Levine, Nina. Women’s Matters. Delaware Press. 1998 Delaware Print

The book looks at how women were view in the 1500’s by studying the play Henry VI. The essays concentrate on looking at chivalry in this play. This section specifically talks about how woman were viewed, “despising female dominance is a necessary part of being male, English and “Protestant’” (27). This would be a good quote to use if you wanted to establish the thoughts on women of this time. It also outlines how the play links female aggression with witchcraft and treason. It also touches on the place and view of ruling women. The book has powerful; quotes about Elizabeth’s iconography and how it sets up woman as a dynastic power. The last play it touches on is King John. In this essay the problem of succession and the tensions in the Elizabethan court. But probably the most helpful thing the book has a lot of cited works. The works that are talked cover from today back to the 1500’s.

Oh Hey, Equality...

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/10/28/1883213/commonwealth-nations-change-royal.html

This is a link to an article I read at home in the Tacoma News Tribune this morning. Being that it is 2011 I was surprised to find that, " a future monarch can marry someone of any faith except a Catholic." According to the article Elizabeth II has started pushing for legislation in all of Britain's states to override the law that says royals can marry any Wikken, Hindu, Mormon, Michael Jackson Worshiper...but not a Catholic. I was truly surprised to find that Catholicism has had such an effect on the monarchy since Elizabeth I, so much so that such an interesting and strange law would have been passed.

The other facinsting thing learned from this article is the idea that, "Britain's government began the process of reviewing the rules of royal succession so that if Prince William's first child is a girl, she would eventually become queen." This is amazing because, as we have learned, no matter how much younger a son/brother can be, he has the first right to be king before his sister. Elizabeth II did not have any brothers, so she was named queen, and Charles only had sons. But the fact that the British Commonwealth is beginning to change the laws now, essentially for William and Kate, is amazing! After all these years....I figured the law would have already been changed. Even if progress is a little late, better than never.

Strangulation can be such a blessing

The presentation tonight addressed the presence of the inquisition in Mexico. The speaker began by addressing the reason the inquisition began in the first place. In the 1600 there were many Jewish families in Spain but as Catholic power in Spain grew the Jews were either forced to convert or to leave. Many of them left for Portugal. But it wasn’t long before again the Catholics came to power and the Jews were either told to convert or to leave. At this time the Spanish in a way owned the Portugal crown. So the Jews had an opportunity to escape persecution and move to the New World

In the New World they pretended to be Catholics while really practicing Judaism. This was not a problem until the inquisition began to run out of money. Many of the Jewish families had become merchants in the New World and if the inquisition found them guilty of being a Jew they could take the families property, sell it, and keep the money for themselves. Needless to say almost 400 were tried. They were also looking into this because they were afraid the merchants who were originally from Portugal were trying to take over the colony and second they wanted to stop Judaism. The speaker outlined two families that were in these trials in both, the fathers were burned while the rest of the women were let off with a slap on the wrist. Altogether only 13 people were burnt at the stake. Most of them repented and were allowed to be strangled before the burning but one man chose to pass up the wire noose and go for the flames. Needless to say it was dangerous to be anything but Catholic in 17 century.

The drastic nature of this account in many ways shows how far the Catholics will go to weed out those who weren’t like them. Through this presentation I came to better understand what Elizabeth was truly up against on the continent. In fact the aggressive nature of the Catholics is so apparent that I believe the only thing that really saved Elizabeth was the fact that England is an island nation. We especially see this when Spain comes in ships to defeat England. If there had not been water in between the two nations England could have very likely fallen and we might be a Catholic college right now…. (shudder to think)

A Fair Statement

Hello everyone. I am bringing this text to our workshop day tomorrow, however, I thought I might share a little quote I found. In the book entitled "Readings in Renaissance Women's Drama," the chapter about women as theatrical investors starts off with the following quote. "Although women were notably absent from the English Renaissance stage they were involved in theatrical economics in a variety of different ways --as spectators, patrons, and as gatherers of entrance fees at the playhouse doors. But even more surprisingly, perhaps, they held economic fees at the playhouse doors" (87). Not only do I appreciate the argument that this quote is making in reference to my argument for the power and roles of women, but also for its acknowledgement of the status of women in the theatre. I feel like it is often overlooked that women are important to the theatre performances when in reality, their simple attendence was and is crucial to play success. I have had to delve into this text to much, but I anticipate there being much more of this information pertaining to the theatre to be included in my longer paper. Happy Editing!

--Alexa Foster

Fletcher, Anthony. Gender, Sex & Subordination in England 1500-1800. Yale Press: London. 1995. Print.

An interesting study on marriage from 1500s to 1800s this book outlines information about bachelors, women and couples. It also has specific examples of couples and their correspondence during the time. The stories outline couples that were able to transcend the constraints on marriage at the time and find middle ground. The book also recounts relationships that were never truly equal, outlining the pressures that were on men of this time to be domineering and aloof.

The text also has a chapter on the ‘weaker sex’ outlining some of the things thought about women at the time. The book touches on the topics of gender roles, marital violence and effeminacy during the time. The book also has interesting pictures from the time both of families, more sordid activates and important portraits. There is also a section that outlines the education and tutoring of young girls. Hope some of this can be helpful. Ask me if you want the book. Kindle Miles

Helpful Article

I ran across this article tonight through JSTOR that is really interesting. It mentions a lot about the presentations of Elizabeth I, both in art and in her public life. Like most publications about Elizabeth and the way she was presented in society, this article works through her position as the Virgin Queen and the political implications that carried throughout her career. For you who are studying iconography of women during the Renaissance, this article touches on that subject and also connects it to the Protestant Reformation, if you want to take a look at that.

Queen Elizabeth I: Representations of the Virgin Queen

John N. King

Renaissance Quarterly
Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring, 1990), pp. 30-74

Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Renaissance Society of America

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2861792.

Elizabeth's Education

In the process of writing my paper, I came across a fascinating primary text written by Roger Ascham, one of Queen Elizabeth's most influential tutors. The book, The Scholemaster, was written to explicate Ascham's theories of proper education, highly influenced by humanist ideas. He speaks loquaciously on his support for the study of Latin and details effective approaches to teaching Latin. Through his work, you can clearly see influences of humanism on the education Elizabeth I received. Latin was just a part of the classical model; she also studied classical texts and philosophy. For more information about Ascham's approach, I highly recommend this book. The glimpse it gives of why and how Elizabeth (and other nobles) were educated is unique, and this source comes directly from a renowned tutor.

Ascham, Roger. The Scholemaster. Ed. J. E. B. Mayor. New York, NY: AMS Press, Inc., 1967. Print.