The gentlewoman's remembrance: Patriarchy, piety, and singlehood in early Stuart England (Politics, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain)

__The gentlewoman's remembrance__ provides a microhistory of a never-married gentlewoman, Elizabeth Isham, in early modern England. It is centred on an extremely rare piece of women's writing - a relatively newly discovered 60,000-word spiritual autobiography that Elizabeth penned circa 1639 - held in Princeton's manuscript collections. The autobiography is among the richest extant sources related to early modern women and offers a wealth of information not only in relation to Elizabeth's life but also the seventeenth-century Ishams. Indeed, it is unmatched in providing an inside view of her family relations, her religious beliefs, her reading habits, and, most sensationally, the reasons why she chose never to marry despite desires to the contrary held by her male kin, particularly her father, Sir John Isham. Based on the autobiography, combined with extensive research of the Isham family papers now housed at the county record office in Northampton, the book recreates Elizabeth's world, placing her in the larger community of Northamptonshire and reconstructing her family life and the patriarchal authority that she lived under at her home of Lamport Hall. This reconstruction of our historical memory of Elizabeth and her female relations demonstrates why she wrote her autobiography and the influence that family and religion had on her unmarried state, reading, and confessional identity, expanding our understanding and knowledge about patriarchy, piety, and singlehood in early modern England. __The gentlewoman's remembrance__ will be of particular interest to students and lecturers in early modern British history. A microhistory of a never-married English gentlewoman named Elizabeth Isham, this book centres on an extremely rare piece of women's writing - a recently discovered 60,000-word spiritual autobiography held in Princeton's manuscript collections that she penned around 1639. The autobiography is unmatched in providing an inside view of her family relations, her religious beliefs, her reading habits and, most sensationally, the reasons why she chose never to marry despite desires to the contrary held by her male kin, particularly Sir John Isham, her father. Based on the autobiography, combined with extensive research of the Isham family papers now housed at the county record office in Northampton, this book restores our historical memory of Elizabeth and her female relations, expanding our understanding and knowledge about patriarchy, piety and singlehood in early modern England. This Is A Highly Original And Detailed Study Of An Individual Single Woman In Early Modern England, Based On A Recently Discovered Spiritual Autobiography Authored By A Never-married Gentlewoman, Elizabeth Isham. It Provides A New Perspective On Women's Writing, Identity And Status In The Early Modern Period. Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. `my Booke Of Rememberance': The Spiritual Autobiography Of Elizabeth Isham -- 2. `as A Branch With A Roote': The Ishams Of Lamport And Their World -- 3. The Sweet Private Life': Singlehood In The Patriarch's Household -- 4. `my Own Bookes': Elizabeth Isham's Reading -- 5. `to Piety More Prone': Elizabeth Isham's Religion. Isaac Stephens. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 242-265) And Index.