Tuesday, January 29, 2008

In order to follow the discussion in today's reading, you should know at least something about the English Civil War, and so I'm providing a link that includes the basic facts relevant to our discussion, mainly people and policies that created to conditions for women's participation in politics. You also should know something about Oliver Cromwell, and finally about the period of the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy. The second of the two Restoration monarchs, James II, was deposed in 1688 in a coup called the Glorious Revolution (otherwise known as the Bloodless Revolution), which brought William of Orange (left) and his wife Mary, James's daughter (right), to the throne. Do not try to master all of the details of these articles, but familiarize yourself with the issues enough to be able to understand the references in today's reading.

The quarrels that led to the beheading of Charles I in 1649 had their origin in the history of the Tudor monarchy, beginning with Henry VIII's repudiation of his Spanish-born wife Catherine and subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn. Catherine had had a daughter, Mary, who remained staunchly Catholic, while Anne was the mother of Elizabeth. A third wife, Jane Seymour, bore a son, Edward VI, who ruled only a short time before his death at the age of 15 in 1553. According to the provisions of Henry's will, Mary was to inherit after Edward if Edward died childless, and then Elizabeth after Mary.

Under Edward, England was Protestant, but upon the accession of his older sister the realm reverted to Catholicism. During her five-year reign Protestantism was suppressed, with the consequence that a number of people went to their deaths, immortalized in a work by John Foxe called the Book of Martyrs. Other Protestant leaders escaped to the continent, many to Geneva, home of John Calvin. Mary's marriage to King Philip of Spain (pictured at left) was the occasion for anxiety on the part of the English, who feared that their country would become a possession of the Spanish crown. At issue was the question of the status of royal holdings: did a monarch hold the crown as part of his family estate, or was the crown a designation of his office as ruler? The feudal kingship of medieval times was grounded in the notion that the king held his lands as his estate, which he passed to his heirs as a family holding, but during the high middle ages the state began to take on the status of an institution apart from the personal wealth of an individual or family, and the king was construed as being at the same time a monarch and a man (hence the theory of the "king's two bodies"). The Parliament took steps to recognize the English state as having an existence apart from the personal rule of the Queen, in order to protect it from being absorbed as if it were her husband's property; thus, even as he dominated her as a husband, he did not rule over England as his personal holdings as a result of their marriage.

Elizabeth returned England to Protestantism, but arrived at a settlement that incorporated elements of the Catholic liturgy into a faith grounded in Protestant doctrine. Both Catholics and rigorously Puritan Protestants were dissatisfied, but the settlement held for the majority of Anglicans, and was one of the chief successes of her reign. Upon her death, however, the crown passed to James I, son of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, and while he agreed to leave the Anglican church alone, he and his son Charles (who married a French Catholic, Henriette Marie) were suspected of interference on behalf of Catholics. Thus we arrive at the basis for the disturbances that would eventually erupt into Civil War. The royalist party ("Cavaliers") and the Parliamentary party ("Roundheads") were at odds culturally, economically, and politically, as well as in regards to religion. With the victory of Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army, England became a Puritan military dictatorship called the Protectorate, with Cromwell as Lord Protector. Strict rules of morality were enforced; for example, the theaters were closed. The regime did not survive Cromwell's death by very long.

Questions:

• On what bases did women participate in politics throughout the seventeenth century?
• On p. 348, our authors remark that "the basis of politics was shifting from the medieval household of the monarch to the modern liberal oligarchy/property model." What does this mean, and what was the impact of this shift for women?
• On p. 350, we see a discussion of the problems attendant on a woman's accession to the throne. What are they, and what is their basis?
• How did Elizabeth resolve the problem of being a female monarch?
• How did Queen Mary, wife of William, resolve the problem of being a female monarch?
• Queen Mary of Modena was James II's second wife, a Catholic. He already had two Protestant daughters, Mary and Anne, from his first wife. The Glorious Revolution occurred soon after Mary of Modena gave birth to a son, sparking concerns that he as a Catholic would inherit the throne and return the country to Catholicism. How were these concerns reflected in the conditions surrounding the child's birth (p. 362)?
• In the section on aristocratic women, we read about indirect exercise of power. What were the various relations a woman might have to sources of power?
• What effect, if any, did a female monarch have on other women's access to power?
• What were the means by which women indirectly exercised power? What are some of the problems attendant on an indirect exercise of power?
• How did women engage in politics at the popular level before 1640? What were their reasons for doing so?
• What role did women play in public protest? How could they reconcile such activity with the belief in women's submission to men?
• How did women participate in the revolutionary period of 1640-1660? How did they justify their actions?
• How does the example of Katherine Chidley (pp. 405 ff.) illustrate the basis for female involvement in the revolution?
• The Levellers were a radical party during this period, who based their position on natural rights theory. How did this platform affect beliefs about the natural rights of women?
• In what ways did women participate in politics after 1660? What changes took place during this period that affected female inolvement?
• What are our authors' conclusions?

Laurel Carrington carringt@stolaf.edu
Most recent update: January 28, 2008

Disclaimer