Mrs Luther and her sisters: Women in the Reformation

Women have made crucial contributions to the life of the Church from New Testament times onwards, but the Reformation saw an explosion in their involvement. Having benefited alongside their brothers from the Renaissance’s emphasis on learning, and with the increasing casting aside of the belief that they were intellectually inferior, women learned to read in ever increasing numbers - and most of them wanted to read the Bible. As a result, many started to interpret Scripture for themselves - which put them on a collision course with the Church. To illustrate these issues, Derek Wilson considers some of the leading women of the age, including Luther’s wife, Catherine von Bora; Catherine Brandon, Anne Askew, Catherine Parr, the last wife of Henry Vlll; and of course Margaret of Angouleme and Elizabeth 1 of England.