1st Edition

A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen Exemplary Lives and Memorable Acts, 1500-1650

    660 Pages
    by Routledge

    660 Pages 57 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    From the exemplary to the notorious to the obscure, this comprehensive and innovative encyclopedia showcases the worthy women of early modern England. Poets, princesses, or pirates, the women of power and agency found in these pages are indeed worth knowing, and this volume will introduce many female figures to even the most established scholars in early modern studies. Rather than using the conventional alphabetical format of the standard biographical encyclopedia, this volume is divided into categories of women. Since many women will fit in more than one category, each woman is placed in the category that best exemplifies her life, and is cross referenced in other appropriate sections. This structure makes the book an interesting read for seasoned scholars of early modern women, while students need not already be familiar with these subjects in order to benefit from the text. Another unusual feature of this reference work is that each entry begins with some incident from the woman’s life that is particularly exciting or significant. Some entries are very brief while others are extensive. Each includes a source listing. The book is well illustrated and liberally sprinkled with quotations of the time either by or about the women in the text.

    TABLE OF CONTENTS





    LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS



    PREFACE



    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS





    1. ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, AND ENTERTAINERS



    Beale, Mary Cradock Beale



    Horenbout, Susanna Horenbout [Horenbolte] Parker Gilman



    Inglis, Esther Inglis Kello



    Jane the Fool



    Perwich, Susanna Perwich



    Teerlinc, Levina Benninck Teerlinc



    Thomasina



    2. CRIMINALS



    Abbott, Elizabeth Abbott



    Arden, Alice Arden



    Barnes, Elizabeth Barnes



    Baynton, Mary Baynton



    Bridgestone, Ann Bridgestone



    Brigge, Mabel Brigge



    Bulmer, Margaret Cheyne Bulmer



    Caldwell, Elizabeth Caldwell



    Chamber, Rebecca Chamber



    Champion, Mary Champion



    Clarke, Alice Clarke



    Cowland, Alice Cowland



    Crofte, Elizabeth Crofte



    Davis, Alice Davis



    Davy, Margaret Davy [Davie]



    Dell, Annis Dell



    Downes, Katherine Stamfort Downes



    Drewry, Anne Drewry [Drewie, Calfield]



    Evans, Elizabeth Evans ["Canberry Bess"]



    Ferneseede, Margaret Ferneseede



    Ferrers, Katherine Ferrers Fanshawe



    Francis, Katherine Francis



    Frith, Mary Frith ["Moll Cutpurse"]



    Greene, Anne Greene



    Gunter, Anne Gunter



    Hamton, Anne Hamton



    Hattersley, Jane Hattersley



    Hayward, Petronella Brightred Hayward



    Helliker, Joan Helliker



    Howard, Frances Howard Devereux Carr, Countess of Essex and Somerset



    Hungerford, Agnes Cotell Hungerford



    Lake, Mary Ryder Lake



    Osborne, Mary Osborne



    Page, Eulalia Glanfield Page



    Pendleton, Ellen Pendleton Floder



    Phelps, Judith Phelps



    Rodney, Anne Lake Cecil Rodney, Lady Ros



    Saunders, Anne Saunders



    Scambler, Martha Scambler



    Throckmorton, Frances Brydges Throckmorton



    Turner, Ann Norton Turner



    Vincent, Margaret Vincent



    Wallen, Anne Wallen<

    Biography

    Carole Levin is Willa Cather Professor of History and Director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program at the University of Nebraska, USA.



    Anna Riehl Bertolet is Associate Professor of English at Auburn University, USA.



    Jo Eldridge Carney is Professor of English at The College of New Jersey, USA.

    "The encyclopedia is truly a collaborative effort, one that feels momentous: a crystillization of the maturity of the field and the range and extent of its activity [...] In sum, the amazing diversity of women's activities and undertaking documented, in greater or lesser detail, in the Biographical Encyclopedia more than makes up for any inconveniences the volume presents. One cannot help but finish even a perusal of its contents without being struck by the rich world of different presented here. And once striken, one will surely return for more."

    - Patricia Phillippy, Kingston University London, Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal