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.
"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
