Women, Texts and Tombs after the Reformation : Gender and Faith in England, 1550–1650

Re-examines women’s physical and literary tombs to develop a new cultural historical perspective on Protestant mortuary culture.

The period following the Reformation saw a rapid increase in the production of funeral monuments in England. Women, Texts and Tombs after the Reformation argues that gender was a leading factor in this flourishing reformed culture of death. In a religious climate that placed increasing value on the laity, women quickly took on the role of exemplary Christians in popular texts including sermons and conduct books. This space awarded to godly womanhood in Protestant religious practice provided a rich foundation for women’s engagement with reform. By considering how women wrote and built tombs, this work explores one way that gender informed the development of doctrine beyond political and theological tracts in commemorative volumes and drama, local communities and the parish church. Taking gender as a primary lens to view early modern mortuary culture reveals the untapped potential of commemorative building in the study of religious change.