the Current State of Europe
Build allies (Mainly Against the Turks)
Unofficially, the tour also had the goal of learning as much about Western life as possible. Peter disguised himself as Sgt. Pyotr Mikhaylov and studied shipbuilding by becoming a carpenter for the Dutch East India Company for four months.
He then traveled to England, where he worked for the Royal Navy, attended a session of Parliament, and took notes on how the military, economy, and culture functioned. While Peter was taking in everything he could about Europe, the rest of the Embassy was doing the same while also recruiting experts to return to Russia with them.
However, while Peter was still in Europe, the streltsy revolted (again), and Peter was forced to return to Russia to suppress the revolt. He executed hundreds of people and finally disbanded the streltsy.
Peter and the rest of the Embassy returned successfully with new ideas for Russia. However, because most of Europe was preoccupied with the upcoming War of Spanish Succession, the goal of uniting Europe against the Turks failed.
The Great Northern War (1700-1721)
Russia wrapped up things with the Turks when he realized that he couldn’t fight them without allies. So, with the Turks out of the way, he turned his attention to the north, against Sweden. At the time, Sweden controlled most of the Baltic Sea, and Peter, wanting more beachfront to build a Baltic Fleet, saw an opportunity. The king of Sweden had just died, and his son, Charles XII, was a fifteen-year-old kid who spent his time partying.
The Swedish army was still capable, so Peter joined an alliance between Russia, Denmark, and Poland-Saxony, and they invaded Sweden in 1700, kicking off the Great Northern War. Peter was beaten early on in the war at the Battle of Narva, months into the war. Peter remained determined and pulled together everything Russia had to accomplish his goal of transforming Russia.
Encyclopedia Britannica describes Peter’s personal determination to the war,
In planning it and in sustaining it he displayed iron willpower, extraordinary energy, and outstanding gifts of statesmanship, generalship, and diplomacy… actively concerning himself with all important undertakings, often at his personal risk, he could be seen sometimes in a sailor’s jacket on a warship, sometimes in an officer’s uniform on the battlefield, and sometimes in a labourer’s apron and gloves with an axe in a shipyard.
Although Russia had been knocked out for the time being, Peter continued to train his army. He recaptured Narva in 1704 and finally cornered the Swedes at Poltava. Charles XII of Sweden proved to be a capable commander, not the boy king everyone thought he was, and he had knocked Denmark and Poland-Saxony out of the war and was now heading to finish off Russia.
Peter retreated further into Russia and starved the Swedes. The Swedes were forced to survive the terrible winter of 1708–1709 and retreated back into Ukraine. It was here that Peter decided to face off against Charles XII.
He prepared the field by making fortifications to break up the Swedes at Poltava, and dealt a crushing defeat to the depleted Swedish Army. Most of the Swedish Army surrendered, and Charles XII fled to the Ottoman Empire.
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It was also during this time, back in 1703, when Peter had been defeated by the Swedes, that he began building on the Gulf of Finland where it meets the Neva River. This is where he founded a city, right after the Swedes had defeated him, and where he built the biggest part of his legacy. Today, it still bears his name: St. Petersburg.
The Rebellions
However, while Peter was pulling everything Russia had to win the war and build St. Petersburg, the common people suffered. Eventually, Peter had to suppress peasant revolts, resulting in his reputation as a cruel leader.
The biggest of these revolts was the Bulavin Rebellion, where the serfs banded together to form the autonomous state of Don Cossack. They had elected a man named Kondraty Bulavin to be their leader. They had begun to take in serfs who wanted to be free from Peter’s rule and began to agitate a rebellion against Peter. So, Peter was forced to put down the clear rebellion.
In the midst of the Great Northern War, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia in 1710. Charles XII was still in the Ottoman Empire and had convinced them to declare war. So, Peter marched against the Ottomans… and got surrounded. He was able to take advantage of the incapable Ottoman negotiators and got off lightly. But he lost the city of Azov, which he had won years before.
Peter Turns on His Family
So remember when Peter married that one girl when he was seventeen? So her name was Eudoxia, and she and Peter had a son, Alexis. Peter grew distant from Eudoxia and, for the most part, ditched her for a low-born woman.
Alexis, their son, had grown up distant from Peter and mostly avoided his father. Because of this, Alexis wasn’t exactly a supporter of Peter’s vision to change Russia forever. He was forced to either support the reforms or become a monk and renounce his claim to the throne. He chose a third option and fled to the Holy Roman Empire, where he sought refuge.
Peter convinced Alexis to come back to Russia in 1718, where he accused Alexis of high treason and plotting against Peter. He was tortured into confessing to his crimes and sentenced to be executed. Alexis died in prison before his execution.
His wife, Eudoxia, was forced away and only returned after her grandson rose to the throne in 1727. He eventually married the low-born woman, who became Empress Catherine I.
Peter was mostly a jolly and energetic guy who disliked the typical extravagant clothing of the tsars and preferred the simpler clothing of a common soldier or sailor. He also stood at 6’6 and was known for being handsome and unusually strong.
Peter, on the other hand, drank heavily on occasion and could be brutal when opposition stood in his way. Sometimes, whenever he was angry, he would beat them with a stick. It was during these times that people would ask Catherine to intercede on their behalf, since she was one of the only people who could calm Peter down.
Peter’s Final Expansion
Peter wrapped up the Great Northern War by taking more of Sweden’s lands. The capable Charles XII had died in combat against the Danes in Norway, and with him died Sweden’s chance to win the war.
With Sweden taken care of, Peter turned his attention to the Ottomans (again) and saw that they were planning on expanding into a weak Persia. Peter seized the moment and attacked the Persians himself, and Persia agreed to give him some of their land if he stopped invading them… and gave them military aid… against the Ottomans.
Peter’s Final Years
In 1721, Peter declared Russia an empire, which meant that he was an emperor. In addition to this, he was declared "Father of the Fatherland" and finally bestowed with the title "the Great." Peter’s health had been strained due to the constant military campaigns. It didn’t help that he drank excessively.
In 1724, Peter saw a ship sinking and its men drowning, so he jumped into the freezing water to help save them. Later that year, his health began to fail, and he later died in 1725.
Peter’s Legacy
After being inspired by the West, Peter began to make sweeping changes in Russia. His changes would have a long-term impact on Russia. He appointed Westerners to his court to help advise him. Peter also wanted to break the power of the boyars, so he made a decree in 1699.
He decreed that all townspeople were free from the military governors and that they would create local governments subject to Peter directly. This had the double-sided effect of giving the common man more freedom while giving the tsar more power.
He also disbanded the boyar council (Duma) and declared the Senate to have sole authority to represent the people.
And of course, he westernized and modernized Russia. His ambition to create a navy led him to conquer new land for Russia. In order to take over these new lands, Peter had to modernize and reorganize the army. His biggest project still bears his name: St. Petersburg, one of the biggest cities in modern Russia. He moved the capital to St. Petersburg, where it remained until the Communist Revolution moved it back to Moscow in 1918.
I have conquered an empire but I have not been able to conquer myself
Peter The Great (1672-1725)
Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587)
Today, England, Scotland, and Wales are all united to form Great Britain, or the UK. But in the 1500s, England and Scotland were two different countries.
Mary was the daughter of James V of Scotland. Her great-grandfather was Henry VII, who had won the English throne years before. His son, who you probably know as Henry VIII, was now on the English throne.
Unfortunately, Mary’s father died when she was 6 days old, and she became Queen of Scotland. She didn’t rule all by herself though, and shared rule with advisors. Her advisors also wanted to secure Scotland’s future, so they betrothed her to Henry VIII’s son, Edward, the heir to the English throne.
However, in those days, there was a huge divide between Protestants and Catholics because of the recent Protestant Reformation and the separation of the English Church from the Roman Catholic Church.
As a result, when the catholic Mary of Scotland was betrothed to the protestant Edward VI of England, Scottish catholic nobles were outraged and the match was called off. Henry VIII was angered by this and sent troops to raid villages on the Scottish border.
Mary in Paris
When she was five, Mary was sent to France. She was now betrothed to the heir of the French throne (the Dauphin), Francis. Francis was the son of French King Henry II (Henri) and Catherine de Medici, the great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
The Scottish Catholic nobles favored an alliance with France over England because they had strong ties with them in the past; both were Catholic, and Mary’s mother was actually French. So, Mary was raised by French royalty, and she grew to become a Renaissance princess. She loved music and poetry, hunted and danced, and grew to be 5'11.
In England, Elizabeth I rose to power after Edward VI died young, and Elizabeth’s older sister, Bloody Mary, died. Because she was Elizabeth's cousin, Mary of Scotland, our Mary, was next in line for the throne.
Francis and Mary married in 1558, and Francis ascended to the French throne a year later. He then died a year later… because of an ear infection. Mary was now widowed for the first time at the age of 18. And, around a year after that, she moved back to Scotland.
Mary Becomes Queen of Scotland
Scotland had changed while she was gone, and it had changed from a Catholic country to a Protestant one after John Knox’s reforms. And the Scottish nobility were more focused on gaining power and fighting each other than supporting the Queen. So, Mary’s return was about to be alienating for both her and Scotland. However, she was welcomed back by Scotland. Her half-brother, Lord James Stuart, helped Mary rule, and she was allowed to remain Catholic.
And for a while, things were good. She allowed religious tolerance, letting Protestants and Catholics live in peace. Besides, Mary was a young, beautiful, and intellectual royal who embodied the Renaissance in Scotland. However, a series of events led to the young queen’s tragic downfall.
Mary’s Tragic Love Story
First, she recklessly fell in love with her handsome cousin, Henry Stewart (or "Stuart"), Earl of Darnley. This marriage made everyone angry. Queen Elizabeth of England was mad because Mary had married a Tudor, a member of Elizabeth’s family. Her half-brother, Lord James, was angry too, and he rebelled. Darnley was handsome but spoiled, weak, vicious, and, even worse, ambitious.
The disastrous marriage came to a head when Mary’s enemies began to use Darnley. In 1566, Darnley and a group of conspirators burst into Mary’s room while she was late in her pregnancy, threatened her, and killed her friend and secretary, David Rizzio, stabbing him 56 times, right in front of a heavily pregnant Mary.
Mary gave birth to a son later that year, but it didn’t reconcile Mary’s relationship with Darnley. And in 1567, when Darnley was killed after an explosion outside Edinburgh, people suspected Mary was involved.
Mary’s Downfall
Mary had confided over the years in James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who was known to exert significant influence on her. Three months after Darnley’s death, she consented to marry Bothwell… after Bothwell abducted her. People disliked this marriage too since it was believed that Bothwell was the main suspect in Darnley’s murder. Not a good look for Mary. He did have ambitions to become king, and everything seemed to be falling into place. Encyclopedia Britannica describes Mary’s degrading state,
If passion is rejected as the motive, Mary’s behavior can be ascribed to her increasing despair, exacerbated by ill health, at her inability to manage the affairs of tempestuous Scotland without a strong arm to support her.
This was the last straw for the Scottish nobles, who marched on Mary and forced her surrender. Bothwell was forced to flee to Scandinavia, where he died in prison, and Mary was imprisoned at Loch Levan, a tiny island in a loch (lake). Her son James became King of Scotland after Mary abdicated. In 1568, a year later (it’s always a year later, isn’t it? ), Mary escaped. Her supporters were defeated at Langside, and Mary fled to England.
Mary in London
She fled to England and sought refuge from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. However, Elizabeth imprisoned her, where she stayed for 19 years. She sought to end her imprisonment, and over the years, her beauty faded, and she found comfort in pets and her faith.
Her imprisonment ended in 1586, when a Catholic plot to remove Queen Elizabeth from the throne forced Elizabeth to make a decision. She realized that as long as Mary lived, English Catholics had a potential heir to the English throne. This would mean that as long as Mary was alive, Elizabeth would have to worry about a plot to kill her and replace her with Mary.
So Mary was executed on February 8, 1587, when she was only 44.
Queen Mary of Scotland’s Legacy
Mary died young, not really doing anything significant for Scotland. But remember her son, James? He would go on to become King James VI of Scotland (James I of England), and after Queen Elizabeth died, he became James I of England, uniting England and Scotland.
He would go on to make the well-known King James Version of the Bible, one of the first English translations of the Bible. He also gave his mother Mary a proper burial at Westminster Abbey, where Britain’s greatest people lay in rest.
Queen Elizabeth I famously died unmarried and with no heir, so the current royal family is actually descended from Mary not Elizabeth.
Mary herself is considered by some one of the many strong women in history. In a way, she represents Scotland's independence and Catholic past. And although she died young, she’s immortalized as a tragic Scottish Queen, and her story has been romanticized in pop culture.
To be kind to all, to like many and love a few, to be needed and wanted by those we love, is certainly the nearest we can come to happiness.
Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587)
Louis Braille
Louis was born on January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France. His parents worked with leather and made harnesses and saddles for horses. One day when he was three, while his parents were working, he was playing with an awl, a pointy tool used to make holes in leather, and it slipped and injured his right eye. Both eyes became infected, and by the age of five, he had become blind as a result.
His parents, wanting Louis to receive an education, sent him to school, where he learned by listening. Despite his blindness, he was a dedicated student and an excellent organist. He won a scholarship at the age of ten and was on his way to the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. In the early 1800s, this school was unique and one of the first institutes for the blind.
In Paris, he met Charles Barbier. Barbier was an officer in the French Army, and in the army he created a communication system with multiple combinations of 12 raised dots. Originally, it was to help soldiers communicate silently at night, but it was really complicated and didn’t catch on. So Barbier introduced it to the Institute, hoping it could help them. This system of raised dots inspired a twelve-year-old Louis, who thought that this could be the solution for blind people.
So, for the next three years, Louis spent every minute he could outside of class building on Barbier’s 12-dot combination and eventually creating his own 6-dot combination. Ironically, he used an awl similar to the one that blinded him in the first place. With three dots in two columns, he created combinations to represent letters, numbers, and punctuation marks, creating 64 unique symbols.
He introduced his system to other people in 1824. He began teaching at the institute two years later. Five years after introducing Braille for the first time, he published Method of Writing Words, Music, and Plain Songs by Means of Dots for Use by the Blind and Arranged for Them in 1829.
Before Louis invented braille, blind people were expected to read by tracing raised letters, typically made from wire. Very few books were made like this, and they were also slow to read. So, braille was revolutionary because students could now learn easier and read faster.
Despite its revolutionary creation, braille was hugely controversial at the Institute. The director of the school, Alexandre François-René Pignier, supported it. However, in 1840, when Pierre-Armand Dufau became the director, he banned it. He feared that with the introduction of braille, blind people would no longer need sighted people to help them, which could potentially mean the end of the Institute.
Louis, in the years he attended, then taught, at the institute, continued to be a talented musician, writer, and teacher. Unfortunately, in 1850, he was infected with tuberculosis and forced to retire. He died soon after, at the age of 43.
Legacy
A century after his death, Louis’ body was interred at the Pantheon, the resting place for France’s most honored citizens. However, his hands were kept in his hometown of Coupvray.
As mentioned before, blind people were expected to read as effectively as sighted people, although many didn’t have access to easy-reading material. Although braille was not widely used at first, it eventually became the primary means of communication for blind people. According to Braillists.org,
Most high profile blind people identify braille as being a key reason in their success. And many blindness organisations across the globe identify a strong link between braille literacy and the independence and opportunity of blind people.
So thanks to Louis, blind people all over the world now have equal access to learning and being informed.
Live without seeing, but be what you are.
Louis Braille (1809-1850)
Malala Yousafzai
Malala was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. Mingora is one of the biggest cities in the region, is considered the gateway to the Swat Valley, and is a popular tourist destination. Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, had founded the girls' school Malala went to and was a strong advocate for girls' education.
Due to his influence, Yousafzai was passionate about knowledge from a very young age, and she would often waddle into her father’s classes before she could even talk.
However, Malala’s home in the Swat Valley would change when the Taliban began exerting influence in the area and suicide bombings became more common. Girls were no longer allowed to watch TV, play music, or dance, and they weren’t allowed to go to school. By 2008, the Taliban had destroyed around 400 schools, and an eleven-year-old Malala decided to stand up to them.
Malala gave her first speech, "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?" when her father took her to a press club to protest the school closings. She then began blogging for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) when they reached out to her father looking for someone to write about life under the Taliban.
She wrote anonymously under the name Gul Makai. Later, she made her first TV appearance, and the Taliban began to allow girls to go back to school after they faced backlash.
Malala Begins Her Fight
Unfortunately, in May 2009, Malala and her family were forced to evacuate the Swat Valley after tensions resumed. This didn’t deter her, and she met with important people and appeared in the news several times to advocate for girls' education. Because of her constant appearances, it became obvious she was the BBC’s anonymous blogger.
Her reveal led to her being nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize, and later that year she was awarded Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize. She was becoming a popular advocate for girls but a hated enemy of the Taliban. The Taliban had begun to send death threats, and Malala was worried for her father. However, they believed that they wouldn’t actually harm a young girl and believed Malala would be fine.
On October 9, 2012, Malala was on the bus on her way to school, talking to her friends. Two men boarded the bus and asked, "Who is Malala?" Her friends all looked at Malala, giving away her position. One of the men opened fire, and one of the bullets went into Malala’s head. It was later discovered that the Taliban were behind it.
Malala managed to hang on and was airlifted to a nearby military hospital. After initial operations, she was flown to Birmingham, UK, to continue treatment. After days in a medically induced coma, a coma purposely caused by doctors to shut down body functions so surgery and recovery could take place, she was taken out. Although she still had to go through multiple surgeries and rehabilitation, she had suffered no permanent damage to her brain.
In March 2013, Malala was able to go to school in Birmingham. Her shooting led to massive support from the international community. Later that year, on her 16th birthday, July 12, she gave a speech for the first time since her shooting at the United Nations. She was awarded numerous awards for her efforts and was even named one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2013. She also published her autobiography that year, "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban."
Where’s Malala Today?
In 2014, Malala and her father started the Malala Fund to aid in education for girls around the world. She opened schools around the world, including in places torn apart by war. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2014, when she was only seventeen. She is currently the youngest Nobel laureate. On March 29, 2018, she returned to Pakistan for the first time since her shooting. She visited her hometown and gave a speech from the prime minister’s office.
"In the last five years, I have always dreamed of coming back to my country," she said, adding, "I never wanted to leave."
In 2017, Malala began studying philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of Oxford. Malala graduated in 2021 and currently resides in Birmingham. She was happily married in a small ceremony on November 20, 2021, to Asser Malik. They share a mutual bond in the sport of cricket (Malala played cricket while at university).
“Let us pick up our books and our pens,” I said. “They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”
Malala Yousafzai (1997-Present)
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem “The Leper King”
Background and The First Crusade
The lands in and around modern-day Israel (the Levant) have been controlled by many different nations throughout the centuries, and during the Middle Ages, the Levant was made up of a few independent states known as the Latin States. They were crusader states—states made after the First Crusade.
The First Crusade began when Pope Urban II called for a holy crusade to drive the Muslims out of the Holy City (Jerusalem). The call for a crusade came after the Byzantine emperor, Alexios I Komnenos, petitioned Christians to help retake the lands he lost to the Seljuk Turks.
So, armies across Europe were raised to fight the Muslims, and they succeeded in liberating the Levant. After this, most Europeans returned home victorious, but some chose to stay. The ones who stayed formed four crusader states: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Edessa, the County of Tripoli, and the Principality of Antioch
Baldwin’s Early Life
Baldwin IV was born in 1161, 60 years after the Latin States were created. He was the son of Amalric, who was the count of two of the biggest cities in the Latin States, Jaffa and Ascalon. Amalric also had a daughter, Sibylla. Soon after Baldwin’s birth, Amalric became King of Jerusalem in 1163.
When Baldwin was nine, he was sent by his father to William of Tyre. Being the Archbishop of Tyre, William was an educated man and tutored Baldwin. Baldwin was educated in the art of war, history, and God. It was when he was with William that he started to lose feeling in his right arm. It was the beginning stages of the condition Baldwin would have for the rest of his life and the disease he would be known for: leprosy.
I was going to put a picture of leprosy here. (Don't Look Up Leprosy)
When King Amalric found out that Baldwin had leprosy, he did his best to keep it a secret. Leprosy was heavily stigmatized for most of history because people just didn’t understand the exact causes.
Some thought it was a sexually transmitted disease; some thought it was a punishment from God; but most people believed it could be transmitted by just being close by. While this is partly true, people with leprosy were isolated from everyone.
Baldwin Becomes King
Despite this, Baldwin overcame the setbacks and the judgment to become king. His father, King Amalric, died of dysentery on a military campaign against Egypt.
King Amalric had tried to subdue Egypt after they had failed to pay tribute, and he wanted to break the growing strength of the Muslim kingdoms. He even received help from the Byzantines. However, he had failed to conquer Egypt, and the Muslim world was now seeing an opportunity to get back at the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Baldwin was crowned king when he was thirteen, and so he was assigned a regent, Raymond III, the count of Tripoli. Immediately, when he came of age in 1176, Baldwin proved to be a capable leader. He came to the realization that, with his condition, he wouldn’t have any kids to succeed him when he died.
So, he arranged a marriage for his sister Sibylla to a member of a prominent Italian family, William of Montferrat. Unfortunately, Sibylla became a widow soon after their marriage. However, she was pregnant with his child and later gave birth to a son.
Baldwin Repels The Muslims
During this time, Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt, was busy uniting the Muslim world through invasion and diplomacy. He wanted to unite all Muslim lands. So, he claimed himself the leader of a jihad, declaring a holy war to be fought to defend Islam and drive the Christians out of the Holy Land.
So in 1177, a year after Baldwin became king, Saladin attacked the major city of Ascalon. Baldwin rushed to protect the city but became trapped within it.However, he managed to break out. While believed to still be trapped in the city, he attacked Saladin’s army, defeating them at Montgisard.
Despite being only sixteen and his health deteriorating, he led his army bravely from the front, inspiring many of the men who fought with him. All while riding his horse and wielding his sword with only one hand.Thanks to his determination, he was eventually able to secure a two-year peace with Saladin in 1180.
During this peace, Baldwin’s health continued to deteriorate. Knowing his death was imminent, he arranged for his sister Sibylla to marry the creatively named Guy de Lusignan.
The Muslims Invade and Baldwin’s Health Grows Worse
Soon after the two year peace ended, Saladin captured the city of Aleppo in 1183. The capture of Aleppo secured the encirclement of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. His dream of uniting the Muslim territories of the Middle East was slowly becoming a reality.
When Saladin eventually invaded the Kingdom of Jerusalem again, Baldwin’s leprosy had weakened him greatly. Although he had to be carried in a litter, he still did all he could to defend his kingdom. But his leprosy was getting worse, so he made Guy, his sister’s husband, regent.
Baldwin appointed regents occasionally when his health dipped. This time, however, when he appointed Guy, he proved to be an ineffective ruler and didn’t listen to Baldwin. In response to Guy and his own impending death, Baldwin crowned Sibylla’s son Baldwin V king, and appointed Raymond III as his regent. Raymond had also been Baldwin’s regent when he ascended to the throne.
Baldwin also tried to limit Guy’s power through the bishops. However, Baldwin IV died in 1185 at the age of 24.
What Happened After He Died?
His nephew Baldwin V became king at the age of 8. Raymond III as regent was able to secure a four-year peace with Saladin, but Baldwin V died a year after he became king. Sibylla the became Queen and had divorced Guy, to chose a more competent noble, but married then him again.
So Guy, the man Baldwin IV tried to stop from gaining power in his latter years, became King of Jerusalem. Saladin saw his opportunity to finally complete his unification of the Muslim world. He invaded the Kingdom of Jerusalem again, but Baldwin wasn’t there to stop him.
Saladin was a competent commander in his own right. So when Guy attempted to stop Saladin, he defeated Guy and his army at the Battle of Ḥaṭṭīn. Guy was captured, but was freed after ceding the city of Ascelon to Saladin, the city that Baldwin had skillfully defended years before.
Jerusalem itself fell to Saladin later in 1187. At first he wanted to massacre all the Christians in the city for retribution for when the Crusaders massacred all the Muslims when they took the city in 1099. However, he changed his mind, and let the Christians seek refuge at Acre.
However, the rest of the Christian world saw the capture of Jerusalem, and the Pope called for another crusade to liberate it. The Third Crusade saw Saladin go up against three prominent European kings: Frederick I “Barbarossa,” the German king and Holy Roman Emperor, King Philip II of France and Richard I “the Lionheart” of England.
Legacy
Even though he died young and his kingdom didn’t last long, Baldwin IV is a symbol of strength and determination in the face of suffering and struggle. Although his leprosy eventually left him blind and unable to use his arms and legs, Baldwin fought to the end to defend his kingdom from threats both outside and inside.
“A King may move a man, a father may claim a son, but remember that even when those who move you be Kings, or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus." Or that, "Virtue was not convenient at the time." This will not suffice. Remember that.”
King Baldwin IV 1161-1185)
This quote is from the movie Kingdom of Heaven
Conclusion
These teens have gone down in history for each of their actions. These teens, at a young age, showed determination, strength, and skill. And you can, too. It’s never too young to go out into the world and accomplish something. But it’s not easy. These teens had to show determination, strength, and skill to succeed, but they did, and they are remembered today because of it.
