Starz is celebrating Women’s History Month with a string of TV series about extraordinary women.

And while one generation pounds their chests and roar (in numbers too big to ignore) there existed women before them who actually changed the world.

One of the most prominent was the red-headed Queen Elizabeth I. As the ruler of the British world, Queen Elizabeth proved both canny and devious.

Minnie Driver forms an imperious Elizabeth in the series, “The Serpent Queen” on Starz. As conjured by the author and showrunner Justin Haythe, Elizabeth meets with Catherine de Medici (queen of France) who is the designated “Serpent Queen.”

“It was an honor to play Queen Elizabeth,” says Driver. “This amazing imagining of a meeting between Elizabeth and Catherine de Medici. And I think what Justin wrote, the Elizabeth that I felt was this witty, wily, slightly feral queen. And I hadn’t seen that before in all the books that I’ve read or the pictures that I’ve seen, and how I’d imagined her since I was a child learning about her in school.

“I felt like I could feel who the woman was behind the queen. And I was very interested in her and who she is. ... These are two businesspeople who meet, and there is no one else like them in the world at that time. They are recognizing each other as these two women who are the regents of their respective countries. So it was immensely interesting because I think they are very different characters.”

Quite the opposite of Elizabeth I was the ruthless Catherine de Medici, who became queen of France when her husband Henry II inherited the throne. She was to bear three sons who served as kings of France, but she outlived all but one. The tale of this intrepid woman is depicted in “The Serpent Queen.”

British actor Samantha Morton dons the crown of Catherine in the series. Morton, who has starred in such projects as “The Walking Dead,” “Harlots” and Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown,” says, “When I was younger, I was told I didn’t have a ‘period’ face and I wasn’t fit for costume drama.

“But I was always fascinated by history at school. It was something — it is something that I find very fascinating. And history has been mostly written by men. So there was the aspect of a historical drama that was really exciting to me. ... I just think, ‘What a role!’ I mean, it’s Catherine de Medici, it is the dream role.”

Morton says she understands Catherine, who began with nothing and worked to become queen of France. “In some ways I have to say — and this may sound odd — but (it) connects me to the story somewhat because personally I have a very complex childhood that I have to negotiate with.”

Henry VIII changed wives often. But when he fell madly in love with Anne Boleyn, he had to dump his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. There was no simple prenuptial agreement here or a no- fault divorce. In fact, Henry changed the official religion of the entire nation when he wed Anne, which led to bloodshed.

Catherine of Aragon had been his wife for 24 years and was understandably upset when he dallied with Boleyn. What happened to her is the subject of Starz’s series, “The Spanish Princess,” based on two Philippa Gregory books.

Charlotte Hope plays Catherine of Aragon in the miniseries. When Henry divorced her, it caused a critical rupture with the Catholic Church and sent Catherine to live out her days alone and betrayed.

Hope, who says she grew up an incurable nerd, seems perfect for the part. “I didn’t do it as research because I wanted to come afresh, but I’m obsessed with the period of history and I’ve read all the Gregory books when I was younger,” she says.

“I did history A- levels and then I did French and Spanish literature at university, so I studied all the literature from that time. My favorite thing about acting is when you get to study as part of the job because I feel like I’m back at school, and I’m a big, big nerd so that suits me very well.”

“The White Queen,” another series on Starz, is about Elizabeth Grey, who married England’s King Edward IV in secret, bore him 10 children and proved a key figure in the War of the Roses.

You’d never guess by looking at Rebecca Ferguson, who plays Henry’s consort, that she was actually born and raised in Sweden. Her father is a Swedish lawyer, and her mother is a one-time dancer from Britain. So Ferguson grew up speaking both languages.

She has been acting since she was 15 when someone asked her to audition for a Swedish soap opera.

“I said no in the beginning because I was sort of a clown in class, at the same time, it’s one thing to ask for attention and receive it. When you receive attention when you haven’t asked for it, was something I couldn’t really handle,” Ferguson says.

“I did go for the casting. And it worked, and I found my element. And it was a wonderful sort of escapism into not taking the consequences of actions.”

Jodie Comer, so famous for her role in “Killing Eve,” stars in the sequel to “The White Queen,” titled “The White Princess.”

Comer plays Elizabeth of York, who marries King Henry VII. Their pairing essentially ended the War of the Roses. Comer says she read the book about the queen.

“I had so much information, but I also had a lot of freedom. Nobody knows here — there’s no one here to tell the tale of what she was like. There’s no footage for me to go and watch and replicate. There’s so much freedom there to build the personality, the characteristics and mannerisms — what did she like? What didn’t she like? And so that was what was so fun about playing her. You could find what you wanted to find but then you could certainly make it your own. That was really fun to do.”