Women during the Reformations

1
Women during the Reformations

• How were women treated during the 16th Century?

2
Medieval Period

• Highly Patriarchal
• Chauvinistic teachings and practices
• Used the Bible as evidence for mans superiority

3
Catholic View

• Juan Luis Vives
• women are sick animals
• much more important than having a learned and
  well-spoken women is having good and honest
  ones (Lindberg 1996364)

4

• Fray Luis de Leon
• women are created as an afterthought of god, as
  only a helper and comfort to men, and are loaded
  with the constant need to atone since from women
  came the beginning of sin, and by her we all
  die(Lindberg 1996364)

5

• Heinrich Kramer Jacob Sprenger
• The Hammer of Witches(1486)
• Men should be wary of women
• All wickedness is but little to the wickedness
  of women(Lindberg 2000272)

6

• Leon Battista Alberti
• On the Family
• Certain qualities necessary for a good wife
• loving, graceful, charming, able to bear
  children, and be a young girl
• (Lindberg 2000273)

7
John Calvin

• John Calvin
• Felt that the government of
• women was utterly at variance with the
  legitimate order of natureto be counted among
  the judgements with which God visits
  us(Lindberg 1996364)
• However he was in correspondence with noblewoman
  and was theologically though not practically
  open to women being ordained

8
Anabaptists

• Polygamy was enforced in Münster
• Enforced male dominance
• Best way to increase population of the elect
• Emphasised that the purity of the church relied
  on wives and husbands to shun apostate spouses
  (Lindberg 1996364)

9
Luthers reformation of womens role in society

• Luther played an important
• role in effecting the societal determinations
  of what it
• means to be male or female (Lindberg 1996365)

10
Luther and Marriage

• Criticised the Roman Catholic Church for views
  held on sex and marriage within the clergy
• Marriage and sex within the marriage play
  important social roles
• Sex is important for procreation but above all
  the context for creating a new awareness of human
  community with all its pains and joys
• (Lindberg 1996364)

11

• He believed women should be respected
• Without women The home, cities, economic life,
  and government would virtually disappear. Men
  cant do without women. Even if it were possible
  for men to beget and bear children, they still
  couldnt do without women
• (Lindberg 1996364)
• Emphasised the importance of women and marriage
  in The Estate of Marriage (1522)

12

• Lectures on Genesis 1535
• The male is like the sun in heaven, the female
  like the moonIn the first place therefore, let
  us note from this passage that it was written
  that this sex may not be excluded from any glory
  of the human creature, although it is inferior to
  the male sex
• (Lindberg 2000274)

13
Luther and Prostitution

• In medieval society prostitution was accepted
  they followed the teachings of Aquinas
• Analogy of necessity of prostitution as to that
  of a cesspit for a palace.Although it is dirty
  in itself, it will cleanse the town, as without
  it the town would become corrupt
• Luther argued that the cure (brothels) were
  worse than the disease (lust)
• (Lindberg 1996365-366)

14

• 1520 Address to Christian Nobility
• He criticised the toleration of brothels and
  prostitution
• Acknowledge their rationale but questioned
  should not the government which is temporal and
  also Christian realise that such evil cannot be
  prevented by that kind of heathenish practice?
• (Lindberg 1996366)

15

• Genesis Lecture 1535
• The example concerning the houses of ill fame
  which are tolerated in the large cities does not
  deserve to be discussed for it is clearly in
  conflict with the Law of Godit is silly for them
  to suppose that outcroppings of debauchery and
  adultery are reduced by this meansLust is
  increased rather than cured by this means
• (Lindberg 1996366)

16
Anticlericalism and reformation of prostitutes

• Leonhard Beck, The Monk and the Maiden,
  1523lthttp//www.leedstrinity.ac.uk/histcourse/ref
  ormat/eng4/gei441f.htmgt

Monk- I must be eternally silent about this
affair, Although it is against my will to do so
Mother- O, what great mockery I must suffer, I
cry out to God for my child
Father- Monk you have deceived us, And made my
daughter leave me
Monk- Peasant I will hire your daughter, And
bring your affairs to order
Daughter- Father, I misunderstood the situation,
otherwise I would not have gone to the monk
17
Luthers impactQuestions for Discussion

• Was Luthers concern with improving the rights of
  women, or with rescuing man from decreasing
  morality?
• And how important was Luthers role in changing
  attitudes?Example
• In the town of Zwickau syphilis was present in
  1497.It wasnt until 1526 that the brothel was
  shut down. Karant-Nunn (1982) argued Venereal
  disease itself did not drive them to close the
  brothel. The Reformation did(Lindberg 1996366)
• What role do you think the Reformations played in
  impacting the change of womens roles from the
  16th Century to the modern day?

18
Bibliography

• Juan Luis Vives
• http//www.newadvent.org/cathen/15492a.htm
• Luis de Leon
• http//www.newadvent.org/cathen/09177b.htm
• The Hammer of Witches
• http//www.malleusmaleficarum.org/
• Leonhard Beck, The Monk and the Maiden, 1523
  lthttp//www.leedstrinity.ac.uk/histcourse/reforma
  t/eng4/gei441f.htmgt
• Lindberg, C, 1996, The European Reformations
  (Chapter 15), Blackwell Publishing
• Lindberg, C, 2000, The European Reformations
  Sourcebook (Chapter 14), Blackwell Publishing