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The Reformation Womenof Issue 131 Women of the Reformation Lesser-known stories $5.00 US $7.00 CAN ChristianHistoryMagazine.org SIT STILL, PLEASE Hans Holbein’s c. 1528 portrait of his own family is a window into everyday life for women and children in the Reformation era. YOUNG PRODIGY Lady Jane Seymour was the niece of a better-known Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife. A Protestant, she responded in 1549 to a gift from Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius—exiled continental Reformers liv- ing in England: I have perused your letter, most reverend fathers, which has not only pleased, but highly delighted me. For I easily perceived therein your singular good-will towards me, a grace and eloquence equal to that of Cicero. Perhaps we should mention she was eight at the time! Her father, the Duke of Somerset, was an advi- sor to the boy-king Edward VI and tried to marry her off to his royal charge, but ended up executed. Jane herself died at age 19, only 11 years after writ- AGES ing her letter. IM AN M PUBLISHED QUEEN RIDGE Catherine Parr was the first English queen to pub- B lish in English under her own name when she issued Prayers or Meditations (1545) and The Lamentation of a ILLE, FRANCE / Sinner (1547) after publishing Psalms or Prayers (1543) L anonymously. Princess Elizabeth, her stepdaughter, RTS, A Did you know? translated Prayers or Meditations into Latin, French, EAUX- and Italian as a present for Henry VIII. B NUNS, PROPHETS, QUEENS, WITCHES, WIVES WHO ELSE WAS IN THE FISH WAGON? ) / MUSEE DES When Katharina von Bora escaped from the Nimb- schen convent in a fish wagon in 1523, her fellow escapees were the nuns Magdalena von Staupitz, 1497/8–1543 Elsa von Canitz, Laneta von Golis, Ave Grosse, sis- ters Veronika and Margarete von Deschau, and sis- ters Ave and Margarete von Schönfeld. Von Staupitz, E YOUNGER, HANS ( in her forties, was the one who originally wrote to H Martin Luther to arrange the escape—her brother was his friend and former confessor, Johann von Staupitz! Nicholas von Amsdorf offered to marry her, but instead she moved in with another brother until she got her own house. She began a girls’ K school—perhaps the first ever outside a cloister— (OIL ON PANEL), HOLBEIN T and married a man named Tiburtius Geuder. 1528 , C. UTTERSTOC SH RTIST THE NAKED TRUTH A Ursula Jost, Anabaptist prophet from Strasbourg, THE APABOR/ F was married to a butcher, Lienhard, also a prophet T (see p. 37). Both had their visions published. In ARBINE- H one Lienhard reported receiving a message that he HE FAMILY O T t—K F should prophesy “stark naked” throughout Stras- OR “EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG” One great fear CRA bourg. Ursula did not stop him, but the magistrates about unattached women in the 16th c. was that they H CHARITY did; they put him in an insane asylum. were secretly witches (see p. 8). WITC Christian History BUSY PRINCESS Below: Princess Elizabeth translated Marguerite of Navarre’s famed The Mirror of the Sinful Soul into English at age 11 (Catherine Parr’s copy is at right.) ROYAL LADIES Above: The modern Imperia commemo- rates the Council of Constance in that city’s harbor; in the 16th c., Margaret Blaurer was at the center of the region’s Protestant reform (see p. 33). FOR THE LOVE OF LEARNING Olympia Fulvia Morata (1526–1555) from Ferrara in AGES northern Italy was trained as a religious humanist IM AN by her university professor father and began writ- M ing poetry in Greek at about 12 or 13. Later she RIDGE B married Andreas Grunthler, a German Protestant physician, and they moved to Schweinfurt, right ELVA / S into the middle of extreme religious conflict—sur- viving a siege, hiding in a wine cellar, and finally OTO © PH escaping to Heidelberg. There Grunthler taught / DYING ON TWO DAYS AT ONCE medicine and Morata tutored students in Greek and Mystic, nun, and theologian Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) 1876 Latin. She died at 29 from fever. All of her surviv- died while traveling through Spain to oversee her ACINET, ing writings are academic and devotional works in convents and monasteries, on the night of October 4, R Y B Greek and Latin. In one early poem, she wrote that 1582—or perhaps the morning of October 15, 1582. Just she had “dropped the symbols of my sex, / Yarn, before her death, Pope Gregory XIII had announced the shuttle, basket, thread” for learning, the “flowered adoption of a new calendar and, to repair accumulated Parnassus with the choirs of joy.” discrepancies from the old one, removed 10 days from October. Her reported last words were, “My Lord, it is OSTUME HISTORIQUE C time to move on. Well then, may your will be done. O E L what the well-dressed nun wears A later illustra- my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for tor depicts the different habits of French nuns. has come. It is time to meet one another.” C H LLUSTRATION IN I . Y Y OTO IBRAR L PH CENTUR K H T TOC 18 S E ODLEIAN H B MY — LA A OUL S EDIA M I UL IVES / K F H I IN W S RTC A E THE F NUNS IN FRANCE T TH F - I H ES O M IRROR O M OSTU LIZABET HE Konstanz Harbor— T E C Issue 131 1 Letters to the editor Readers respond to Christian History HISTORY IS NEW AGAIN because yours is a vital ministry that keeps us, your Issue #130 arrived and it’s readers, grounded in the truth. wonderful! You all always Speaking of your staff, why not devote a short col- do such a fine job with this umn to them so we can get to “know” those in your publication. It is both a work ministry? Just a thought. Enclosed is a ministry gift. of art and an important I love supporting CHI and feel I always receive more contribution toward minis- than I give. Lord Bless!—Tom Edmunds try.—Stephanie Bennett, West Palm Beach, FL Thanks for the idea about featuring the staff. We will look into the best way to do this. Thanks for sending me issue #130 of the magazine. I look forward to receiving more as they Now it’s three become available. I knew nothing of the history of the Last week Christian History #127 surfaced (I am try- church in Latin America, so it was all new to me. ing to read them in the order of their arrival) and I The history of the west coast of North America is discovered that you had included not one, but two so recent, it’s hard to realize that the history of so many of my letters to you. And I was shocked. And grati- other places in the world goes back hundreds and thou- fied. Thank you. sands of years. I think that’s partly why I found our I don’t send letters to editors with the hopes of being tour [of Turkey] so fascinating—it gives a whole new published . and usually my non-hope is fully real- perspective.—Mary Martin, Burnaby, BC, participant on ized. Thus seeing two letters in one issue was a ver- CHI tour to Turkey itable knock-me-over experience. Evidently you are seriously lacking in letter submissions. You are I got my copy of the magazine the other day and it’s altogether right in saying that #127 begins to just beautiful. Informative articles and great pictures, answer my questions.—Arne Tiegland, Carver, MN as usual. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to it.—Joel Morales Cruz, author for issue #130 We couldn’t resist putting this one in too, Arne. A wAke-up cAll TEACHING THE FAITH Issue #129 has personal significance for me since in the Thank you for such quality work and writing. My adult past few years I have been greatly influenced by Tom class appreciates the material.—John Wallace, Dover, OH Oden and his work in recovering the orthodox faith of the early church. Willard and Foster wrote works that Thank you for producing this superb magazine! It is challenged me at the time I read them, but I was not absolutely the finest history journal of its kind any- ready to put the spiritual disciplines into action. I need where.—Ronald Stan, Bellevue, WA to re-read them with new eyes. The issue has been sort of a wake-up call to inten- I have had a wonderful summer teaching the Reforma- sify my efforts to learn and adopt lessons for worship tion to my adult SS class. Thanks so much for sending and study in ways that sadly seem out of vogue in the DVD Reformation Overview. It is so well produced many evangelical churches. Many thanks for re-ignit- and a joy to teach. Thanks for all your labor of love ing that flame.—Tom Edmunds, Washington, NJ and time in giving us the tools to better teach our faith. Blessings.—Mark Deeter Hardly had we closed the mailbox when Tom wrote us back 130 about issue #130: In issue #129, we commented that John Williamson Nevin #129 Another great issue!! Thank you for an issue that left Pittsburgh Seminary to go to the German Reformed semi- ISTORY # H HISTORY focuses on the Latin American church, its history and nary at Mercersburg. He actually left Pittsburgh’s predeces- its challenges.
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