Women During the English Reformations : Renegotiating Gender and Religious Identity

The editors wish to express their gratitude to all those involved in the preparation and production of this volume, especially our brilliant contributors, who responded so quickly and cheerfully to all of our comments and requests for information. We would especially like to thank the reviewer of this volume whose perspective on this collection of essays significantly enhanced individual chapters as well as the volume as a whole. We are extremely grateful to our Palgrave editor, Brigitte Shull, for her belief in this project, and to our editorial assistant, Ryan Jenkins, whose professionalism and attention to detail have been invaluable. Their prompt and generous assistance throughout this process has been most appreciated. We would also like to express our sincere love and appreciation for our families who provided support and encouragement throughout this process while enduring our absences of mind and body. "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 "This collection of scholarly essays examines the effects of reforms in religion on the gender and religious identity of women during the English reformations from Henry VIII's earliest iterations in the 1530s to filmic representations of reforming women in the last two centuries. As a whole, the authors offer a cross-section of contributions, influences, and activities by women in matters of faith in early modern England, focusing on women's creative undoings and reimaginings during a long period of reform in religion and the ramifications of these activities well beyond their own time. The essays explore the inspirations for and expressions of women's actions whether those actions were ultimately intended to serve the conservative or evangelical cause and provide a sample of the consequences and contradictions inherent in women's reimagining of religious and gender boundaries as these manifested internally in the individual woman to effect a renegotiation of her own gender and religious identity"-- Provided by publisher Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Notes -- 1 "To the Illustrious Queen": Katherine of Aragon and Early Modern Book Dedications -- Notes -- 2 "Rather a Strong and Constant Man": Margaret Pole and the Problem of Women's Independence -- Notes -- 3 Religious Intent and the Art of ­Courteous Pleasantry: A Few ­Letters from Englishwomen to Heinrich ­Bullinger (1543-1562) -- Notes -- 4 Elizabeth Cary and Intersections of Catholicism and Gender in Early Modern England -- Notes -- 5 Eleanor Davies and the New Jerusalem -- I -- II -- III -- IV -- V -- VI -- Notes -- 6 The Failure of Godly Womanhood: Religious and Gender Identity in the Life of Lady Elizabeth Delaval -- Notes -- 7 Haunting History: Women, Catholicism, and the Writing of National History in Sophia Lee's The Recess -- Notes -- 8 Stripped of Their Altars: Film, Faith, and Tudor Royal Women from the Silent Era to the Twenty-First Century, 1895-20141 -- Notes -- List of Contributors -- Index 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. 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. Contributors explore the inspirations for and expressions of women's actions whether those actions were ultimately intended to serve the conservative or evangelical cause and provide a sample of the consequences and contradictions inherent in women's reimagining of religious and gender boundaries Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-13 “to the Illustrious Queen”: Katherine of Aragon and Early Modern Book Dedications....Pages 15-28 “Rather a Strong and Constant Man”: Margaret Pole and the Problem of Women’s Independence....Pages 29-43 Religious Intent and the Art of Courteous Pleasantry: A Few Letters from Englishwomen to Heinrich Bullinger (1543–1562)....Pages 45-67 Elizabeth Cary and Intersections of Catholicism and Gender in Early Modern England....Pages 69-89 Eleanor Davies and the New Jerusalem....Pages 91-114 The Failure of Godly Womanhood: Religious and Gender Identity in the Life of Lady Elizabeth Delaval....Pages 115-128 Haunting History: Women, Catholicism, and the Writing of National History in Sophia Lee’s The Recess....Pages 129-144 Stripped of Their Altars: Film, Faith, and Tudor Royal Women from the Silent Era to the Twenty-First Century, 1895–2014....Pages 145-178 Back Matter....Pages 179-198