If she were alive today, she'd be a rock star.

Empress Theodora (c. 500–548)
of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I.

Her rags-to-riches story reads like a 6th-century Eva "Evita" Peron.
(Theodora was even canonized, which Evita hadn't acheived.)

Learn more about The Dark Ages on The History Channel.