Women during the English Reformations

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction

   • Julie A. Chappell

   Pages 1-13

3. “to the Illustrious Queen”: Katherine of Aragon and Early Modern Book Dedications

   • Valerie Schutte

   Pages 15-28

4. “Rather a Strong and Constant Man”: Margaret Pole and the Problem of Women’s Independence

   • Janice Liedl

   Pages 29-43

5. Religious Intent and the Art of Courteous Pleasantry: A Few Letters from Englishwomen to Heinrich Bullinger (1543–1562)

   • Rebecca A. Giselbrecht

   Pages 45-67

6. Elizabeth Cary and Intersections of Catholicism and Gender in Early Modern England

   • Lisa McClain

   Pages 69-89

7. Eleanor Davies and the New Jerusalem

   • Amanda L. Capern

   Pages 91-114

8. The Failure of Godly Womanhood: Religious and Gender Identity in the Life of Lady Elizabeth Delaval

   • Sharon L. Arnoult

   Pages 115-128

9. Haunting History: Women, Catholicism, and the Writing of National History in Sophia Lee’s The Recess

   • Kaley A. Kramer

   Pages 129-144

10. Stripped of Their Altars: Film, Faith, and Tudor Royal Women from the Silent Era to the Twenty-First Century, 1895–2014

    • William B. Robison

    Pages 145-178

11. Back Matter

    Pages 179-198

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Catholic or Protestant, recusant or godly rebel, early modern women reinvented their spiritual and gendered spaces during the reformations in religion in England during the sixteenth century and beyond. These essays explore the ways in which some Englishwomen struggled to erase, rewrite, or reimagine their religious and gender identities.

• essay
• film
• gender
• history of literature
• identity
• religion
• women
• religion and gender

“The intended readers of this volume would seem to be scholars working on early modern history, literature, and religion. This audience will find much of interest in the volume’s initial six case studies, which offer a useful introduction to several lesser-known women whose responses to the English Reformation deserve further consideration.” (Jaime Goodrich, Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 105 (2), 2019)

"This collection of essays offers a wide-ranging survey of English women's religious thinking, writing, and activities in the early modern period. Particularly stimulating are several close readings of the work of well-known early modern figures, including Katherine of Aragon and Eleanor Davies, while other essays give welcome attention to the activities and mentalities of Catholic women. We also find diverting speculative work on representations of early modern women in modern and post-modern culture and film." - Phyllis Mack, Professor of History and Women's Studies, Rutgers University, USA

"This is an exciting collection that considers women's religious and gender identity in the English Reformation from a range of perspectives: women's actions, their writings, and their more modern representations in fiction and films. Julie A. Chappell and Kaley A. Kramer argue persuasively that women and their bodies became contested space during times of religious change. The eight fine essays in this collection discuss powerful, brave, and impressive women across the Catholic/Protestant divide in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. While some focus on specific women - such as Margaret Pole, Elizabeth Cary, Eleanor Davies, and Elizabeth Delaval - others consider book dedications, letters, gothic literature, and twentieth century films." - Carole Levin, Willa Cather Professor of History, University of Nebraska, USA and author of The Reign of Elizabeth I and Dreaming the English Renaissance

Sharon L. Arnoult, Midwestern State University, USA Amanda L. Capern, University of Hull, UK Rebecca A. Giselbrecht, University of Zurich, Switzerland Janice Liedl, Laurentian University, Canada Lisa McClain, Boise State University, USA William B. (Bill) Robison, Southeastern Louisiana University, USA Valerie Schutte, Independent Researcher, USA

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