Date of Award
Spring 4-27-2023
Document Type
Honors Project
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History and American Studies
Department Chair or Program Director
Claudine Ferrell
First Advisor
Allyson Poska
Major or Concentration
History
Abstract
This paper will examine the rhetoric and theology of four women reformers during the beginning of the Protestant Reformation to understand their conceptions of women’s authority during the Reformation. These four women, Marie Dentière (1495 - 1561), Marguerite de Navarre (1492 - 1549), Katarina Schütz Zell (1497/8 - 1562), and Argula von Grumbach (1492 - 1554), wrote numerous different religious tracts to disseminate their ideas. However, they still had to overcome cultural and religious barriers that prevented them from being allowed to speak on religious matters. To circumvent religious barriers, these women relied on many common rhetorical tactics to justify their decision to speak out on spiritual affairs. They adopted and proclaimed the traditional doctrines of the Reformation such as sola scriptura and the fellowship of all believers. However, they then took these beliefs to far more inclusive ends than their male contemporaries did. They wanted to expand the authority of women by allowing them to preach and by attempting to eliminate the moral and educational barriers which would otherwise be used to deny women the ability to communicate on spiritual matters.
Recommended Citation
Hudgins, Andrew, "Women and Authority during the Protestant Reformation" (2023). Student Research Submissions. 522.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/522